My Showreel

Throughout my time at the University of Winchester, I have been very fortunate to be afforded the opportunity to undertake a great deal of practical journalism. I have covered news, sports and features, and served as Sports Editor for WINOL.co.uk for one semester.
The following is my showreel, compiled of a variety of clips of my work from my time here, and including some great quotes from industry professionals about the course that I have attended.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPs18ZbQX5I

Cancer changed my life... For the better - Confessional Interview

In December 2012, Sadiah Aalam was diagnosed with breast cancer. It came as a shock to herself and her family, but the disease turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Before I was diagnosed I was rushed off my feet. Between a full-time job, a family, choir practices, bible studies and church services, my week was always fully booked. The only day I had to myself was Saturday, and even that was jam-packed with grocery shopping and household chores. I had almost no time to myself. With all this going on anyone would feel tired, but the cancer in my body, at this point still undiagnosed, was draining me even further. I was trying to keep up with everything I had to do, but my body wasn’t cooperating any more.

As a Christian, my faith is a huge part of my life, and so I didn’t want to sacrifice any of my many commitments to the church. My whole life was based around my faith. I was involved in leading bible studies, I attended church meetings and I even preached at the services, sometimes three times a week. All this was adding to my exhaustion, but I was not prepared to give it up. Instead, growing tired of the rat race, I began to negotiate a four day week, to give me a little more time, as I could no longer manage any more than that. I was growing weak, but I had no idea it was the cancer.

A few weeks before I was diagnosed, I had two different dreams that I was going to suffer with cancer. When the diagnosis came, in December 2012, it came as both a shock and a confirmation of what I had dreamt. This was no longer a dream, I had breast cancer.

Like most people, I had never in a million years thought that I would go through something like this. You never think it’s going to be you. It made me feel as though the rug had been pulled from under my feet, and I was scared. But before long the cancer turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Once I was diagnosed a lot of things fell into place.  I understood why I was so tired and because I had a reason for it I stopped trying to keep on top of everything.  I took long term sickness leave from work and pretty much stopped doing everything else.  I had obviously needed a break from my hectic life, but without the cancer I might not have taken one.

Dealing with cancer was still a struggle of course. Once the treatment began I was bedridden for the best part of 18 months. I was too ill to get out of bed most days, even if I had wanted to. I went through six cycles of chemotherapy, and reacted badly to some of the drugs used, leaving me hospitalised for the entire treatment. I then went through radiotherapy, as well as four different surgeries, before doctors could give me the all clear. It was a long and extensive course of treatment, and it took its toll on me physically.

While my physical health was at its lowest ebb, emotionally and spiritually I suffered much less. My faith was still incredibly strong, but at times I felt confused. I was praying for supernatural healing, praying that I wouldn’t have to undergo extensive treatment, but things didn’t work out that way. Despite this, my faith stayed strong, and if anything it was made stronger by my illness. I understood that whatever was happening to me was not because God was unaware of it but rather it was something that God was permitting to happen, and the knowledge that God knew what I was going through really uplifted me. It helped that I could see how the illness had helped me, by forcing me to rest and take a break from the stresses of everyday life.

I don’t think that I would have been able to see the positive side of my illness without God. I know for a fact that I would not have come out of this relatively unscathed if I did not have my faith.  I often wondered when I was in hospital how people who did not know God got through times like this.  I know that people who don't have a faith also go through the same trials as someone who does have a faith in God.  They also fall ill and get healed, but I found that for me knowing God meant that I had come face to face with death, without fear.

During this time I was worse physically than I was emotionally or spiritually. Emotionally I felt fine, in fact I was able to give emotional support to my mum because she had really gone to pieces after my diagnosis.  I also was very strong in my spirit.  I knew God was with me and that was what got me through.

I’ve now been given the all clear, and I feel fine. I feel contented and full of peace.  I am still suffering from some side effects of the drugs that I was given and I struggle with concentration and sometimes with fatigue, but that is just a phase, it will pass too.

The illness has made me appreciate life more.  Probably for the first time in my adult life I have stopped to look around and appreciate everything that is around me.  I noticed that this year there are a lot more flowers in bloom, but then I realised that before this I have never really had time to appreciate the flowers.  They had probably always been like this but this year is the first time ever I have time to myself to appreciate them and everything else around me.  I have also become more relaxed about things like keeping the house really, really clean, and making sure that there is not a speck of dust anywhere. Somehow these things don't seem that important anymore.  I seem to be grateful for my children being there to make a mess, so in a way I am grateful for the mess. I have come to appreciate my family and friends even more than I did before. I have a deeper appreciation of life but from very different angles.  The things that seemed so important before don't seem so important now.  

My illness has also made my faith stronger. I could see God at work throughout my illness in everything from my healing to my finances.  God has really made his presence known to me in this time.  I have become much more aware of the way that he has been at work in my life and in the lives of others around me during my time of illness. I would not have got through this without my faith.

The whole ordeal has really opened my eyes. Before the cancer I was far too busy to appreciate the most important things in life, but now I feel I have time to enjoy how wonderful my life truly is. Going through the physical trauma of this disease has really strengthened me emotionally and spiritually, I am a happier and more relaxed person than I was before, and my prayers have been answered. I prayed for healing, but somehow God has worked in me at a much deeper level than just physical healing.  He has healed me in many other ways. I trust God even more than I did before now.  My faith in him is stronger and deeper.

I feel truly blessed. Rather than taking it away, cancer has given me the gift of time. 

Innovation: Magazine journalism assignment

The magazine industry is under threat.

Increasingly, the internet is playing host to content that was once the exclusive territory of the printed media, and with internet access seemingly ubiquitous, print is becoming a redundant format. The question of how to combat this terminal decline is the most important issue currently facing those in the industry. For magazine editors, it is a case of adapt or die.

Successful innovation is crucial to the long term viability of printed titles; however, not all innovation is necessarily good. “Innovation’s important, but not panic-stricken innovation for the sake of it” claims Q Editor Matt Mason, “the worst thing a printed publication can do is try to take on online outlets head on.” Instead, it seems the most successful approach for magazines is to embrace the internet, and develop a strong online presence to complement the publication; “The magazine has to play to its strengths and use the website and tablet edition to expand”. Altering the format of a successful publication is not necessary, but engaging in the online world and expanding through this is crucial to continued success.

Online editions offer printed publications a number of options that would be unavailable in the original format. For monthly magazines such as Q, who print two weeks ahead of release, an issue has always been the inability to break news, and attempting to create content that is still relevant when it arrives on shelves. Creating a strong companion website for their publication can allow weekly and monthly magazines to compete in the arena of breaking news, an important extra dimension for such publications.

An online edition can also play host to a more diverse range of content than a printed magazine can, as well as a greater volume of content. Video and audio can be created exclusively for the website, and pieces which did not fit in the magazine can find a home on the website. If the additional online content is directly linked to that of the magazine, it encourages the audience to both purchase the magazine and explore the website. This gives the publication a broader appeal, and can help to retain and strengthen the audience between issues.

Q’s Matt Mason also believes a strong online product is vital in expanding the magazine’s readership. “Increasingly new readers, particularly at the younger end of the scale, will come in via our digital products. So the next key thing for me is to develop our website to ensure it's something music fans feel they have to visit and return to every day.” Creating new, unique content on a daily basis is a challenging task, but signals a shift in focus towards the digital aspect of the publication. The digital editions are clearly the future of the magazine industry, and are essential in retaining and developing the readership of the magazine itself.

When Mason speaks of ‘digital products’, he is not only referring to the website. The development of a mobile app and mobile edition of the magazine is also crucial to expanding into the digital world. The growth of tablet computers and internet enabled smart phones presents the magazine industry with the opportunity to put their products into the hands of the consumer at the click of a button. By creating a variety of digital products, magazines can tailor their services to the lifestyles of the consumer, giving them greater ease of access to the content.

In terms of digital expansion, the magazine industry still seems to be lagging behind compared to most news providers, with The Sun a particularly strong example of digital development of the print media.

While The Sun still produces a daily newspaper, it has also developed a successful website and app, with all the content of the paper itself, as well as vast swathes of additional video, audio and written content. This allows The Sun to report on breaking news immediately, and supplement stories with additional content, giving the reader a multimedia experience. The Sun has also demonstrated that digital expansion can provide an extra stream of revenue. For magazines, physical sales represent an important source of income, and so to make the same content available for free online would be disastrous. The Sun charges a subscription fee for access to the digital formats, meaning that they still earn directly from their content being viewed.

This model is an innovative, ideal way for the magazine industry to move forward. By creating exclusive digital content that supplements that of the physical magazine, print titles can garner new readers, whilst offering a broader range of content to their existing readership. This is the direction in which Q are looking to head; “We’re working hard to expand and improve the website and it's important that we use the tablet edition to provide additional unique content” explains Matt Mason.

Along with creating digital content, it is also increasingly important that magazines engage in the digital world through the use of social media. Websites such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram provide a platform for titles to promote not just the publication as a whole, but individual articles and pieces of content. Social media is playing an increasingly crucial role in advertising magazines, as they can be used to spark interest in specific items. Used successfully, this can cause a piece to ‘go viral’, gaining great exposure for the publication and bringing the title to the attention of a huge audience.

Whilst digital development is clearly an incredibly important innovation in the field of magazine journalism, there are other methods of expansion being explored. Matt Mason emphasised the importance of intelligent marketing. “Few titles can afford TV advertising these days but there's still plenty you can do to remind the world that you're there. Our shoots and interviews are so good that the national papers will pick them up and run fully credited excerpts. Our festival partnerships underline how much we love and identify great music.” Newspapers running credited segments from a magazine give greater exposure to that title, especially with most newspapers already having a strong digital presence. Q’s festival partnerships give them exposure specifically to their target audience, and this is also a method utilised by NME magazine, who sponsor a stage at the Reading and Leeds festivals. For specialist magazines such as these, such direct marketing is an ideal way to promote their product, and in the digital age, it is easier than ever.

Clearly, all print publications must be looking to digital development as a means of moving forward and expanding. While innovation in this field can be of great importance for any title looking to develop, it is also crucial that the magazine continues to produce the high quality product for which it is known. As Matt Mason says; “We can't break news like a website can. We can't stream music or play videos like a website can. We can do what we've always done better than anyone else though: brilliant, considered long-form feature writing; stunning photoshoots; authoritative, witty reviews; and provocative, agenda-setting opinion”. While their foray into the digital world will allow Q to break news, stream music and play videos, that is no reason to abandon the pillars that have helped make the magazine one of the best known music magazines in the country. Any publication with a strong reputation must, therefore, look to progress, but not at the expense of the original article, which built their reputation and readership in the first place.

The future of these print titles relies upon a combination of intelligent, innovative digital expansion; targeted marketing strategies; and maintaining a high quality, reputable product. Those that manage this balancing act successfully will thrive in the increasingly internet-dominated media market. 

Editor Interview: Q's Matt Mason

Matt Mason is a busy man. By his own account he is “snowed under with work”, and it’s hardly surprising. As Senior Editor of the UK’s biggest music monthly, there is plenty to do.

Every month Q hits shelves and doorsteps packed with news, reviews and features, and making sure that this content is of the highest possible quality is an incredibly important task for Mason. “Like every title, we’re having to deal with a general decline in magazine sales. So we have to ensure our product is consistently strong and compelling” he explains.

But Mason wants more than to simply maintain Q’s own high standards. “The aim is to keep our loyal core readership happy and bring in new readers. Increasingly those new readers, particularly at the younger end of the scale, will come in via our digital products. So the next key thing for me is to develop our website to ensure it's something music fans feel they have to visit and return to every day. I think a lot of that will come through turning the magazine's access to music and artists into unique, compelling online content.”

Mason’s position is clearly a demanding one. Overseeing Q’s transition from a print powerhouse to a multimedia publication, whilst retaining the high quality journalism that has made Q such a successful title, is no easy task. It is the job of a man at the top of his field, and Matt Mason has worked hard to get here.

Mason took his first steps towards a career in print when, on leaving university, he enrolled on a post-graduate course in magazine journalism.  Having studied history and anthropology, he felt that this was a logical progression.  “It was the research, writing and the study of people that really fascinated me, so journalism seemed like the ideal way to carry on doing those things and get paid” Mason explains. Despite the course focusing on magazines, Mason found himself heading in a different direction. “I wanted to be a feature writer but the most valuable thing it taught me was subbing. Knowing how to sub makes you a better writer and when I was starting out, there were more subs’ jobs advertised than writers' jobs.” After taking a role as a TV listings sub for the Press Association, Mason moved into magazines, working as a staff sub/writer. It was a valuable experience for him, and one which he believes had a significant influence on his career. “I definitely wouldn’t have got to where I am today without learning to sub.”

As well as crediting his sub editing education with helping him to progress, Mason also believes his career has been shaped by a fair amount of good fortune. “There's been a lot of luck, lots of being in the right place at the right time. You do make your own luck though.” Out of eight magazines and newspapers for which Mason has worked, he claims he only applied and interviewed for three. The rest of those jobs he got “because someone I’d previously worked with recommended me or someone there had seen my work and approached me.” This, he says, is one of the great things about being a journalist. “Your work is out there, bylined, for everyone to see – so you can quickly build up a reputation.”

This comes with its own pressures, however: “Every single thing you write has got to be as good as you can possibly make it because it could be the key to your next job opportunity. I got offered some shifts as a football reporter at the Daily Mail because the sports editor had read something I'd written as a staff writer for Total Sport magazine. He heard later that day that the magazine was closing, so he gave me a call. It was fortunate that he'd read the mag when he did, but I'd also worked harder on that feature than I had on anything I’d ever written, so I helped make my own luck.” Not that such events always turned out to be a success: “As it turned out, I was terrible at tabloid football reporting so I don't think the Mail would consider it a particularly lucky event.”

His spell at the Mail aside, Mason has enjoyed success in both sport and music journalism. He believes the key is a genuine interest in the subject matter. “Music and football have always been two of my biggest passions so it's always felt like a privilege to write about them – that's why I've pursued those two areas. It’s wise to write about what you know.”

With his passion for music undimmed, Matt Mason has worked his way to the top of music journalism, with Q one of the most popular and respected music publications in the country. He believes there are two reasons why the magazine continues to be so successful. “I think Q really stands out in the music market for its access and variety. No-one gets the time with – and insight into the lives of – rock and pop stars that we do. We’re also broader than everyone else, covering the whole waterfront of music.”

Mason describes Q’s broad scope of coverage as “a double-edged sword.” “You appeal to a wider base of readers but it's hard to make them all feel that everything in the mag is worth their attention.” Mason’s solution is “to make sure our writing and photography is of such a high-standard that the reader knows that Q’s take on a band or artist will entertain them – even if they aren’t particularly interested in that act.” This, he feels, is one of the key strengths of the magazine. “I think Q’s very good at telling the stories behind the music. I want every reader to feel that if Q’s covered something, it's got to be worth reading.”

While Q is a well respected, successful magazine, Mason acknowledges that there are challenges facing the publication, especially in an increasingly digital world. “Music fans get so much online content for free that Q has to be really special to justify £3.99 of someone's money every month. We can't break news like a website can. We can't stream music or play videos like a website can.” With the ever growing number of online publications and blogs, Mason is aware of the need to adapt.

“The worst thing a printed publication can do is try to take on online outlets head on. The magazine has to play to its strengths and use the website and tablet edition to expand.”

Expanding the online element of Q is important in overcoming the challenges facing the publication, but Mason also believes that the magazine must stick to the formula that has made it so successful.  “What we can do is what we've always done better than anyone else: brilliant, considered long-form feature writing; stunning photoshoots; authoritative, witty reviews; and provocative, agenda-setting opinion.”

With an increased digital and online presence, paired with a continued dedication to top quality music journalism, Matt Mason believes that Q is still a relevant and important publication. The proof, it seems, is in the product. “Our shoots and interviews are so good that the national papers will pick them up and run fully credited excerpts. Our festival partnerships underline how much we love and identify great music. We still feel like an essential part of the music fan’s world.”

Copyright and Fair Dealing

Copyright is the element of law that protects the intellectual property of an individual or organisation. It is copyright that prevents anyone using another persons work for their own benefit without permission from the creator or rights holder. Copyright is an area of civil law, and anyone believing their rights have been breached can sue for damages. 
Copyright covers such things as music, literature, film and photographs. Undeveloped ideas, short slogans and catchphrases are not protected.

Copyright is vitally important in journalism both in protecting the work of a journalist, and dictating what journalists can use in their own work.
Without copyright law, the journalism industry could not exist, as there would be no value to the work done, as anyone could recycle it. Equally, journalism must not encroach on others copyright, and must strive to be original.

The one exception to this is 'fair dealing'. Fair dealing allows the use of part of a protected work in the interests of reporting current events. Fair dealing does not have specific limitations, but it is accepted that only a small portion of the original article should be used, and should only be used in incidents of public interest. Fair dealing can also be used in the context of a review, using a section of the reviewed work to supplement the piece. 
In all cases, anything that has been used under fair dealing must be properly attributed to the original source, and not passed off as original work. This does not apply to sport, where rights to footage is extremely expensive and cannot be used under fair dealing.

An interesting and complex area of copyright law is that of works of parody. Music, in particular, is often used without authorisation for the purposes of parodying the original work. In such circumstances, the rights of the owner are often infringed upon, but the material is changed. These situations have worked out in vastly different ways, with some such pieces of work being unaffected by the rights holder, while others have had to remove their parody pieces from publication due to claims against them.

A recent incident in this area of law happened in America. The law regarding parody is somewhat clearer in the USA, where parody is exempt from copyright law. 
A store called 'Dumb Starbucks Coffee' was opened in California, which used the Starbucks logo and trade marks, as well as providing a near identical menu. The store did not sell their products, instead giving them away for free, and claimed on its website that it was a work of parody, so as to protect itself from the famously litigious coffee chain. Situations such as this highlight interesting areas of copyright law, and in which circumstances copyrighted material can be used. 

Privilege, Qualified and Absolute.

Privilege is the legal allowance for defamatory or untrue statements to be published, protecting the publisher from any legal action.

There are two types of privilege, Qualified and Absolute.

Absolute privilege applies in court, and allows the events of a trial to be published, provided the reports are fair, accurate and contemporaneous.

Qualified privilege protects areas of public concern, such as meetings of public bodies. This provision requires reporting to be fair, accurate and without malice.

The ‘without malice’ element here is crucial. Privilege will not apply if the published material contains any malice, and so it is important that any piece published is balanced, to prevent unintended bias.  

Privilege only applies in certain circumstances within these events. For example, privilege covers what is said within the events of a council meeting, but anything said privately, either prior to or after the meeting, is not covered by privilege, and therefore may not be publishable. 

Where privilege does apply, and the guidelines are correctly followed, it is a great allowance for journalists to publish material they would not otherwise be able to, and report in detail on matters of importance. 

Defamation

Defamation is the area of law that protects individuals and organisations from having their reputation damaged by another party. This is clearly a very dangerous area for journalism, and one that requires great care navigating. Any statement that is defamatory to an individual or organisation, and is broadcast to a third party, is susceptible to a libel action.

For a libel action to succeed, one of the following criteria must be satisfied:

A person is:

- exposed to hatred, ridicule or contempt

- caused to be shunned or avoided

- lowered in the estimation of right-thinking members of society

- disparaged in his or her business, trade, office or profession.

As defamation is a civil matter, the burden of proof is lower (‘on the balance of probabilities’). Therefore, the onus is not on the claimant to prove damage has been suffered, rather the Defendant must demonstrate a successful defence. The main libel defences are as follows:

- It is true

- It is the honestly held opinion of the defendant

- The information is in the public interest

- The information is protected by privilege.

If the defendant can prove one of the above, then the claim will not be successful.

In 2013, a new defamation act was introduced, in order to tighten the law surrounding libel. This act has brought about two major developments.

The first is that, prior to suing, the defendant must prove that ‘serious harm’ has been caused. This has been introduced in an attempt to protect freedom of speech and expression, and prevent major corporations taking out lawsuits against small organisations and individuals for minor slights.

The second development is a stricter test for libel cases being heard in England and Wales as to their link to this country, preventing ‘Libel tourism’. ‘Libel tourism’ refers to bringing actions under the stricter defamation laws of England and Wales, despite the claim not originating within this jurisdiction. 

Court Reporting

When covering the courts as a journalist, there are two fundamental issues to consider: Prejudice and Contempt.

Prejudice – the publication of material that could potentially prejudice the jury in a case. Prevents the trial being fair.

Contempt – Contempt of court is a criminal offence, set out in the Contempt of Court act 1981. Publishing any information which breaches the rules of court reporting can be considered contempt.

As a criminal case is decided by a jury, it is crucial that the jury is only influenced by what is heard within the court, and not speculative or irresponsible media coverage.

Reporting restrictions for criminal offences come into effect when the case becomes ‘active’. This is when one of the following occurs:

- An arrest is made

- An arrest warrant is issued

- A summons is issued by a magistrate

- Someone is charged with the offence

Once this happens, only very basic information can be published. The case will go to a ‘pre-trial hearing’ at a magistrates court. When this happens, only the following should be reported:

- Name, age, address and occupation of the defendant(s)

- Charges faced or a short summary

- Names of magistrates and the magistrates court

- Names of Solicitors and Barristers present

- Date and location to which the case has been adjourned

- Whether legal aid was granted

- Arrangements of Bail

Once the trial proper begins, court reporting is covered by Qualified Privilege (coming up later), provided the reporting is fair, accurate and contemporaneous. This means, essentially, that anything said in court by either the prosecution or defence can be reported.

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).