storytelling 3 - getting the order right
In October 2005 fighting broke out in the town of Nalchik - between Chechen rebels and Russian security forces.
BBC Radio News ran the news item on Radio 4 in three segments - a cue which more or less told the whole story, then there was a despatch from Emma Simpson in Moscow, giving details of the fighting, and the casualty figures in Nalchik.
(CUE: Chechen rebel fighters have staged a huge attack on the southern Russian city of Nalchik. As many as sixty people are reported to have been killed after a series of gun battles between police and militants. Twelve civilians and a dozen police officers are said to be among the dead, along with at least twenty of the attackers. Tonight there are reports that some of the militants are still holding out in several parts of the city. Nalchik is the capital of the republic of Kabardino-Balkariya, in the north caucuses, a volatile region which has seen an increasing level of violence in recent months. More details from our correspondent in Moscow Emma Simpson.)
BAND 1 FX GUNFIRE
It was a morning of mayhem in Nalchik, with the sound of automatic gunfire and explosions ringing out across the city. This was an audacious and well organised attack. Three police stations and a number of government buildings housing law enforcement agencies and the FSB security services came under fire. Militants also tried to attack the city's airport. Fighting has been fierce, with the reports that between eighty and a hundred and fifty attackers were involved. Many civilians were also caught up in the gun battles that raged for several hours. At one point, security forces poured into a school close to some of the shooting, to evacuate terrified children. Elsewhere, a number of police officers were taken hostage in one of the buildings under attack but were later freed. Chechen rebels have claimed responsibility in the form of a message posted on an internet website often used by the rebels. President Putin has ordered a total blockade of Nalchik to prevent any remaining militants from slipping out. He's also ordered his security forces to kill any gunmen who put up resistance.
Finally there was this piece by Steve Rozenberg:
It's a journey too perilous to attempt. But if you were to drive west out of the Chechen capital, Grozny, for about a hundred miles, over pot-holed roads and through a maze of army check-points, you'd eventually arrive in Nalchik. It was once a resort town in the foothills of Europe's highest peak, Elbrus, with some of the Soviet Union's most exclusive ski-slopes. Today it's the latest flashpoint in Russia's volatile North Caucasus. I visited Nalchik earlier this year. It was clear then that a combination of poverty and iron-rule were creating a fertile soil for Islamic extremism. In this part of Russia, there's up to ninety per cent unemployment. Concerned about the spread of radical religion, the authorities in Nalchik began shutting mosques. That led to more discontent. There were street battles between the security forces and local militants. And now this massive co-ordinated attack. Moscow has failed to stop the violence in Chechnya from spreading. The danger now is of a conflict which ignites the whole region.
I would contend that only when you hear the Rozenberg backgrounder do you understand what's been going on and why - and you only hear this background almost 3 minutes into the story. It's a long time to wait to find out why you are being told about shooting in a town in the far distant Caucasus on a Thursday afternoon.
The order is a natural one which 99 out of 100 editors would follow - cue, correspondent's latest, then backgrounder. But is there a better way to tell the story?
BBC Radio News ran the news item on Radio 4 in three segments - a cue which more or less told the whole story, then there was a despatch from Emma Simpson in Moscow, giving details of the fighting, and the casualty figures in Nalchik.
(CUE: Chechen rebel fighters have staged a huge attack on the southern Russian city of Nalchik. As many as sixty people are reported to have been killed after a series of gun battles between police and militants. Twelve civilians and a dozen police officers are said to be among the dead, along with at least twenty of the attackers. Tonight there are reports that some of the militants are still holding out in several parts of the city. Nalchik is the capital of the republic of Kabardino-Balkariya, in the north caucuses, a volatile region which has seen an increasing level of violence in recent months. More details from our correspondent in Moscow Emma Simpson.)
BAND 1 FX GUNFIRE
It was a morning of mayhem in Nalchik, with the sound of automatic gunfire and explosions ringing out across the city. This was an audacious and well organised attack. Three police stations and a number of government buildings housing law enforcement agencies and the FSB security services came under fire. Militants also tried to attack the city's airport. Fighting has been fierce, with the reports that between eighty and a hundred and fifty attackers were involved. Many civilians were also caught up in the gun battles that raged for several hours. At one point, security forces poured into a school close to some of the shooting, to evacuate terrified children. Elsewhere, a number of police officers were taken hostage in one of the buildings under attack but were later freed. Chechen rebels have claimed responsibility in the form of a message posted on an internet website often used by the rebels. President Putin has ordered a total blockade of Nalchik to prevent any remaining militants from slipping out. He's also ordered his security forces to kill any gunmen who put up resistance.
Finally there was this piece by Steve Rozenberg:
It's a journey too perilous to attempt. But if you were to drive west out of the Chechen capital, Grozny, for about a hundred miles, over pot-holed roads and through a maze of army check-points, you'd eventually arrive in Nalchik. It was once a resort town in the foothills of Europe's highest peak, Elbrus, with some of the Soviet Union's most exclusive ski-slopes. Today it's the latest flashpoint in Russia's volatile North Caucasus. I visited Nalchik earlier this year. It was clear then that a combination of poverty and iron-rule were creating a fertile soil for Islamic extremism. In this part of Russia, there's up to ninety per cent unemployment. Concerned about the spread of radical religion, the authorities in Nalchik began shutting mosques. That led to more discontent. There were street battles between the security forces and local militants. And now this massive co-ordinated attack. Moscow has failed to stop the violence in Chechnya from spreading. The danger now is of a conflict which ignites the whole region.
I would contend that only when you hear the Rozenberg backgrounder do you understand what's been going on and why - and you only hear this background almost 3 minutes into the story. It's a long time to wait to find out why you are being told about shooting in a town in the far distant Caucasus on a Thursday afternoon.
The order is a natural one which 99 out of 100 editors would follow - cue, correspondent's latest, then backgrounder. But is there a better way to tell the story?
posted by stoneperson at 22:19
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