WINOL week 6

This week's guest editor was Will Boden, deputy editor of BBC Politics. He said he was "very impressed" and "blown away" with the bulletin. We also had feedback from Angus Scott this week and they both agreed that there was a good mix of stories and Angus particularly liked Liam Garrahan's story about scrap metal and Will Boden said he 'echoes' what Angus said about it. Angus said it should be a template of how to produce a news package ready for broadcast. He said it was "fantastically constructed" Liam's package worked so well because he thought of his pictures. His piece to camera was in front of a crane and he even had three lots of sequences.

This week's bulletin was very successful, with Angus giving everyones stories a lot of praise. It finally feels like reporters have understood how to tell a story after Ian Anderson gave everyone a masterclass last week on how to do so. People have thought about their pictures, their natsot and this has allowed them to really tell the story.

Angus also highlighted that the team work in the news room this week was fantastic. Editors and reporters were challenging the problems and everyone was helping each other to overcome them.- Angus said this really reflects a real news room.

A big national story hit our headlines Wednesday morning, the day of our news bulletin. Shipyard production in Portsmouth was announced to end effecting thousands of jobs. Our finance reporter Harvey Taylor covered this story by doing a piece to camera live from our news room. I think this works best as the news room is more interesting that the green room.

From the feedback from Angus and Will we have been given a few pointers to focus on:

- Rehearse presenting earlier if we can to reduce the chances of mistakes and to be sure of the script.

- Extend headlines so there are no black holes.

- Need to know what the story is about before hearing an interview

- Sports links need to be improved

- Put the reporters personality into the 'and finally' story

- Don't assume your audience know what you are talking about, explain it. This point has popped up every week from the guest editors so i think this should be our biggest focus now.

- Be aware of jump cuts when editing.

- Be careful not to repeat facts and sentences with what the presenter has said in the link and in the package.

Will Boden also gave us some general tips as a journalist.

- Be polite when you interview people but don't be afraid to go back to a question and ask it again if they haven't answered it properly.

- Tell your interviewee what you want from the interviewee. If its a 20 second grab then tell them that.

WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN IN THE MEDIA SCRUM?-COVERING DAVID CAMERON'S EASTLEIGH VISIT

It’s a usual sight to turn up to a media event and be singled out as the only women. 

Most women may like to be in front of the camera but I am interested about what goes on behind the camera. 

As a student Journalist I had a fantastic opportunity to film David Cameron visiting Eastleigh. Not a likely sight to see. 

I went along with two fellow student Journalists, both male. 

I don’t know what it is in journalism, whether or not it has scientifically be proven, to say that men are better than women at filming and interviewing. I only question this because the ratio of women to men is shocking. 

When I turn up to a media event like this I know what to expect. A handful of male camera men. It doesn’t intimidate me but it is very alienating and in fact does this confirm that sexism in the media industry still exits?

When I arrived there were a handful of cameramen already set up and ready to go. 

They stood near their equipment very proud and relaxed, showing off their confidence. It was actually like they had found their spot to film and this was their territory. 

Whereas there is me, a blonde female holding up the equipment and trying to suss out the situation.

I always put the camera up on my own. I am capable even though you may not think it because I might take longer to put it up than a man would or I might look awkward doing it. 

But when there are males there to put the equipment up they want to do it all by themselves. I don’t know whether its because they are trying to prove themselves of being good at putting equipment up but when a male takes over a women takes a few steps back.

The cameramen that were ready and waiting in the press pen were casually chatting to other men. They were dressed casually too, wearing jeans and tee’s. 

To say I was the only women at this event would not be telling the truth. The reporter from Sky was in fact a women, and very well known too.

There was one young female photographer in the scrum and one female radio reporter. But compared to the crowds of tall men these three women and four if  counting me in, is obviously inadequate.

Because we are students and our news team is not well known this makes the situation between me and the professionals a little more distance not only because I am a female. 

Being a female in the media industry is not a bad thing, don’t get me wrong. You can use it to your advantage. For one, you stand out from the crowd.

Men in the media do look more ballsy. They can ask the toughest questions and make it look natural. 

As a women I am wary and conscious and I don’t think any of these male reporters would feel like that. 

As a female I feel like I have to act a certain way. 

I was planning on shouting out a question to David Cameron. And its a big regret that I didn’t. Straight after i kicking myself about it.

But all the press at that the event were wary that the political reporter Michael Crick was there and he was ready to throw a question at Cameron.  

If a women shouted out a question, especially me being young as well, I think all the men would be surprised. I cannot prove this but I could sense that would be the case. 

It’s so unusual to see a equal amount of men and women in the media industry, especially out on the job. Maybe women prefer to stay in the office and in the warm. But I’m pretty sure we are all just as adventurous as most men, aren't we girls?

WINOL Semester 2 Week 1

This is my first package this year. The collapse of the high-street.

The Bulletin 

This week's WINOL went very well. There were no hard-hitting stories but we did have a good variety of stories for the bulletin. I covered the closure of Jessops, and the two shops HMV and Blockbuster that plunged into administration. It was a national story that I could localise. Although I ran this story just on VoxPox I would of liked to get a interview with someone from Blockbuster or HMV. I tried to get an interview with a economics cabinet member in Winchester but he was busy. I also wanted to interview someone from Winchester BID but I was also confronted with issues here too. 

My package: was a national story that was important because all three shops are on the Winchester high-street. 

My main pointer this week was that I didn't use a tripod. Really I have no excuse. But because it was pouring with rain and I was filming on my own I took the choice to film it by hand. I just felt like I could quickly move around the high street- I'm a bit of a clumsy person. 

But this is no excuse. I won't be doing this again i'll always use a tripod. It just makes the shots a lot nicer. 

As a team: We worked very well. This was the first WINOL of the year and everyone had new roles. But everyone produced good stories. We followed up the Sex Hotel story, we had a snow story in there -which included a homeless person. We also followed up the Wind farm story and we had a library opening in Winchester and filmed big Winchester names 'Ken Thornber and Steve Brine.'

Our guest editor this week was David Hayward from the BBC College of Journalism.

The College of Journalism, part of the BBC academy, is a core place where the BBC does it's training. The website is a vital source for us Journalists to use. And as David Hayward said it provides: "tips and pointers."Like how to; film and edit, interview and present.

David Hayward said my story about Blockbuster was good to cover. Although he did pick up on the fact that I didn't use a tripod. He also advised me to allow each shot a time to breath. But on the good pointers for me the package had "nice language" and "clear short sentences." 

Overall he completed WINOL and was impressed by the bulletin and everything we do here. He commented that the presenting was natural by fellow student Harry Parkhill. 

He also added that the BBC college of Journalism focuses particularly on the outlook of News for the future. In particularly they look at social networking and how quickly it can change and the importance of blogging- it can get you a big audience.

Overall a successful week.
Now onto the next.