News Project Script

3 Counties Radio
NEWS BULLETIN
24/03/09 18:00

[Music Starts.  Newsreader speaks:]

Employees of Birmingham's biggest car components factory claim unfair dismissal due to late arrival.

Rebuilding one of Birmingham's oldest churches is causing significant internal controvercy.

Public protest against the government's plans to build a wind farm in Hay on Wigh.

And corruption ruled supreme at a fundraising event at a comprehensive school in Birmingham.

[Music rises.  Voiceover announces:]

3 Counties Radio News with Matthew Horspool.

]Music ends.  The newsreader continues:]

Employees of Birmingham's biggest car components factory are now being dismissed for arriving late for work, causing legal action to be taken.  Carl Stephens, our business affairs correspondent, has more details:

[Reporter:]

Twenty-seven employees have been dismissed and a further fifty-two are in jeopardy of losing their jobs after Toyota instituted a new policy demanding the sacking of late workers.  The new policy states that those who arrive for work over fifteen minutes late, or those who arrive over five minutes late for three days, should be summarily dismissed.  When asked why, Toyota management said that it was in the company's best interests to only employ people who could arrive in a timely manner, quoting their desire to serve customers quickly and efficiently.  However, many dismissed employees scough at such a statement.

[Common Worker 1:]

It's obviously a ressession thing.  They wanna get rid of as many workers as they can as quickly as possible before they go bankrupt and they'll do anythin' to see that 'appen."

[Common Worker 2:]

In the twelve and an 'alf years I've been workin' for 'em, I've very rarely seen a job go out on time.  Why should they take it out on us when they lose business?  It'd be OK if they meant what they say, but they don't.  And it's obvious to most people."

[Common Worker 3:]

I d'no what they're on about, to be honest.  At the end of the day, we ain't got many customers.  Most of the stuff we make goes out to our show rooms, and they don't need quick stock!  Where'd they put it anyway?"

[Reporter:]

Some discruntled employees are currently in the process of claiming unfair dismissal, but a response has not yet been received.  Carl Stephens, 3 Counties Radio News, Birmingham.

[Newsreader:]

An historic church at the heart of Erdington which was attacked by arsonists in October two years ago has begun to plan its restoration, causing a significant amount of tention throughout its congregation and administration.  Freda Evens, current vickar, wishes to worship in a more modern environment, but Peter Spencer, former vickar, has publically expressed his disapproval of such a transformation.  Here's our religious affairs correspondent, Mark Shepherd.

[Reporter:]

In October 2007, a mere six months before the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its opening, St. Barnabas' Church in Erdington was attacked by arsonists.  The seventy fire fighters who were called to save the Grade II Listed Building were, in fact, only able to save the bell tower and the outer shell; the rest was destroyed.  Now, almost one and a half years on, plans are in place to restore the historic icon of the town to its former glory.

The plans involve building a new entrance, sanding down the outside of the building, constructing a room in the basement which was previously used for storing maintenance supplies and rebuilding the main body of the Church in a more modern way.  Freda Evens, vickar at the Church since May last year, claims that the plans have the support of the congregation and is hopeful that the new design will encourage more people to attend regularly.

[Freda:]

Church is stereotyped as being this safe haven for old, posh, upperclass people.  Common people don't really want to know, and it's that that I really want to change.  By keeping our traditional look, people just won't bother.  We have a small congregation and the only way to make it grow is to introduce new features.  Make it more homely.

[Reporter:]

But though the plans have the support of a large majority of the congregation, they have not been unanimously accepted.  Perhaps the most outspoken opposer is former vickar Peter Spencer, who retired three months before the fire.

[Peter:]

The church was a Grade II Listed Building.  People knew it for what it was - a traditional church.  People liked it for its traditionality, and to take that away will only turn people away.  The current administration has a duty to retain what we had before the fire, and  they're not doing that at present.

[Reporter:]

The plans have now been delivered to Andy Jolly, the Area Dean, and will subsequently be sent to other managers within the diociss including the current bishop.  If approved, the rebuilding effort will cost 8.5 million pounds, half a million of which will need to be raised by the congregation.  Mark Shepherd, 3 Counties Radio News, Erdington.

[Newsreader:]

The government have announced plans to build a wind farm in Hay on Wigh in an attempt to reduce fuel consumption.  It is hoped that the farm, which will aledgedly be complete by the end of 2010, will supply a significant amount of electricity to the surrounding area.  But the opinion of the local population is varied, with some believing that it is a positive development and others believing it will merely be an Isaw with no use.

[Person 1:]

I understand why we need alternative energy sources, but I don't like having a wind farm where I live - they look disgraceful!  It wouldn't be so bad if we had wind, but we very rarely get enough of that to make a wind farm useful anyway.

[Person 2:]

It's a brilliant move; the government should be congratulated for making it.  We're going to run out of petrol eventually and I strongly believe that any move to reduce fuel consumption is a good one.

[Newsreader:]

And finally: pupils at Perry Beeches School in Great Barr, Birmingham recently arranged a fundraising day in aid of Cancer Research UK, but a fellow pupil who was running the music stall stole the money raised at the end of the day; only £5 were left.  Several parents have publically expressed their anger about the occurance, resulting in the thief being suspended from school until the end of the Easter holiday.  The organisers of the event have released an apology which will be published in the next school newsletter.

3 Counties Radio News, it's five past Six, I'm Matthew Horspool.

Initial Project Proposal

I will create an introduction to an episode of a program on Channel Four Radio called "Braille Trail", which will be broadcast every Wednesday evening at 7:30 for thirty minutes.  The program discusses issues of particular interest to blind and partially sighted people, paying particular attention to new products and services and recent and upcoming events.

Channel Four Radio does not broadcast a great deal of music programming.  As such, the station ID should focus on the speech and sound effects rather than music; indeed, it may not be necessary to incorporate music at all, although doing so may add flavour.  The ID should exude an atmosphere of calmness: that is to say, it should be read clearly at a moderate pace.  I propose recording the sound of someone Brailling on a Perkins Brailler and someone walking, then mixing them together, adding any necessary effects, to create the sound of someone literally following the Braille Trail.  This could be accomplished by slowly moving the sound of the Brailler from right to left across the stereo spectrum, then doing the same to the footsteps, then mixing the two together, ensuring that the footsteps begin a few seconds after the Brailler.  The recording of the Brailler should end with the bell signifying that the carriage has reached the end of the line, at which point a voice could announce "The Braille Trail with Matthew Horspool on Channel Four Radio".  A short burst of music could also be mixed in at this point to add flavour.

The programme should use distinct theme music so that it is easily recogniseable by the listeners.  It also gives the programme a definite start and end, making it easier to extract it for archiving.  The music should have a dramatic feel, similar to that used by television news broadcasters.  It could possibly be recorded at a tempo of 100 BPM using a time signature of 2/4, but this is not essential.

Immediately after the ID, over the top of the theme music, the host could say: "Hello and welcome to The Braille Trail, 30 minutes of news and comment of rellevence to people with sight loss.  I'm Matthew Horspool.  This week:"

At this point, the archive clip could be introduced.  I propose a clip from one of Brian Hartgen's software reviews, perhaps of a new version of J-Say.

After this, the host could continue: "We hear an extensive interview with Brian Hartgen about significant developments to the J-Say software which enables Blind and Partially Sighted people to effectively control and dictate text to a computer via voice."

The Introduction Ends.