Critical Reflection - Year Three Semester One

Critical Reflection WINOL – Year Three Semester One

Over the course of this semester, WINOL has continued to be a strong and engaging local news site, retaining the strengths of content and delivery that have served the site well over previous semesters, without necessarily extending itself.

One of the great strengths of this semester has been the continued high standards of content. Our weekly bulletin has been consistently strong, as the team have covered both important local stories and approached national stories from a local angle. There have also been a number of high profile guests, and important contacts made and maintained over the course of the semester, which stands future WINOL reporters in good stead. Matt Spencer’s work with the Police and Crime Commissioner and Hampshire Constabulary has produced a number of exclusive interviews and high quality packages, while also developing a good relationship with impressive contacts. Similarly, Nadine Forshaw’s ‘The Big Interview’ series has seen some high profile guests interviewed for WINOL, while in sport Liam Garrahan secured the biggest interview in the recent history of Sportsweek when he spoke to Matt Le Tissier. It is invaluable to WINOL reporters that the relationships with these contacts is maintained, as it will make it easier in the future to secure comments and interviews in short periods of time, which will allow stories to be turned around more quickly.

The creation of the weekly Access Winchester bulletin has also been a strong addition to the WINOL site, joining the WINOL bulletin and Sportsweek, leaving us with three major weekly bulletins. Access was a much needed addition, as it provides a platform for the features team to showcase their work, and can host stories that would not be suited to the main bulletin. It is of great importance that Access continues in the coming semester, and the content remains of a high standard, as this adds a valuable extra dimension to the site, and will keep people on the site who have come for news or sport.

Whilst WINOL has continued to produce high quality content, we have failed this semester to extend our audience, and have seen little progress from our position at the end of the previous semester. Our Alexa ranking of 30,063 (UK – 3/12/13) retains our position as the most viewed student publication in the country; however it is a small drop compared to our position in April. We are also a mere 53 places ahead of East London Lines, a comparable student run site. As well as this, our bulletin rarely exceeds 100 views, and sportsweek is still hitting roughly the same number of views as it was last semester. This failure to enlarge the market for the undoubtedly high quality content that is being produced is in part down to the fact that, as a news provider, we do not have a specific target audience. It may be worthwhile identifying a specific target audience and looking to engage that market, as this may facilitate increased viewing figures for both the site and the bulletin. It is also crucial that social media is used effectively to publicise WINOL, ensuring we are promoting ourselves at peak traffic periods and in the correct places, and drawing attention to the site rather than individual packages on YouTube.

There have also been some recurring problems around sound quality and framing of interviews over the course of this semester, and that is something that will need to be polished in order for the technical quality of each piece to match the editorial value.  Additionally, there is still a lack of high quality still images to accompany written stories, and it is imperative that all reporters are trained on the still cameras that we have access to, as this will improve the quality of pictures on the site, and will make the site more visually impressive.

 

On a personal note this semester has been something of a mixed bag. For the first few weeks I struggled for ideas for sports features and was unsure of my role. In this time I worked mostly on creating content for The Volt music magazine, doing a number of album reviews and recording a weekly podcast with Harry Parkhill. The podcast was a good tool for highlighting and discussing the content on The Volt, and I feel that continuing a weekly podcast specifically for The Volt could be useful in engaging a wider audience in that particular part of the site. I enjoyed working on this magazine, but I feel it could benefit from increased video content. In the future it may be beneficial to create a short video roundup each week of the content across The Volt, and look to interview more local musicians or artists performing in Winchester.

My first package of the semester was a gonzo style feature on American Football. I was mostly pleased with the finished article, particularly my opening piece to camera from outside Wembley stadium. I felt that this piece to camera gave the package a professional feel, and that I appeared confident and engaging on screen. I was disappointed with some of the footage of the action itself, but I still had a variety of good shots to use. There was also a problem with the lighting on one of the interviews I conducted, which was frustrating as it negatively impacted the overall appearance of the package. That said, I thought it was an interesting and entertaining package on the whole.

The following week I worked on a news package about a new type of radar system that had been developed at the University of Southampton. This package was not as successful as I had hoped as it was a difficult story to tell and I felt I struggled to confidently convey the story in the finished package. I had some good pictures and my interview yielded good quotes, however I struggled to construct it in such a way that it told the story successfully. As this was the only news package that I have made for WINOL, I believe that I partly struggled through a lack of practice and expertise when it comes to constructing news packages, but I also see it as a good learning experience for me, as it gave me greater understanding of the importance of constructing a package and collecting relevant shots.

My strongest package of the semester was my Ashes preview package, in which I interviewed the Team Manager of Hampshire County Cricket Club about the Ashes tour in Australia, and specifically the chances of Michael Carberry, the only Hampshire player involved in the England squad. I was pleased with this as it took a sporting event of great national interest and localised it by focusing on the Hampshire angle. I felt that I was engaging and asked strong questions, and as a result got some good answers from my interviewee. One weakness with this piece was my responses to the answers given, often making a throwaway remark, and I must work on using the answer to move into the next question, rather than having a separate response before asking the next question, as this will allow the conversation to flow more naturally. There were also some problems with the sound, as the gun mics needed to be closer to myself and my interviewee, as our voices were at times overpowered by wind noise, which was disappointing, as the shots were strong, as was the interview.

I also presented both Sportsweek and the main WINOL bulletin over the course of this semester, and I feel that this was my best work. Presenting Sportsweek is something I have a good deal of practice at now, and I feel that I am a natural and relaxed presence on screen in this context.

The main bulletin was more of a challenge due to the ‘as live’ nature of recording, which created a more pressurised atmosphere. I believe that I handled this pressure well, and was an assured presenter, particularly as we experienced problems with the autocue that forced me to read one of the links from the script. I think that I continued the bulletin naturally despite this setback, and received praise for my handling of the situation. There was also an oov belt and a ‘coming up’ in which the pictures were a little short, however I matched my pace to the pictures well and it fitted nicely. Overall I was pleased with my presenting of the bulletin, however I felt watching it back that I could afford to be a little less static, and could have been more expressive both physically and vocally.

Over the course of this semester my ability with both still and video cameras has seen an improvement. I received training on the still cameras and took photos at a football match early in the semester, which looked good and were arguably the best still images on sport this semester. I also got a lot of practice with video cameras when working on my radar package, as well as assisting others with their pieces, and I benefited from practicing my use of the camera in a different context to my usual sports filming.

Overall, WINOL this semester has been a qualified success. The content of the site has remained engaging editorially, and on the whole the technical side of things has been executed successfully. The news side has consistently produced a high quality bulletin, and the stature of guests has seen an increase in certain areas, with a number of good contacts made that must be retained in the future. Access Winchester has improved features by providing a platform and putting features under more scrutiny, which has seen some impressive packages put together, and the Access team have truly managed to gain access to some impressive events to provide coverage. It is imperative that Access Winchester is continued, and that the good foundations of this semester are built upon. Sport has not particularly improved, though having multi camera coverage of each football match has boosted the quality of match footage. It would be beneficial if Sportsweek could have one feature and one news story per week in the forthcoming semester, along with match highlights, so as to provide some diversity.

One disappointment has been the lack of a WINOL special this semester, as they often host some of the best work of the semester, and are a great demonstration of what the team is capable of. The upcoming European election special will provide a great opportunity for the team to excel themselves, and experience the pressure of an extended live broadcast.

The structure of the WINOL bulletin and website are now firmly established, and with a diverse range of features magazines across the site, there is a firm foundation to be built upon in the future. There is scope now to improve the technical quality of each package and continue to aim for higher calibre guests and stories, across news, sports and features.

Critical Reflection

This semester on Winol has been a great success, building on the work of the previous semester and aiming for more ambitious stories and features. This has lead to improvements across all of Winol.

With the format of the website now well established, the focus was very much on content throughout the semester, and this saw an improvement on stories weekly. There was also extension across the site, particularly in features, with Absolute:ly and the New Winchester Review thriving, and the creation of The Volt and Travel and Adventure, diversifying the content that Winol covers and therefore increasing the potential readership.

The biggest News story of the semester was undoubtedly the Eastleigh by-election. As a team we were fortunate that such a large story landed on our doorstep, and we took full advantage, by producing extensive coverage in the build up and producing the election night special ‘The South Decides’. The coverage of the by-election showcased the strength of our reporting, speaking to each of the major candidates, as well as interviewing the biggest names in British politics, including Ed Miliband, Boris Johnson and Prime Minister David Cameron. This was a major success for the news team, and really raised the bar for Winol as a whole.

‘The South Decides’ itself was also a huge success. Providing extensive, through the night coverage live was a significant challenge, but the team excelled. The quality of the pre-recorded packages was very high and the presenters were strong, and with the support of the incredibly dedicated production team, we produced an outstanding election special.

Aside from the Eastleigh by-election, the overall quality was greatly improved this semester. We achieved a much better balance of light and shade across bulletins, with strong, serious stories at the top of each bulletin, and some fantastic ‘and finally’ pieces to close the bulletin. The court reporting from Luke and Christina was particularly impressive, with emotional stories handled very sensitively, a real highlight of the semester.

We maintained a good alexa ranking throughout the semester, regularly outperforming the Hampshire Chronicle and East London Lines, another strong showing after a lot of hard work last semester.

The major change to the bulletin this semester was the two redesigns of the opening titles. The titles now look far more professional, and the corresponding titles for Winol Sport creates some much needed consistency between the presentation of the two programmes.

In my role as Sports Editor this semester, I have tried to build on the existing strengths of Winol Sport and Sportsweek, while developing the areas that had lacked attention in the past.

I faced a difficult start to my tenure as we were told that we could no longer use footage of the Basingstoke Bison. This created two great difficulties for Sportsweek. The first was that the Bison had been one of our biggest draws for viewers, and the second was that the use of Ice Hockey footage had created some diversity in the coverage we offered, and without it we ran the risk of becoming exclusively a football show.

The issue of content was further hampered by the bad weather throughout the semester, meaning that often we had very little in the way of football highlights. The team reacted well to these setbacks however, and we decided to do a number of gonzo pieces investigating more obscure sports, an approach that we had on a few occasions in the previous semester. These pieces were of an increasingly high quality, as we learned how to most effectively use the go-pro to add an additional dimension to the packages. The first of these gonzo pieces was on wheelchair rugby, produced by Liam Garrahan, which featured a team GB athlete, Aaron Phipps. This package was incredibly impressive, and set a high bar for the future gonzo pieces that the sports team produced. Further packages, including fencing and skiing, were also well produced, and maintained a strong thread of gonzo work, as well as providing the desired diversity in our sports coverage. Jack Griffiths also provided a three part feature entitled ‘Challenge Griff’, in which he took on one of the University sports teams at their own events. This was a strong recurring feature, with good content. It also provided continuity which encouraged regular viewers, and the coverage of the University teams proved to be a good source of additional views, and we began to increase our coverage of the University teams as a result of the ‘Challenge Griff’ feature.

The issue of viewing figures for sportsweek was one we continually addressed throughout the semester. In previous semesters the views of Sportsweek had been relatively low, with the majority of views going to the individual packages of the Basingstoke Bison. Our target was to bring views specifically to the sportsweek bulletin, and increase the number of views towards the number it had been around two years ago, where it regularly exceeded 1000 views. I contacted the sports editor from that period, Will Cooper, for advice on how to increase views, and he proved very helpful, making a number of suggestions. We implemented these, and insured that the link was being posted weekly to forums and fan pages of the various football clubs we cover, as well using social media directed specifically at interested parties. We also reduced the number of football highlights that were featured in the bulletin sport, and showed them instead on sportsweek, meaning that the sport in the bulletin was diverse, and the football fans would come straight to sportsweek. This work did indeed increase views, with three editions exceeding 600 views, compared to the previous average of around 150 views. Despite the improvement, we struggled to maintain these viewing figures consistently, and there is still work to do to establish a regular audience that exceeds 500 on a weekly basis.

When the fixture list was not impacted by weather, our football coverage continued in much the same fashion as it had in previous semesters. We regained access to Eastleigh FC, which was an important step in expanding our potential audience, as it is one of the best attended clubs in our patch. The coverage we initially provided, however, was not of the quality we should have been achieving. I made the decision that we would only use highlights that featured a minimum of two cameras, so as to improve the overall quality of the coverage. On the whole this was adhered to, although on occasion reporters failed to secure an operator for a second camera, which obviously negatively impacted the quality. By the end of the semester however, the culture of the team had changed, and multi –camera coverage was the default position. We then looked to go above the minimum two camera setup and take even more cameras. The Hampshire Senior Cup semi final between AFC Totton and AFC Bournemouth was filmed using three cameras, one in the stand and one behind each goal. Again this improved the quality, and proved to be the best highlights package produced of the semester at the time.

At the end of the semester we then looked to improve again, and took five cameras to the Play Off semi-final between Eastleigh FC and Dover Athletic. We again had one camera in the stand and one behind each goal, but we also placed one camera facing across each 18 yard line, giving us a much more dynamic and professional looking highlights package, with multiple angles, which us allowed to show a variety of replays. We also worked hard on the production, with Liam Garrahan, Thomas Baxter and I looking to ensure the package was of the highest possible standard. Liam created a number of high quality graphics for the package, which gave it a professional edge, while Tom and I edited the footage and looked to make the most of the multiple angles. The end product was of a very high standard, and proved to be the biggest success of the semester for our sports team, setting a new standard for the next sports team.

As well as overseeing the work of the sports team and helping out wherever possible with filming, I also used this semester to try presenting for the first time. I tried to ensure that everyone on the sports team was able to have a go at presenting sportsweek and the sports links for the bulletin, which worked out well, and everyone presented at least once. I enjoyed presenting and found it a very natural role for me, which encouraged me to volunteer for on-camera work for ‘The South Decides’. I was one of two newsroom on-screen reporters on the night and I felt it was very successful, and has encouraged me to pursue more on screen opportunities when possible.

One of the biggest struggles I faced this semester was ensuring that the sports package for the Winol bulletin was in the correct aspect ratio. Despite regularly seeking advice from other members of the team, the production team and from the IT department, it took much of the semester to find a permanent solution to this problem, which we eventually discovered, however the failure to find the solution earlier meant that on multiple occasions sport had to be edited into the bulletin in post production, which was incredibly disappointing, especially considering that editing was, with few exceptions, complete long before the deadline for the package. This was without doubt my biggest failure of the semester, but I was pleased when we found a permanent solution, and this should no longer be a problem.

Overall, I feel that this was a successful semester. Winol as a whole developed well, with features broadening to cover more specific areas and the quality of the stories in the bulletin improving every week, with some incredibly high quality packages. We matched improved content with high production standards to produce some of the most consistently high quality bulletins in the history of Winol. As Sports Editor I feel that I oversaw a period of positive development, with increased quality of content. As the majority of the team were already familiar with filming sport, the standard of camera work was consistently good, as was the production. We worked to improve the content through the number of cameras used, and sought to improve the voiceover work through more careful scripting and greater use of light and shade in the tone of voice. This has resulted in higher quality highlights packages, a clear improvement on those earlier in the semester and the year. We have also been able to diversify our sports coverage to include increased University teams and minority sports, which in turn has expanded our potential audience. Viewing figures showed overall growth with a few standout weeks, and there is a clear blueprint for how to increase viewing figures. I feel that as the term passed we have managed to reach a high standard of coverage which sets a new bar for Winol Sport, which hopefully can then be built upon further in future years. 

Phenomenology and Existentialism

'Existence precedes essence' - This phrase was coined by Sartre, and is central to the existentialist outlook. Rather than believing we have some sort of preconceived human nature within each of us, existentialism believes that all that matters is our existence, and we are free to create meaning for ourselves, to create our own essence. As I've written before, existentialism is all about making your own choices, and the freedom you have to do so. 

The approach of cartesian dualism is rejected and reconfigured, believing that rather than 'I think, therefore I am', 'I am therefore I think' is better, which then reduces to 'I think', which further reduces to 'there are thoughts'. 

In his 'Critique of pure reason', Kant argued that consciousness 'just is', it is not in itself proof of existence. You cannot stand outside of consciousness. Kant examined both noumena and phenomena, however existentialism focuses solely on phenomena, hence 'phenomenology'. The noumena, or external world, is not disregarded, it is simply of no concern to philosophers, according to existentialists. 

Phenomenology originates from Husserl, who drew a line between psychology and epistemology. Husserl argued that consciousness could be divided into two types, physical phenomena such as colours and smells, and mental phenomena, thoughts and their content. This is an approach taken from the work of Brentano.

This mental phenomena is characterised by its 'intentionality', that they are directed towards objects outside of the mind. Husserl concerned himself only with the texture of thoughts, rather than their origins. It mattered not whether the thought was a dream or our 'reality', the thoughts still formed a part of our consciousness, and he determined that all that exists is the present tense of our consciousness. Husserl claimed that we must categorise these thoughts and experiences, whilst not concerning ourselves with their origin. 'Bracketing' was the way to gain information about our consciousness. Whether you deem the thought to be 'real' or not does not matter, all that matters is your experience of it, as we can not truly know what is 'real'. This is the basis of the 'phenomenological reduction'. If I see a dog with two heads, my intentionality towards it is the same, despite the fact I may not believe that two headed dogs exist. 

For Husserl, thought must have two things; content and a possessor. 

Heidegger concerned himself with the question of 'being'. He argued that thinking is just one way of engaging with the world, and that acting upon it is equally important. Dasein, or being in the world, was key to Heidegger's approach. Dasein is not about thinking, but about acting on those thoughts, about caring rather than considering, and is relative to the individual. Heidegger believed that through Dasein, one could reach complete absorption, which gives complete freedom and authenticity, as true dasein ignores the past and future, focussing only on that moment. 

The future is more important in defining oneself than the past, as we do not dictate our own facticity, we cannot choose where we were born for example, or how we were raised. This is our facticity, and we cannot change it, however we have the power to dictate our own future. This school of thought defines existentialism, that the future is more important than the past, and that the most important thing is our next choice. 

Sartre's central argument is that human existence is defined by the capability of choice, as summed up in his quote 'existence precedes essence'. We are condemned to be free, and must make our own choices, not fall into a preconceived role, for that is bad faith.

Logic and Mathematics

Natural numbers are simply words used to count things, and counting is nothing more than an activity in which objects are categorised dependent on plurality. All that is required for creating these categories is a language of number words and a logical syntax for their combination.
There are three fundamental approaches to numbers.
1) They are natural and can be empirically observed (Mill)
2) They are intuitions of a perfect and harmonic platonic world (Pythagoras and Descartes)
3) They are abstract logical objects, constructed purely from syntax (Frege, early Russell)

1- Numerical Naturalism
Basic plurality approach, as observed in stone age tribes. And monkeys.
They could observe:
0 - absence of a banana.
1- a single banana.
2+- more than one banana/many bananas/an abundance of  bananas.

This is simple plurality, and in many situations is all that is needed - 'one thing', 'more than one thing' and 'many things'. For example, if I see one car in a car park, I do not need to count it, I can immediately categorise it as one. If there is more than one (anywhere between 2 & 6), I know how many are there without counting. Beyond 6 or 7, I would need to count specifically to know exactly how many were there, but I would simply categorise it as many cars. I would also be able to say the car park was empty (zero, the null class). These classes are the 'natural numbers'. A number such as 22793 is simply basic symbols arranged to create a more complex one, according to known syntax. But if there were that many cars in a car park, I would not bother counting. I'm confident if I said there were many cars, you would get the picture. That's also a rather large car park.

2- Pythagoreanism/Platonism]

Prime numbers are pre-existing, supernatural forms and are necessary for consciousness. All other numbers are simply rational combinations of prime numbers. This contradicts Kant's claim that "existence is not a predicate", for Platonism, existence is a predicate of numbers and other forms. Prime numbers exist along with the perfect form, outside of the human dimension, and are eternally true.
3, the first plural prime, has significant religious connotations (unfortunately de la soul were not the first to observe three as the magic number, though arguably they did it more enjoyably than most). There is the holy trinity, Jesus rose again on the third day, the trimurti in hinduism etc. It is also hugely significant in secular society, with art containing the rule of thirds, the three chord triad in music and the three acts in most dramas. There are other primes with historical and religious significance, but none to the extent of three.
Pythagoras, and all the Greeks, only regarded plurals as natural numbers, and so counting commenced from two. 'One' and 'not one' were different logical categories.
Nothing and Zero - The concept of Zero arrived much later, and turned out to be something of a nuisance. Zero is nothing, but nothing is something, and therefore zero is something? It's a toughie.
This problem of the law of contradiction was solved by Leibniz, stating that an object can contain its own negation, so that cleared that up. Modern mathematicians have asserted that zero is in fact a natural number, which makes everything a little easier. But only a little, as 0+1=1, but 0x1=0, which caused the problem of how to define the instruction '+1'.

3- Numbers as logical objects
Fortunately, Frege turned up to clear up the zero problem. 1000 years later. Still, better late than never.
Frege linked logic and arithmetic in an overall philosophy of language. Frege's approach refuted both Mill and Platonism before him.
Axiom - All things that are identical to themselves are equal. It then follows that all pairs of things are equal to all other pairs, regardless what they are pairs of.
Pairs therefore get their own symbol (2), and from here it is established that all things that are not related to other things have their own symbol (1). Zero then is the class of all things which are not equal to themselves, and no such objects exist. Therefore zero is logically defined.

The New Industrial State and Economics

The Great Depression of the American 30's made one thing clear, a new approach to economics was needed. Into this gap stepped Keynes, whose work made him an economic god in 50s & 60s, a time of great prosperity. The basis of the theory was that a state of equilibrium needed to be achieved between goods and money. Where one was more common than the other, the economy struggled. Keynes acknowledged that the economy must rise and fall, and believed that in times of recession, it was both right and necessary for the government to step in.

Keynes believed that government spending was capable of stimulating economies in recession, by creating more jobs, getting more money into people's pockets, that they can then spend, and so the economy grows. He also believed that in times of austerity, the interest rate should drop, which of course again puts more money into pockets and therefore back into the economy. 

The government spending needs to be carefully considered however, so as not to negatively impact existing businesses. This is why military spending is such a constructive approach in the Keynes model. If a government can find an excuse to go to war (say the threat of WMD's in Iraq), then they can spend an enormous amount of taxpayers money funding that war, and create thousands of jobs along the way. Manufacturing weaponry, military intelligence projects, and the soldiers themselves, there are a lot of positions to fill when the country is at war. This instant job creation lowers unemployment, and the greater proportion of the population in paid work, then the greater the proportion of the population spending money frivolously on coca-cola and marlboro lights, boosting the economy. And as the army isn't an private sector business, such as a soft drink manufacturer, there is no risk of crushing another business, you simply create business. And jobs. So everyone's a winner. Unless of course you live in the middle-eastern country being invaded as an elaborate act of economy-boosting. There is also the additional benefit that many goods and services that are researched and development for an act of war can transfer into civilian society, such as the internet, aircraft, and 4x4s, a long term boost to the economy.  

In Galbraith's key work, 'The New Industrial State', he investigates the growing dichotomy between a free market and an oligarchic market. The old model of supply and demand is no longer relevant for the large corporations, who are capable of dictating the demand for their goods and services to match the supply, through advertising and marketing. Many of these companies also utilize vertical integration, meaning that they own every step of the production process, from the raw materials through to the product itself. This strength places such corporations outside classic economic constraints. These corporations are controlled by a technostructure (lawyers, scientists, and various experts) , which acts not to increase profit (an activity that involves risk), but rather to maintain and expand the corporation. With this diminished risk approach and the power of such corporations, free market possibility is greatly reduced, as smaller companies cannot compete, and thus 'perfect competition' is removed. This creates an oligarchic market, where the few dominate the market, and shape it to benefit themselves, and open competition is near impossible. The technostructure therefore can essentially dictate the wants and needs of an economy. The experts contained within this technostructure are the same experts turning up as advisers to political parties, newspapers etc, meaning that a very small minority have a great deal of power. This technocratic system is ultimately aimless and nihilistic, an economy dictated by the few, strengthened by military spending, and existing to some extent to create meaning for the public. Rather than handing out boxes of £20 notes to everyone, creating jobs to give us all something to do. 

The New Journalism

US journalism started out with the penny papers, partisan papers that were often owned by politicians and merchants, essentially used as vehicles for propaganda. While these papers did not carry 'news', they awakened the concept of written news for the working classes.

In the mid 19th Century, with the creation of wire services, objectivity became crucial to the associated press to make a profit, and changed the nature of the press. Later in the 19th Century, the yellow press was developed, with a tabloid attitude towards the press. The yellow press made news more shocking, sensationalising stories, content increasingly about sin, sex and violence. 

The yellow press set the format for tabloid journalism, human interest stories, with the appearance of 'frozen tv', heavy on colour and pictures, lighter on words, seeking to make the reader care, rather than think. 

The great social and political upheaval of the USA in the 1960s and 70s saw journalists recording events in a formulaic, predictable fashion. Enter the New Journalism, an attempt to allow the nature of the events being reported to bleed into the copy, replacing formula with feeling. 

The social and cultural landscape of the 60s and 70s was a stark contrast to that which came before. The Vietnam war saw the US embroiled in an expensive and ultimately failed military exercise, with conscription seeing many men shipped out to the war against their will. The black power movement was gaining momentum. Their were issues in the US worth fighting for, and into this landscape stepped a powerful youth movement. The baby boomer generation were in their teens, and were rebelling against their parents generation. the drug and sexual revolution of the time created a counter culture in the youth, and the idea of free love contrasted sharply with the foreign wars of their government. Students began to protest, and underground sub cultures created by the prohibition of LSD created a public profile of the youth as deviants.
As a result, the youth came to see themselves as outsiders, and began to attack the norm of society, through their behaviour, and through their music. Artists like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, the Velvet Underground and Gil Scott Heron created rebellious, and often drug induced, music, which sound tracked the youthful revolution (see Heron's 'the revolution will not be televised' and Dylan's 'subterranean homesick blues').

This counter-culture movement was informed greatly by existentialism, and the concept of freedom of choice. Malcolm X embodied Fanon's concept of violence as the extreme expression of choice. The approach of the counter culture came to be summed up by the phrase "there is a policeman inside your head, he must be destroyed", and this attitude began to seep into the journalism of the time.
Journalists began to question their existing approach, creating stories from press releases and other such practices were not objective, and as such could be seen as an act of bad faith. This questioning of the established norm affected the way journalists approached their writing. They came to be increasingly determined to truly represent what was happening, with a greater focus on plot, setting, sounds and feelings, as well as the facts themselves. Truman Capote and Tom Wolfe are great exponents of this style. Hunter S Thompson also took a similar approach, but applied it to his own, drug induced adventures, rather than specific news stories, such as in his 'Kentucky Derby' piece.
This indicated a shift in form from telling to seeing. This new school of journalism shifted the focus from objectivity in favour of subjectivity. The new journalism approach adapted techniques of Zola and Dickens to create this new style, which has come to define features writing, with Thompson particularly pioneering the Gonzo journalism style (Dr Gonzo was a character in Thompson's 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas).

Totalitarianism.

Our lecture on Totalitarianism was split into three parts, and therefore so will this blog post.
Part 1 - How could it happen? (Origins)
The origins of totalitarianism section focused on the 20th Century.
Between the end of Napoleon's reign and the beginning of World War One there were roughly 100 years of relative peace in Europe. It was widely believed that the human race was more sophisticated now, that the horrors of the past would not be repeated, a sense of optimism prevaled.
This coincided with the 'German Century', a period from the mid 1800's to the mid 1900's where the most influential thinkers, writers, artists and scientists all emerged from Germany.

The earliest thought of a Totalitarian regime was Plato's republic. Even the darkest interpretations of human nature and political theories realised that there must be some limit on the power of the state. Even Hobbes, who had essentially no faith in the general populace.

The way was paved for Totalitarianism by the aggressive Imperial policies of the 19th Century, as the expansion of European superpowers spawned a racist outlook in European countries that allowed for the atrocities of Totalitarianism. Actions taken under these Imperial governments also served as inspiration for Nazi Germany, as the Concentration Camps used by General Kitchener during the Boer War became a blueprint for Nazi camps during World War Two.

Hannah Arendt claims that totalitarianism "demonstrates a horrible originality", a political school of thought unlike anything that came before it.

Totalitarianism is all about control, removing individuality and personal liberty from the public, to destroy independence and therefore the state retains total control; in the words of Mussolini "outside the state there can be neither individuals or groups". This centralises all power in a few people, and also strives to prevent any form of rebellion.
"To destroy this individuality two methods are used - State Terror and Ideology" according to Arendt.
Terror is not simply about killing people, it is a weapon used to destroy faith in one's own humanity, to make people afraid even to think. It makes an example of those who dare to think or act differently, and conditions the behaviour of the majority.
Ideology compliments State Terror, it is used to justify the regime and the actions taken. An Ideology is a specialist knowledge, it is only fully understood by a few. It is a reassuring tool, providing a "total explanation of the past, total knowledge of the present and a reliable prediction of the future."
Totalitarianism exposed the fragility of civilization, destabilising the current society to rebuild it in their own way.
The first move of the Nazi's in the holocaust was to deny Jews citizenship, removing from them a sense of belonging, denying them a nation of their own. It also affected German non-Jews, to view Jews as non-Germans, immigrants. This undermined the humanity of German Jews and made them easier to target.

Part 2 - Control Language, Control Thought
This was a short section with a simple idea. As thought occurs in purely linguistic terms, if you can manipulate language then you can manipulate the way people think. If you could remove the word "hate" from the vocabulary of a nation, they could not think in such terms, and could not express hatred. It is a simple, but effective idea, which was exploited by Totalitarian regimes.

Part 3 - What is my personal responsibility?
This was a look at the Eichmann trial in 1960. Eichmann, a Nazi Bureaucrat was captured in Argentina in 1960 and stood trial in Jerusalem for his involvement in the "final solution".
The question that this trial raised was that of responsibility. Eichmann was not known to have personally killed anyone, nor made the decision to kill anyone. He was responsible for ensuring the trains travelling to concentration camps ran smoothly. The transport minister of the Holocaust you could say. What was his burden of responsibility, knowing as he did, where those trains headed and the fate awaiting the passengers.
Hannah Arendt suggested the trial served three purposes:
-To try Eichmann
-To educate the rest of the world on the horror of the holocaust
-and To legitimise the Jewish State

Arendt was shocked at the ordinary appearance of Eichmann, and concluded it was not necessary to possess great evil to do great evil, coining the phrase "the banality of evil".
Arendt took an existential view on the Eichmann trial, believing that his greatest crime was that of not thinking, not making a choice, simply following orders without question (bad faith for Sartre).
Eichmann, in his defence, claimed he was following Kant's categorical imperative and acting out of duty, however Arendt described this excuse as outrageous, as Kant's moral philosophy explicitly rules out blind obedience. Arendt concluded that sometimes disobedience is exactly our responsibility. An interesting thought.

You have a choice to read this entry... Therefore choose.

Seminar Paper – Existentialism, The Stranger etc

The existentialist approach is an attempt to find value and meaning in the face of an absurd world. Our existence is defined by our choices; we have the power to shape our own lives.

Nietzsche’s proclamation that ‘God is dead’ gives us complete freedom. The lack of a higher power means a lack of instruction or certainty, leaving us to become our own God, dictating the course of our own lives. As Nietzsche did not believe in a universal human nature this allows for each man to find his own morality, and make his own choices. Choice is a crucial concept in Existentialism.

In Being and Time, Heidegger introduced the concept of ‘Dasein’. Dasein is the root of each of us, and refers to our engagement with the world. This is Heidegger’s response to the approach of Cartesian Dualism, which he found absurd, believing we cannot come to understand ourselves if we draw a divide between the mind and body. Dasein must exist in the world, and so the Cartesian approach cannot be taken, as it separates the mind from the physical world. Our Dasein is our root selves as it is our engagement with the world, and it is that which defines us.

Heidegger did not believe that we are defined by characteristics that we are born with, rather that our personalities can constantly develop and change. In this way, it can be suggested that our Dasein, our engagement with the world, can alter over time.

Despite this, Heidegger does claim that there are elements of our being which we cannot choose, that cannot change. He calls this our ‘Facticity’. For example, we cannot choose where or when we were born, we are thrown into the world, and it is from this position that we must then move forward.

Heidegger claimed that when we talk of ourselves, we rarely discuss our ‘authentic’ selves, we present an ‘inauthentic’ self, one which is affected by outside influences. Heidegger calls this ‘das man self’, a social construct of ourselves, not consistent with our true selves. In order to live a truly authentic life, we must overcome our facticity.  

From an existential viewpoint, the most important choice you will ever make is the next one. It is the future that is crucial, not your past, as it cannot be changed. Hakuna Matata, you might say.

Sartre’s central concept was that ‘existence precedes essence’. We create our own purpose. Again, this links to the idea of choice, we shape our own purpose through our choices. Sartre claimed that the need to choose is inescapable; it is the only certainty is that we must make choices. Sartre saw the world as absurd and without purpose, and it is for this reason that our choices create our purpose. Through these choices we are able to recreate ourselves; however, some will find themselves in fear of this freedom and try to avoid it. This, Sartre calls ‘bad faith’. For Sartre, bad faith is a metaphysical mistake, allowing our role or status to confine us, denying that we are ‘radically free’ and instead believing that our past defines our future.

Sartre’s approach to humanity comprises of three aspects:

Abandonment – God is dead. Therefore we are alone, without rules outside of ourselves.

Anguish – We are “condemned to be free”. We cannot alter our facticity, but we alone are responsible for our choices, and they will define us.

Despair – Whilst we make our own choices, we cannot control how the world will react to our choices, and we may be prevented from getting what we want.

Sartre also famously claimed “hell is other people”, an observation from his play ‘No Exit’, in which three people are condemned to spend eternity in one room with each other. This statement brings into focus one of the central difficulties of existentialism. We are defined by our choices, and responsible for our own purpose, however we are forced to compromise by the expectations of others, and the realities of engaging with a world which has its own expectations of us, ‘Despair’ in his model. This conundrum is the theme of ‘The Outsider’ by Albert Camus.

Throughout the novel, Meursault appears devoid of emotion or sentimentality, making his own choices with little consideration for the opinions of others. The death of his mother provokes little in the way of emotional response from him.

“I felt like having a smoke. But I hesitated, because I didn’t know if I could do it with maman right there. I thought about it; it didn’t matter.”

Even in the few moments where Meursault shows a consideration of others, he still does not allow it to affect his decision. Choices such as this eventually contribute to his sentencing, however he shows no regret.

“She asked me if I loved her. I told her it didn’t mean anything but that I didn’t think so.”

Meursault’s constant belief that things ‘don’t matter’ or ‘don’t mean anything’ reflect an existential perspective. He appears to view existence as pointless, and his reaction to this knowledge is to make his own choices, and largely ignore the desires or opinions of others.

Eventually he is condemned to death for showing no despair at his mothers passing, and he refuses to act as though he was saddened at her death, even though this would be the only way for his name to be cleared. Meursault refuses to be influenced by others and instead continues to make his own choices. If existence is pointless, why should he lie simply in order to prolong his own existence?

Break On Through (To The Other Side)

So since I last blogged about WINOL, I have become Sports Editor (yes this was a while back now).
So far it has been an interesting challenge, a pressured role which has caused me an awful lot of stress, but one I have thoroughly enjoyed nonetheless. This week, however, Chris and Brian upped the ante.

A few years back, Sportsweek (my pet project as Sports Ed) saw views of 1000+ on a regular basis. It has slipped a long way since then, now more regularly reaching 100-200 views per bulletin. In our de-brief this week, I was questioned as to why we no longer get such viewing figures. I took this as a personal challenge, to revive the viewing figures of old for this weeks bulletin, to prove that we as a sports team are still capable of producing a high quality broadcast and capturing a large audience. I tasked the team with getting the viewing figures for this weeks bulletin to 1000 by Monday morning. No mean feat by any means, but certainly achievable given the potential audience we have.

To help with this project, I contacted Will Cooper, the Sports Editor when Sportsweek was regularly hitting views of 1000+. His advice was very helpful and has given us a fighting chance of reaching our target. The main suggestions he made were to post links to Sportsweek on the surprisingly popular forums for the non-league sides we cover, as well as their opponents, pointing out that at the non-league level, football fans rarely get any coverage, and so the opportunity to see highlights of their matches is a rarity. Forums, it is already clear, are a great source of views, and we have taken to posting the highlights not simply on the respective club's forums, but on general non-league forums. Will also recommended developing good relationships with the clubs we cover, and see if they will promote it on their website, in the matchday programme etc, which is something we are working on. Finally there is the all important world of social media promotion, with the clubs and fan groups often having facebook pages, twitter profiles etc, which we can promote Sportsweek on.

When I set down this challenge to the team on Monday, we still had to worry ourselves with creating a high quality bulletin, which I feel we certainly achieved. It went online yesterday (Wednesday) at roughly 4pm, and the team went into promotion mode. So far our active promotion is having a noticeable impact on viewing figures. Less than 24 hours after the video went online, we have already overtaken the viewing figures for last weeks show, and at the time of writing we have managed 223 views. With continued promotion over the weekend I am confident we can reach our target of 1000 by Monday morning.

The show itself this week was reasonably good, although there were some small issues.
Kirsty's package on Winton was very good, although I do feel it went on longer than necessary. This was, however, a conscious decision in an attempt to feature as many of the Sports from across the weekend as possible. The scripting was good, however the tone of voice could use work, as it lacked enthusiasm. Overall though, it was a good package, neatly summarising what Winton is and what went on.
Liam's package on Basingstoke was strong, the camerawork was good, as was the scripting and voiceover work, however the tone of the piece felt somewhat melodramatic, perhaps we could have used less music?
Tom's piece on Eastleigh was an improvement on last week, and it benefited from great deliberation over the scripting. There are still some problems to be ironed out with the length of certain shots, but overall I felt it was a solid highlights package.
Lewis' first shot at presenting, it would be fair to say, did not go all that smoothly, although there is clearly potential there. With a little more practice and clearer direction from the gallery I'm sure the next attempt will be a great improvement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps51BNqxBPI&list=UUyAYQNkBBdilSgiQpLiNCEA&index=2

I'll let you know when we hit 1000 ;)

The COJO route to Self Improvement

In preparation for this weeks guest editor (as well as to help us improve as journalists) we have been asked to take a look at a few of the how to videos on the BBC College of Journalism website and do a brief write up, so here it is. 

The first video I watched was on how to extract simple, honest answers from interviewees by asking simple questions. The video was a series of examples of Jeremy Paxman's interviews, accompanied by a short piece of text explaining the benefits of asking simple questions. Paxman is famous for is simple, often blunt interview style, and so his work was a great example of the point being made. By asking simple questions, you easily avoid confusing both the interviewee and the audience, a basic, but hugely important point, especially if the subject is complicated. This also helps prevent evasive answers from the interviewee, as simple questions invite simple answers. This was well demonstrated by examples of Paxman interviewing various politicians, including Gordon Brown. 

A further example, where Paxman was interviewing Christopher Hitchins about his cancer, illustrated that simple questions also help to avoid patronising guests when it comes to sensitive issues. 

The video and accompanying text made its point, appropriately, in a simple, easy to understand way, and was very beneficial when considering interview methods. 

As Sports Editor for this semester I also felt that it would be useful for me to watch some of the videos related to editing.

The first I watched was a video on how to edit TV bulletins. This was particularly helpful as we predominantly deal in this media for WINOL. 

The overwhelming message of this video appeared to be the importance of being well prepared, but ready to adapt. It highlighted the need to have a provisional running order from early on, so that the bulletin is well structured. It also emphasised the need to be prepared to change the running order and adapt if breaking news arrives or if certain stories do not perhaps meet the requisite standard. With this being my first week as sports editor, one of the key issues I have faced is structuring the bulletin and prioritising stories. This video therefore helped to an extent, however I felt there could have been more on how to structure a running order if there are stories of similar importance or a similar standard. Overall, however, the video gave good, constructive advice on how to edit a TV bulletin, and provided insights that I can take into my work.

I also watched a video on how to construct an OOV, as this is an area which I have struggled with before. This video for me was the most helpful, as it was a step by step guide to constructing an OOV, with relevant examples. The previous two videos did not have such a structure, and as such were less instructive, whereas I felt this video was incredibly thorough. The video not only showed exactly how to create a high quality OOV, but also emphasised the importance and potential of OOV stories.

Overall I felt the content on the BBC COJO site was, as expected, very helpful and of a very high quality, and will be a good reference point throughout the rest of my degree to assist with my work.

Can't wait to put some of it into practice on my debut sportsweek as editor tomorrow. Therefore, it's probably time for bed.