These are the clip logs for a documentary being worked on by myself and Mark Lovell at University. There are two documentaries being made one filming of Winchester which will include Winchester from dawn to dusk (Doc 1). The other is a profile in the form of a 'day in the life of'. Our profile was a coffee shop worker (Doc 2).
Log of Shots (Doc 1)
Showing posts with label journalism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label journalism. Show all posts
Documentary Clip Log
The darker side of journalism
Everyone knows the well publicised rewards that come with pursuing a career in journalism. The chance to see your name up in lights, being the first to break a story and making high profile celebrities face the music in interviews are just some of the ones which attracted me to study it at undergraduate level.
But it is not all glitz and glamour as a recent article reminded me.
The Committee to Protect Journalists revealed that 68 journalists were killed in 2009, making it the highest yearly tally since the CPJ started detailing records of journalist deaths.
The previous worst stood at 67 in 2007 when the violence in Iraq was at its peak and media deaths were common.
The record toll this year was driven mainly by the election-related slaughter of more than 30 media workers in the Philippine province of Maguindanao. This is the single deadliest event for the press in CPJ history.
The Philippines, Somalia and Pakistan were identified as amongst some of the most dangerous places, accounting for over 50 media deaths.
The full report can be found here
"Revolutionary" e-reader to be launched in Jan
An article in the Independent today made me realise I needed to do a follow up to my blog about the debates around the death of the press industry with the introduction of e-readers (see it here).
What is being billed as the "ultimate" e-reader is set to make its debut in January 2010 after 10 years spent
University of Winchester welcomes Ian Anderson
In conjunction with the behemoth of journalism Ian Anderson's' visit to the University of Winchester, I decided to post some pictures of his tour of our brand spanking new television studio.
The midst of an apocalyptic end?
Reading the news, it appears Amazon will unleash its Kindle upon the UK market next week and in good time for Christmas. Now, for those of you who don't know, the Kindle is a wireless book reader device on to which you can download books and get them delivered to you in under 60 seconds. Check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015T963C/ref=ms_sbrspot_0?pf_rd_p=494263771&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=507846&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1VGQ09T29YA80KJVWHK4
The e-book market is potentially hugely lucrative and it is currently dominated by Amazon. However sensing the huge potential in this and not want miss out on a piece, Google is set to launch its Google Editions in early 2010. Now rather than simply provide competition to Amazon, Sony and Plastic Logic for the way e-books are read, the eggheads at Google have been very clever indeed.
Google Editions will be a full online library meaning that Google can get a say in not only how e-books are read, but also how they are bought and sold. What is sure to have Amazon quaking in its boots is that Google Editions will support a variety of e-reading formats, something that its online Kindle e-book store cannot do.
I know what you're thinking. Why should I care?
The blogging world is currently buzzing with the topic of e-books and the impending doom of the written form. While it is far too early to tell the extent of damage e-books could have on the publishing industry, the fact is e-readers have proved to be increasingly popular over recent months. If Google Editions really takes off and it fulfills its claims of being able to make available 500,000 titles from day one, it will certainly have a huge impact instantly.
This will not just effect the publishing trade but also the Journalism industry. If a huge number of e-readers are sold then people could ultimately decide that 80p a day spent on a newspaper is an unneccessary expenditure as the proper "paper" version of the newspaper is available on their fancy new toy anyway. Print Journalism has certainly taken a huge hit with the unprecendented expansion of the Internet and this could change the way the whole industry operates.
Could this prove to be the final nail in the coffin for the print Journalist?
If it is, remember that you read it here first!
The dreaded interviews
One of the most nerve wracking and seemingly unconquerable fears I faced as a first year Journalism student was the prospect of face-to-face interviews.
Not being an overly confident person the prospect of sitting down with a seemingly unwilling interviewee to ask them questions that they have probably been asked dozens of times was about as appealing as sticking a needle in my eye.
As this was one of my biggest fears about undertaking a undergraduate degree, I have put a lot of time and effort into attempting to improve my interview skills and I have managed to pick up some useful tips along the way.
1. Do your homework!
As a reporter you will usually have time to prepare for an interview as the News Editor will tell you about it beforehand. It is essential to use this time well to read up on your interviewee and ready any past articles/stories about them. There is nothing worse than the dreaded realisation you have to attempt to ask questions to someone you know nothing about. You don’t want to stumble through the interview making the source think you don’t understand the topic.
2. When setting up the interview don't leave the interviewee in the dark about what you want to ask
Providing them with some details before the interview will give the interviewee a chance to think about some of the questions you might ask and gather relevant information they think you might need for your story.
3. Prepare a few questions beforehand
Interviews (especially ones with people who like nothing more than to talk about themselves) have a tendency to drift away from the topic you want to talk about. This is why it is important to have some questions pre-prepared and while it is important to keep your interviewee talking, having a question you can ask to get the interview back on track is important.
From my experience I realise that you don't have to rigorously stick to your original questions and asking follow up questions will relax your interviewee and show you are actually listening to what they have to say.
4. Think of your readership
It is essential to consider what you want to get from the interview and what will the reader/listener/viewer want to know about the topic. It is equally important to remember what would be of particular interest to your audience.
Understanding these tips greatly helped me when it came to heading out and talking to people in order to get the information I needed. Hopefully I can keep on furthering my learning and before long I could be interviewing interesting characters such as this lady.
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp0Q3UJHrkU
Criminal Cases in the Crown Courts
When reading up on the Crown Courts in the new edition of McNae's Law for Journalists;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/McNaes-Essential-Journalists-David-Banks/dp/0199556458/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255010671&sr=8-1
I found one section on reporting on majority verdicts particularly interesting.
In Crown Court, a judge will initially advise a jury to arrive at a unanimous verdict on each charge however if the jury had 'retired' for at least two hours and ten minutes and has failed to reach a verdict, then the judge will rule that a majority verdict is acceptable for each charge.
Now if a defendant is convicted by a majority then it is unproblematic for the media to refer to the fact that it was by a majority decision. This is because it indicates that one or two people didn't agree with the guilty verdict, and to report this is regarded as fair to the defendant.
However the problems lie in regards to reporting when a defendant is acquitted by a majority vote. It is regarded as 'undesirable' to publish the fact that it was by a majority verdict as it indicated at least one member of the jury believed the defendant to be guilty.
If reported, such an suggestion leaves a stain on the defendant's character even though he or she was cleared of the charge.
This could prove to trip up many journalists who believe they were reporting a seemingly innocuous truth so it is definetely something to watch out for.
