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. 

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. 

Critical Review - WINOL Semester One

Critical Review – Sam Sheard

WINOL OVERVIEW

This semester can be considered a successful one for WINOL after a number of challenging projects were completed, alongside our weekly news and sports bulletins.

The aspect of WINOL which has seen the most progress over the course of this semester is undoubtedly the website, which has seen a complete overhaul in the space of the past twelve weeks. We have changed platforms from Joomla to Wordpress, which, despite somewhat restricting the website’s functionality, has created a more structured site. The front page has been made to resemble a modern broadsheet, reminiscent to some extent of the ‘i’ newspaper, with a strong focus on high quality pictures and our most recent stories. The latest bulletin no longer features permanently on the front page, it now only appears on the front page on the day of broadcast. A team has been assembled to continually update the website with news stories throughout the week, so that the website is as up to date as possible. This change in design and approach to our website has improved it dramatically, creating a more professional site and ensuring that the content of the site is always relevant, to increase circulation throughout the whole week. We have also experimented with hosting a twitter feed on the front page, to integrate the site with social media, keeping WINOL as modern as possible.

The Features department has also seen great improvements, with many high quality pieces being submitted throughout the term. This has contributed to a rise in the average visit time on the site, which is now roughly six minutes per user. As a wise man once said, they come for the news and they stay for the features. The quality of work by the features team this semester has ensured that our site has many interesting pieces to grab the attention of the reader, and keep them on the site.

Another of the great successes of this semester has been the special events and programs produced and coordinated by the team. This year’s BJTC awards were hosted at the university, and were filmed and photographed by the WINOL team. The footage featured in that week’s bulletin, as well as a highlights package on the website and a written article. The event was a huge success and the coverage was of a very high quality, giving the team a strong piece very early on in the semester. We also produced a multi camera live stream of the Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner debate, which was hosted at the University, and organised, filmed and edited by members of the WINOL team. This event demonstrated the ambitions and capabilities of the team, and gave us another high profile piece with which to attract people to the site. Arguably the most ambitious special production of the year was America Decides, our US election program which aired live on the site. This piece brought together pre prepared packages assessing the two candidates, footage from the US embassy Election Night Party, live in studio discussion with a variety of guests, and a live transatlantic Skype conversation with University students in Illinois. The program was incredibly challenging, and we came across a number of problems throughout the preceding weeks, but these problems were overcome and we were able to produce a live, three hour program with a variety of good quality content.

Such ambitious projects undoubtedly benefited the team and the site, creating a high pressure environment in which to work and teaching us a lot about how to produce such programs. The content also was of great public interest, and was always audience focused. This, along with the high quality weekly bulletins and an impressive website, helped to improve our Alexa ranking greatly.

Our ranking is now significantly better than any other student journalism, with us well within the top 500,000 worldwide and narrowly outside the top 10,000 in the UK, beating our nearest student competitor, eastlondonlines, by 15,000 places in the UK at the time of writing.  We have also significantly outperformed the website of the Hampshire Chronicle in Alexa rankings. The Daily Echo, however, remains far ahead of us, both in the UK and worldwide. Our Alexa position, comparative to our direct competition, underscores the success that WINOL has seen this semester.

My personal role on WINOL this semester was as a sports reporter, specifically covering the home matches of Winchester City FC.

My first package was on the game between Winchester and Yate Town. The footage of the match was average; there were no glaring errors, but a lot of room for improvement. At times I zoomed in too close to the players and so found myself losing the ball in shots, as the play moved quickly. I also framed my post match interview with the manager poorly, centring him in the frame and speaking to him from too close to the camera, so at times he was speaking directly into the lens. Henry showed me how I could edit the footage of the interview on Final Cut to improve the positioning, but also taught me how to correctly frame and conduct interviews to get the best possible footage.

My next package was a profile of the University Rugby team, in which I filmed shots of the players training, held an interview with the captain and did two pieces to camera. As I was filming alone I had trouble filming the PTC’s as I could not be sure where I was positioned in shot, whether the gun mic I was using was visible, and whether the sound was being picked up. As a result I learnt that PTC’s are far more successful when there is someone behind the camera, to ensure everything is working correctly. Fortunately, I managed takes that I could use for the package, where I was framed correctly and the sound quality was good. I also failed to conduct the interview at the same time as I filmed the training footage, and so had to conduct the interview at the next training session. This made the package feel inconsistent as the footage of the training session was at night, while the interview was conducted in broad daylight. I had trouble with the brightness of the interview, and was shown how to edit colour and brightness on Final Cut, which improved the footage greatly, however it was still of a lower quality than I had hoped it would be. The sound quality on the interview also suffered, as the sound of wind was picked up by the microphone. I was advised to attempt to conduct future interviews somewhere more sheltered if the sound was being affected by wind. I

My next involvement was to film second camera for an AFC Totton match, where I was asked to zoom in on players and stay tight. This was challenging, but from the previous Winchester match I had attended I had learnt how to keep tight to players while not losing track of the ball. The footage I got was much improved from the Winchester game. I also framed Liam’s PTC’s for his package, which were also much improved on my previous efforts, obeying the rule of thirds.

I filmed two further Winchester matches during the semester. The camerawork was much improved, however in both I had some issues.

In Winchester’s match against Mangotsfield United I had accidentally left the camera on automatic settings, which caused the camera to fail to focus in time for one of the goals as I zoomed on the player. This was very disappointing, as other than focus I felt the shot was good and it also meant I had to leave out a goal from my package, which I felt made it incomplete. My footage of Winchester vs Didcot Town was very dark as it was an evening kick off, and the floodlights at Winchester’s ground are not strong enough. I managed to brighten the footage in final cut, however this negatively affected the quality, and it was not as sharp as I would have liked.

With each package of football highlights I struggled with my voiceovers. The quality of the track was consistently good, but I found myself describing the action too much, the words simply showing exactly what the footage did. Angus advised me that I need to be less descriptive, and could afford to speak less, with the commentary being sparser to allow the pictures to tell the story. For each game I submitted a written match report, which overall I was pleased with, however I lacked still photos to compliment the words.

As well as sport, I got involved in a variety of other areas and projects. On multiple occasions I helped in the gallery filming the bulletin on Wednesdays, predominantly working on the sound desk, but also behind the camera and on the autocue. I initially struggled with keeping the autocue moving at the right speed; however with Graham’s assistance I quickly mastered this. I felt comfortable behind the camera and on the sound desk, and was pleased with the job I did in those roles.

I was also involved in the US election program that we produced, both scripting a package and filming at the US Embassy Election Party. The lessons I had learnt from my sports coverage meant that my framing of interviews and pieces to camera was much improved, with the subject well focussed and framed, and the sound quality was strong in a difficult room. I was disappointed not to have managed to get a better shot of Russell Watson singing The Star Spangled Banner however, as I failed to get a spot on the raised podium in the room, and so the quality of the footage is weak. The package I scripted for the program eventually got divided into four separate packages, and as such my script was edited by others. I felt that my original script was fairly strong, however I was told that it was slightly too complicated, and that it would be better if I simplified the wording. This helped me with future script writing, as I developed a different style when writing for video, as opposed to purely written work.

Aside from this I also presented the Sportsweek show on Sound Radio, helped film a feature with Ben Hatton, and worked on production for the WINOL super bulletin. 

Radioactive - The Final Cut

A female student from the University of Winchester was sexually assaulted last night as she walked home.  The incident took place between 10.30 and 11.30 pm on Stanmore Lane. Police are investigating the incident. Seb Miell, President of the Student Union for the University of Winchester urged students to stay safe as they walk home late at night.

Audio cut – Seb miell

In “incidents such as these…”

Out “…be safe and make sure you are walking in groups”

Length: 0:19

Police Officer David Rathband has been found dead in his home, in a suspected suicide. PC Rathband was shot and blinded by gunman Raoul Moat in one of this country’s biggest manhunts, and has been blind since.  He had been struggling to come to terms with his blindness and leaving the police force, and it is has been suggested this may have caused him to kill himself.

A murder suspect has been found hanged in his cell in a Manchester Prison.

Barry Morrow, aged 52, was awaiting trial for double murder, accused of killing his landlady and her mother last year.

This is the second high profile prisoner to be found dead at Manchester prison in recent weeks.

A post mortem is due to take place later.

Householders across the UK are being called to restrict water usage after one of the driest winters on record.

Drought is expected this summer after little rainfall through the winter months, and Hampshire residents will be affected. Southern Water have asked customers to conserve water, despite saying hosepipe bans are unlikely.

With the need to conserve water, the idea of timed showers has been suggested. I asked Winchester residents what their recommended shower length would be.

Audio Cut - VoxPops of Winchester Residents.

In: “you should only need about 5 minutes…”

Out: “…normally about 4 minutes.”

Length: 0:20

Above is the script, separate audio cuts, and then the final bulletin. Hope you enjoy it, feel free to let me know how I could improve if you've got any suggestions.

Radio, Live Transmission - Radio Assignment Week 2 Piece

Householders across the UK are being called to restrict water usage after one of the driest winters on record.
Drought is expected this summer after little rainfall through the winter months, and Hampshire residents will be affected. Southern Water have asked customers to conserve water, despite saying hosepipe bans are unlikely.
With a possibility of restricted shower times, we asked Winchester residents how long a shower should be.


Audio Cut - VoxPops of Winchester Residents.

These Voxpops will be added soon, as equipment was not available to conduct them this week.

Radio Ga Ga

Here is my radio piece on Memphis and the Elvis obsession. Listen, or don't, your choice. Cheers



And here is a written piece for my radio assignment:

A murder suspect has been found hanged in his cell in Manchester.

Barry Morrow, 52, was awaiting trial for double murder in HMP Manchester. He was accused of killing his landlady and her mother last year, and his the second high profile prisoner to be found dead at Manchester prison in recent weeks.

A post mortem is due to take place later.

Winol Review 2

Last weeks Winol was a great improvement on the previous weeks edition, and showed far more of the skill and technical ability that I had come to expect from the show. There were still a few small problems, as with any student production, however on the whole it was an impressive edition.

There were a few potential legal issues which were picked up on however. The headline 'He's a Rebel', could be considered defamatory towards Steve Brine, especially as he states that he does not consider himself a rebel in the interview. The statement certainly seems defamatory, but would probably be legally safe under a defence of justification, as he voted against his party in Parliament, which is a rebellious act. Brine also defames Ed Miliband during his interview, claiming "Ed Miliband has is own humiliations on a daily basis in this place [Parliament]". This is clearly a defamatory statement and, as published, Winol would be legally responsible for it. Again, though, it is probably safe material as politicians are allowed to defame each other within Parliament, as it is protected under Qualified Privelege, and this protection is widely acknowledged to bleed out into wider society, politicians are generally accepted to have the legal right to defame one another in public.

There were also a few minor technical issues in the show. At a few points the picture changes seemed choppy, with sound and picture not changing at the same time, leading to some small overlap of sound and picture that did not match up. The overlap was minimal, but it was still noticeable, and could have been tighter.
The standard of sound quality of the interviews on this weeks edition was much higher than the previous week. The outdoor interviews, which last week had much distracting background noise, were much better this week, with the interviewee's voice clear. An impressive improvement.
The presenting was also of a high standard, with all pieces delivered confidently, and all voiceovers very well paced, this helped to really give the sense of a professional production.
Sport was, as always, very good. The coverage was interesting and extensive, and the highlights packages were well constructed. I also felt that the 'Winol Woodwork' piece was brilliant, a nice little piece of borrowing from Soccer AM, legally safe, and adding an extra piece of interest to the sport. Perhaps sport would benefit from being more concise, however it is of a very high standard.

Overall then, it was a very professional and impressive edition of Winol, there were still some areas which require work, but it showed marked improvement from the previous week, and demonstrated the high level of journalism expected from this broadcast.

Winol Review

Winchester News Online is ordinarily a great piece of television news. So far this term I've been impressed by high production standards, slick editing and well researched and delivered news items. It was therefore rather disappointing that this weeks broadcast (26th October) did not live up to the usual high standards.
As always, the stories were well researched, accurate and well written, but the delivery of the bulletins let down the content. I felt that at times the speech of the presenters flowed unnaturally, causing mistakes, and the obvious reading from paper scripts suggested that the piece had been rushed, and not enough time had been dedicated to learning the script. I also felt that the use of outdoor interviews meant that there was much overwhelming background noise, which distracted this viewer, and detracted from an informative piece of journalism. Having said this, the content was of a very high standard, and the stories were informative and interesting, it was a shame that they were not done justice.
At times the camera work and editing was also problematic, with shots out of focus for extended periods of time and too many shot changes in short periods. Perhaps using fewer shots for longer periods would have been better for the overall aesthetic of the piece.
Overall then, the broadcast this week felt fairly weak, and appeared to be rushed. The stories had obviously been well researched and written and had much time dedicated to them, it was disappointing that similar commitment was not apparent in the presentation of the show. It was still a reasonably good piece of student work, however it had far greater potential than it displayed.

What makes a good journalist?

A journalist holds an important role in society, as they have the responsibility of delivering the news and events of the world to an audience of millions. A journalist can hold any individual or organisation responsible for their actions in public, and therefore have an important role in maintaining society. This is a significant amount of power for anyone to have at their fingertips, and as such, there are very high standards for what makes a good journalist. 

The most basic requirement, in my opinion, is an enthusiastic interest and in depth knowledge of the area they cover. Whatever field a journalist works in, if they are not informed on the matters they are required to write about, or have little interest in them, the pieces they produce will be severely lacking.

Another basic criterion for a good journalist is that they have a wide ranging vocabulary, understanding of grammar and punctuation, a distinct writing style and the ability to spell. Of course, everyone makes mistakes from time to time, but a good grasp of the english language is crucial in delivering high quality journalism.

Additionally, as we have been reminded on a daily basis, you've got to be fast, accurate and fair. These qualities have two benefits, the article will be strong, and you won't get sued (at least not as much).

Finally, I would suggest a good journalist is opinionated, as this allows interesting comment where the opportunity presents itself, but they must also be able to shelve their opinions when necessary to keep their writing fair. 

And I guess there's nothing wrong with a bit of wit as well.