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Editorial Commentary Analysis

Editorial Commentary Analysis

BBC Radio 4: A Point of View: “Twitter-Free”

Broadcast Sunday, 9 Feb 2014 at 8:48

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03t3dw3

The editorial commentary, “Twitter-Free,” is from the BBC Radio 4 series A Point of View and was last broadcasted on Sunday, 9 Feb 2014 at 8:48.

In this commentary, there is an introduction for Adam Gopnik and the commentary begins with his personal experience regarding the growing social media trend surrounding Twitter. He shares his lack of participation on Twitter, but yet analyzes its supposed purpose and what he sees on Twitter. From here, he goes into how social media and electronic devices have not only affected him, but society and the way we live our lives. Overall, he explains how he sees the exact opposite of what many may believe about the negative effects of new devices, the emotional affect and transitional affect.

Today, new devices are consistently involving; therefore, Adam Gopnik addresses the way in which these new devices have advanced his life within the first part of the commentary. He questions the past devices and thinks backs to the longer and tedious process of getting things done because of, what we see now as, the lack of technology. In addition, he uses a structure of examples of supposed real-life situations to argue that he is not any less or more productive than he was writing on a typewriter than on a laptop. However, work is quicker and easier on the new devices that present more efficient methods and evolved the writing process rather than hinder it.

He explains from his point-of-view that just like before we continue to have things that we feel we cannot live without, therefore, we are still in the same place we were before but just with new things. He creates an illustration of his views and ideas but developing examples from past and present. The listener then would question the role of social media and electronic devices in his or her life and continue to listen to what Adam Gopnik is saying. To enhance his views, he further develops the structure by bringing in the view of a letter he read that states the way in which advancements in technology have made life easier, quicker and more efficient than before. This allows him to have a second opinion on his view rather than just simply his thoughts and ideas.

To end his commentary, he shows how we constantly may laugh about the past generations and their way of lives and to think about those who will be laughing at us in the future; while also discussing those who refuse to evolve with the years because they feel they will betraying their own generation. However, he notes that “it is our desire to be in our time that moves us [...] and that all of us share.” He ends on his final point of how we cannot alienate ourselves from the present times and then he goes back into his discussion of Twitter as he mentioned in the beginning of the commentary by saying how he will go from “Twitter-Free” to posting his first Tweet.

Overall, this commentary displays a structure that includes Adam Gopnik’s own personal experience as one section and then another section of the way in which social media and new devices are taking part within other lives and society as a whole. He is able to present firm points and challenging questions that maintain the listener’s attention.  He introduces the topic, develops ideas and examples and then provides us with the overall resolution.  The commentary comes to end after he mentions what his first Tweet will be and stating his name.

Individual Feature Analysis

Feature Analysis

BBC Radio 3: "A Social History of the Piano" by Michael Goldfarb

Broadcast Sunday, 10 Nov 2013 at 18:15

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01msj6v

"A Social History of the Piano" by Michael Goldfarb was part of the continuous Sunday Feature series for BBC Radio 3 and was last aired on 10 Nov 2013 at 18:15.

This particular feature is ideal for those who are interested in music and culture. In addition, it would have an influence or be of an interest to those who have a strong connection with the piano and other instruments. Michael Goldfarb explores the history of the piano and how it has involved into much more than just a simple instrument into the 21st century by taking us through its beginning origin of development into more modern environments while also including the influence of the piano on lifestyles, society, and the downfalls that have occurred against the value of the piano.

In "A Social History of the Piano," the presenter, Michael Goldfarb, takes us through various historical context of the piano and where this grand instrument stands today in the music world. The presenter’s words are subtle yet passionate while being enhanced with personal interviews and with the use of sound effects to create the emotion. The interviews allow us to get a personal view while also providing us with background or historical content. Each interview presents us with a different view from around the world with the variation in where the interviewees come from and their experiences.

The use of the clips of piano playing in the background brings us through different times of music and follows through with the context of the feature. We are able to feel as though we are present in the moment in each scene. From the beginning, we know that he is present in the street he is describing with the use of environmental/traffic sounds. We are also able to go back in time by creating a picture of black and white imagery in our heads with a piano player and old cafes. The use of this music and sound create this imagery throughout the feature and enhance the words being spoken by both Michael Goldfarb and the interviewees. By the end, the strong use of construction and demolition display the way in which modernization has changed the views and value of pianos.

Overall, the listeners are able to immerse themselves into what is being said and create an image in their heads rather than simply listening to words that may have little meaning without these details. We are able to understand how something simply know as an instrument containing just bits and pieces of material to many people in the modernized world was once and is still more than just a simple instrument.

Editorial Commentary Analysis

Gatsby: The Perfect Fake

This editorial commentary is part of the  BBC 4 programme A Point of View, it was broadcasted the 2nd of June of 2013.

At the very beginning of the commentary, we can hear a female voice presenting a show that will be broacasted other day and giving information about where we can find more episodes. After that, she introduces John Gray, the guest. This guy, starts the show with a fact, in a magic show we know we are beeing tricked and we like that, plus we don't want to feel as fool as we are asking the magician to repeat the trick so we can see how we were tricked.

This fact is connected with the movie The Great Gatsby, actually the main topic of the programme lies on the book/movie. Gatsby gets fool everyone, in an era where everything that counted were the appereances, to have money and things he was able of coming to the nowhere and have everything. The guest relates this with the desire of fantasy, Gatsby threw huge parties where people attend and they go there in order of forgeting their real problems. Because that was what people on that times wanted, live the fantasy, the opulence of that parties and the no revelation of the real selves.

The Gatsby case is also compared to the fake paintings because a fake painting to be really good it needs to have the little mistakes the real painter commit, because if not it would't be a good fake one. Same happens with Gatsby, the fake identity was so well build that no one could believe he was real. 

John Gray ends up with the same example that he started the show, the magician one. 

At the end of the programme we can hear the female voice of the beginning naming again the guest, and telling us who is the producer of the show. Also she informes us of who is coming next week and what is going to happen after the news and the following days.

Raquel Romero Morales

Feature

Editorial Commentary: Unknown knows

Unkown knows is a reflection by John Gray about facts and knows people rather to ignore: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03nt8br
It is produced by Sheila Cook

Broadcasted on Friday 10th January, 20:50 

and Sunday 12th January, 08:48 

in 2014 at BBC Radio 4's "Point of View"

John Gray is a professor of History who introduces the commentary speaking about the general thought of the economical crisis being part of the past and the situation being continuously getting better. Then he throws the rethorical question which would make the listener to keep tuned, curious: "Are we fooling oursevles?"

This professor distinguishes between things which are known but people do not pay attention to them, things that are not known and, finally, things which people do know but prefer to pretend to forget or ignore - i.e. things we choose not to know.
The first example is the Iraq war and the massive destruction weapons topic, which ended up to be just a justification. However, as Sadam was in some way linked to Al-Qaeda and the USA was expected to settle democracy in this country, no one has complained. The speech is not about what happned or did not happen, but about the fact that people rathers not to know, as it is more comfortable.
The second example is about the financial crisis and how, all along history, just before the crack everything was perfect. From a historical point of view, a crisis does not occur from day to night - there are many factors which indicate it and vaticcinates its advent long before it happens. However, people just ignores them, for it is easier to live in a not so realistic world. 

As a conclusion, he suggests that it is the system itself which provokes this evading-minded people, as it is the only way it can work. And, although all crisis and tragedies are similar to others which have already happened, people rather to forget and ignore.

It is remarkable that John Gray appeals to examples which are common and known by everybody -in fact, he does not give any data, just opinion- but no one really knows concretely about them, not even experts. Thus, he contacts with the listener, making him believe that this reasoning could have been developed by him or her.

Editorial Commentary - Alejandro Ordóñez

Okay. This is awkward. I didn't know this was supposed to be written down and I directly went for a podcast of myself analyzing the editorial live (which I honestly find more challenging and simply like it better). So let's just say I went the creative way.

Anyway, in case you find this is pure crap and has nothing to do with what we were supposed to do... it was just an honest mistake, so I apologize in advance.

Editorial: "Con la Reforma Fiscal ¿Vamos a pagar lo mismo o menos?" - Carlos Herrera

Me talking too much:

Editorial Commentary Analysis

Tribute to Teachers

This editorial commentary belongs to the BBC Radio 4 programme A Point of View, and was first broadcasted on 29th October, 2010. 

It is presented by Sarah Dunant, paying a tribute to the female teachers who influenced her and the rest of students of her generation to become the women they are now. The editorial commentary begins just with the title of the programme and the name the presenter, without any more information about her, and then Sarah Dunant starts talking about two memorial services to which she had recently attended, both of two teachers she had in her years studying at school. She talks about these two women, their names and what were exactly their occupation, their interests and how they fought to provide girl students the same education than boys. She says that the two memorials were full of women who had been their students and thinks over how immense was their influence, linking this to personal experiences and anecdotes from her own life and to how these experiences with the teachers helped her grow as a person and not just to achieve a lot of information about history, literature, art, and the rest of the school subjects. These teachers educated them in life. 

Then, Dunant changes to a more general approach. She points out that the end of the war placed women again in their place as mothers and wives and had to left bigger dreams behind —she puts the example of her teachers wanting to have theaters and art galleries—, and that is why they decide to become teachers and pass their ideals to girls of the following generations, who would be the ones in charge of the next waves of feminism, and to convince them that they were as much capable of everything as boys. Dunant denounces that these women have not yet received the credit they deserve for their work towards equality. 

The presenter ends up claiming how important is the presence of teachers who inspire, in every period of history and both to boys and girls, and finishes —after a brief mention to the general debate on education— talking again about one of her teachers and some objects she left her, symbols for Dunant of the work of all women teachers and the inspiration they were for schoolgirls. 

The programme ends with the repeating of the name of the presenter, specifying that it was written by her, and the name of the producer. 

Begoña Martín Lara. 

Editorial Commentary Analysis.

Analysis of an Editorial Commentary (On Marriage)

Link to commentary: http://podbay.fm/show/292076787/e/1297458000?autostart=1

The editorial commentary I chose is part of a series of BBC Radio 4 show called "Point of View", and  it was broadcasted the 11th of February of 2011. 

In the commentary we will start hearing to the presenter introducing himself, Alan de Botton, and what we will hear in the next eleven minutes. After that, the presenter starts the commentary sharing one of his experiences in love in order to lead us to the hot point of the programme: the role of love in our lives and the situations we might have to face and deal with when you are in a relationship. 

However, the first part of the programme is quite more focus in how love is shown in literature and how, normally, love has to face several problems. How in literature there is a fascination with unrequited love and, with this, he applies the structure of love in novels to the real life, leading us to the second part of the programme in which he talks about the daily romantic life on marriage and how it's not as perfect as it is in novels, illustrating us with examples such us having different tastes, confrontations, discrepancies, etc in which the humor is key. 

He explains how, from his point of view, the representation of love in literature gives us a poor preparation for marriage, and how things are rather different when you have to live together with another person. That is when you realize the craze, the low logic of the actions of the other person; when you come to a point in which you need to be able to accept the other person as a whole. Finally the presenter sums up with the statement that marriage is never dull nor simple and that it "puts to shame the most passionate works of literature". 

So we can say that the programme's structure is divided in two parts, the first section in which he focus more on the role of love in literature, and the second section in which we can hear the application of his opinion to the real life and the comparison with literature.

The commentary ends with the presenter repeating his name, and the producer's, and giving us the link where we can find more programs, like the one we have been listening to, in case we are interesting in hearing it again or another one. 

Virginia Veros Moreno.

Editorial Commentary Individual Analysis

Analysis of an Editorial Commentary (Our Love for Animals)

Link to the commentary http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03w3g6x

This commetary is part of the BBC Radio 4 A Point of View. The particular episode was first broadcast the 28th of February of this year. I chose this programme because I’m a big advocate for animal rights issues, and thought this would be an interesting programme to listen to.

At the beginning of the programme, the presenters are still talking about a previous show. Then, without much of an introduction, they state the name of the commentarist, Roger Scruton, and he starts his commentary. There is no explanation as to who he is, probably because it is expected that the native listener’s know of him. After looking him up on-line, I found that he is one of the most important and controversial philosophers in Britain today, and leans clearly towards a Conservative position. All of this helped me understand why he said some of the things during the programme.

Scruton starts by describing where he lives, a small rural area, and the animals of the place. After presenting just how well human raised animals live, he introduces the dilemma of wildlife, and the many inconsistent actions that we take that put them in danger, like killing rodents but then trying to save owls and other animals that feed on them.  After a brief summary of the purely anthropogenic  causes for wildlife destruction, he goes on to the main issue of his commentary: pets. And this is were his commentary turns to being an essay on environmentalism to a very poetic argument about the different types of love that us humans may feel. He argues that people who are caught in childish types of love, who do not manage to discipline their emotions, do so because of their pets. At one point, he compares this to the love Hitler felt for his dogs. This statement seems to be added just for the dramatic touch of incluiding Hitler’s name in his commentary, but it doesn’t clarify anything and in fact has very little relation to what he is talking about.

After focusing on dogs, he starst to discuss about cats, for whom Scruton clearly has a particular dislike that he tries to transmit to the listener by pointing out that they are “the most destructive alien species of the country” (which he supports by giving some numeric facts) and that they have a “taste for blood”, and calls the animal conservation group RSCPA “inquisitors” for protecting stray cats despite the fact that they kill wildlife.

He finishes his commentary by stating that he understands the love and sense of duty that pet owners feel for their animals, and which is the reason why they don’t take into account the damage they cause on wildlife. With this, he gets the viewer back in his corner (since some of his previous claims might have offended pet owning listeners). He asks that people be aware that we do not only have a duty towards the animals we love as individuals, but also towards wildlife in general. This type of love directed towards a large group of species is “the hard kind of love”, and the one Scruton thinks we should have.

The programme ends repeating the name of the commentarist, in case anyone missed it at the beginning, and giving the name of the producer. After that, they announce the upcoming programmes. 

Alejandra Freund

Individual Feature Analysis

Margaret are you grieving? A cultural history of weeping

Margaret are you grieving? A cultural history of weeping is a feature that belongs to Sunday Feature, aired on BBC 3 Sundays at 18:45.

This feature is not only about crying but the meaning of crying as a response of humans towards arts: music, paintings, performances... In this feaute experts explain the cultural reason for that and give several theories of why humans cry. Margaret are you grieving? A cultural history of weeping places the voice of the host with the voice of the experts, also at the beginning several people are interviewed and ask about what things make them cry.

The use of the music is scarce but it has the role of introducting the listeners to theme of the program. It is a sad and slow song. Also several pieces of music are pieces during the feature, another example is while talking of religion a religious song is played.

The importance here fall on the tone of voice: while taking the host does it in a normal-paused tone of voice but while reading stories and poems the voice suddenly changes and the pauses start to be longer,  the voice sometimes crumbles and breaks because of the feelings, nevertheless it doesn't reach the weaping. The sound effects are also very reduced, the sound of people walking is used to show movement, when talking of showing the art pieces of Mark Rothko. And the low voice with a different echo to show they are in a museum or a different room.

To sum up, weeping is not a reason of embarrasment, even though people try to avoid it. There are several signs that show we are about to cry. Nevertheless, even the experts doesn't have all the reason why human cry they have explain some of them, for example a way of communication when we are kids or how art evokes on us several feelings and it is our wat to express them.


Raquel Romero Morales

Individual Feature Analysis by Alvaro Delgado

“Spike Jonze’s, big data”

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03thgqy

The feature that I’ve chosen to analyze “Spike Jonze’s Her, Big data” , a feature for BBC 3 radio station , which is one of their ongoing series on Tuesdays at 22:00 pm.

In this session, I have point out that the main feature that is developed all through the 45 minutes of show is the idea of the human relationships with the new technology and putting as example the new movie “Her” directed by Spike Jonze. The idea of having a deeper feeling of emotion towards technology, this having as example the movie “Her”, in which Theodor gets in love of his phone Samantha. All through the show there’s an interesting debate between the two main broadcasters with two different point of views.

There are a lot of elements that are used to develop the main feature, such as some real audio clips and dialogues of the movie. Also the supporting the topics with facts of big companies such as Apple that each day they try to make a more emotional device that are easier to understand the human being. More over they discuss the feature “is it possible to have a relationship with an electronic device?”

Finally there’s an interview to Ian Angell Professor Emeritus at the London School of Economics, historian Tom Holland and Tom Smith in which they discuss our attitude to data past and present. They make a deep discussion about the new big data of the new media which is invading our society.


 Álvaro Delgado Alonso

Individual feature analysis: BBC's "Sad Music"

Sad Music by Helena Merriman is a BBC radio feature in which why people listen to sad music is tried to be figured out.
At first it may look as a simple editing, because it only contains people speaking and music. However, with its simplicity creates a great atmosphere in which the listener is immersed. It speaks about feelings everybody has experienced, so it creates sympathy in the listener.

The feature begins with ordinary people testimonies; for instance, "I listen to sad music in order to cry". Thus, the listener feels it could be him or her who is speaking.

It is interesting that all interventions are, besides brief and clear, very short -no longer than a minute- and, in the longest ones, there are pauses which are filled with the music which was on the background. The music below is slow and sad, in harmony with the speeches. For example, a pshycholoy professor speaks about different periods of music history and the music played is like the music mentioned by him.

There is a scientific approach with a music producer and professors explaining how sad songs are made. With this, the hearer gets curious about it and satisfies its curiosity while listening. The first one is an interview, which makes it more interactive and dynamic.
Another way to make it dynamic and compelling to the audience is, between the professors' intervention, inserting some listener's statements about their favourite sad song or why they enjoy listening to them.

At the end of the programme, the presenter summarises all testimonies and theories and then introduces a slow piano piece, letting the listener enjoy it and reflect about what they've heard and their own sensations.

Feature Analysis

A Brief History of Being Cold

This feature was broadcasted on BBC Radio 3, within the programme Sunday Feature that is aired on Sundays at 18:45. 

The feature aims to portray the evolution of the experiencing of cold and how it has influenced British people, paying special attention to its representation in literature and in famous romantic poems, such as The Eve of St. Agnes by John Keats. The presenter of the feature, Alexandra Harris, talks with writers, poets, specialists on art and literature and even a gardener in her way on finding the poetic meaning of cold. It includes several extracts from the poems and novels that are studied and commentaries on them. 

In A Brief History of Being Cold it is very important the use of the sounds, that make the listeners able to transport themselves to the places where the presenter has been and especially to make the cold of these places more real to their imagination. Thus, we hear the sound of the steps on the snow when the presenter is about to talk to the poet Simon Armitage, the wind blowing, far away roads or even bells ringing and bleating sheep in the background. The voice of the presenter also helps creating that feeling, as in certain occasions has the kind of congested tone characteristic of the cold winter days, In the same way, we have the opposite sensation, that of being indoors, during the conversation with the curator of an exhibition of Ice Age art in the British Museum we can perceive the silence of the big rooms of a museum and our mind can perfectly portray the two women talking besides the objects of the exhibition. 

The music is remarkable as well. It accompanies the poems and the narrations and most of the times helps creating a whole between the song and the passage and reinforces its meaning, since they are chosen to fit in the sensation of cold and some of them –for instance, Drive the Cold Winter Away– include it as its theme. 

As a conclusion, this feature presents a very interesting approach to the meaning that cold has and has had in literature, and part of its appealing resides on the use of sound and music, that creates the feeling of travelling with the presenter to the winter of Great Britain in search of this meaning. 

Begoña Martín Lara.

Individual Feature Analysis

Link to the show: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03rx8jf 

 My feature choice to analyze is "Shanghai- World City Redux", a feature for BBC 3 radio station. It's one of the features that composes an ongoing series aired on Sundays at 18:45. 

"Shanghai- World City Redux" is perfect for those of us who are interested in the history of Asian countries and cities, and how they have developed in the countries and cities that are nowadays. So, the feature tries to illustrate us about the development Shanghai has experienced during the former century and the role and effect the foreigners has had in terms of oppression, but also as a wave of modernity for the city we now know. 

The presenter, whose emotional tone of voice guides us throughout the feature, makes use of several brief interviews in order to let us know several facts as well as the opinion of the interviewees and, thus, places us in the context. However it's the use of the music what achieves the goal of the interviewer: get us "travel across time" to the Shanghai of the former century and makes us feel the influence of the British in the society. Because of this the jazz music is very present throughout the feature, representing the times of modernity. 

This "travel accross time" is achieved also through the background sounds that places us, and makes us get in the mood of the feature, when the presenter moves on to a more serious topic: the effect it had the departure of the foreigners in the city; how all the modernization, the Hollywood movies, the neon, the jazz bands were all gone. Moreover, the feature includes archive footage sounds from political discourses and pieces of the novel "Midnight" and, as it was said, several interviews, some of them translated simultaneously while the interviewees spoke in their native language. 

The sum of this makes us, the listeners, get immerse in the atmosphere and the continuous changes the city and their population faced in such a short period of time.




Virginia Veros Moreno.

Individual Feature Analysis

Link to the show http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03t08mz 

The feature I chose to analyze is Living With Memory in Rwanda, a feature for BBC 3 radio station which is part of their ongoing series around diverse social topics that airs on Sundays at 18:45. 

The feature deals with the Rwandan genocide that happened in 1994 and explains its repercussions to this day and the way the country deals with the social implications of what happened. I chose this programme because I’ve always been very interested in the history of countries which are not usually studied in school. 

The feature takes us on a journey around the country, to different memorial sites and places of big historical importance in regards to the genocide. The presenter, who describes the sites with a strong emotional tone, also conducts brief interviews with survivors of the massacre, as well as activists and current political leaders of the country, who inform about the genocide and present their views on how to improve the situation, for example. The great majority of the programme features Rwandan inhabitants, some speak in English and others in their native language with simultaneous English translation. However, the presenter who leads the feature also talks about her personal experiences visiting the country, and talks in terms of “we” to include the listener into the tour. The programme ends on a hopeful note in terms of how Rwanda has managed to move past its social differences and how it can be an example for other nearby nations (like Congo). 

The whole programme runs with some background sounds that situate the listener in the place: at the beginning, when the presenter introduces the horrors of the genocide, her voice is accompanied by the sound of falling rain that creates a feeling of sadness and nostalgia. Also, the feature includes archive footage sounds from political discourses of 1994, as well as excerpts from today’s educational radio shows. Music is also a very important element in this feature, exclusively from either current Rwandan artists or simply folkloric rythms, and in the end we get to listen to a poem in one of the local languages. All of this gives the listener a feeling of belonging, and we can imagine the athmosphere of the place in much greater detail. 

All in all, this programme makes for a very entertaining and informative history and social sciences lecture on Rwanda, and gives the listener an idea of what happened and how the country has managed to move on from it. 

Alejandra Freund Urrutia