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.
