Production Analysis Blog

Convergence, in terms of journalism means to ‘come together’, thinking of new and more exciting ways of delivering the news of the day. Journalism uses so many different kinds of media and this, convergence unit, really gave us the chance to use them all to their full ability and really make the best of them.

The art of converging is something that allows news delivery to reach a new level and it is definitely something that throughout this unit we embraced. Sharing my audio or video that I had worked hard to gather, at first, was at quite hard. It seemed as though all my hard work was just being passed along for everyone to use. However, after a week or so of this unit I soon began to understand that when I shared my work with others, they were just as willing to share with me. Ultimately, this leads to stronger journalism and that can only be a good thing.

The fact that material is shared so easily and put online quickly, may seem like a pitfall for quality journalism. This can mean that information or audio that you have got ready for a bulletin is online before your bulletin is even broadcast, so it may seem that you aren’t breaking the story. However, the quicker stories get published, especially with added attractions like a video or audio piece, the better. This is the way that, after some practice, I began to look at sharing work. Also some journalists find it hard to trust converging as it can seem as though they are promoting a ‘product’ and concentrating more on the business, marketing side of it, rather than the actual hard journalism. But we were working as one news station, and if converging is done properly, then it simply leads to stronger material being put into the public domain.

Throughout the 8 weeks of this converging unit, I tried to take on as many different roles as possible. I was generally a reporter writing up stories and getting them onto the Buzz website as soon as possible. It took me by surprise that I really enjoyed finding original news stories. At the beginning of our news unit this year we were told that we would have to go out and find original news stories, that hadn’t been published. This seemed like an extremely daunting challenge. However, after we were taught a few tricks of the trade, it began to seem like something that I could actually do, and enjoy. I have always liked talking to different people and finding things out, and this was simply another opportunity to do that. For a few of the news days, I was sent into town to try and find stories and I would like to think that what I found was of a high standard. Stories like those about skulls and guns being donated to charity shops, as well as a Bournemouth artist who is launching a new appeal for missing children, I was really pleased with. The convergence unit, really taught me that there are so many stories out there that nobody has uncovered and they are not actually that hard to find.

When I first found out that I would take on the role of editor for our television days I was rather nervous. However, the editors meetings the day before and on the morning of the news day, really helped me. Having all the editors gathered together meant that we could share our ideas, and we would all bring some different ones to the meeting. For me, in both the practice and assessed weeks, I felt a lot more confident and prepared after the editors meetings, I think they are very worthwhile. In the practice week, when I was editor, there were some little mistakes, for example clips being uploaded onto the Macs as HD. Other issues in that week were time keeping, as editing and sending some of the clips through on the Tricaster was a little bit tight to the bulletin broadcast time. This meant that in our 4 o’clock bulletin there were a couple of mistakes, because we just hadn’t had enough time for run-throughs. However, I was really pleased that these mistakes happened in our practice week, as that is what it was about, and it allowed us as a seminar group to go into our assessed day much more clued up to what could go wrong. I was thoroughly pleased with our bulletins on our assessed day, I think that the stories that we managed to get in that day and the footage was outstanding. As a seminar group I think we work extremely well together and the standard of work that we produce makes me very proud.

One of the main lessons that I learnt in this unit was in our second practice week. Dan asked me and Freddie to research a story about the university applying to build more buildings on grazing land. I went and took pictures of the area, so that we could upload a story onto Buzz. However, after some research we found that the Echo had already covered the story and decided not to run it. This decision was made by me, Freddie, our editor and deputy editor. However, later that week the Echo had that story as their front cover, as they had spoken to angry residents. In hindsight, we should have written something up for Buzz, as although it seemed as though the story was covered, we should have tried to take a new angle. This has taught me a hard lesson that I must follow all leads and make sure that I don’t miss anything at all; there is no room for error.

One of my biggest achievements, I feel, was my interview with Julian Fellowes. I had tried to get hold of him to talk to him about his involvement with the actress Carey Mulligan, but he had been very busy. I was persistent, and it paid off. I spoke to him about his past achievements, for example when he won an Oscar, and I asked him about what he had written recently and his plans for the future. He told me that he had written an article about the Carey Mulligan story and that he didn’t wish to talk about it, which I respected. This taught me a valuable lesson, that you should chase everything; even if it seems that you will never get the interview.

During the weeks of convergence, as I have described, I learnt a huge amount. In the first few weeks I think we were all settling into the news days and had we been more prepared, we could have used multi-media a lot more. But during the following weeks I really tried to embrace all the different technologies and made videos, audio pieces etc. We all started to share everything that we had managed to gather, from a really good video interview, to a strong quote. The fact that this makes for better journalism is another lesson I will take away with me. I think this unit was different from the TV and Radio units last term and last year, as it really made us feel as though we were a working news station. Overall, I found it thoroughly challenging, but completely enjoyable and I have learnt so many lessons that I will never forget.

Charity shop shockers

Skulls, false teeth and guns are amongst the 'unwanted goods' charity shops receive in Bournemouth.

The quiet seaside town renowned for its idyllic beaches and a hot spot for tourists, seems to have a more sinister side.

David Fountain, store manager of Winton Salvation Army charity shop said: "Over the years we have received a human skull, several large sums of money and a gun."

Mr Fountain explained that they contact the Police when such 'donations' are made but it doesn't stop such items being given to them.

Barnardo's charity shop worker, Fwah Storm, said: "We often get very strange donations, we once had two pairs of numchucks come into the store. We even had a book by Roger Kipling with an embroidered Swastika, we later found out it was a peace symbol when the book was published."

Other charity shop shockers include false teeth, used nappies and stripped wallpaper.

By Lissa Hawkins and Gayle McDonald.

Charity shop shockers

David Fountain, Salvation Army Charity store manager

Skulls, false teeth and guns are amongst the ‘unwanted goods’ charity shops receive in Bournemouth.

The quiet seaside town renowned for its idyllic beaches and a hot spot for tourists, seems to have a more sinister side.

David Fountain, store manager of Winton Salvation Army charity shop said: “Over the years we have received a human skull, several large sums of money and a gun.”

Mr Fountain explained that they contact the Police when such ‘donations’ are made.

Barnardo’s charity shop worker, Fwah Storm, said: “We often get very strange donations, we once had two pairs of numchucks come into the store. We even had a book by Roger Kipling with an embroidered Swastika, we later found out it was a peace symbol when the book was published.”

Other charity shop shockers include false teeth, used nappies and stripped wallpaper.

Winton’s latest recession victim

Today was a sad day for the staff at Winton’s Ethel Austin who are now left jobless. In their last day of trading, the store was busy and offering 20% discounts on most products.

The manager was in good spirits but was unable to comment on the closure.

The chain went into administration last week and several stores have been closed across the country.

Ethel Austin is not the only sign of the tough economic times hitting the area. The old Woolworth’s store on Winton high street has been empty for over a year. Work is now beginning on transforming the old family favourite into a 99p store.

Fresh appeal to find missing children

Families with missing children are given new hope as an exciting new scheme hits the UK.

A one off concert, to be held in Bournemouth, will showcase hand-drawn portraits of missing children this May. The event is an extension of the Guardian Angel Project which has reunited hundreds of families in the States.

Bournemouth based illustrator, Fwah Storm, was contacted by American artist John Paul Thornton, following the success of the project.

Twenty-eight-year-0ld Fwah, a Barnardo's worker , said: "I was honoured to be contacted and am determined to make sure it is a big hit here too. I will be drawing the portraits over the next few months and am looking forward to organising the event."

Rock band Esoterica, who have played at the Download festival along side bands such as Korn and Black Sabbath, will be headlining the event which will take place at The Inferno bar.

Around 50 portraits will be exhibited at the concert, which hopes to raise funds and awareness of the cause. All profits will be donated to the Barnardo's charity.

Fwah added: "The event will be huge and include bands and magicians as well as the drawings. We are hoping for a big turnout."

Charity Cheaters

A Bournemouth woman is causing chaos in charity shops by stealing, rooting through bins and swapping price tags on goods.

The woman who is described as well dressed, around 50 years old, with blonde curly hair has been swindling charity shops in Winton and Westbourne.

Her antics recently took a step up and she has now banned from several shops.

Sarah Penny, ReStore volunteer, said: “A friend of mine who works in another charity shop warned me about this woman. She comes in most days and we have to watch her like a hawk.”

She continued: “She is often rooting through the bins out the back and swapping the price tags. I find it sad that people will steal from charity shops and it often isn’t who you think it would be.”

Several charity shops have reported an increase in the number of thefts recorded suggesting this woman is not alone and shoplifting is rife in the area.

A lack of stock taking and security have been raised as contributory factors for the rise in thefts.

Charity shop workers from the British Heart Foundation and Tenovus described these instances as ‘a slap in the face’.

The newly opened Salvation Army charity shop in Westbourne has been particularly affected. This shop has not installed changing rooms in order to deter criminals from stealing.

Manager Linda Cross said: “We haven’t had to ban anyone yet, but I can definitely see that happening in the future.”

At the Marie Curie Cancer Care shop, Assistant Manager Denise Wilcox said: “I find it so frustrating and have had to ban quite a number of people. But, I am often working downstairs and they will still come in, so it is hard to enforce.”

Several volunteers suspect the thieves go on to sell the stolen items.

Taking Centre Stage

The films of 2009 lead to record cinema ratings and 2010 looks set to be just as successful. Lissa Hawkins looks at the triumphs of last year and what there is to look forward to.

UK cinema admissions during 2009, were at their highest since 2002, Film Council reveals.

A massive 173.9 million people went to the cinema last year, making record takings of £944 million. This figure is up 11% on 2008, so it seems the recession has re-inspired the British love of film. Avatar, Up and Ice Age III are to be thanked for the hugely successful year, but Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was the highest earning film, taking over £50 million. Special offers and deals like Orange Wednesdays could have participated in luring the audiences in.

Chief executive officer of the UK Film Council, John Woodward, said: "Taken together, these box office and inward investment numbers show how film in the UK has moved from the margins back to the mainstream, helping sustain jobs and promote the UK's place on the international stage.”

Avatar was also a hit at the Golden Globe awards winning Best Motion Picture. The ceremony, hosted by our very own Ricky Gervais, also saw James Cameron win Best Director of a Motion Picture for Avatar.

So, what films are there to look forward to this year? Well, Tim Burton’s, Alice in Wonderland is released in March. The all star cast including Johnny Depp, Matt Lucas and Mia Wasikowska contribute to the film, which puts an imaginative twist on such a loved story.

The month of May looks set to be a popular one for cinema lovers with Shrek Forever After, Letters to Julie, Iron Man 2 and Sex and the City 2 all coming out. Other films that will be out later in the year are a sure hit; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, as well as Toy Story 3 and Saw VII.

It looks set to be a busy year for the cinemas. You best start reserving your seats now!

Broadcast Blog

The lessons I have learnt throughout the broadcast unit have been invaluable, my skills have developed no end and I have grown into a much more able student. However these successes did not come about without difficulties, and these were key to me learning so much.

Radio

The members of my team in Radio were very competent and as a group I feel we undertook the news days with an eager and ready attitude. There were different requirements for the two target radio stations, South Coast and Talbot FM and we worked hard to reach our audiences well. A range of roles had to be undertaken and here was generally something that suited everyone. Our two practice weeks were extremely successful and we all experienced different roles to see who would be best suited for the different roles in the assessed weeks. Preparation was key in making sure we made the most of our talents; this was why Jess presented for the South Coast and Linzi for Talbot. As both radio stations were local around 75% of the stories in the bulletins were local news, but we had to include the top national stories to make sure our listeners were correctly informed of the day’s news.

In our first assessment day we were broadcasting for South Coast, I took the role of editor. We all followed the news of the week both locally, which included Hampshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight and, nationally. This meant that we were partly prepared when we first walked into the room, this was important to our success.

As there were eight people in our group we were keen to get some reporters out into the town to get the real stories and opinions from the public; an example of this was when Steve went to the local Court and Jamie went to get interviews on the postal strikes. As a well organised group we produced balanced and legally correct bulletins and gained a first. We were particularly careful when reporting on the court case about Luke McCabe, making sure we stayed within the ten points that are legal to report on.

A problem with the Talbot FM practice and assessed days was that although the target audience was a lot easier for us to relate to, the production was harder and more intensive. We had to make sure we had music beds that didn’t overpower the speech and keeping the stories punchy was a challenge. However, I was extremely pleased with our bulletins that week as I think we prepared ourselves well according to our pre-arranged roles.

Other problems we faced were fitting all the news into the tight deadlines that we had. Working as a professional team meant that we did not want to run over or under our scheduled time what so ever. The ENPS programme estimated the time each story would take to read, but even though this gave a general idea, when nerves kick in people can read faster and stumble more so it is hard to estimate exactly. One of our biggest mistakes was having a story in the headline that we had actually cut, this was something that we learnt from for the next time to make sure that everything was thoroughly checked.

My radio package, was something that I wanted to be creative with and choose a unique subject for, rather than hard news. This is why I chose to do it on dreams. I was always concerned with my package, as it seemed that there was no reason for me to be investigating it. However, that is what a package is all about, it was a feature on something that I was interested in and wanted to find out more about. In hindsight I shouldn’t have put a music bed constantly underneath the whole package as sometimes it did overpower, but this is something I have learnt from. Throughout this whole unit persuading people to do interviews was a massive challenge. However, I was pleased with my range of interviews, as I think there was a truly balanced discussion with a wide range of opinion.


Television

Television was, for me, much more of a challenge compared to Radio, however I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the unit. As I had learnt basic skills on Final Cut last year the prospect of editing my work didn’t seem to daunting, however I was by no means experienced. One thing I particularly enjoyed were our news days, as although there were stressful times, all in all the satisfaction of producing a real Television programme was extremely enjoyable.

My team in TV were again competent and able, however some of the time it felt as though there were only a few of us working as a team. In our first week we had to produce our news programme, so we decided to include some packages and some news of the day. The decision of what my package would be on was extremely hard as I wanted to focus on Christmas, but still wanted to have a newsworthy story. The recession seemed ideal as I could interview local business people and get their expert opinions. However, I encountered some issues along the way; my main interview with Gail Collins from the BIC had no sound when I captured it. I then decided to have a still image of her and rolling text of what she had said. I was pleased when I managed to work out how to do this on my own, but in the end it did not look that professional so I arranged another interview. Small lessons like this are where I think I have really developed; now I would never do an interview without checking and re-checking all my sound and picture. My editing skills were really put to the test in this week and I enjoyed the challenge. Overall I thought my TV package had a strong hard news story behind it but I also made the shots creative and interesting to watch. The show itself was valuable in learning the pressures that I am likely to experience once I leave university, we had to pull together and make decisions quickly and efficiently.

For the Youth Show our main priority was to make something that we, as teenagers, would want to watch. We always wanted there to a balance between hard news and light stories; this is why we had our Twitter feed, bringing celebrities into the show. The People’s Panel also suited the type of show we were aiming for brilliantly. Our production could have been better at times, i.e. the constant ‘The Fix’ behind the presenters could have been more interesting to look at. Overall the main aim of the show, which was to inform the young generation of the news was done and I think was done very well.

The Documentary was the third television programme we produced, here our group struggled with working as a team. It is hard to produce one programme when there are five people working together, as even when you all agree, only one person can edit at a time. However, although we may not have worked that well as a team in this particular project, the end product was one of our best. The arguments for and against sun-bed use were balanced and if people watched it we would not have any worries ethically about the message we were putting across as it warned of all the dangers clearly.

Overall this was a thoroughly challenging and rewarding unit.

Broadcast Unit Blog

The lessons I have learnt throughout the broadcast unit have been invaluable, my skills have developed no end and I have grown into a much more able student. However these successes did not come about without difficulties, and these were key to me learning so much.

Radio

The members of my team in Radio were very competent and as a group I feel we undertook the news days with an eager and ready attitude. There were different requirements for the two target radio stations, South Coast and Talbot FM and we worked hard to reach our audiences well. A range of roles had to be undertaken and here was generally something that suited everyone. Our two practice weeks were extremely successful and we all experienced different roles to see who would be best suited for the different roles in the assessed weeks. Preparation was key in making sure we made the most of our talents; this was why Jess presented for the South Coast and Linzi for Talbot. As both radio stations were local around 75% of the stories in the bulletins were local news, but we had to include the top national stories to make sure our listeners were correctly informed of the day’s news.

In our first assessment day we were broadcasting for South Coast, I took the role of editor. We all followed the news of the week both locally, which included Hampshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight and, nationally. This meant that we were partly prepared when we first walked into the room, this was important to our success.

As there were eight people in our group we were keen to get some reporters out into the town to get the real stories and opinions from the public; an example of this was when Steve went to the local Court and Jamie went to get interviews on the postal strikes. As a well organised group we produced balanced and legally correct bulletins and gained a first. We were particularly careful when reporting on the court case about Luke McCabe, making sure we stayed within the ten points that are legal to report on.

A problem with the Talbot FM practice and assessed days was that although the target audience was a lot easier for us to relate to, the production was harder and more intensive. We had to make sure we had music beds that didn’t overpower the speech and keeping the stories punchy was a challenge. However, I was extremely pleased with our bulletins that week as I think we prepared ourselves well according to our pre-arranged roles.

Other problems we faced were fitting all the news into the tight deadlines that we had. Working as a professional team meant that we did not want to run over or under our scheduled time what so ever. The ENPS programme estimated the time each story would take to read, but even though this gave a general idea, when nerves kick in people can read faster and stumble more so it is hard to estimate exactly. One of our biggest mistakes was having a story in the headline that we had actually cut, this was something that we learnt from for the next time to make sure that everything was thoroughly checked.

My radio package, was something that I wanted to be creative with and choose a unique subject for, rather than hard news. This is why I chose to do it on dreams. I was always concerned with my package, as it seemed that there was no reason for me to be investigating it. However, that is what a package is all about, it was a feature on something that I was interested in and wanted to find out more about. In hindsight I shouldn’t have put a music bed constantly underneath the whole package as sometimes it did overpower, but this is something I have learnt from. Throughout this whole unit persuading people to do interviews was a massive challenge. However, I was pleased with my range of interviews, as I think there was a truly balanced discussion with a wide range of opinion.

Television

Television was, for me, much more of a challenge compared to Radio, however I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the unit. As I had learnt basic skills on Final Cut last year the prospect of editing my work didn’t seem to daunting, however I was by no means experienced. One thing I particularly enjoyed were our news days, as although there were stressful times, all in all the satisfaction of producing a real Television programme was extremely enjoyable.

My team in TV were again competent and able, however some of the time it felt as though there were only a few of us working as a team. In our first week we had to produce our news programme, so we decided to include some packages and some news of the day. The decision of what my package would be on was extremely hard as I wanted to focus on Christmas, but still wanted to have a newsworthy story. The recession seemed ideal as I could interview local business people and get their expert opinions. However, I encountered some issues along the way; my main interview with Gail Collins from the BIC had no sound when I captured it. I then decided to have a still image of her and rolling text of what she had said. I was pleased when I managed to work out how to do this on my own, but in the end it did not look that professional so I arranged another interview. Small lessons like this are where I think I have really developed; now I would never do an interview without checking and re-checking all my sound and picture. My editing skills were really put to the test in this week and I enjoyed the challenge. Overall I thought my TV package had a strong hard news story behind it but I also made the shots creative and interesting to watch. The show itself was valuable in learning the pressures that I am likely to experience once I leave university, we had to pull together and make decisions quickly and efficiently.

For the Youth Show our main priority was to make something that we, as teenagers, would want to watch. We always wanted there to a balance between hard news and light stories; this is why we had our Twitter feed, bringing celebrities into the show. The People’s Panel also suited the type of show we were aiming for brilliantly. Our production could have been better at times, i.e. the constant ‘The Fix’ behind the presenters could have been more interesting to look at. Overall the main aim of the show, which was to inform the young generation of the news was done and I think was done very well.

The Documentary was the third television programme we produced, here our group struggled with working as a team. It is hard to produce one programme when there are five people working together, as even when you all agree, only one person can edit at a time. However, although we may not have worked that well as a team in this particular project, the end product was one of our best. The arguments for and against sun-bed use were balanced and if people watched it we would not have any worries ethically about the message we were putting across as it warned of all the dangers clearly.

Overall this was a thoroughly challenging and rewarding unit.