LO3: Justifying Codes and Conventions

LO3: Justifying Codes and Conventions

Within my radio broadcast, I followed the codes and conventions typical of other influential broadcast stations like BBC Radio 4, as well as their radio drama structure, and LBC. 

One example conventional of typical radio follows the station's jingle following an interim of advertisements: the purpose of this jingle was to reflect the late-night and niche audience of the station by creating audio (that speaks the station's name, as conventional) with fantastical or eerie elements (e.g. a wolf's howl) to portray the depiction of literature as a theme throughout the broadcast. This later evidenced by an interview with an author and radio drama akin to an audiobook with emphasis on narration. The advert this follows is also typical of the kind of station Full Moon Radio is by representation of chain restaurants likely to appear in locations like motorway services that late-night drivers and radio listeners are likely to frequent.

Another example would be the quarterly news bulletin which acts as a form of surveillance (Blumler and Katz) to inform audiences of what is happening in local areas. The inclusion of a jingle to signify this bulletin and designated news reader further this as being conventional of traditional radio. The teacher-pupil, formal mode of address is also typical as it juxtaposes the otherwise colloquial peer-peer presenter style of the station's main voice; emphasising the importance of the broadcasted information. The mode of address and language used between segments of the station also juxtapose each other depending on the significance of a given section and the kind of tone it should subsequently portray. Segments like presenting and interviews are taken significantly more lightly to convey the laid-back tone of the station as the audience is then immersed in the contrasting shift to a news bulletin they need to hear or an engrossing radio drama. 

The radio drama follows conventions set by other stations where they often feature like BBC Radio 4; this is evident by their intrinsic audiences. Radio 4 shares a niche, mature ABC1 audience and their radio dramas often then appeal to that demographic by portraying mature or adult content: this could be conveyed through mature themes or bad language like in their drama 'The Talented Mr. Shakespeare' and their flirtation with witty dialogue and ploys of lexical humour. I have replicated this with examples of dialogue like 'I need a drink - yes, I'm sure you do. A Bloody Mary perhaps?' which uses the context of a mature theme like alcoholism to create humour; thus conveying the intended (age and ABC1) demographic. The portrayal of a fictional world with social realistic concepts also furthers the idea of escapism as a convention of a radio broadcasts by allowing an audience member to immerse themselves into a different life vicariously through the drama's narration (also conveying the literature motif of the station, something also intrinsic to the intended ABC1, mature audience).

The age demographic of those present in the broadcast (e.g. presenter, news reader, voice actors, interview) further radio conventions by reflecting the primary and secondary audiences of the programmes through vocal representation (25-50 male and female audiences and a secondary audience of young adults). Musical representation of nostalgic 70's music further this audience relatability/appeal with songs like 'I'm Not in Love' by 10cc which convey the niche appeal of the station.