Live Rolling News Day 2: The final rehearsal

It has been 24 hours since Group B’s second Live rolling news day and it went even better than the last, but there are still a few issues to be addressed.

Our editor this time around was Claire McCann and she was on top of things the whole time. Our editorial meeting lasted only a few minutes with us being told to keep it to “A few sentences, if we have quotes and interviews.” Once we had pitched our ideas and had it approved we were straight to work and there was a buzz in the room much more powerful than the previous week. I must admit I was less organised for this day as I had been extremely busy with an essay but I still had a degree of preparation and managed to submit my copy with time to spare.

Morag had attended court that morning which was really impressive as it gave our news a court story and one which was relevant to that day. We also managed to cover sport, tourism, Parliamentary issues and general interest stories which allowed us to target our appropriate age group with a wide variety of issues. I also found that the levels of organisation with the whole team were amazing and allowed the copies to be published on time, thus meeting the all important journalistic deadline. It even allowed time for myself and Jenny to record a podcast recapping the news of the day, which Chris had collected from “The Wires”. This was great broadcasting experience for the both of us. The full news of the day we submitted can be found here.

However, we still have issues to address as a team. In both trial runs we have failed to add tags, categories, external links and that all important by-line which is essential for a good online story. I also feel that not meeting up the day before like last time may have hindered us a bit, but,  this is still a learning curve.  People who left before the 2pm deadline is also an issue that needs to be addressed as their help was needed in order to submit those final pieces of copy. For next week, the assessment day, we are meeting the day before, attending class early on the day and actively using the Facebook page which can be found here. If we all pull together, as Group B does best, take on board criticism that has been received by Kathleen and from each other, I am sure we can nail this assessment.

Live Rolling Review

It has been just over a week since Group B’s first live rolling news day and, after receiving feedback, I have been able to reflect on the build up to and the day as a whole. Our editor Morag Hobbs was assisted by Andy Mackie and myself, who took on the role as sub-editor, with Chris Melvin accepting the job as picture editor. With the roles decided, we set about preparing for our news day.

The team had met the day before the conference with ideas and plans. Here we were able to decide what would be classed as newsworthy and what would not. Having achieved this in the morning, the team were able to investigate and develop stories over the next 24 hours. We were also available to send Ollie and Graeme to visit Parliament the next day. We had a rough idea of the agenda laid out and ready to finalise in the morning.

On the day everyone arrived early and were rearing to go. Stories which had developed overnight had replaced older content on the agenda and, with Luke and Sean watching the wires and Twitter, we had a story published as it was developing; The Scottish Terror Alert. This was rewarding for the team and we received information at the same time as other news organisations. I feel that the range of stories we provided targeted our age group of around 25 – 35 by covering stories such as the recessions’ affect on local tourism, terrorism, new Scottish laws, the church, a survey and sports.

I feel that we all pulled well together as a team as we met prior to the day to arrange stories and pitch ideas in order to be ahead of the game. As sub-editor I felt I achieved my role by helping colleagues arrange their articles and helping them to articulate their points better. However, I felt the pressure towards the end as most were submitting their work at once, which is an issue we should work on when it comes to meeting the 2pm deadline next time. I also feel the team, including myself, did not come with enough pictures to match their stories and this should be addressed. However, the original story ideas, ability to develop them further and obtain interviews really made the day a success and I look forward to the next one to see how we have improved and evolved as a unit.

Chequebook Journalism

After studying the idea of Chequebook journalism in Rob Melville’s class I decided to look a bit deeper into the subject.

The idea of tabloid newspapers paying for information to publish and possibly respectable newspapers doing the same, to me is ludicrous. Surely the job of a journalist is to find information his/herself and then produce a story from that information. This idea of paying for news seems lazy and incompetent and I followed up an example from www.journalism.co.uk

I feel that news generated via chequebook journalism should be better monitored if not banned from the media as it affects impartiality and integrity, as well as devaluing the profession.

New UK Press Guidelines for Suicide

There have been new media guidelines introduced in the UK in regards to reporting on suicide, following an article published in Northern Ireland’s edition of the Sunday World, which showed a close-up of a man who had taken his life.

The picture, showing the man hanging from a bridge, was published on the front page of the newspaper with a description of various aspects of the death. The journalist also speculated as to whether or not it was suicide or murder. This goes against various guidelines set out in order to prevent the encouragement of suicide.

The new guidelines are an extension of the older ones set in place, and state:

• Avoid prominent placement of stories about suicide – specifically do not report them on the front page.
• Avoid explicit description of the method used as this may lead to an increase in the use of this method.
• Avoid providing detailed information about the site of the suicide as this may lead to an increase in the number of suicides at that site.
• Avoid using photographs and if any images are to be used ask permission of the family – bereaved family members are at heightened risk of suicide themselves.

Below you can find a link to the BBC news website which has published an article and has a video interview with various parties and their reactions to this article being published.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/foyle_and_west/8336911.stm

These changes are evidence that guidelines need to be constantly changed as the media are always challenging them and sometimes even breaking them.

 

The Impact of Technology

As we further progress into the age of technology it is becoming more and more apparant at how much newspapers have had to adapt.

As I scroll through The Guardian’s website (www.guardian.co.uk), the traditional newspaper being published online is no longer the case. I am able to access Podcasts, Blogs from the public and video footage, which would not have been there in past years. This is evidence of how technology has forced papers to adapt in order to survive, but they must be commended for their efforts in embracing these new medias in order to remain competitive and retain their audiences.

Some would argue that technology spells the end for newspapers, and journalism itself, however I have to disagree. Technology, if used by journalists correctly, will allow the industry to expand and grow further as news can be accessed 24 hours a day and exchanged worldwide. Citizen journalists can also contribute to real news in order to enhance it by adding humanity. The same applies to pictures.

Having a blog of my own, I believe that technology is helping journalism along and enabling it to bring more relevant news at a faster pace and I will personally be embracing it for years to come.

Profile: Jane Loughrey

Jane Loughrey told me that her most difficult report, and the one that affected her the most, was the Omagh bombing in 1998. She said that it was “traumatic and harrowing to witness the pain but I had a job to do and it was my duty to deliver the news with humanity, and that was difficult.” Jane said even to this day she still finds it “amazing that people invite me in during times of grief.” She has been brought in more than she has been turned away, a true example of the trust she has gained from the public in Northern Ireland.

 A single mother of one from Belfast, Jane is the principal reporter in Ulster Television and has been a journalist for the past twenty years. However, it appeared that Jane stumbled across this career by complete accident, and she has not looked back since. Jane’s interest in becoming a journalist was sparked when she began working with the “Student News” in Queen’s University Belfast, even though she was studying business management. She was unsure which area of journalism she wanted to enter and was torn between broadcast journalism and print; however she believed papers to be “yesterday’s news” which made her disinterested in this aspect of media, although she still “respects newspapers” and feels that there will always be a place in the world for them. After a number of years Jane applied for a place in the London College of Arts for a course in broadcast journalism which had twenty places, and with over two thousand applicants it did not look hopeful, however she did get accepted. After graduating she worked for free for many papers in order to gain experience and was rejected from seventy five radio stations as her Irish accent was seen as “not acceptable at the time.” But, she got her lucky break when Classic FM took her on to work behind the scenes which later resulted in her having to read the news and this set her on the path to a successful career. Jane said that the experience from working on the radio was “invaluable, as you are on your own and the vital experience is gained. There will always be a part of my heart that belongs to radio.”

 Jane moved on from radio to work for Ulster Television where she has covered a vast range of stories, from The Troubles to features for the programme. She still finds it as interesting as when she first started, but she believes the nature of news in Northern Ireland has changed, making it different and somewhat more difficult to find news worthy stories. Jane’s passion for broadcast journalism was evident in how she spoke about it, saying it was “in her blood” and that she “loved it.”

 When asked how the recession has affected the industry Jane said that it has not directly affected her except when she is on stories. She told me that “rather than having a camera man and a sound man, you now only have the camera man,” which shows the cut backs in the industry. Jane also went on to explain how specialist correspondents are no longer sent out to America or Europe to report on events and instead they receive the pictures and stories from ITV.

 Even after twenty years Jane Loughrey is still “always nervous” before her story is aired. She said to never abuse the power that you are given as the public trust you and this must be gained and retained. Jane said to never make mistakes when doing a story and to finish she said live by the rule “If in doubt, leave it out.”

Product Placement Legalised in UK

In an unexpected move, product placement is to be allowed on British television in order to generate more revenue for independent broadcasters. The move could see an additional £100m per year being generated for companies. However, the BBC are still unable to place items and this is also the case on all children’s television programs.

Personally I feel that this change in legislation is an excellent move to help struggling companies in the media industry and other markets, but I also feel that it raises questions as to whether or not the placement of products is seen as a “quick cash fix” or if it is in the interest of the general public. Although it ensures that treasured broadcasters such as ITV and Channel 4 are kept from bankruptcy and can continue to survive during a time when the media industry is in chaos, I feel it should be considered carefully and regulated strictly by OFCOM in order to protect the public’s needs and interests.

The video below shows the news at ten on BBC reporting on this decision.

Below is a link to the BBC website containing the official report on the decision.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8252901.stm

Product Placement in America as a source of income.