Journoblog.com

My efforts in WINOL last week looked successful, but weren’t. I got a lot done, but could have done so much more.

On Monday, Charlotte was away and so I stood in for her. One of the first things to do was make a decision on a live outside broadcast which was planned for Sport. The problem was, it was really a technical exercise, but would have added nothing to the program as there was nothing going on “live” at the time; the OB would simply have been from outside an empty football ground. I made the decision that a live OB will be great to do at some stage, but not until we have some live action to report. Angus Scott and Will Cooper supported this and so it stuck and I think the bulletin was better for it.

Another thing we tried for sport was to have the presenter standing in the corner rather than sitting at the desk. I think this looked much better, although there is still work to be done with regards to camera positioning and background graphics, but it holds a lot of potential and with a bit of polish it could give the whole  bulletin a slicker, more professional look.

The big news was that Colin Firth won an Oscar. He is from Winchester and his parents still live here, so I went and interviewed a teacher from his old school. Unfortunately, no one at the school was there when Colin Firth was, and didn’t know much about him. I was persistent with uni staff in trying to get hold of his parents, who used to lecture at the university, but no information would come my way.

In the end, I put together some pictures and a script for an OOV. My big mistake here was giving up, which isn’t like me and I don’t know why I chose to do something so out of character on such a massive story. I could have done more and I’m still angry with myself as, even if I continued to try and fail, I wouldn’t be living with the knowledge that I didn’t try hard enough.

Still, I presented the bulletin and did an okay job. Every time I talk to a camera I’m more relaxed about it and feel like I’m close to getting it right.

This week, we needed some lighter stories. I took the chance at this, making a lightweight news piece requires a different kind of presentation and I was keen to have a crack at it.

I put together a piece about the move of Winchester’s Fire and Rescue Service (Fire Brigade, to you and I) to a new, eco-friendly station. I concentrated on making the story visually rich, as the story itself wasn’t that engaging, or so I thought. More on that shortly.

My favourite shot of the piece was that of a fireman carrying a box, viewed from between two appliances (fire engines, to you and I). I it worked well and conveyed the feeling of the piece.

But one thing came out of the blue which suddenly took precedence over the the move itself; to the new station, they brought with them a bell that was cast in memory of three firemen who were killed by a bomb in Southampton during WWII. They ring it at the start of each shift. Suddenly, a potentially bland piece had some soul.

This shows the importance of staying switched on. It would have been an easy thing to disregard and miss completely; you must always be looking for that human ingredient in a story.

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.

A combination of luck and effort got my package the top spot on Winol this week. And it all started with another court report.

On Monday morning I found out about a GBH trial scheduled to begin at Winchester Crown Court in an hour’s time. I headed straight there, not particularly hopeful of getting anything particularly useful. After all, if the defendant entered a ‘not guilty’ plea, the trial would remain active and my report would have to be so minimalist I’d be lucky to get a NIB.

I entered the courtroom knowing nothing more than the charges brought, but managed to speak with the police officer in charge of the prosecution (the OIC). He was exceptionally friendly and helpful, telling me all about the case. A man named Lee had been hit over the head with a bottle last year in Winchester and his attacker was to stand trial today. Eagle-eyed readers who know their media law will have already worked out that he entered a guilty plea, and the OIC took me to meet Lee in the interview room.

Lee was a fantastic interviewee, and generously agreed to an on-camera interview in his own home. That interview, along with the CCTV footage given to me by the OIC, meant I had everything I needed to put a very nice package together. I got up early on deadline day to get some nice rainy GVs of the location of the incident, and several frantic hours of editing later, I had a two-minute top story.

It wasn’t perfect; I wish i managed to get more shots footage of him making cups of tea etc. so I could put a better sequence together. Also, the interview in his living room looked rather like it was done in a studio due to the undecorated grey of the wall in the background. I also learned that pulling his sofa back from the wall would give more depth to the shot. This is the kind of error you don’t notice until you get back and start to edit, but once you’re aware of it, it looks so odd you’ll not make the same mistake again.

Overall though, it wasn’t a bad effort. The CCTV footage added and element not seen on Winol before, and Lee was wonderfully articulate. This piece has since been entered into the BJTC awards.

This week’s effort was my most successful yet. It wasn’t perfect, but it was more successful than Week 2 because I actually produced something. and more successful than Week 1 because it was actual news.

I was in court for the verdict on a high-profile child abuse case: Sitting through the Judge’s summing-up wasn’t the easiest thing, but the course thus far prepared me as much as possible for the inevitable time I would have expose myself to difficult subject matter. I think the best way to cope with it is to keep myself as emotionally distant as possible. If I can treat it as just information and nothing more, I don’t get wrapped up in the ordeal. Hopefully, this colder approach will also mean the news piece I produce will be less likely to have errors in things like balance, libel, contempt or the tricky Section 39.

Having put a rough script together, I set my gear up outside the courthouse and delivered a piece to camera. This was made slightly testing by my lack of footage. Without the funds of a professional news organisation, I was unable to buy Tracy Dawber’s mugshot or any other images; this meant that I would have to speak to the camera for 45 seconds without tripping over my own words or any legal issues. This wasn’t made any easier by the usual problems of failing light and people wearing very loud shoes click-clacking across the shot, but eventually I cracked it.

Or so I thought. Back in the newsroom, my footage laughed at my vain white-balancing efforts with a yellow grin. Just in case my work wasn’t completely unusable, my inability to monitor my own sound (headphones don’t look good on camera) meant I didn’t hear my self-inflicted mic-rattle until it was too late. Into the bin with it.

The following morning, I rushed back to the courthouse, this time with the capable hands of John on camera and his capable ears in the headphones. Even so, with just three hours until deadline I had a challenge.

I rattled off my script again and again. I never managed to get it exactly the way I wanted, but time was short and I managed to get something which, while not great, was good enough.

This time, the editing software revealed something which was delightfully short on technical problems. I needed a shot that would introduce the location, make the package more interesting to look at, avoid opening with a piece-to-camera and show a little bit of camera ability, so I began the clip with a decent pull-focus shot (see video) I’d taken.

Everyone was happy enough with it, and it was placed second on the news agenda. Not bad for a 45 second piece. I still need to work on my voicing and my delivery to camera though, and I need to be quicker and slicker with the equipment. It was okay for my second attempt at producing a news package, but I expect more from myself and will be striving to improve each week.

Journalism students at the University of Winchester have the ongoing task of producing a weekly news bulletin. This 10-minute program is put together in the same way a TV news program is created; everyone has a job to do, and if the reporters and presenters do their jobs, then the people in production roles should be able to put this content together in time for a live broadcast at 3pm each Wednesday.

The patch I have been given to report is ‘Crime and Community’. I’m pleased to have been given this opportunity as it is challenging for a number of reasons: Firstly, the subject matter is often difficult. It isn’t easy to get hold of people for interviews when dealing with trauma or controversy, and I feel this will prepare me for a career in reporting. Getting information from a press office is like trying to nail jelly to a tree.

Secondly, this kind of reporting presents a person with a fabulous selection of legal hurdles and pitfalls. For example, when reporting court cases, you have to be constantly mindful of committing contempt by publishing something which could be seen to be likely to influence a jury on an active case. A moment of absent-mindedness leading me to refer to a convicted burglar as a ‘robber’ would land me in trouble. Why? Because ‘burglary’ means unlawfully entering a building as a trespasser.  ’Robbery’ means that threat or use of unlawful violence has been used to take someone’s property. Calling a burglar a robber is defamation.

Finally, Winchester doesn’t see a great deal of crime. I’m not complaining about this fact- a low crime rate is a good thing. I’m just saying that being a crime reporter in Winchester is a bit like being a restaurant critic in the Atacama Desert.

My first piece of content for Winol was less than successful.  I heard that a pathway in Winchester was very poorly lit and a quite frightening place to be at night. I took myself down there at 10:30pm and found myself wishing I brought a torch. I thought I’d get some GVs (general views) and took out my camera. I found that shooting at night was trickier than I thought and decided to come back with Maddie later on.

Still, I decided I’d found my story and decided to run with it. I spoke to students about their feelings towards the area, I chased the council to find out the reason to the lack of lighting, and I called the local police to see what they had to say. Students were happy to talk, but police and Council were harder to pin down and my deadline was looming.

I carried on putting together what little material I had in between phone calls, all the time hoping that the authorities would have something to say. Alas, very late in the day I received the news: Both sources got back to me, but neither of them were available for interview. The police confirmed that the path, while creepy, is historically as safe as the Cathedral. The Council said it had tried to get some lights down there but had run into problems which it would not elaborate on.

So I ended up with something of a non-story that explained that a bit of Winchester is dark at night, students aren’t keen on it but the council can’t do much to help. What little controversy was there on existed because I asked for it.

Still, I did learn a great deal. As well as practising camera and editing work, I learned that reporters should be reporters and not try to be writers. It’s okay to look for news, but trying to make the news is a fool’s game (unless you’re working for a tabloid, perhaps). The mistake I made was failing to recognise the point at which my story ceased to be news. To be fair to myself, I thought there was going to be more to this story, and by the time I realised this wasn’t the case I was too close to deadline to put anything else together; but from now on I’ll be chasing hard facts, not whispers.

So the following week I found something better. Winchester Crown Court was to hand down a sentence after a man pleaded guilty to GBH. This was my chance to put together an interesting court report and demonstrate that I can tiptoe around tricky laws. The complainant in the case was facing a criminal charge of his own, so I would have to be careful not to identify him even though the case I was reporting was no longer active, or I would be at risk of prejudicing the jury in his own trial. I hoped to score some points for spotting that one.

Unfortunately, on the morning of the sentencing I felt more unwell than I can ever remember feeling before. (This was thanks to an overpriced sandwich I purchased- but as I can’t prove it I must resist the urge to warn any local readers about the vendor.) Still, with some kind help from Charlotte, a very generous coursemate, I made it to the court, sat through the trial and reminded myself how bad my shorthand is. I even asked the defendant, who was given a suspended sentence despite stamping on someone until they suffered organ failure, for a quote after the trial- which I didn’t really feel like doing while my body’s reaction to some malevolent bacteria had me sweating and shivering uncontrollably. I hoped that would score me some points as well.

I thought that if I could manage that on Tuesday, I should be able to do a quick piece to camera and submit my edited package on Wednesday. I was wrong. Tuesday’s triumphant story became Wednesday’s sob story when I found that a small sandwich had rendered me unfit to drive into uni and incapable of any kind of activity (and I hate admitting that). I ashamedly called in to let the editors know, and asked if I could deliver my report over a phone link in the hope that it would go some way towards redeeming my “It Gets Dark at Night” story the week before. This offer was declined and I now face Winol Edition 3 with additional pressure. This pressure comes only from myself, but that’s the best and worst kind of pressure there is.