Claudia Murg: A Lesson in Journalism

Claudia Murg's background lies within investigative journalism, one that I will certainly argue as the toughest and most mentally challenging forms of Journalism. She started out as an immigrant from Romania, working as a fish and chip shop worker, now she can proudly say she has been apart of the biggest investigative platforms including World in Action, Dispatches and Panorama, and that is down to her sheer determination, fearlessness and passion to find a story and take responsibility for it. Her history within journalism is impeccably inspiring, without fail I am always left amazed by the stories and golden advice she has to share, and speaking from her experiences it is advice I value and wish to share. 

It was an honour to have Claudia return to the WINOL newsroom this week, after visiting us last year it was certainty a wake up call to be re-connected within the realities we are facing as budding journalists.

She is always honest, and thats the best thing of all, the reality that our bulletin this week didn't meet up to high expectations, and frankly this is the truth. Claudia told us we need to be aiming higher and higher each week, because if you aim high you have the chance to do something well. Every journalist needs a plan. Do not go anywhere without having done you research or forward planning. Think about the pictures you want to get, who is interested in your story, what response you want from your interviewee and find the human interest to the story. Every time Claudia visits she always knows our stories inside out before she speaks with us, because she has done her research. I found it an extremely effective approach that she made us score our performance out of /10 allowing us to think deeper about our thought processes when working on our stories and self critiquing how it went. 

The main point Claudia was emphasising is what are you going to do to justify the time someone is spending watching your story. You have to bring something new to the story, it is not journalism if what you are reporting is the same as what every other reporter has done; we need to work on developing our stories. Stress was placed on how crucial contacts are, journalism is all about curiosity and contacts. We should be calling up our contacts regularly and continue to build a trusting relationship, don't wait for a story to break before you call them, and then expect them to just help you. They are more likely to be helpful if you've not just called them when you need something all the time. This is the idea of contacts that we often miss, we should be in regular contact and using them as our main source to find out scoops to stories, not mimicking the papers and stealing their contacts because everyone else is doing it. 

Claudia and I had a long chat about the interview process, which gave me a lot to think about and reflect upon from my interview this week with the Governor of Winchester prison. When it comes down to the interview, the first thing you should do is clarify with your interviewee what your expectations are, let them know you are not there to waste their time. We need to remember that the interviewee can get bored too, we need to find a way of making the interview interesting and different. Ask random questions, you'll get the most intriguing answers it's just a matter of taking control. Don't even bother asking them questions you can get the answer to on the internet, or repetitive questions that they probably hear all the time, as a journalist you want to be memorable, ask innovative and challenging questions. Prove to the interviewee you know what you are talking about and that you have a depth of knowledge within the subject, if you have done your research you can challenge it more, the key is to be confident and be in control. 

Control plays a huge factor in the success of a story, we are the creators of our stories and therefore we 

hold the power, and this is something we shouldn't be afraid of. We shouldn't let our interviewees take over, we should know when to interrupt, to challenge and to reflect. We need behave like journalistic surgeons listening closely to what it is they are saying, it's no surprise that we are missing the simplest of leads into finding a hook because we are too busy worrying about the next question. If we are analysing bit by bit what is being said, and challenging the moments we feel are of human interest, the story is more likely to develop; it's the unexpected comments that we should be concentrating on. This was a huge lesson for me this week, I scored myself a low performance, because I did not feel as in control of the interview as I would of liked to, my questions weren't challenging enough and visually the story was weak. Despite health and safety issues down at the prison I should of pushed for the next best thing to have it filmed outside the prison, and visually and technically this would of probably worked a great deal better then it did as a studio set up. Claudia reassured us that confidence to take control will come with practise but its all about keeping in tune with your emotions and reflecting these aspirations in to your story. 

As aspiring journalists we need to be fearful she said, it's all about taking the risks, especially now more then ever when we have the comfort and support of our team and tutors. It's certainly a lot tougher in the real world, and on the outside we have to face up to the issues ourselves. It's those who are willing to go get it and just do it and find solutions and alternatives who will succeed. Journalism is an obsession, you either have the state of mind of a journalist or you do not. I'm sure as individuals the journey we will all take will lead us down different paths, but one way or another we will find out if we have what it takes.    

Week 6 - WINOL: Debrief

There has been vast improvements this week across the board, our circulation peaked on Wednesday to just below 2000 views on the WINOL website. It's important that the traffic is monitored, we should be leading with the stories that are receiving the most hits online, and continue to update the stories over the weekend.

On twitter, we need to be regularly updating what we are doing, to boost our followers. We should be updating social media with what we are doing more, and target those who are interested. People no longer go to the papers as much, they go to twitter, it's easily accessible news.

All our articles need SEO to double our traffic, including headlines, tags, descriptions, key words and maximising this to improve the overall hits to the site and length of time someone spends on the site.

Subbing has improved this week, fatal errors are cleared, and they are all legally safe. But, there needs to be more attack, the stories need to 'sexed' up - it's far more engaging for the audience. Follow the subbing board now, there are deadlines for the reporters. There needs to be an update on a monday morning, the website desperately needs a fresh new story, we shouldn't still have wednesday's old news as our lead. We need a designated editor for the front page, keeping the wheels turning, and communicating amongst the team and subs.

From here on the word camera has been banned in our newsroom, we will refer to it as a 'quote grabber', prehaps this new jargon will catch on.

Week 6: Justice Gap

Prison reforms to rehabilitate offenders won’t stop re-offending

Following the prison riots at HMP Maidstone this week, I was intrigued by the cause. The riots occurred a day after the Government enforced changes to the Incentive and Earned privilege scheme. It was suspected that the clampdown on prison perks was the cause behind the riots. I wanted to look into this further, and address the question whether prisons should be there to punish prisoners, or rehabilitate them. I wrote an article on Chris Graylings rulings, but tried to move the story on by addresses whether it was actually going to help. I got in contact with the Prison Reform Trust to interview someone there who was willing to comment. Speaking with the Head of Policy and Communication, Mark Day I was able to include original quotes in my article, and give the story a fresh top line.

With this article, I tried to localise it by seeing whether there were any signs of any rebellious activity in Winchester Prison, however speaking with the Governor I was informed that HMP Winchester fully prepared the offenders in advance, and that they were aware of the changes months prior. Following this phone conversation I set up an in-studio interview with the Governor, David Rogers, to address broader prison matters. This feature interview will be broadcasted on The Justice Gap as a national angle, but locally on our weekly WINOL bulletin.

[Click the headlines to read the articles]

On the wednesday an article was published regarding the High Courts ruling which grants the right to anyone held under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act to have a solicitor present face-to-face.  Jon credited this as a 'speedy' turn around, as it was up on the site within an hour of him messaging me the story.

Terrorist suspects given right to solicitor present during questioning

Week 6: WINOL

The Guest Editor this week was Will Boden, from BBC Daily Politics. He was extremely impressed by the running of our newsroom and 'blown away' by the fact that we are doing this every week. He said the mix of stories this week were really varied, and the lead story [shipbuilding job cuts in Portsmouth] was spot on to lead as it was the biggest news story of the day, and close to our patch. Will liked the use of the two way between the studio and the newsroom, however he suggested we included some footage of David Cameron. 

The interview with Rowenna Davis followed, this was good interview but a point Will addresses is that we shouldn't assume our audience have followed the story and know all about it. We don't want to spoon feed our audience but we do want them to be aware of what it's about so more consideration to explaining it in the link is needed. Will suggested this shouldn't have been the second story, based on the audience that we are trying to engage with it would have been more suitable to have a more localised story higher up for instance the 20mph speed limit story, or the scrap metal package. 

The Scrap Metal package has been the best piece of TV Journalism to air on WINOL according to Angus Scott, and I couldn't agree more. The entire package had every journalism trick, it was heavily picture lead, included NATSOT, a range of sequences, lots of varied GV shots wide and close up, and perfect scripting to pictures. What this package does extremely well is it keeps the viewer watching and thats purely because it is full of pictures, and this is what TV is all about. There are moments where there is a small pause in between shots, which Will encourages as it allows the pictures to breathe as they roll on, giving the viewer a moment to digest what they are watching.  

The 20mph speed limit package was a great effort to be more imaginative with pictures, both Angus and Will agreed that the use of a GoPro was innovative but the story needed to have pedestrians in it as it was lacking the hustle and bustle of central town. 

The dead dogs story was also another great story adding variation to the mix, Will said animal stories always go down well with the audience, this was one of three stories that had animals in it - dogs, dolphins, and hedgehogs! This was a good package, which Angus deemed a 'free story', by this he meant it was good to have a follow up from the story we covered previously, keeping up with the contacts that were made. In this instance we didn't need to state the footage was 'archive' even though we try to be as transparent as possible. Will made a point that we should look out for jump cuts, and avoid jarring moments as there is one point where the dog magically changes. 

The uni strike story was a good campus story, shame we didn't have any footage of the teachers striking or speak with any of them, but the interview with the Deputy Vice Chancellor was good. The radar story had some good set up shots allowing you to lead into the interview. Just remember the rule of thirds, as he is quite central in the shot. 

The hedgehog was the 'and finally' this was another good package, Angus credited the first 15 seconds of this opening as the best scripting to a news VT, it told the story instantly and from the very beginning the audience knew what the story was about. The PTC with the hedgehog was also a nice touch, however it would have been nice to see a bit more personality come through, and to demonstrate the hedgehog in a more playful way but it's understood that in these circumstances that you were asked to keep it informative and more serious. A point was made to ensure our links are not repeating what we are saying in the package, the PTC could of been cut in half to avoid repetition from the queue. 

Week 5 - WINOL: Debrief

There is no personality in news, we should be writing like robots. 

The text stories online are very poor this week, as training journalists we need to practise our news writing. We should not rely on the sub editors to completely change the story. Read the papers daily, you need to be aware of the news agenda every day, keeping ourselves briefed on breaking news. Listen to the Today Programme, or local radio stations to keep informed.

Structure:

Headlines: Subject Verb Object

Subject to verb must agree on tense, case, plurals
The subject must be capable of  producing the action in the verb e.g "The cat sat on the mat" - this is a perfect english sentence - 'sat' is the logical verb that the subject 'cat' is capable of.
Passive voice - 'The mat was sat on by the cat" - although still logically correct,  keep to the active voice.

Top line - Who What When Where Why

Mood follows - Why has it happened?

Quotes 

If you lift a quote, you need to attribute the source, e.g 'he said in a statement'

Tip- Verbs of attribution - date the statement, e.g 'said last week', 'said today'. 

Ultimate quotes - 'It's a nightmare' and 'It's a dream come true'

Partial quotes - we don't use ellipsis '...' 'quote,' he said, adding 'quote'

Punctuating your quotes:

He said: "This is a nightmare."

He said it was a "nightmare".

"This is a nightmare," he said. 

"Every time you have a fact you need to diffuse it like a bomb disposal,

if you don't check it [facts], it'll blow up." - Horrie

Comment Vs Fact

Fact - Independently verifiable statement - always in the reporters voice - cross checking, fact checking and research is so crucial, the more facts you have the more valuable your journalism is.

If your facts have not been checked, and you are unsure, either leave it out, or fudge it. You do not have to always be right but you must never be wrong.

Comment - This is everything else - always in the interviewees voice - do not try to pass off comment as fact.

After para 2/3 - people begin to zone out - pack it out with quotes and facts.

To recap:

• Write simple, declarative, active headlines
• Do not comment in your own voice
• Verify your facts, leave it out or fudge it
• Do not lift quotes without attributing the source
• Punctuate your quotes correctly
• Don't wait for editors to sub your grammar

Masterclass: Storytelling for TV Journalists

"No story lives unless someone want to listen"

                                                                                                                       - J K Rowling 

Ian Anderson's Masterclass

When it comes to putting together a VT, the most important thing a reporter must do is share the story.

Impact is everything. The best pictures need to go at the beginning of the package to grab the audiences attention. The strongest and most powerful images of human interest need to be at the top to ensure the viewers will want to continue watching.

No story is complete, without a beginning, a middle and an end. The beginning is heavily relient on impact, the middle is the stories substance, and the end draws conclusions, and throws the story forward.

The story in classic TV news is all in pictures. It is important to visually assemble the story on your timeline first, and then script your voice track afterwards. The logistics of this is that you are scripting to the pictures, you should be talking about what the viewer can see.

Reporters must be filming interesting sequences and capturing the natural sound at the scene, this will help master the art of bringing the story to life. We should be heading back to the newsroom with reels and reels of rushes, allowing ourselves to be creative and have a variation of wide and close up shots.

Set up shots with interviewees are crucial to allow a lead into the interview, everything needs to follow a logical sequence, and flow smoothly. The VT shouldn't feel jumpy and abrupt. To enhance this, we should hear our interviewee before we see them. 

It is so important to have a plan in advance, head out on to the field with an idea in mind of how you in-vision your VT, and stick to the plan. As a reporter we are in charge of telling the story so we must tell our interviewees what it is we want from them, not expect them to be professionals in the art of TV, that is our job.

Assessing the validity of Police and Investigations

Key Factors: Quality, Validity, Fairness, Competence, Honesty and Training

The competence of those who lead and manage determine the quality of an investigation and the Philosophy of an investigation determines its validity. All investigative failures derive from failures of philosophy, leadership and methodology. Prior to 1982 police forces used variations of a system following Byford enquiry into failures in Yorkshire Ripper case. Due to failings in this case, a new methodology known as HOLMES was enforced.

All investigators have a responsibility for carrying out the duties imposed under the Home Office Code, including recording information and retaining records of information. 

The Officer in Charge of the investigation must ensure proper procedures are in place.

The Disclosure Officer must ensure everything is completed with discipline, moderation, cross checking and evidence.

Reviewing an investigation

OIOC – Officer in overall command

SIO – Senior Investigating officer

Functional Manager – responsible for individual functions

Policy books/documents keeps a record on the Police, they are used to 

• Find fact and evidence to prove theory 
• Record Philosophy
•  Record actions taken
• Write information that can assist the defence or undermine the prosecution - record contamination of exhibits or bad character of witness
• Reviewing Investigations ensure compliance with processes are met, because not all investigators may be honest, competent or disinterested. 

It is reasonable to question the quality, validity and fairness if the structure is not defined, records are incomplete – subject to manipulation, and reviews are absent or if there is philosophy prejudice.

Understanding MIRSAP/HOLMES

MIRSAP = Major Incident Room Standard Administration Procedures  

HOLMES = Home Office Large Major Enquiry System – Computer software used by the police

The information is captured –

• Comes in as a Message e.g. M1
• Documents are marked e.g. D1
• Reports come in by officer’s e.g. R1, R1A
• Actions are time dated by the computer e.g. A1 [Actions follow messages, it is impossible for an action to be made prior to knowing the message.]
• Transcripts, statement or document are marked Y1, Y2
• Exhibits are marked with initials of officer who seized it e.g CM1  [E Numbers and X numbers should match.]

The first document to be created is known as the Crime Scene log, this is the key document that all senior investigating officers rely on.

Everything should follow in chronological order, as the HOLMES system allocates a sequential number to all data so that they can be recorded and indexed.

1.       Messages will be read, details of people and lines of enquiry can then be identified

2.       Actions will be raised, instructing an officer to close gap in knowledge of investigation

3.       Action Resulted, next iteration of cycle

4.       Investigation will then be reviewed, any problems can then be picked up before becoming an issue

5.       Result – Conclusions made

Indices

Indexing reflects the quality and accessibility of data held on documents (MIRSAP) or database (HOLMES)

• Nominal index
• Alphabetical Index
• Information Indicies (Message, Action, Statement, Report, Documents, Transcript, Exhibit)
• Index of categories (suspects, vehicles, weapons)

Each index records the date on which it was printed, and the number of days a document is held for. If these dates do not match then the indexing is very poor and highlights a corrupted investigation.

Other examples which show a level of corruption: 

1. Errors in police statements
2. Inaccuracies between police messages and actions
3. Investigation inept
4. Documents proven to be falsified
5. Disclosure failures
6. General failure to follow all reasonable lines of enquiry

This is why when we review an investigation the most crucial target is to look for anomalies, all documents are recorded which must show that it follows a continuous logical sequence. If not, you have every reason to doubt the integrity of the investigation.