My Final Project Presentation…

The project that I intend to do for the Final Project module is a 20/30 minute radio show on the subject of the future of British journalism. The ongoing debates surrounding the Leveson enquiry and the impact of the phone hacking scandal will form the foundations of my show. Whilst it is a topical subject of the day, I want to aim the show at a middle-aged audience who may not necessarily familiar with what the impact of the Leveson enquiry.
The impact of the Leveson enquiry is a staunch subject amongst journalists and members of the press at the moment as it could either improve or threaten the way journalists work. What really fascinates me is the fact that there are so many different people from across the media being interviewed by the enquiry to cast their views. I want to encapsulate as much of this as I can and produce it in to a format that would be utilised on Radio 4 or 5Live. I wish to discuss various issues with several people within the industry and also, I want to get the views of the next generation of journalists who this could possibly affect the most. I think to get several viewpoints on the show without it being too much would provide an effective and balanced analysis. The people I will interview for my show will be working journalists, journalism lecturers, broadcast journalists, union officials and hopefully, a politician.
The main focus points of my radio show will be:
- Whether or not there should be statutory regulation of the press
- Would self-regulation improve journalism ethics or would it allow media organisations to set their own agendas?
- How will the enquiry impact journalism in the future?
- Has the impact of social media affected journalistic ethics?
- Does British journalism have to regain the trust of the public once again?
- Has the use of private investigators denounced the role of a journalist?
I think the idea of aiming the show at a middle-aged audience is suitable because Radio 4 and 5Live are stations that provide in depth news analysis and debate, which is something I want to be able to find the right balance for my show. I hope I can do this without the show sounding as though it is several guests round a table debating. The show will be put together through a series of packages that will be all linked. It will be a pre-recorded broadcast, not live, so that the flow of information will be sustainable and none of the information provided on the show will be contradicted.
There are several programmes that have been broadcast both on Radio 4 and 5Live which have related to the Leveson enquiry and the phone hacking scandal. One show that stuck out to me is ‘Post Hackgate: Journalism at the Crossroads’ (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015msph) broadcast on 9th October 2011. Produced by Will Yates, John Lloyd from the Financial Times takes a detailed look at how the saga started and how Rupert Murdoch’s News International group formed relationship between politicians and the press. Why this is such a perfect example is because it takes a balanced view on the phone hacking scandal and it lets the listener to make up their own mind whilst taking in to account of what is said in the programme. Another example of what I want to achieve is two webcasts of the Listening Post on Al-Jazeera. The first webcast interviews Alan Rusbridger, editor of the Guardian, on the role that the Guardian played in breaking the phone hacking scandal and why his paper is the only paper that is still pushing the story to this day. (http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/2011/10/2011102884932651411.html)[Soft Break] He talks in great depth about the influence Rupert Murdoch and News International has had over British publications and the effect it’s had on British politics. [Soft Break] The second of these webcasts explores what is next for Rupert Murdoch in the aftermath of the phone hacking scandal. Whilst the Leveson enquiry is ongoing, it takes a retrospective look at what happened. (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151187242025492&set=a.10151187207110492.812725.856270491&type=1&theater)
Both of these examples are great indicators of what I want to achieve because they remain impartial throughout. I think it is important to keep the balance right in what the future of British journalism could hold because there are so many different viewpoints that I won’t be able to include, but the people I speak to and opinions I do obtain I want to make sure are clear and direct.
The viability of the project is relevant because the Leveson enquiry is an ongoing new story that will continue through the next twelve to eighteen months. Having the chance to produce something that will allow an audience that isn’t as informed on the subject as others allows me to have a broader field in terms of content. This is because there are so many stories within the one subject allows me to be able to thread together several of these in to one show that will hopefully summarise the points I want to make. Whilst it is a great thing to be able to choose what you want in your show, it makes it hard editorially because there is such a broad spectrum of information available; but this is a brilliant conundrum to have.
It is possible that the show could be a generic look at the Leveson enquiry without going in to much technical and specific detail, but what this allows me to do is to have the power to change the public’s perception of a journalist if they lost trust with the press over the phone hacking scandal. I think this is a very powerful tool.
It is important that I challenge the status quo because it gives the options available to the audience fresh and open to debate. What the public don’t want is the same, regurgitated information repeated to them in a different format or on a different platform all of the time. It’s the same no matter what platform you specialise in; you have to keep coming up with new ideas and new ways of engaging with the audience and attracting listeners, viewers or readers. Whilst the format for Radio 4 and/or 5Live is slightly different, I believe that if I create a pre-recorded broadcast that isn’t as formal as the typical Radio 4 broadcast then I think that it will be more accessible for more a wider audience.
In terms of ethics, I will obtain audio recordings and notes from my interviews and only use quotes that are obtained directly from the guests I have interviewed. This is an ethical practise that should be followed by any journalist. What is important to remember is that when preparing a radio show, a journalist should always act ethically. It is also important to retain the trust your guests are putting in to you by agreeing to speak to you. I also believe that is very important to maintain the trust given to you by your guest and represent them in as truthful and credible manner as possible. Ethics are there to make sure good practice is kept my any journalists. It is imperative that journalists keep to ethical conventions because it makes for accurate and high quality journalism and I don’t want to be accused of libel or slander!
So far, I have suffered from a large bout of procrastination which hasn’t helped, but I have conducted interviews already t hat will for a part of my show. I have collated some good contacts since I joined the National Union of Journalists and they are always happy to help in any way they can, especially as they’ve been given special status on the Leveson enquiry. This will help me tremendously because all of their members have to sign up to the NUJ Code of Conduct, which is highly respected.
I’m intending on doing this project because I want to able to utilise all of the experience I’ve gained in journalism and at BBC Radio Oxford to produce a show that would be eligible for broadcast. I’ve set my standards high because I believe in myself to be able to produce something of such a high standard. It relates to my personal goals to be a working journalist. For many years I’ve harboured ambitions to be a journalist within a large organisation because I feel as though I’m comfortable working within a newsroom and my turnover rate is rather high.

Recruitment and Admission Broadcast News Day Reflection

For our brief, we were given the task of producing a radio show and a newspaper for the Recruitment and Admissions department that would be used to promote the university. I was appointed as Editor of the broadcast side of the operations due to my experience in working as a Broadcast Assistant at BBC Radio Oxford.

We had to come up with content and plan for a magazine-type show that would showcase the achievements and work of student’s and faculty. We had less than two weeks to collate everything together and to produce a running order that would be strictly adhered to.

The plan was to identify certain areas of the University, such as the School of Art and Design, and research stories that would be on use to the show. In the meeting with the broadcast team, I allocated certain roles to certain people, such as producer and presenters and what would come with that role such as running the desk, welcoming guests and making sure the whole operation was running smoothly.

The process of gathering stories was quite smooth, as we had decided on around fifteen stories that the team would produce and obtain audio for. The centre piece of our show was a news package on the Fashion Degree Show, which was fantastically put together by two students.

When it came down to the running order, I felt that we had to keep it quite slick and smooth as our target audience would be potential student’s and their families, giving us quite a large range so I wanted the show to reflect out generation and what being a part of the University is all about – enjoying yourself whilst working hard. I felt that this idea came across well in the show as we combined achievements by student’s such as the recent media trip to China as well as harder subjects such student’s would get for their money at CU.

When it came to the day of the broadcast, I didn’t feel nervous or pressured as the experience I’ve gained whilst assisting at BBC Radio Oxford has enabled me to work as a real-time journalist and providing material that would be broadcast a matter of seconds later. I felt that I had the trust of the staff considering this show was part of the accreditation bid. It felt as though that everyone knew their roles and that if there was a problem then I would be the one who would ultimately decide what the best solution would be, and the team shone through in that respect.

What I found quite difficult was when we were about to go live at 2pm, some of the clips weren’t loaded up and ready to go as I had asked for and Shelley insisted on going live. The show started and it was a complete mess to start with; there where no stabs, sweeps or trails played as I had requested and the levels of the presenter’s where all over the place. I felt as though my authority had been undermined, so I went in to the studio and halted the broadcast until 2.15pm, to give everyone a chance to regroup and get everything sorted and ready to go as it should’ve been.

When 2.15pm came, the presenter’s began the show quite nervously and I began to get a bit frustrated as things didn’t go exactly to plan, but I learned that not everything can go exactly to plan. I felt that as the show progressed, it flowed better and everyone gained more confidence. I felt as though as Shelley was trying to take control when in my opinion, as editor, the decision I made was beneficial to the team and I had the support of my team to the full.

What I learned from this whole experience that putting together a radio show is a challenge, but an enjoyable challenge. I felt that the process the team went through in putting it all together allowed us all to maintain our ambitions of becoming a journalist by applying that element of pressure that you would feel in a newsroom at a radio station or any publication. The pressure I felt as editor allowed me to push myself further and further in terms of gaining knowledge from the lecturers who were on hand to help. It was very beneficial to have this experience because it made me realise that technically, I still have a lot of skills that I need to work further on and develop an understanding of systems more, but that will come in time I’m sure. My understanding of a journalist is ever-changing because the role of a journalist is always changing; one could say that there isn’t a definition of what a journalist is in the 21st century, due to new technology is being developed, the way in which news is reported is always changing. It gave me a brilliant experience of how a multimedia journalist can operate by providing material for both the radio show and the newspaper, which I did whilst trying to keep everyone on track. I took a lot of responsibility on, but I feel as though I pulled through pretty well.

This experience feeds in to my final year as I’m considering putting together a music-related feature show and magazine. If I decide to do this project, then it will allow me to contain my skills in broadcast journalism, which I feel quite confident in and my passion of music writing, which I currently do online. I’d like to concentrate on the technical aspect of producing a show as I feel that I could become a producer in the future.

Professional Experience Report

When we were first told that we would be expected to get placements and internships as part of a module for this year, I was underwhelmed at the reports I had heard online and from other students about the difficulties they had in obtaining their own placements. This initially put doubt into my mind because I felt that my skills and the work that I had produced wasn’t of a high enough standard that would be deemed acceptable by employers.
I applied for placements at a lot of various media outlets ranging from the Coventry Telegraph and the Birmingham Mail to national publications such as the Guardian, and whilst I was offered a placement at the Birmingham Mail, it wasn’t until June, so I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get any experience.
Instead of letting my disappointment get the better of me, I regrouped and thought about what else I could do and as a student member of the NUJ, I was asked to attend the Delegate Meeting in Southport as part of the Student Conference. I was chosen to represent the Birmingham and Coventry Branch and not only was it a privilege, I felt that I had been chosen because people believed in what I’m capable of doing.
The project that became the heartbeat of the student delegation was to regularly contribute to a website (www.nujadm.org.uk/2011/) which reported all of the latest news live from the main conference hall. This was done through articles, features, videos, audio and photographs. As this was an online project, I felt straight away that I was going to be taken out of my comfort zone as online journalism is a lot more focused on shorter and snappier sentences rather and sub headings – something that I haven’t really tried before. I felt that reporting live from a conference hall would also further enhance by skills of reporting live events.
By the end of the Delegate Meeting, I had completed six articles which I had identified myself and made sure that no other student reporter was covering. This involved actually going to speak to some of the delegates about their thoughts of the outcomes of the Delegate Meeting and also getting them to proof read the articles I had written just to be sure that I hadn’t missed anything out.
This involved breaking the news that the London Photographer’s Branch would be holding a flashmob at London’s City Hall in protest against photojournalist’s treatment by the authorities and also obtaining the speech from student reporter Dan Richardson, who was the only student allowed to address the Delegate Meeting.
This experience of being a student reporter for the NUJ was a memorable one because it took me out of my comfort zone; something that I felt that I needed to. I discovered that I didn’t have to be spoon-fed stories and ideas; that I had the initiative to go and do it myself. I worked at a high turnover rate and had a good mix of my own stories but also checked in with editors to see if there was something that needed covering.
The pressure that was put up on me to produce the articles at such a high turnover rate made me realise the pressures of a newsroom and what it is like to work within tight deadlines. It whetted my appetite for more.
It enabled me to network with some very respectable journalists and also to get involved with my local NUJ branch, which I believe will stand me in good stead for the future. The importance of knowing fellow journalists allows you to develop your knowledge of how the media industry works and more importantly, is a great opportunity to get advice on your own career.
During the weekend I was in Southport, I was also able to be a part of the first-ever Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Forum of the NUJ which I will be representing at the TUCLGBT Conference in London in July.
Another placement I did for this module was working with Marcos Young as a Broadcast Assistant on the Early Weekend Breakfast and Saturday Sports Show’s on BBC Radio Oxford. I managed to get this placement because of who I knew. Again, I was finding it hard to obtain a placement so I looked a bit closer to home and thought why not just send an e-mail to Marcos on the off-chance and the next weekend I was in Oxford on the Saturday programmes!
I wanted to get in to broadcast because I feel that within local radio, it is your duty to provide a quality service to the local community. It was only until I actually started at Oxford I understood just how important local radio is to some people. When the BBC Trust considered merging 5Live output with that of local radio, I felt let down because within only 2 weeks of being on placement, I had realised just how valuable local radio is.
Radio is something that has been quite an unknown quantity to me because I didn’t know what to expect. The technical side of things seemed to be quite a daunting prospect at first, but after my first show that I assisted on, I was pleasantly surprised that it isn’t as daunting as first thought.
My roles on the show included making instant editorial decisions, putting reports live on air, collating the local scores and the most important job – keeping the presenter happy! This led to me, within a week of being in Oxford, of being trusted to edit sensitive and important material such as goal clips and interviews. On one sports show in particular, Oxford United played out a boring goalless draw and we didn’t get any callers apart from one, who proved to be quite a controversial character. Not only did he provoke supporters to call-in in their droves, but it also generated several talking points for the sports bulletins later on in that week. I believed that this showed I have the initiative to make quick editorial decisions based upon instinct.
On the morning show, I adapted to understand how to get up multiple sources and deal with reporters filing in from around the country. This led to me writing cues and editing material under pressure. I believe that this developed a certain trust between myself, Marcos and the sports producer Ross Heaton, the sports presenter Jerome Sale and the early breakfast show presenter Joel Hammer because, although I’m only on placement, I feel as though I’m a respected and valued member of the team and that they can feel they can rely on me to do a task to the obvious high standard required.
On my first to early breakfast programme, I was asked by the presenter to prepare a sports bulletin with only minutes to go, which involved me with writing queues and obtaining clips from the BBC’s General New Service and completing it with minutes to go.
My highlight of being at BBC Oxford is when I went to New York City and luckily, I was in Times Square when the news came through that Osama Bin Laden had died. I quickly phoned BBC Oxford and was greeted as though I had been working for BBC Oxford for some time. I was put straight through live on air and recorded an interview with BBC WM which was later broadcast live and also on 5Live.
The experience I’m having at BBC Oxford has been fascinating and I think I’ve proved to myself I’m not just a one-trick pony in terms of being good at just copy writing but also at producing and contributing to a magazine style radio show.
What I also did was contact a few respected music blogs online to see if I could do some freelancing for them and I was offered an internship at EQ Music Blog, which specialises in reviewing and discovering new music. This internship has allowed me to combine one of my personal interests into my work and has given me a great insight into how professional blogs work. I was given the chance to become a music writer; a job which I have always wanted to do.
I was given the task of reviewing new singles and new bands, interviewing artists and also transcribing interviews that had been done by the chief blogger. This gave me a chance of becoming a tastemaker within the music industry.
One of my ambitions has always been to have my own music magazine/blog that provides readers with a great insight into new music. What I have been quite lucky to do is also to be trusted to have free-range of who I wanted to review. This enabled me to develop some contacts with some PR companies that look after certain artists.
My overall experience has given me a greater insight into areas of journalism I didn’t feel overly confident on prior to going on placement. It has helped me discover that the definition of a journalist is ever-changing and that to have the skills of a multimedia journalist will always be looked favourably upon my employers. In terms of the future, I believe that the experience I’ve had will stand me in good stead with employers because I’ve displayed a whole range of experiences in various platforms of journalism and I’ve still got more to come. My intentions from the outset were to gain an understanding of how a newsroom and a radio studio worked and what it is like to feel the pressure of working to real-time deadlines. I feel as though I have fully justified those intentions because I worked to tight deadlines whilst reporting from the Delegate Meeting. What made it even more intense was that our newsroom (aka the Bunker) was positioned at the opposite end of the conference centre to the main hall and the internet facilities at the conference centre where pretty dire so it made it all the more difficult! Yet, it is moments like this that put things into perspective and allow you to experience what it would’ve been like for a full-time journalist.
In terms of going forward, I wished to continue obtaining as much experience as I can get with continuing at Oxford and on EQ Music Blog and developing my portfolio so future employers can see that I’m a dedicated and willing person. I still think one of my downfalls though is my inability to triple check my work and spot errors that are there because I’ve rushed the article or worked too quickly. I think that if I eradicate these errors then I will have a very strong set of skills that will prepare me well for the wide world of journalism.

Placement, Placements and NYC…

With the nights drawing in and the cold firmly making itself known to us all, the prospect of January looming over us is not a feeling that I feel most welcome, never mind the cold.
It means that we must have a placement in place. Not only that, it is also the start of the new diet that I always say I will go on and all the rest of the resolution stuff.
Yet what I am finding is that the whole process of finding a placement is a walking antithesis. You have to find a placement; you might not get a placement.
The difference between the two is ultimately success or failure. Obviously a placement will give you a huge insight in to the journalists’ career I desire, yet I’m in a state of limbo as to whether my applications for placements will be successful or not. A lot of publications won’t even touch you for jobs these days if you haven’t got experience, yet how can they expect someone to have experience is they won’t take them on? It is not a criticism of publications in any way, shape or form because they must have their own limitations on what they can and can’t do; however, I believe there needs to be some form of implementation into how companies in general take on interns.
When you have opportunities in this day and age, you have to be selfish and take them – even if that means stepping on people’s toes and stabbing them in the back. I don’t particularly like it, but if it makes it better for your career path; do it.
This is what I have done for NYC. In the first week, we were told we had the chance to go to New York City to do either a placement or a media project. Initially I thought that this was not going to be feasible due to the costs and possible non-placement; however, this obviously is a very narrow-minded attitude to take. Not only is it one of the major cities on God’s green planet, it is the main media hub in the whole of America. Surely there will be SOMETHING that I can do out there? Yes is the answer.

Week 1 – Tasks

We were asked to give our favourite stories and why it they are that and why it gives us such great pleasure.
One of my favourite stories is the Queer As Folk series, both the UK and the US versions. Obviously, when the shows were first aired, I was too young to realise the cultural impact the shows had in the respective countries, yet as I got older and began to find out my own identity and influences, this programme hammered down a boundary that may have still been standing today.
Not only was it revolutionary, it was a first. It was the first time that a programme of this nature has ever been aired and it allowed perspective and minds to be broadened.
The US story (my favourite!) is set around a group of friends – Brian, asuccessful yet selfish advertising executive who is only after one thing, sex; Justin, a young and budding musician who happens to fall for Brian after losing his virginity to him; Michael, a nerdy and nervous average Joe and Brian’s best friend; Ted, a down on his luck down and out of the gay world and Emmett, the flamboyant and witty mistress of the clan. The storylines that are played out over the five series’ of QAF revolve around the lives of these five friends and the supporting cast that surround them. Not only does it allow Americans the insight in to a lifestyle that they may not be familiar with, it provides an outlet that gay men can relate to – from being in love to the horrific homophobic abuse that is still rife today.
The various elements in which make QAF pleasurable is that at both the start and end of every episode, a member of the main cast acts as a narrator to give the audience an almost soliloquy-type form of interaction that relates more on a personal level with the audience because it gives another perspective on the storyline. Many would think that a programme like this would be stereotypical to the level of campness and sarcasm that one would associate with gay men. This is simply not the case. Yes there are moments of sheer queerness throughout; the programme wouldn’t be the same without them; however, what gives the show its prowess is that the stereotypes cast are just simply ‘normal’ people that you would walk past in the street and it kind of proves that being gay isn’t a choice, it’s just a meer matter of a personality and way of being. It allows the story to be told in a way that brings a cultural implication.
We have also been asked to compare the different narrative styles and techniques within two different media of the same subject. I have chosen to compare a local news article and a national television news broadcast. The major difference between the two is the size of the story. The broadcast on the TV would, depending on the scale and majorness of the story, would take up a sizeable proportion of the bulletin whereas the size of the article in a local newspaper would be quite smaller depending on the relevance to the local area with the story. The TV station would also take into account the international relation of the story and edit it in a way that it was biased towards the country of the TV station, for example a correspondant in a war-torn area would be report what his/her country status is within the war whereas the local newspaper would only comment on the severity of the story if a local was involved i.e when a soldier from that area dies.
The local newspaper article would not necessarily feature any quotes as it may only be given a slight section of the page.
When it comes to narrative and storytelling and what is different between these two features is that with the narrative, you can judge and discuss the different connotations that the artefact portrays and what it’s effects would have. With the story, you can only say what is actually happening. It is the narrative that makes the story come to life.

It beckons

So when you are a student, your first year doesn’t count. I’m glad really after realising that my marks were not really up to scratch for the first year. Second year is here and boy have we all got to try even harder. Not only does it get harder, but the quantity and quality of work intensifies.
I must admit though, I’m looking forward to the challenge.
Fresher’s Week has been and gone and was equally eventful as you would expect it to be. Lonely nomads wandering around like lost sheep was funny to watch considering that was us last year is a more scary feeling. Come the end of my third year I will have grey hair and a bus pass. What has struck me though is that there isn’t a sudden urge to go out every night and more an urge to get stuck into your work a bit more and strive to better yourself. Whether or not this is being an absolute nerd or just trying to do your best I haven’t quite put my finger on yet, but now I no longer have the sudden buzz to go and stand on JJ’s stage on a Tuesday night .
What isn’t so good though is the fact that our government is considering raising tuition fees. Whether or not it will affect me personally remains to be seen but I cannot help but feel the government are trying to take from the poor and yet again give to the rich. If you think about it, the most sought after courses and places at the top universities are going to be able to charge whatever they want and that would not only create a scrap for places but also a potential two-tier system. If a university could charge anything for a degree, it will create a social divide were the rich will be giving to the rich which frankly tends to happen whenever the Conservatives get into power. I’m not the biggest fan of them I have to admit, but their plans for higher education are purely unacceptable. This could deny future generations of working class students the chance to follow their dreams.
Coming back to uni with this ringing in our ears is not always the best way to start, considering the debt we already have to is quite substantial but the thought of it doubling, tripling or even quadrupling is frightening.
For the year ahead, it’s time to work hard, but somewhere in there you’ve gotta play harder.

Boys On The Run

Despite being held back by the physical restraints of director Mirua Diasuke, playing a 29-year-old virgin Tanishi is not only a tough task but a strenouous one, especially when you are surrounded by Chiharu (Mei Kurokawa). Yet somehow, Kazunobu Mineta’s character you would forecast to be out of sorts: Tanishi’s obsession with pornography taking us on a magic mystery tour through the sleaze and sex of Tokyo’s red light arena.
Creating a love-rival situation in Asian cinema is not usually the norm; categorically associated with Western film, Diasuke creates a spectacle in which we are shown that romance and amour are a part of the culture but a part of the norm too.
Boys On The Run is not only fixating but frivolous throughout. If something different is what the doctor ordered, then this is a must see.

Stamina. The New Bottle On The Block

Coming to a Bargain Booze and local Abdul’s soon.

A SILENT Affair

122MC Group 4 Proudly Presents…

A SILENT AFFAIR

Straight’s go for the gay option

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8687064.stm