Jeremy Clarkson Clip

Key Point: Narrative refers to the structure and order of a media text and this can be applied

to a news report / story. Running Order is an important consideration in the structure of a TV

news programme. We see the most important or hard news first, owing to their significance,

followed by soft news stories.

Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended by the BBC recently for a row with a producer over his

dinner. This is the second of a series of high profile bust-ups that he has had. Good Morning

Britain broadcast this story but saw this as more important news than the death of a toddler in a

nursery owing to staff not being trained in CPR. How is this seen as ‘more important news’ in this clip?
Jeremy Clarkson clip - Good Morning Britain

News reports will often have the following structure:

–Opening (Equilibrium)

–Disequilibrium (Disruption)

–Resolution

–Audience like to see ‘resolution’, but this is not always the case with some stories, Ebola for example. (Ongoing story)

As an audience, we are interested in seeing the cause & effect of news stories as well as the

creation of tension, suspense and expectation. Common characters we see

are heroes and villains who are involved in some sort of quest. Re-watch the newsclip relating to

Jeremy Clarkson – which of these characters can we identify him as? How have you come to this

conclusion?