Journoblog.com

This week’s WINOL is out now, and I’m only just blogging about my contribution to last week’s. But at the moment, when I’m not doing amateur journalism I’m doing very amateur DIY, so I hope I can be forgiven. I’m too busy repainting to be repenting.

So last week I got stuck in to Hampshire’s ongoing rural crime issue. It wasn’t exactly a red-hot story, although I did include a recent ram-raid. I think perhaps my package would have been better if the headline was the ram-raid, with the background story as a sidebar.

My actual journalism wasn’t bad. I began by contacting the ram-raid victim, Mr Nettle, who agreed to an interview. I asked him for any pictures he had of the raid itself, which arrived in my inbox the following day. Another example of the additional content that can be gained by simply asking for it; the same simple method of information-gathering that made my bottle attack package what it was.

Next came the farm visit, where Mrs Harper-Adams was most helpful and an excellent interviewee. Again, simply asking for a police contact resulted in an officer making a special trip to give an interviewee. Always ask.

In terms of technical execution, it wasn’t bad, but there is plenty of nitpicking to be done as well. I was generally happy with my interview with Mrs Harper-Adams, it was fun to talk with the cows in the background and added an interesting element, while making it clear that we were on a farm. The cows were mercifully quiet and still, as a lot of moving and mooing would have made it hard to edit.

The interview with PC Williams was interesting and it’s unusual to get a police officer to talk to a camera. Unfortunately, the failing light (and the rush to make the most of what little light there was) resulted in a sub-standard picture.

Mr Nettle was an excellent interviewee, and the picture was clear with a nice background. I do wish I’d got more GVs though.

The whole thing was put together in plenty of time for the bulletin; my work experience at BBC South Today taught me to be more ruthless with my editing to speed it up; slow editing was a big weakness of mine last semester and i’m working hard to speed it up.

Three great interviews across two locations made a rich news package. The story could have been hotter and my camera work still needs work, but it wasn’t difficult to watch and I am improving.

I’ll blog about this week’s effort shortly.

Here is a quick guide to setting up an outside broadcast using Skype. These are from my own experiences, and I’d love to receive comments with any additional advice.

First, you need to set up a Skype account. This is done in the same way as setting up any other account, like Facebook or MSN. Just go to www.skype.com and follow the instructions.

Once you’ve done that, it works like a very cheap Pay As You Go phone. You use your credit/debit card to add credit and use it to make voice or video calls. Skype to Skype calls are free (calling a land line or mobile carries a small charge).

You need to have a Skype account on a laptop and someone with Skype in the studio.

Be aware that the microphone attached to your camera doesn’t seem to work with Skype. The cable attached to your camera will only carry picture, not sound. This means you need a separate microphone that will plug into a different port on your laptop, such as one with a 3.5mm jack plug. These are available from the loan counter. Bring an extension for this if you can, as the cables are quite short on these.

The reporter in the field needs to make sure they are able to make the internet connection. Ideally, you will have an ethernet connection. This means plugging you laptop directly into a broadband router on site. This will provide the fastest and most stable connection, but is not always possible. Even if your hosts have an ethernet cable, I would recommend bringing your own cable anyway, in case they can’t find theirs or if it’s too short. Bring your own and make it as long as possible. The longer the cable, the more locations will be available to you to make the best use of background, light and sound. The loan counter’s longest cable is 5 metres.

The next option is connecting to the router wirelessly. This is not always as easy as it sounds, as not many staff at your broadcast site will be aware of the password required to connect to the router.

If neither of these options are available to you (ie. there is no internet commotion, or you are not allowed access), you can use your own broadband dongle. Bear in mind that this is both expensive and unstable. If this is your only option, everyone on the team needs to know so that they have a backup plan if your connection and you have to abandon the broadcast.

It is vital to establish how your connection will be made as far in advance as possible. Arrive as early as possible to assess the site, the day before if possible.
Some things to think about when you are doing this:

Where is the router? It may not be much use having permission to plug in if they keep it in the roof space or a noisy plant room.

Do you know the password? Does it work? Is anyone likely to change it?

Does the site have a member of IT staff available to help you connect and solve any problems?

What could go wrong, and what will you do if (when) something does fail?

Finally, check and test, check and test!

Back in May 2010, a team from Winchester University’s Journalism course covered the General Election vote counts live across Hampshire.

I’m delighted to post this video of BBC Elections Editor Sam Woodhouse complimenting our marathon night shift. At 3 minutes 40, you can see me trying not to look sleepy during a live outside broadcast at 5am.

This semester, I’ve taken on the role of Chief Reporter for WINOL. This means that, rather than sticking to a specific area, such as crime, I am able to put my fingers in a variety of journalistic pies.

Chief Reporters are also known as ‘firemen’, because when there is a hot breaking news situation, they are the quick-response; first to the scene. It is not acceptable to arrive late, miss facts and simply peck at the scraps left by those who got there first. This is why they are not called ‘policemen’.

I arrived at the newsroom on Wednesday morning, expecting a fairly calm day, as I already had most of the footage for next weeks’ bulletin (don’t miss it). Instead I walked into a the fire that was the university’s announcement of up to 50 redundancies.

The first job was to write up a piece for the website. Once that was done, I needed to gather as much information as i could.

I was disappointed to find that the head of the Staff Union, who would normally be pleased about having attention drawn to the situation, would not speak with me at all. This is because he was unhappy with treatment he received from a member of the team last year, reinforcing the importance of a good relationship with your contacts.

I did manage to get a quote from the Deputy Vice Chancellor, who doesn’t normally speak to us, so that was a breakthrough.

Next, I took a camera to the Staff Union meeting. I wasn’t allowed in, of course, but shots of concerned staff going to a meeting to discuss their response to threat of redundancy worked as a headline clip. I must say that the team worked superbly well; all the material I gathered or wrote went exactly where it was supposed to, and quickly.

If you start with a cool head, you’re more likely to be able to keep it. I’ve never been one to panic, and I found that I slid easily from anticipating a day of editing to a day of phone calls, writing, filming and talking in front of a camera. Be busy, but not frantic; that is the difference between getting things done, and not.