WINOL
has undoubtedly progressed this semester covering all forms of broadcast such
as TV, Online radio and social media. Five teams lead our project: news,
features, sport, production and web, and together the WINOL team has worked
tremendously hard in achieving the highest ranked student publication in the
country; receiving many national BJTC awards. WINOL strives to continuously
improve, and in doing so we persistently observe our competitor East London
Lines’ strengths and weaknesses. This semester we focused heavily on our online
website www.winol.co.uk making vast changes to the layout of the site and adopting a
‘broadsheet’ style of writing. Moreover, regularly updating the website with
news daily, and further promoting this on media sites such as Twitter has
allowed us to reach out to a larger audience and increase our traffic flow;
this was something we found our competitors initially had an upper hand on.
Despite our competitors being a much larger team based in London ,
we have over taken them both globally and in Great Britain
On top of WINOL we have covered several special events including the BJTC Awards Ceremony, HPCC debate, US American Elections, and WINOL 99 Daily News. The Hampshire Police Crime Commissioner debate saw three hundred people fill the Stripe to watch the debate live. My active role on the night was an audience runner, passing microphones in a question and answer debate; it was a privilege to be apart of an extremely high profile event, particularly as it was covered by BBC South. This role amongst my position as Floor Manager for the US Elections, allowed me to experience more of the Production led role, teaching me that organisation and timing is crucial, particularly in a ‘live’ transatlantic broadcast. The US Elections was a huge milestone for WINOL, receiving recognition and praise from www.journalism.co.uk. In the run up to the elections I produced four short packages on the main campaign issues, which could be played into the gallery to lead discussion between the presenter, experts and guests. My VTs included a graphic of the candidates and some fair dealing clips from YouTube of the debates; this was a skill I did not know before. On the morning of the election we found out that the results were in and Obama had won. The scripting had to be changed, VTs cut down, but this is the art of live TV and I think WINOL handled it extremely well turning the show in to a reaction based programme.
Sound Radio launched Tuesday Takeover. I contributed weekly, writing news stories, and adapting my court report scripts to a radio style, abiding by contempt of court laws by legally identifying the defendant, and simply summing up the story and the sentencing. I presented one of the news bulletins and recorded an in-studio discussion, which could be recycled as an audio cut; both of which helped me practice my delivery and build confidence.
For the first semester of WINOL I was appointed Crime and Court Reporter, this entailed making close contacts with Law Courts, Crown Prosecution Service, Hampshire Constabulary and Police Press Offices. Court reporting was an extremely challenging but exciting position to fill; I regularly encountered two main issues. Firstly, finding pictures that made my report visually interesting, and secondly legal identification and scripting. As court reporter, it allowed me to put the law module from first year in to practice, reporting the facts accurately with a Qualified Privilege defence, ensuring that I was not at risk of libel or contempt of court. My packages heavily relied on the scripts and unless it was fast, accurate and fair abiding by the laws of defamation it would not be broadcasted, I found scripting a challenge at first but feel I improved with guidance from Brian Thornton and Ben Mitchell from the Press Association. Unfortunately I was not able to use shorthand in court quick enough to keep up to speed accurately, but this is a goal to work towards.
In time, I built contacts with the CPS and with Court Listings who verified identification such as date of birth, address and any spellings I was unsure of, this way I could be sure that my report was accurate. For most of my packages I obtained a mug shot from the Police, but in two instances I learned that this was not possible, as the defendant did not receive a custodial sentence. In week eight my package had no visual element to it, and when trying to get hold of a picture of the defendant the only source I had was Solent News who charge a fee for their photography. As Geoff Hill, editor for channel 5 news suggested I could resolve this by having a cameraman waiting outside of the courts to film them as they walk out. In order to get a convicted photograph I had to fill out a form where often the missing detail was the name of the officer in charge, initially the CPS helped me identify the officer in charge of the case, but they claimed this was against their protocol and that I should seek this information from Police headquarters. Some of the officers in charge of the cases were extremely helpful, talking to them directly, allowed me to ask if there were any police photos they could send me to help me illustrate the case. In week three I covered a case regarding a man who set himself on fire in a suicide attempt; visually it was extremely eye-catching as I had police photos of the inside and outside burnt property. To begin with I had these photographs merged in the middle of my package, however I soon learnt that the best images had to be at the top of the package, ensuring the voice over was re-scripted so the words matched the pictures. The fire happened in Totton, which was within driving distance, allowing me to do my PTC on location; this worked far better then outside the courts as it added context and meant I could film the flat from the outside, and have extra cutaways. This package had all the features needed for a successful court report, a piece to camera on location, a mug shot from police, exclusive police photographs as evidence of the damage, and a revised script with no legal issues. However, I made a huge mistake by letting a witness pass me by, without asking if she would comment on camera. This was a lesson well learnt.
I often went down to court and came out without a story, particularly in my first week, where I hadn't got to grips with court reporting. However, I quickly moved on to a new story about cyclists safety, I did a PTC on the road affected in Southampton Wednesday morning but with a tight deadline there was no interview and it was cut down to an OOV. The shots I used were all filmed from the same angle so I learnt the importance of point of view and to vary the angles. I found that at times it was pure luck as to whether you got a good story that editorially worked. For three of my court reports I was limited to doing a PTC outside the law courts, although this is visually mundane, in certain instances it couldn't be avoided, so I experimented with other alternatives to make the package interesting. For example, creating a reconstruction of the case, ensuring it was clearly labelled and changing the colour of the footage to blue. In week six I covered a case regarding a courier who was caught with cannabis in his car boot, the props of a car and suitcase was easily accessible so I filmed a series of shots to put together a sequence illustrating this.
Week seven was my strongest week; I took a court report and related it to a wider issue of hoax calls. This meant I could arrange to set up an interview with the South Central Ambulance Service who assigned me to Paul Jefferies, the Area manager for North Hampshire. When I arrived at their office in Otterbourne I chose not to film in the control room, as this was a noisy room, with echo, therefore I opted for a quieter room where the acoustics and sound quality were good. To link into my interview I got some GVs of the control room and of the paramedic walking. The interview itself was constructed well; I ensured the questions I asked where open, relating back to the law court issue at hand, and covering the larger scope of prank calls. I didn't stop the interview until I knew I had a good sound bite that I could use in my package “it’s a matter of life and death” - this summed up the entire report, and I think it worked really well hearing it from a respected professional. That week I also had a mug shot, which scaled in on the eyes to focus on the emotion, dramatising the criminal and a PTC on location inSouthampton . The weather conditions were bad in
particular wind and rain affecting the quality of the sound and footage, but we
worked around it finding a quieter spot. Although it was rushed and the camera
had not been white balanced, when it came to editing, the colour balance tool
in Final Cut Pro helped bring the colour tones back.
Aside from court, I did a crime related story in week four, which was topical to the festivity of Halloween. This week I got the chance to be more creative with my work aside from the seriousness of court. Although the story itself was regarding posters for the elderly to stop trick or treaters knocking at their door, I did my best to make it as entertaining and visually appealing as possible. My opening shot is of a creepy character knocking at the door this initial NATSOT grabs the audience’s attention, I swiftly open the same door to do my PTC, I felt this transition was creative making it more interesting rather then static. I filmed several cutaways which were not used of Halloween related clips, but this gave me the chance to be selective with what I put into the package. With this story elderly people’s opinion was vital; therefore I did some VOXPOPS of local residents. This was my backup as I tried to arrange an interview with a shop owner at One Stop regarding the matter that they would not sell eggs or flour to under 16’s, but as their press office is led by Tesco they were extremely weary of how the report may seem negative, and requested it all in writing. However, it didn't meet the tight deadline we were working to.
On two occasions throughout this semester I got a Court report out in WINOL before the Daily Echo did, particularly the arson story that made front page two weeks after the sentencing. After speaking with the reporters at the Echo who initially reported on the fire when it happened, they were naturally inquisitive to hear the details of the case and I immediately brought them up on the fact they did not have a follow up story. The second story was the child abuse story, the Echo covered the trial but they were not present at the sentencing, they put the story in their paper a week after WINOL published it. To be able to say I got a story out before the local paper did is a huge personal achievement for me. Although we are students, we are training journalists who operate similarly to any other news publication; the guest editors who came to visit us at WINOL this year have justified this.
On top of WINOL we have covered several special events including the BJTC Awards Ceremony, HPCC debate, US American Elections, and WINOL 99 Daily News. The Hampshire Police Crime Commissioner debate saw three hundred people fill the Stripe to watch the debate live. My active role on the night was an audience runner, passing microphones in a question and answer debate; it was a privilege to be apart of an extremely high profile event, particularly as it was covered by BBC South. This role amongst my position as Floor Manager for the US Elections, allowed me to experience more of the Production led role, teaching me that organisation and timing is crucial, particularly in a ‘live’ transatlantic broadcast. The US Elections was a huge milestone for WINOL, receiving recognition and praise from www.journalism.co.uk. In the run up to the elections I produced four short packages on the main campaign issues, which could be played into the gallery to lead discussion between the presenter, experts and guests. My VTs included a graphic of the candidates and some fair dealing clips from YouTube of the debates; this was a skill I did not know before. On the morning of the election we found out that the results were in and Obama had won. The scripting had to be changed, VTs cut down, but this is the art of live TV and I think WINOL handled it extremely well turning the show in to a reaction based programme.
Sound Radio launched Tuesday Takeover. I contributed weekly, writing news stories, and adapting my court report scripts to a radio style, abiding by contempt of court laws by legally identifying the defendant, and simply summing up the story and the sentencing. I presented one of the news bulletins and recorded an in-studio discussion, which could be recycled as an audio cut; both of which helped me practice my delivery and build confidence.
For the first semester of WINOL I was appointed Crime and Court Reporter, this entailed making close contacts with Law Courts, Crown Prosecution Service, Hampshire Constabulary and Police Press Offices. Court reporting was an extremely challenging but exciting position to fill; I regularly encountered two main issues. Firstly, finding pictures that made my report visually interesting, and secondly legal identification and scripting. As court reporter, it allowed me to put the law module from first year in to practice, reporting the facts accurately with a Qualified Privilege defence, ensuring that I was not at risk of libel or contempt of court. My packages heavily relied on the scripts and unless it was fast, accurate and fair abiding by the laws of defamation it would not be broadcasted, I found scripting a challenge at first but feel I improved with guidance from Brian Thornton and Ben Mitchell from the Press Association. Unfortunately I was not able to use shorthand in court quick enough to keep up to speed accurately, but this is a goal to work towards.
In time, I built contacts with the CPS and with Court Listings who verified identification such as date of birth, address and any spellings I was unsure of, this way I could be sure that my report was accurate. For most of my packages I obtained a mug shot from the Police, but in two instances I learned that this was not possible, as the defendant did not receive a custodial sentence. In week eight my package had no visual element to it, and when trying to get hold of a picture of the defendant the only source I had was Solent News who charge a fee for their photography. As Geoff Hill, editor for channel 5 news suggested I could resolve this by having a cameraman waiting outside of the courts to film them as they walk out. In order to get a convicted photograph I had to fill out a form where often the missing detail was the name of the officer in charge, initially the CPS helped me identify the officer in charge of the case, but they claimed this was against their protocol and that I should seek this information from Police headquarters. Some of the officers in charge of the cases were extremely helpful, talking to them directly, allowed me to ask if there were any police photos they could send me to help me illustrate the case. In week three I covered a case regarding a man who set himself on fire in a suicide attempt; visually it was extremely eye-catching as I had police photos of the inside and outside burnt property. To begin with I had these photographs merged in the middle of my package, however I soon learnt that the best images had to be at the top of the package, ensuring the voice over was re-scripted so the words matched the pictures. The fire happened in Totton, which was within driving distance, allowing me to do my PTC on location; this worked far better then outside the courts as it added context and meant I could film the flat from the outside, and have extra cutaways. This package had all the features needed for a successful court report, a piece to camera on location, a mug shot from police, exclusive police photographs as evidence of the damage, and a revised script with no legal issues. However, I made a huge mistake by letting a witness pass me by, without asking if she would comment on camera. This was a lesson well learnt.
I often went down to court and came out without a story, particularly in my first week, where I hadn't got to grips with court reporting. However, I quickly moved on to a new story about cyclists safety, I did a PTC on the road affected in Southampton Wednesday morning but with a tight deadline there was no interview and it was cut down to an OOV. The shots I used were all filmed from the same angle so I learnt the importance of point of view and to vary the angles. I found that at times it was pure luck as to whether you got a good story that editorially worked. For three of my court reports I was limited to doing a PTC outside the law courts, although this is visually mundane, in certain instances it couldn't be avoided, so I experimented with other alternatives to make the package interesting. For example, creating a reconstruction of the case, ensuring it was clearly labelled and changing the colour of the footage to blue. In week six I covered a case regarding a courier who was caught with cannabis in his car boot, the props of a car and suitcase was easily accessible so I filmed a series of shots to put together a sequence illustrating this.
Week seven was my strongest week; I took a court report and related it to a wider issue of hoax calls. This meant I could arrange to set up an interview with the South Central Ambulance Service who assigned me to Paul Jefferies, the Area manager for North Hampshire. When I arrived at their office in Otterbourne I chose not to film in the control room, as this was a noisy room, with echo, therefore I opted for a quieter room where the acoustics and sound quality were good. To link into my interview I got some GVs of the control room and of the paramedic walking. The interview itself was constructed well; I ensured the questions I asked where open, relating back to the law court issue at hand, and covering the larger scope of prank calls. I didn't stop the interview until I knew I had a good sound bite that I could use in my package “it’s a matter of life and death” - this summed up the entire report, and I think it worked really well hearing it from a respected professional. That week I also had a mug shot, which scaled in on the eyes to focus on the emotion, dramatising the criminal and a PTC on location in
Aside from court, I did a crime related story in week four, which was topical to the festivity of Halloween. This week I got the chance to be more creative with my work aside from the seriousness of court. Although the story itself was regarding posters for the elderly to stop trick or treaters knocking at their door, I did my best to make it as entertaining and visually appealing as possible. My opening shot is of a creepy character knocking at the door this initial NATSOT grabs the audience’s attention, I swiftly open the same door to do my PTC, I felt this transition was creative making it more interesting rather then static. I filmed several cutaways which were not used of Halloween related clips, but this gave me the chance to be selective with what I put into the package. With this story elderly people’s opinion was vital; therefore I did some VOXPOPS of local residents. This was my backup as I tried to arrange an interview with a shop owner at One Stop regarding the matter that they would not sell eggs or flour to under 16’s, but as their press office is led by Tesco they were extremely weary of how the report may seem negative, and requested it all in writing. However, it didn't meet the tight deadline we were working to.
On two occasions throughout this semester I got a Court report out in WINOL before the Daily Echo did, particularly the arson story that made front page two weeks after the sentencing. After speaking with the reporters at the Echo who initially reported on the fire when it happened, they were naturally inquisitive to hear the details of the case and I immediately brought them up on the fact they did not have a follow up story. The second story was the child abuse story, the Echo covered the trial but they were not present at the sentencing, they put the story in their paper a week after WINOL published it. To be able to say I got a story out before the local paper did is a huge personal achievement for me. Although we are students, we are training journalists who operate similarly to any other news publication; the guest editors who came to visit us at WINOL this year have justified this.
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