Critical Reflection - Year 2 Semester 2

This semester I moved from being a member of the production team to the political reporter. I was a little bit apprehensive at first and missed my spot behind the vision mixer, but the following few weeks quickly changed my mind.

This semester our Alexa ranking increased massively going from 15,260 (figure from Alexa.com and correct on 06/02/13 at 13.08) to 12,025 (correct on 27/03/13 at 11.16) and peaking even higher throughout the semester. WINOL has a better Alexa ranking than any other student publication in the country, with the exception of TAB. TAB however is the work of several universities so they are not realistically comparable to the work we do on WINOL. Last semester our main student competitor was East London Lines from Goldsmiths University in London, however this semester their Alexa ranking was not even comparable to WINOL. For example on 13/03/13 at 11.19 their Alexa ranking stood at 43,367 whereas WINOL.com was much further ahead at 9,258.

 I believe the main reason behind this increase is down to social networking. Every member of the WINOL team plugs their work on both the official WINOL Twitter and Facebook accounts, and on their private and/or work accounts. We also keep our feeds active on the days leading up to the bulletin by tweeting about what we are doing for our packages, whether its uploading a picture of us filming on location, or just tweeting about an interview taking place. Nearly all of our guest editors mentioned just how important social networking is to news. Former student Paul Wood gave us advice on how to properly market WINOL, and Fleet Street Fox, Susie Boniface, advised us on how to utilise the internet using her own highly successful blog as an example. Simple things such as posting your tweets at a certain time can have an astounding effect on how many people will see it.

Having a Social Media Editor (Hannah Hayesmore) definitely helped promote WINOL as she was continually plugging all of our work and made sure WINOL could never be forgotten about. It was also helped by the fact that the features really took off this semester, with continually updated fashion, travel, music and arts websites. As features don’t particularly date, we can keep them on the front page to help our website appear active and current. This, alongside our “weekend news team” who updated the website with stories over the weekend, meant we could continually promote WINOL throughout the week and not lose our audience. This was a problem we had encountered last semester, we would have a surge of viewers on a Wednesday, but it would then die off for the rest of the week.

We were also very lucky to have the Eastleigh by-election unfold on our doorstep. This by-election was triggered by the huge scandal of MP Chris Huhne’s resignation after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice. This captured the attention of the nation so naturally it helped increase our audience as we covered the by-election from its very beginning.

During the weeks leading up to the election the WINOL website became a hub of political news and exclusive interviews. As the political reporter for WINOL this was a perfect opportunity for me to get some of my best news stories and really get a grasp of the local political landscape. Within a week I went from being the definition of a political half-wit, to a near expert on all of the main parties campaigning in Eastleigh. 

During the by-election most of the reporters abandoned their usual posts so we could cover as many aspects of the election as possible. Faith Thomas, Ellen Millard, Ben Hatton and Simisola Adebosin  each followed the campaign trail of one of the main four parties in the election; Liberal Democrats, UKIP, Labour and Conservatives. This helped WINOL gain contacts so we could get interviews with each of the candidates and get behind the scenes of their campaigns.

WINOL got thrown in with the big dogs as famous faces from parliament paid a visit to Eastleigh. I went with our political editor Louis O’Brian to film the Deputy Prime minister, Nick Clegg, visiting a college in Eastleigh. This was my first experience of a media scrum and it was more intense than I had ever imagined, but I managed to elbow my way in and get all of the footage I would need. Although we were unable to get our question in, I still managed to film him responding to interview questions from other publications, and fortunately everyone wanted to know the same thing; “what have the Lib Dems got planned in response to the Chris Huhne scandal?” I chose to pair the Nick Clegg footage with interviews I had recorded earlier in the week, with UKIP leader Nigel Farage and UKIP candidate Diane James. I would consider this to be my best package on WINOL and I received very positive feedback from both Angus Scott and our guest editor Chris Ship (ITV NEWS Deputy Political Editor) who described it as “excellent coverage”. The first few seconds of the VT were the most mentioned as the few seconds of natural sound left at the beginning made it seem professional and led into my voiceover well.  The only tip that was mentioned, and it is something that on reflection I wish I had done, is that I should have made reference to the irony that Nick Clegg was being shown around an apprentice mechanics after Chris Huhne’s speeding scandal.

This package also highlighted that not everyone I will interview during my time as a journalist will have been media trained. Diane James proved difficult to interview as she wouldn’t stand still, she kept edging closer to me as I interviewed her so she would go out of shot. Fortunately she gave us another opportunity for an interview so on this occasion I decided to film it as a sit down interview. This ended up working in our favour as I then edited it into a separate package, as an extended interview with the UKIP candidate. We then made sure to do this with the rest of the main party candidates, which proved quite popular.

Labour leader Ed Milliband, Conservative Boris Johnson, and the Prime Minister also paid a visit to Eastleigh and WINOL managed to cover them all. The by-election increased our audience massively, with the WINOL interview with Boris Johnson reaching nearly three thousand views on its own.

The lead up to the by-election was very time consuming as you were constantly out filming, either for your own package, or helping out with someone else’s, but it was also very rewarding. The perfect example of this was the Boorley Green/Botley housing development. This was a controversial topic in the by-election so I was eager to cover it. Housing developments are usually a story we avoid as they can make for a very dull package, however I was quite lucky as the Conservative candidate Maria Hutchings was at the housing meeting and she was very opposed to the plans.

Maria Hutchings by this point was notoriously hard to get hold of and all of the media were asking “where’s Maria?” We approached her before the meeting and her PR assistant stated she would not be available for interview until after the housing meeting once the decision had been made. This seemed reasonable so myself and Ellen Millard set up our camera to get our shots from within the meeting. Little did we know that it would drag on until 1am. Once the decision had been passed and the plans were approved, we approached Maria Hutchings for our interview, and after a lot of persuading and innocent looking faces, her PR assistant agreed. He was clearly not one hundred percent comfortable with the interview as he strongly warned us to only ask about the housing development. This was fantastic as WINOL hadn’t managed to interview her yet and she held a very strong view against the development which made for good sound bites. However this also provided one of my biggest regrets on WINOL. Hutchings was all over the news after a controversial statement about public schools not being good enough for her son, I knew I needed to question her on this. The question was in my head but annoyingly so was the PR man so I chickened out, and kept my questions strictly to the development. If I could go back to any moment in WINOL and change something, that would be it.

On the night of the by-election WINOL produced an election special, “The South Decides”, starting at 10pm and continuing until the result. This was a huge task for the production team as there were so many elements to consider. The time was split up between three presenters as it was going to be a long night so they needed to ensure everyone was at the top of their game. They also organised a variety of in studio guests, special packages, live news updates from the news room and an OB live from the count in Eastleigh. My role on the night was to report live from the count. We had practised and conducted run throughs with all of the equipment we would be using on the night and it was working flawlessly. However things did not run quite so smoothly on the night.

We were the first media to arrive at the count and we immediately took to setting up and testing our equipment. It all went downhill very quickly from there. As we don’t have an OB truck we had to report via Skype using a gun mic connected to the laptop and a HD webcam, this was a simple solution that had worked extremely well in rehearsals. But when it came to the night the laptop wouldn’t register the sound, and then failed to register the webcam. After hours of trying every solution possible the only one we could make work was Skype via an iPhone. This was the last thing we wanted to do but it was better to have something than nothing. We made the best of a bad situation and so did the production team back in the studio. I can only imagine how stressful it must have been for them but Nicole Collas made sure to keep us informed and the whole team helped our OB’s run as smoothly as possible.

Whilst at the count I was also interviewed by Sky News. I expected them to ask me about WINOL or our journalism course but instead they questioned me on the election and the party’s policies. Fortunately I had been following the by-election religiously so I could answer their questions, but it was still unbelievable terrifying.

Although it wasn’t perfect, the fact we even attempted to cover the whole election and have OB’s live from the count is a massive credit to the whole WINOL team, that as a student publication we could still be so ambitious.

 It may have felt like it, but the world didn’t stop turning for the by-election, and a lot of fantastic non-political news was reported by WINOL this semester. Christina Michaels gave us weekly court updates and a very harrowing report on the Jade Clark hit and run story. The heart breaking footage of her family’s appeal was very carefully handled and reported in a very dignified manner.

One of my most popular stories this semester ended up being one of my few stories completely unrelated to politics, the New Forest dog toxin. A mystery toxin in the New Forest had killed eight dogs over three months. After they got lesions on their legs and paws, they would then go into kidney failure and die. The source of the toxin is unknown, and since I reported on it, has gone on to kill several more dogs. I did a lot of research into this package as I wanted to get a grasp of just how serious the situation was and how much of a concern it was for dog owners.  I interviewed a vet investigating the toxin, who had treated a couple of the affected dogs. Unfortunately this interview came out grainy as the camera was on Lolux (night vision), however I still chose to use it as I felt it was necessary for the story. I then interviewed a dog owner walking in the New Forest and got some lovely cut aways of her dog playing.

I posted my package on Twitter and Facebook, the same way I would every week, and it was then shared by some local dog owners who knew people that walked their pets in the New Forest. I think the main reason this story was so popular is because it’s a local story with a big shock factor, people are mad about their pets so the minute they think they may be in danger they want to know about it.

Another big story for WINOL was the Budget which was announced on a Wednesday, so we turned that week’s WINOL into a “budget special”. On Wednesday morning I went to Westminster to report on the political side of the budget and Faith Thomas went to the Bank of England to cover the economic side. This was a very high pressured day as we had to get to London early in the morning to film our piece to cameras and conduct our interviews. I interviewed Liberal Democrat MP Mike Thornton, which worked out well as this meant we also could record a separate interview with him as a catch up since his victory in the Eastleigh by-election. We then had to rush back to Winchester, edit as much as we could on the train, and then finish our editing in the news room in time for it to go in the bulletin. By this point we were all very used to working under high pressure, but even then it was still a very stressful day for all those involved. I was very pleased with this package, despite its rushed edit, as I felt it looked very professional, set up in front of parliament discussing predictions with an MP.

Alongside my political role on WINOL I also maintained my role as radio news editor. My main focus this semester was to help train the first years to write news for radio. They would each come in for a day, write a few news stories, then produce and record a bulletin. Working on WINOL gets you used to a very high standard from your peers, and to no fault of the first years, sometimes my patience was tested as I wasn’t used to people not knowing exactly what they need to do. Unfortunately on several occasions I had to leave due to filming commitments so I would delegate to another member of the radio team. Radio was fairly restricted this semester as I really couldn’t dedicate as much time to it as I would have liked, and also the radio society were gearing up to make changes which we were not made aware of. Ideally I think WINOL needs its own separate radio streamer, or at least a better relationship with the society. Radio could be a fantastic asset to WINOL it just needs to be given a lot of time and effort for it to thrive in the same way that features did.

So much happened this semester it is impossible to mention it all, but the main highlight is how well everyone on WINOL worked as a team. Everyone has shared footage, spared their days helping others film, and playing chauffer to those who don’t have cars. I really enjoyed my role as political reporter and I felt my confidence grow as my work improved week by week. I think I have learnt more in this role than any other I have taken on during my time in WINOL and I am intrigued to see where it will go next.

Fleet Street Fox visits WINOL

Fleet Street Fox has revealed herself as Susie Boniface and her subsequent lack of anonymity means that she was able to pay a visit to us in the WINOL news room. (We're not that wonky in real life - promise!)

She highlighted the importance of identity as a journalist and the identity of the Fleet Street Fox is structured right down to the colour of her clothes and even to her unique style of eyeliner. Some may consider it to be vanity, but appearance is crucial when you want to be take seriously. Even the simplicity of choosing to wear heels over flats, or deciding to be clean shaven with a tie, as opposed to rough and ready stubble, can really make a difference. Red, white and black- these are the colours of success. Their eye-catching combination is used throughout the industry with the red masthead on a tabloid paper, and even in the Fox's dress sense.  

Make the most of the internet! Twitter is your friend and you should make the most of it. It is important to understand who your audience is and what they will be interested in reading. The same applies for Blogger, Facebook and anything else you can use to your advantage. 9am, 2pm, 4.45pm, 8pm, 10pm.. these are the peak reader traffic times and the moments when you should really be plugging your work!

She was brutally honest when asked about the balance between personal life and journalism life and the forecast did not leave any of us with high hopes! The points she made were valid, but they were also ones few of us had ever considered. The constant dependancy on your phone, incessant nosiness, and never being able to switch off can be very draining on your relationships. The novelty of the journalist life will wear off on others around you. 9-5 hours do not exist in the journalist world but your passport will accumulate an awful lot of stamps. I think it honestly depends on the type of journalist you want to be, but if you want to be one of the big dogs then the family life probably isn't a realistic dream to have.

On the upside there appears to be an awful lot of jagermeister in this line of work.

Critical Reflection - Year Two, Semester 1

Winchester News Online (WINOL) is an entirely student run project that now covers every area of broadcast; television, online and radio. Constantly producing content in an area where there isn’t a lot of news to report on is no easy task, yet WINOL has managed to become the highest ranking student broadcast in the UK. Our main competition this semester, in terms of other student broadcasters, has been “East London Lines” which is run by journalism students at Goldsmiths, The University of London.

At the beginning of this semester East London Lines were overtaking WINOL by a significant amount and had a much higher Alexa ranking. This was due to the fact that their website had been constantly updated, whereas WINOL had been left slightly neglected over the summer and towards the start of the semester. However once a dedicated web team had been assigned and WINOL began uploading stories on a regular basis our Alexa ranking began to rise. The WINOL website had a complete re-design and after several different approaches it has taken a broadsheet style, leaving it simple and professional. There are now also dedicated “Features” and “Fashion” sections, so there is more content which appeals to a wider audience. The use of social media such as Twitter and Facebook, has also helped to promote WINOL along with us all plugging our own work individually. Our current Alexa ranking has shown that WINOL is the highest ranking student publication at 12,005 in the UK, and 532,284 globally, whereas East London Lines is only at 23,915 in the UK, and 581,311 globally (Figures from Alexa.com and accurate on the 7/12/2012 at 3.48pm).

Our first big task of the semester was hosting the BJTC awards, as I am a member of the production team I was on the sound desk for the event. Fortunately I have used sound desks in the past so this role wasn’t too daunting for me. The awards were presented by ITN’s Alastair Stewart and were attended by nominees and representatives of the BJTC so the pressure was on for us to present Winchester as a professional university. The award ceremony was a great success for the university and our journalism course, and the fact that the ceremony was so important got me used to working in a slightly higher pressured environment than I am used to.

On the production team our roles rotated weekly to ensure that we were all fully trained on every aspect of the studio. Most of the roles are technical and therefore quite easy to pick up, however the autocue seemed to be the one piece of equipment that dumbfounded everyone at first, including myself. The role that is under the most pressure in the gallery is the director as they are responsible for keeping the broadcast in time and must keep the rest of the gallery ordered and calm. I have taken the role of director twice over this semester. The first time I directed was during the second week of WINOL, so at this point in time we were all still relatively new to how things worked and how organised we needed to be. WINOL must be broadcast as live at 15.00 and the previous week we had failed to go out on time so I was determined that this would not happen again. The VT’s were organised and we had half an hour of rehearsing time, which isn’t ideal but with an experienced presenter it was possible to go out at 15:00. However two minutes into our broadcast we realised that we hadn’t put a tape in so the broadcast wasn’t recorded, we then went out at 15:05. This all went out smoothly, but in post-production there were several issues including the fact that the presenter sounded like they were under water, so the bulletin had to be re-filmed in the news room. This experience taught me the importance of double checking everything before we broadcast, especially the little things which seem obvious like putting a tape in. It also made me aware of the fact that we may come across issues in post-production which were unavoidable, so we must always be prepared to find a solution quickly so we can get WINOL online for 17:00. The second time I directed I made sure the tape was in and we had a good amount of rehearsal time in which everything went smoothly. I felt a lot more confident in the role and was comfortable with giving clear direction when it was needed. However at 15:00 when we broadcast there were several occasions where the VT went out without any sound. This really tested me as I had to constantly reassure and inform the presenter of what was happening, and try to keep the gallery calm whilst we attempted to find out what the cause of the problem was.

I found that it is very important for the production team to work closely as a unit so we can identify any problem areas within the bulletin and make sure everyone is comfortable in their role on that day. There also has to be very clear communication between the news team and production so that deadlines can be met and to ensure that everyone is notified of any changes that have been made. On several occasions this semester news stories have had to be spiked at the last minute which changes the script and can change the running order of the VT’s, which could have potentially caused serious problems for the presenter. We have also encountered the reoccurring issue that the link in the script would repeat the first sentence within a VT, so the presenter and the reporter would say the same thing which makes it sound like an echo. This was a mistake I made when I helped to write the script. Where I hadn’t viewed all of the VT’s and just used the links the reporters gave me, when it came to running through the bulletin in rehearsal I quickly realised that some of the links were being repeated in the VT’s, and also that the script for the OOV’s was too long. This then caused a last minute rush as we tried to re-write the problem areas. Although it got better throughout the semester, I still think there is room for improvement when it comes to organisation and communication.

Another big event for WINOL this semester was our coverage of the American Presidential Elections. This took months of preparation and my role for this event was Managing Editor, which mainly consisted of constantly e-mailing and phoning people, organising interviews and trying to get people to come in as guests. The structure and timings of our show was constantly changing so trying to get people to come in as guests proved to be very difficult. I did however, manage to organise WINOL to get access to the US Embassy party on the night of the elections. I also organised several interviews including one with Professor Robert Singh, who Harry and I met in London to interview before attending a screening of the final presidential debates. The interview itself went very smoothly and was used in several VT’s for the elections. The screening was organised by Republicans Abroad and we went there to film the voters’ reactions and responses to the screening. However unfortunately we had not anticipated how dark the theatre would be during the screening so we couldn’t get any footage of the people watching the debate, but we did get some very entertaining sound bites of their reactions. In hindsight we should have realised that we wouldn’t have been able to film during the screening as theatres are always very dimly lit. Our interviews with the audience members provided some great quotes but we did end up missing out on some of the interviews because we hadn’t plugged the microphone in the correct place. We also managed to get an interview with Bonnie Greer OBE which was a fantastic experience. It was a very hectic day, running through London with heavy filming equipment, and it was also very nerve wracking for me as this was the first time I had ever conducted any interviews.

During the lead up to the elections we had an intense few days of rehearsals and I created a VT on postal voting, which contained several interviews with voters in the UK. We had a script and a running order all planned for a two hour morning show called “America Decides” with two presenters, each taking an hour slot. The whole basis of the script was that we still would not yet know who had won the election, and this seemed like a realistic prediction considering how close the election was. However, on waking up on the 7^th we discovered that Obama had already won, which threw off our whole show. This meant that unfortunately my VT, and many other VT’s, had to be dropped or edited. It was a stressful morning to say the least. As I was going to be running the VT machine during our broadcast I was responsible for gathering all of the VT’s we would be using, and helping to edit those that needed to be changed. The actual broadcast went surprisingly smoothly considering we were only getting the script in half an hour intervals as it was written, and we also managed to make it onto the front page of journalism.co.uk.  This was an all-round team effort and is a great example of how well everyone on WINOL works together, despite the demanding circumstances.  

Radio News Editor was my other role on WINOL this semester, and at first I was unsure what exactly I would be doing, because as it stood WINOL didn’t have constant interaction with the university radio. After attempting on several occasions to organise a bulletin to go at the top of the hour of the radios existing shows, I found that it was too inconsistent so I could never be sure if a bulletin would actually be aired. At this point I decided that WINOL should have complete control of a slot time so we could be sure there was a basis for our bulletins to go out. From this point WINOL has taken control of the radio from 10.00 until 14:00 every Tuesday, which we have branded as the “Tuesday Takeover”. During this slot there are three different shows; Kirsty and I present the morning show 10:00-11:00, which has a “Loose Women” feel to it. This is then followed by a Sportsweek show which is presented by the various members of the sports team, 11:00-12:00. Harry then takes the 12:00-14:00 slot, where he often brings in members of the features team to discuss the success of their recent features and their upcoming plans. I ensured that all of the presenters had the necessary training required so they could get out any equipment and studios they would need. We have produced local news bulletins which go out at the top of every hour and get updated as news comes in.

The radio has just completed its fourth week and I would definitely consider it to be a success.  Being in an editorial role has really tested me because if we face any issues, be they technical or to do with the news content, it is my responsibility to ensure they are fixed. Mine and Kirsty’s show is growing in confidence each week, however something I really think we need to improve upon next semester is promoting the radio and WINOL as a whole. We have a whole university on our doorstep as a potential audience, and we need to make them more aware of WINOL as a reliable source not only for their local news, but also for fashion and entertainment in the form of features.

Alongside my role in production and as Radio News Editor, I also helped to produce the 99 News for WINOL, which is the first daily student news broadcast. We worked as a small team to write the script, set up the equipment, film the bulletin, and then edit and upload it for our 13:00 deadline. I also presented the Thursday’s edition of the 99 News, which looking back on it, illustrates that my news presenting has a lot of room for improvement. I look somewhat uncomfortable and moved my head an excessive amount, however this was only my second time presenting having previously presented Sportsweek, so I am hoping this will improve with practice. I also tried my hand at creating a feature on the nitrogen cocktail craze which was hitting the headlines at the time. I organised to have a professional cocktail maker come to a local club to create extreme cocktails, including one which involved the use of a fire extinguisher. I went to film with the assistance of Ben, however due to the poor lighting the footage was unusable but we did get some very good still photographs. Unfortunately the production of my feature clashed with the American Elections so I failed to edit my piece by the deadline. A long time had then passed between by feature and the news story it was based upon so it was no longer relevant and without the video footage it was a very weak piece, because of this my feature got spiked. I think my error in regards to features was that I didn’t dedicate enough time to it, I was too pre-occupied with the other jobs I was doing at the time.

Channel 5 News Review 27.11.12

There was a good variety of stories in the bulletin, the top story was the extreme flooding that has occurred across Britain. There was a good variety of shots in this story, with a mixture of vox pops, pieces to camera, graphics and interviews. The graphic was very clear and helped to illustrate where in the country had been affected and gave the information people needed to know. However although I appreciate the fact that this is an important story, it seemed excessively long and took up a disproportionate amount of the bulletin. There didn’t seem to be a need for two correspondents on the same story.

 I found it unusual that the back of the interviewers head was in shot for many of the interviews, it was quite uncomfortable to watch and didn’t add anything to the interview as the interviewees eye line would have been the same if they were out of shot.  Another touch which I found quite unusual was the intense creepy music underlying the image of the norovirus. It seemed like an unnecessary addition and made it seem like the norovirus is a lot more dangerous than it actually is. The relaxed presenting style was comfortable to watch but her speech still remained far too light hearted during the more serious stories so there was no contrast between the hard and soft news.  

Tuesday Takeover

WINOL has officially kicked off its radio take over! Every Tuesday between 10am and 2pm WINOL will be producing live shows with our enthusiastic team of presenters, and news at the top of every hour.

10am- 11am Myself and Kirsty Phillips kick off the take over with a female orientated show. Every week we will be joined by Dr Fashion (Georgia Spears) to discuss the fashion do’s and don’ts of the season and she will be keeping us up to date on her search for her latest fashion victim. Our show will also be jam packed with music, chat, and gossip from all of those guilty pleasure TV programmes everyone secretly loves.

11am- 12am The Sportsweek team take over and pack their show full of their expert opinions and reports on everything that is happening in the local sports world. From football to ice hockey, this is the show to tune into for your sports fix.

2am- 2pm Harry Parkhill makes the most of our last two hours and gives you a show crammed with music, chat and a flavour of what’s coming up from the features team in the upcoming weeks. You couldn’t ask for a better soundtrack to your lunchtime.

Radio News Recap

What sets radio apart from other methods of broadcast is that it is immediate, intimate and personal.

·         Grab people’s attention immediately and focus on the main point of the story.

·         Think “Headlines”. Don’t use 10 words if 2 will do.

·         Avoid long fancy words and complicated sentences. Keep it as simple, clear and concise as you possibly can.

·         Avoid clichés and emotive language. Don’t make stories sound more dramatic than they need to be.

·         Check your grammar, check it again, and then check it one extra time because if you get it wrong it will completely alter the meaning of your story. This also applies to your sentence structure.

·         Remember your target audience. The audience we are aiming at are students at the University of Winchester, this means you can afford to be a little more informal with your choice of words and sentence structure.

·         Make sure your story can be carried by the words alone, as there is nothing else to fall back on in radio.

When producing radio it is important to keep in mind your target audience, this is organised in terms of social grade:
A (Upper Middle Class)
B (Middle Class)
C1 (Lower Middle Class)
C2 (Skilled Working Class)
D (Working Class)
E (Casual/Lowest Grade Workers)

Tips to a successful radio interview:

·         Ensure you are fully acquainted with the controls on the audio equipment and as simple as it may seem, make sure it is fully charged and is recording.

·         Microphones are sensitive so keep them still and avoid rustling paper around them. They should be held about six inches from the mouth so you shall have to forget about your love of personal space.

·         When recording don’t keep turning the equipment on and off, or pausing it, just keep it running, this will be far easier to edit.

·         At the end of the interview keep the equipment recording for a few extra seconds as this adds ambience and avoids an awkward, abrupt stop.

·          Avoid rooms with noticeable echo but also consider what sounds around you will add texture to your audio.

·         A good interview will sound like an unscripted chat, so rather than have a long list of set questions, just have a few and then have key points you want to focus on.

·         Avoid closed questions and do your research so you understand what your interviewee is saying.

Script Structure:
1 ½ line spacing.
One side of the page only (they will rustle if you turn them over)
Always typed, NEVER hand write your story or script.
Audio cuts must be written as:
NAME: Mr Blog
IN WORDS: I have always…
OUT WORDS: …can never happen
DURATION: 0’14’’


Our news bulletins will go out at 11.00am, 1.00pm, 3.00pm. They will be updated in between those hours as news comes in. We are aiming for the finished bulletin to be 90seconds long, but the absolute maximum will be 2minutes. There should be an audio cut in at least one story in the bulletin. Audio cuts can be of interviews, expert comment, press conferences etc. Or you can use vox pops, however they don’t always add much to a story so make sure they’re relevant and don’t depend on them.


We are aiming for at least 4 News stories per bulletin, 1 sports story, and a quick recap on weather.

FinalCutPro X Training

Today we received our training on Final Cut Pro X and despite my nearly non-existent experience on editing software, I found it surprisingly simple to use (after asking a million and one questions). I jotted down some notes on where important tools are and which are the best to use, so hopefully with a bit of practise my videos will begin to look professional… instead of it looking like a five year old has been set loose with a video camera.

The piece you are creating is called an “event” and to create a new event you ctrl click and select “new event” or go to “file” and then “new event”. Nice and simple. If you are importing videos from an SD Card you just go to “file”, “import files”, and then find the SD in the desktop and select the video you want. Or if you’re using a tape then you go to “file”, “import from camera”, then the video will show up in front of you (make sure it is rewound) . You then click import on the bottom right hand side and click stop import when you don’t want the rest of a clip.

If there is a clip you particularly like and want to access it easily then you can favourite it by pressing the star icon. This will then put a green stripe across the top of the clip. If you want to get rid of the audio from a clip then you can double click the clip, and ctrl click the audio, then select “detach audio”. If a clip runs for too long then you ctrl click and select “retime” at which point you can speed it up or slow it down.

To correct any colour issues, such as one of the clips being filmed at a different time of day to the others, you select the clip and then click on the “i” icon. Open the video section and select the clip you want to match the colour to, the computer will then match the colour automatically for you. However if you would like to correct the colour manually then you can also click the arrow on the right next to “correction 1” and use the colour chart.
You can also add transitions, music, effects and titles by a simple drag and drop.

Once you’ve finished with your whole event then go to “share” and then to “export media” which will automatically give you the highest quality. You can also publish your finished event straight onto YouTube.

Politics - Elections

Parliament can run for a maximum of five years – it needs to be dissolved by the Queen before an election, and it can be dissolved at any time. If the government no longer has the majority or they lose a vote of confidence in the Commons then an election can be triggered.  An example of this is Jim Callaghan, who lost by one vote in 1979 (winter of discontent), he was then followed by Margaret Thatcher. The coalition government has passed a law fixing the date of elections every five years, the next occurring on May 7^th 2015. Up until now the Prime Minister fixed the date of elections. It has been a tradition to hold them on a Thursday since 1935.

 In order to vote you have to be on the electoral register in your constituency. You’re not automatically on the register even if you pay council tax. Around 45 million people are on the electoral registers. Citizens overseas can vote, but less than 15,000 of the estimated 5.5 million people actually do. There has been a big rise in the number of postal votes, 15% of all votes cast in 2005 were postal.

Who can’t vote?

·         Anyone under the age of eighteen.

·         Members of the House of Lords.

·         European Union citizens.

·         Citizens of any other country apart from the Irish Republic and Commonwealth countries.

·         People serving a sentence in prison. (However this is set to change)

Representation of the People Act:

·         1918- Men over 21 and women over 30.

·         1928- Universal suffrage- all adults over 21.

·         1969- All adults over 18.
You have the right to vote but it is not compulsory.

Who can stand in an election?
Any citizen over eighteen.

How do you win?
First Past the Post – whoever gains a majority on the constituency is elected. This means that national voting percentages are not reflected in the number of seats. Therefore the election comes down to marginals because most votes in safe seats are wasted. Labour won half the seats in 2005 but only had 35% of the vote. This has led to people voting tactically, trying to stop the party they dislike most rather than voting for their first choice.
Each candidate must give a deposit of £500 which is returned if they get at least 5% of the votes cast. Spoilt ballots, such as ones with no markings or too many markings are disqualified. There will be a recount if the vote is very close.  

KONY 2012

If you do nothing else with your day, find half an hour to watch this video and then share it with however you can. This will be a far more productive use of your time than catching up on Coronation Street.

Radio Bulletin Link

For some reason Soundcloud isn't always working on my blog, so here is the link to my radio bulletin just incase...
http://soundcloud.com/nadineforshaw/radio-bulletin-2

Radio Bulletin

Winchester police have shut down a property after a crack house closure order was approved.
The police have closed the city centre property from the public for three months after neighbours reported antisocial behaviour and blatant drug abuse.
The police are now encouraging residents with similar problems regarding antisocial behaviour to contact them.

Three pay and display parking meters are to be removed from the streets of Winchester.
The council has revealed that the meters have begun to cost more than they earn, so have proposed to replace them with a payment by phone system.
However this has been met by concerns that some people, especially the elderly, may have difficulties using the new system.
Audio Cut: Parking Changes
In Words: I hate that…
Out Words: …big advantage cause you never have coins.
Duration: 25 Seconds

Hampshire based Caracoli, has been awarded the “Best small shops in Britain 2012” in the food category.
The awards set up by the Telegraph magazine focus on the small, independent shops in Britain who are nominated by their own customers.  
Camalla Lama, a member of staff at Caracoli, stated her delight about their achievement.
Audio Cut: Caracoli Interview – Camalla Lama
In Words: Yeah we are feeling very great…
Out Words: … really different from other shops.
Duration: 16 Seconds

A Winchester schoolgirl has raised money for a new MRI scanner for the Royal Hampshire County Hospital.
11 year old Kitty Martin and friends managed to raise £131 at a cake sale in Western Primary School.
The students decided to help after a fire in the MRI unit at the hospital last December.

SOC: I’m Nadine Forshaw, there’s more at four.

The Innocence Project - Warner Case - CCRC Decision

On the February 11^th 2003 the Full Court dismissed Warner’s application for appeal stating that the evidence against Mr Warner already established a “formidable” case and it was “perhaps unsurprising” that he had been convicted.

However in June 2003 Warner then appealed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). Warner appealed on the basis that no blood was found on Mr Warner’s clothes or in his caravan, there was no evidence that he had entered the upstairs of the Pool’s house and new forensic techniques should be applied to the samples in this case. His appeal also made reference to the man covered in blood who had travelled in a taxi that night and the serial rapist, “Vampire” (Rogers), could have been in the area on the evening of the Pool’s murders.

The CCRC then decided to carry out a section 19 investigation. During this investigation they examined the six unidentified fingerprints found at the Pool’s home and discovered that the thumbprint on the porch handle was that of Mr Smith. This then opened a line of inquiry concerning Mr Smith’s previous convictions and possible culpability for the murders of Mr and Mrs Pool. None of the fingerprints found were a match to Rogers.

The CCRC commissioned the Forensic Science Service (FSS) to examine the tapings from the clothing of Mr Warner and from the items upstairs. The FSS found fibres that were “indistinguishable” from the fibres of Mr Warner’s jumper (which he had left at the Pool’s home on the night of the murders), these fibres were found on the pillowcase, duvet, tights, shirt and skirt.  This supplied “moderately strong support” that Mr Warner’s jumper had been in contact with the evidence taken from upstairs. During the forensic investigation they also found DNA which created an “incomplete profile” matching that of Mr Warner, the chances of it being someone else with the same corresponding components as him were “1 in 680”.

On the basis of the section 19 investigation, the CCRC decided not to refer the case to the Court of Appeal, stating that it had simply strengthened the already formidable case. I agree with their decision because section 19 proved that Mr Warner had in fact entered the upstairs of the Pool’s home, which was the main basis of his appeal. Mr Smith had been ruled out of the enquiry as no further evidence had been found against him, other than the fingerprint on the outside porch handle, which could have occurred for entirely innocent reasons. There is also no evidence to support the argument that the murder of the Pools could have been committed by another person.  The CCRC also stated that there was no evidence to suggest any instances of cross contamination, as all of the tapings were kept in separate sealed bags and the appropriate steps had been taken. There was also no reason to believe there was any more unseen evidence in the possession of Easthampton Police and all forensic avenues had been explored.

Parking changes in Winchester

Three pay and display parking meters are to be removed from the streets of Winchester.

The council has revealed that the meters have begun to cost more than they earn, so have proposed to replace them with a payment by phone system.

However this has been met by concerns that some people, especially the elderly, may have difficulties using the new system.

Radio Article 1

David Cameron has offered Scotland more individual power if they vote no on the upcoming referendum.

However the Prime Minister then stated that the extent of the power would not be revealed until after the results of the referendum.

This has sparked an angry reaction by Alex Salmond, Scotland’s Pro Independence Minister, who maintains that David Cameron should make his offer clear now, so that Scotland can make an informed decision in regards to their independence.

Radio Voice Test - Audio Blog

My Audio Blog.
Apologies to those of you who cannot stand the Essex accent, just be happy that you don't have to sound like this. Hopefully, despite my stutterings, I've managed to do vaguely the right thing here!

Codes of Conduct

Codes of conduct are your bible, stick to them. This is your best tool for self-preservation as a journalist and to break the code of conduct is simply unethical.

There are four different codes of conduct for journalists:
1) National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Code of Conduct
2) Press Complaints Commission (PCC) Code of Conduct
3) BBC Producers Guidelines (“Standards and Values”)
4) OFCOM Broadcasting Code (Sections 5,6,7,8)

NUJ Code of Conduct:
*Uphold the right of freedom of expression
*Ensure that information is conveyed honestly, is accurate and is fair
*Prevent harmful inaccuracies
*Differentiate between fact and opinion
*Obtain material by honest and open means, with the exception of investigations that are overwhelmingly in the public interest
*Do not intrude into people’s private life, grief or distress
*Do not produce material likely to incite hatred or discrimination
*Do not commit plagiarism
*Do not advertise via the medium which you are employed
*Resist threats or other inducements to distort or supress information

News Writing

What is this this whole “news” thing anyway?
First of all it’s new or it has a “news peg” or some kind of angle. It could be either “hard news” such as crime or politics, or it could be “soft news” such as celebrity or animal centred reports. Essentially it is about people doing things, or in some cases animals and it must always be relevant to the audience.
Why are certain stories reported?
Editorial Reasons: The story must be fresh or exclusive or tap into current obsessions, such as dangerous dogs.  There must be someone to interview, and something to video or to take pictures of, as quotes and images are the “lifeblood” of a story.
Practical Reasons: Is there space for it? Has a similar story been reported recently?

Who, What, Where, When, Why?
The News Pyramid
Intro: this is your TOP LINE so keep it short and sharp, the latest most interesting information.
Two: Elaboration of other elements, adding colour to the story
Three: Chronology, more detail, why did it happen?
Four: More detail, loose ends

Key Elements to Remember:
* It’s about people, so make that your top line (animal if it’s an animal story)
* Have an angle, don’t be passive!
* Be objective, don’t give your opinion, let the audience draw their own conclusions
* Don’t start with a question, you’re giving them the information, not interrogating them
* One idea per sentence and keep them short, 20 to 25 words maximum
* Leave the gobbledygook at home, if you don’t know what it means your audience wont either

Most of all make sure the story is true, check your facts and keep it balanced.

How The Guardian has influenced the regulations on data

Information and data are vital tools to any journalist, but they are especially important to newspaper publications such as “The Guardian”. The importance of such information was demonstrated by The Guardian on March 9^th 2006, when their technology supplement published an article entitled “Give us back our Crown Jewels”, by Charles Arthur and Michael Cross.  This article expressed their views that data gathered by the authorities, at the public’s expense, should be made freely available for reuse by members of the public. At this time such data was subject to restricted access and often came with a very high fee, meaning new companies with shallow pockets could not have access to information which could help them to develop. The United States had already made their own data free to all and Charles Arthur and Michael Cross argued that by the UK not following suit we are losing out on commercial opportunities. This article marked the beginning of their “Free Our Data” campaign.

 In January 2010 www.data.gov.uk; a new government website allowing public sector data to be made freely available, was launched. Then in June 2010 the Combined Online Information System (COINS) was established, which is a database of all UK government expenditure, provided by the government departments. The government then announced that all public sector information was to be made available, without the need to apply for permission and free of charge, in September 2010. This is now known as the “Open Government License” and was designed to work with “Creative Commons Licenses”.  The Guardian then took it upon themselves to make such data even more accessible to the general public. They have achieved this through their website “http://www.guardian.co.uk” which has a section with the heading “Data”, which links to their “Data Store”. The homepage of the “Data Store” has the slogan “Facts are sacred” at the head of the page, this is a clear indication of the importance of data to The Guardian.

The “Data Store” is then split into subsections of different topics or websites, each relating to different types of data, three of which provide different systems to allow you to search for information on a specific topic. They provide an “A-Z of data” which allows individuals to search through categories, ranging from Afghanistan, to data on the Royal Bank of Scotland, to statistics regarding Zimbabwe. Then there is the “World data search” page which has a search box format allowing you to type in specific key words and search for relevant government data. The page “Aid data” takes the same format but the search covers global development data. They have also dedicated a page to data on “Cuts”, a topic that’s currently at the forefront of many people’s minds. Here there are several articles, illustrated by spreadsheets and other data visualisations, covering data which otherwise may have been incomprehensible by the general public. An example of this is the article they published on October 26^th 2011, entitled “Government spending by department, 2010-11: get the data”, which they explained through a vibrant graphic poster.

As a newspaper which produces daily reports on business and the economy, data is essential for The Guardian’s publication. It seems only appropriate that they have taken such an interest and caused a great influence in how data is now made available to the public.

Still unfinished so criticism and tips will be greatly appreciated!

How to survive Christmas - Post Intoxication Therapy

Overindulgence is a staple part of the festive season, and one which we all revel in at the time, and shudder at when we next meet the scales in the New Year. Last year my mother and I took our indulgence to levels which Bridget Jones would have been proud of. Dousing ourselves in off-brand wines and answering the door to the Dominoes delivery man, in our cow print onesies, was a repeat offence of ours. However this year we have promised ourselves a Christmas with class, no heartbreak, a new home and no drinking until the clock reaches the p.m.  So, you wonder, “how does this affect me? I started reading this post for advice, not mere nostalgia”, and I would not wish to disappoint. I suffered the wrath of the ‘next day’ on repeated occasions last Christmas, (never again shall I attempt to keep up with my mum), and so I felt it was my duty to provide a list which may save you from a similar fate. Although I agree that it is far too early to call this the ‘festive season’ quite yet, it is always best to have a few practise runs before the big day.

1)      2 Pints of Water – Never underestimate the power of fluid. When you stumble back through the door and all is on your mind is the left-over Chinese food you saved yourself in the fridge, and the comfort of your bed, march yourself into the kitchen and drink a pint of water. Then pour another and take that one to bed with you. I admit, it will have you peeing like Sea biscuit all night, but it will also prevent you waking up and feeling like you spent your evening licking sand.

2)      Ignore ‘The Munchies’ – That Chinese food I mentioned earlier, leave it. It will only bring you harm. Eating when drunk is not only messy (most of it ending up on the side of your face as you fail to find your mouth), but it will also leave you feeling like a balloon for the entire next day.

3)      Towel by the Bed – “For those unavoidable moments”. These words of wisdom stem directly from my mother. Although many of you may be a fan of the spare Tupperware bowel lurking in the back of your cupboard, the washing up the following day will only induce further sickness. Whereas an old towel can just be bagged up and thrown away, erasing all evidence of your failure to reach the bathroom.

4)      Get Out of Bed – The temptation to spend the following day rotting in bed is overwhelming, but please, for the sake of whoever you live with, get out of bed and have a shower! Cleanliness is good for everyone, simple.

5)      Toasted BLT – Now before you get your knickers in a twist about how grim the concept of toasting lettuce is, just put the lettuce in afterwards. The main thing here is the mayo, without it, the sandwich will not save you. This creation has been my saviour on countless occasions, and all accreditation to its ‘hangover power’ goes to my former boss.

6)       Fresh Orange Juice – This replenishes the Vitamin C in your body, it’s also hydrating and the fact it tastes of something adds a bit excitement which water sorely lacks.

Now I grant you these remedies are nothing ground breaking and although I am sure you will be aware of most of these already, it is always nice to have a frame of reference on those dark days. I also admit that these tips are not particularly festive as the consequences of Sherry are the same no matter what time of year is. But if you are following these tips whilst wearing a tacky knitted jumper with a Reindeers face embroidered onto it, they will suddenly appear holiday appropriate (this tip also works when wearing bunny ears at Easter and an oversized number badge on your birthday).
So sit back, relax and pour one more glass, for tomorrow is another day.
(Of course the best method is to consume alcohol in moderation, and I in no way promote excessive drinking… now where’s that bottle opener?)

Investigative Journalism

Every day, ‘ordinary’, journalism is simple telling the news and is determined by the public agenda, such as court cases, or the forthcoming Olympics. Whereas investigative journalism is where the journalist goes ‘off diary’ and decides the agenda for themselves. It often concerns a topic which someone, somewhere, doesn’t want you to know or publish. The subject can either be lightweight, such as celebrity gossip, or it can be more hard-hitting such as fraud. Classic ‘investigations’ are on public interest issues. The defence of ‘public interest’ applies to: crime, public safety and hypocrisy. However the big topics, which will make newspapers fly off the shelves, are miscarriages of justice.

Miscarriages of justice are where people are framed and convicted of a crime they did not commit, for example the cases of the Birmingham Six, and the Gilford Four. The Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC) was set up, after these two high profile miscarriages, to investigate alleged cases of miscarriages of justice, however it is unfortunately seen as ineffective. It is very difficult to prove that the judicial system isn’t fair, or isn’t drawing the correct conclusions. As well as the CCRC there is also the Innocence Project (INUK) which gives offenders the opportunity to apply for their case to be considered as a possible miscarriage of justice.

When conducting investigative journalism it is important, as always, to avoid malice and there must not be any conflicts of interest.  A famous example of investigative journalism at its very best was by Harry Evans and the Insight Team into the use of Thalidomide (intended to solve morning sickness) and the affect it had on the development of a child in the womb. This resulted in compensation being rewarded to the victims’ families.   

Some handy and interesting links for you:
http://www.ccrc.gov.uk/
http://www.innocencenetwork.org.uk/