Convergence Journalism Analysis

The convergence module has been a very different and very beneficial experience. It has given me the opportunity to get an idea of what working in the journalism industry and working for a multimedia company like the BBC is like. The module started off shakily because it was a new module and it took a while to get to grips with everything involved. As the weeks went on, however, the convergence module improved as everyone developed the necessary skills to successfully work together and bring together the different forms of media.
Online News was the most enjoyable of the news days. I think I preformed well on both occasions as editor, although there was a vast improvement from week 1 to week 6. This is mostly due to the fact that at the beginning no one, including myself was really sure what to do. In online news there is a big dependence from all the other teams, as you are essentially leading the news prospects. I feel we could have been better at this on both weeks but still did a good job of finding the important stories. There could definitely have been more of an emphasis on finding original news.
In online news there is also a dependence on everyone else for audio and video content, particular quotes and story leads that other teams have obtained. It often proved difficult coordinating this and a piece of audio promised to us at 12pm might not have been delivered until 3pm. This is mostly due to the nature of the radio and TV news days, though, as having a bulletin means that deadlines are more important to them than in online news.
It was sometimes difficult to communicate between the groups and maybe having two convergence coordinators might be better than having one, or perhaps a separate team, who’s sole purpose is convergence, who ensure everyone has everything they need. The coordinators did, however, do a fantastic job. The final difficulty of online news, and the convergence module as a whole was the size of the team. As an editor I found it difficult to find something for everyone to do. This meant that reporters had to team up and sometimes people were left with nothing to do.
I was really pleased with my team’s work and feel they couldn’t have performed any better. They produced a great standard of work and were good at finding their own stories to follow. They, for the most part, listened to their editor and filled the Buzz website with well-written and informative articles. My sub editors, Ben Sophie and Luke (deputy editor) did a good job of proof reading and editing the articles.
Radio news was one of the more difficult news days and I feel this was mostly due to lack of direction from our lecturers. These seemed to be the slowest news days and I was generally just on editing duty. Because there weren’t enough stories to cover I teamed up with other reporters and edited and wrote scripts for their work so that I had something to do. The bulletins, however, were successful, apart from one, on the first radio day, that ran late due to technical difficulties and no fault of the team. I think El did well as the editor especially in this situation where she was under a lot of pressure.
For the second radio news day, Ben and I organized a round table discussion on euthanasia. We asked one member of each of the features and news teams to join us in the studio to discuss the day’s hottest topic. This went really well and I edited it into a finished podcast which was uploaded to the buzz website. We were encouraged after the first radio news day to produce more stand-alone features for buzz, during our news day. This advice should have been given to us earlier as we were not aware we could stray this much from the original brief. This allowed us to use extra time productively and meant no one was left being idle, something which would have been very welcome in week 2.
TV news has never been my favourite area of journalism but during convergence, to my surprise, I really enjoyed the TV news days. In the first week, El, Tania and I travelled to Dorchester to cover an auction where a vase was sold for £625,000. I did all of the filming and editing for this package and was very pleased with the final product. I was happy with the efficiency of my editing as I managed to have the package ready in a very short space of time before the bulletin.
On the second TV news day, I stood in for Max as editor, which was a terrifying prospect. I started off a little shakily as I’d never been editor for TV before and wasn’t totally sure what to be doing. As the day went on, however, I improved and the team produced a good number of packages. I also had the radio and online news teams to rely on for consultation over prospects and content. The 1pm read went off without a hitch and I got good feedback from the visiting NCTJ board member. The 4pm bulletin was a different story. This bulletin ran over an hour late, something I was hugely disappointed about but the fault lay with no one. The bulletin was still of high quality and I’m happy with it. I was also vision mixer on the day because no one else can do it and I made a few mistakes because of nerves and the stress of the bulletin running late but otherwise it was fine. I was pleased with the team’s work and think I did a good job, considering, I was sort of dropped in at the deep end. I could have, though, been a little stricter with my team to ensure we went to bulletin on time. I think, perhaps, I was too easy on them, which lead to time keeping difficulties.
The online features days were the hardest of the news days because prospects are much harder to find and you have to be more original when coming up with angles. They are also the hardest in terms of convergence because the other groups are producing news content and you aren’t. The Features team feels a little more cut off than the other groups. During these news days I didn’t produce a huge amount of work and found myself spending a lot of time doing nothing. I feel I could have tried harder to look for original feature ideas and I’m disappointed with how much work I actually produced on the features news days. I did however produce two pieces of work I am happy with, especially my St. Patrick’s Day comment piece. In this article I used some audio given to me by the radio team and linked back to a news story written by Nick Summers from the online news team. This I feel is a good example of convergence.
I feel features allows a lot more freedom for experimentation than I took advantage of and I wish I had tried a few more ideas and produced some more, better, work on these news days. I think Oli did a good job as editor, ensuring everyone had work to do and finding good original feature ideas in the morning before both days.
When put into practice convergence can be a bit hectic. It is very difficult to organize and coordinate even with the assigned convergence coordinator roles. So much is going on that often important or stories can be missed or forgotten about. This means that the quality of the news being broadcast isn’t as good as it good be. There are also problems with the size of teams and assigning everyone roles. Overall, though, I really enjoyed the convergence news days and think I’ve learned a lot. They are the closest we have to experiencing working in a real industry and helped me hone my teamwork skills as well as my writing and news finding abilities. I still feel like I could improve in terms of finding original stories to cover and this is my main aim for the future.

Radio Production Blog - Folk Club Package

I have a keen interest in live music, especially local music in the Bournemouth area and wanted to try and find out more about the scene and the people involved in it. After doing some research into the local music scene in Bournemouth I discovered the Bournemouth Folk Club. The club is a small, not-for-profit venue that puts on regular acoustic gigs with local and national acts. The club is a great music venue but isn’t very well known so I wanted to put together a package that brought a lesser-known venue into the public eye.
The package could have been improved by a more appropriate and informative voiceover because it lacked in narrative and direction. I think the use of live-recorded music from the folk club really brought the package to life and gave the listener an idea of the atmosphere and ambience of the venue. The interview clips from the owner and the artists were interesting and informative but some of the audio was of a low quality due to background noise.
The package was aimed at a Radio 1, Newsbeat audience and I think the subject and style suited my target audience well. It was aimed at a younger audience who would be more likely to have an interest in local and emerging music and the style was quick and upbeat in order to catch and hold the attention of a younger listener.

Radio Production Blog - News day 2 - South Coast Radio

This news day was a lot more successful. Leads for stories were chased up much more quickly and suitable audio clips were created for each story. The story choices and running order were good but due to an editorial decision an important story was missed. The first bulletin was a little long and could have done without the inclusion of travel. Again, the sports desk was very successful. In the second hour we included the story we had overlooked but again due to the editor’s decision didn’t run it top where it belonged. Again the desks were good but we were a little pushed for time in studio.

Personally, I was happy with my role as a journalist in getting vox pops for several of the stories and again as producer in organising and putting the audio together in the running order. I also voiced a story and was happy with this as my tone and style suited the piece.

Radio Production Blog - News day 1 - Talbot FM

On this news day the team didn’t work hard enough to gather audio clips for stories early on in the day and didn’t chase up stories well enough. In one case one of the stories didn’t meet the assessment requirements for the percentage of self-made audio, which is a major oversight. All of this led to a weaker bulletin at 1200 but gave us something to work to for the later bulletin at 1400. The team improved for this later bulletin and it was far more successful in terms of self-made content and well-chosen stories. The sports and entertainments desks were well put together successful in both bulletins. This is due to the hard work of both Max and Nadia. However, their focus on the desks may have proved detrimental to the rest of the bulletin because there were fewer people working on this. If the desks had been finished in less time then maybe the team could have concentrated as a whole on the rest of the bulletin. The team agrees that most of the flaws in this news day were based on editorial decisions.

Personally, I think I did a good job as producer. I worked along side the other group members to research and put together news stories for each bulletin. Then before the bulletin I put together the running order and double-checked which stories required audio and which didn’t. As producer I also helped put together the stings.

TV Production Blog

TV

Package

I was disappointed with my TV package, not due to my own work but due to technical failures. I chose to cover the Boscombe surf reef because it was a contemporaneous story as the “official” opening was the week before our hand in. I was also interested in the effect the surf reef would have on the local community and economy. I chose my interviewees because I wanted to get a better insight into the community as opposed to the council or other authority figures viewpoints. I interviewed a surfer and a surf shop owner and then spoke to numerous members of the public to gauge their opinion of the building of the reef.
I was pleased with my interviews and with my vox pops and felt I had enough good audio to put together a great package. However, on reviewing my shots, I discovered that due to a technical failure, a broken microphone, I had no audio on most of my clips. This meant I was forced to redo my vox pops but unfortunately the surf shop owner was unavailable for another interview before the deadline so I had to do without this interview. I think, however, that the good use of shots, including GVs of the beach, pier and the section of the sea where the reef is, as well as a good voice over and use of info graphics held up the piece even with the missing audio.



Youth Show

As one of the first groups to do the youth show, it was harder to brainstorm ideas for a format that we had never used before and one for which there are so few existing examples. However, we took to the challenge and came up with a few original ideas for our show. We came up with our name, ‘Rewind’ after some discussion, deciding that this title represented an opportunity for viewers to sit down, relax and rewind to hear about recent news. I created the graphics for the show and was quite pleased with them, although with more help from lecturers on the technical side we could have improved them.
The content of the show was simple, with news, entertainments and features sections. We ran several good features including one for a student travel site. The idea behind this was that we could hypothetically sell a slot on the show to companies, which was informative for viewers but also acted as advertising for the business. This could be a way of using the youth show to generate revenue. We also included a celebrity interview with x-factor contestants, Kandy Rain which was a good exclusive but could have been better presented.
I was the vision mixer for the show and felt I did a good job switching between our live and recorded content. I think the team worked well together as a whole and I was happy with the youth show overall.

News Magazine Show

For the news magazine show we put all of our packages together to create a “BBC style” bulletin. The show was to be presented live in the studio in a more formal manner to the youth show. The packages were placed in order of importance and relevance in the view of a local station and intros were written for each package for the presenter to read out. Vicky was the presenter for our show and did an excellent job. Her tone was formal and she read the script well. We also wrote sport and short news bulletins for the end of the show because in such a small group (4) we needed to do so to fill more time. Again, I was vision mixer for the show and was pleased with my performance. The show ran smoothly and completely to deadline so we were very pleased with it as a whole.

Documentary

For the documentary the team got together and brainstormed ideas. We decided early on that we would try and give the documentary a more artsy feel, in the style of “3 minute wonders” and other channel 4 documentaries. We felt that this brief provided an opportunity to move away from the usual news and journalistic styles we use on the course and allow us to do something different. We decided on a war documentary because at the time of production there were a lot of deaths in Afghanistan and it was also coming up to Remembrance Day.
We did a lot of research into how we would present the idea and decided that the writing of slogans on peoples’ hands would be a visually stimulating and eye-catching way to present the public’s thoughts and opinions on war. One criticism of our documentary was the lack of ex-soldiers or authority figures. In response to this, we set out originally to allow the public to voice their opinions on war as we often hear the words of ‘talking heads’ but the public rarely gets the opportunity to have their say. I wrote and recorded the music for the documentary and feel it helped to add to the ambience of the piece. Overall the team and I were very pleased with the documentary and felt we had created something we could be proud of.

Bournemouth on Blonde Bond

Bond thriller, “Quantum of Solace”, is released tomorrow. The people of Bournemouth spoke on whether Daniel Craig, since succeeding Pierce Brosnan as 007, fits the classic Bond formula.

Grace Hawkins, 21, A Topshop employee from Luton believes that “Daniel Craig is a refreshing take on James Bond” and that Pierce Brosnan is old and boring. She also said that it’s unlikely she will see Quantum of Solace until it comes out on DVD.
Andy Morris, 18, a student living on King Edwards Avenue, Bournemouth, similarly doesn’t see the new Bond movie as essential viewing. Mr Morris felt that it was “difficult for Craig” to take on the role partly because of his uncharacteristic Bond look. Overall, “Craig couldn’t surpass Pierce Brosnan or Sean Connery”.

Hannah Roberts, an 18-year-old nursing student, living in Abbotsbury House in Bournemouth said of Daniel Craig, “He doesn’t look like the typical Bond”. She said she hasn’t seen Casino Royale and only really knows what Daniel Craig looks like.
Frequent Cinema-goer, Oliver Fairweather, a 13 year-old student from Southampton, said he will be going to see the new Bond film. Even so, he thinks Daniel Craig “Doesn’t look like Bond” and that “Pierce Brosnan was a much better Bond.”
Fellow 13-year-old student from Southampton, Jack Mountain said he liked Daniel Craig, but still prefers Pierce Brosnan to his successor.



He said he thought Casino Royale was “amazing, spectacular and emotional” and was excited about the new release.
Susan Sutton, a retiree, from Amersham, Buckinghamshire stated her desire for the Bond of her youth, “To me Sean Connery is James Bond”. The 73 year old hasn’t seen Casino Royale but thinks Daniel Craig just doesn’t suit the character. “He’s not dark enough or suave enough, though he is handsome”. “He’s too rough and chunky”.
Similarly husband, Richard Sutton, 70, thinks “You’re asking the wrong person, I’m a Connery fan through and through”.

Life in the day - Daniel Duke

The singer-songwriter, 18, lives with his Mum, Sue, Dad, Andy, brothers James and Patrick, sister Rachel and their two dogs in a house just outside Banbridge, Northern Ireland.

I wake up, usually between nine and eleven o'clock, to the sounds of Radio 2 emanating from my clock radio. Depending on the time my twin brother, James, might still be in bed. We've shared a room for the last 18 years and its not a bad situation; there are no privacy issues and we don't get in each other's way so its fine. If he's awake I'll talk to him for a while and if he's not around I might read for a little instead. Then I'll get up and have breakfast, which usually consists of cereal but if I feel like it I'll have an egg and toast instead.

After Breakfast, I'll sit down at the computer, check the BBC news website, check my email and turn on the radio. After that I start any graphic design work I have to do. I've been dabbling in graphic design for a few years now and quite often do pro bono work for friends and family. It’s a lot of fun and it gives me something to do during the long summer holidays.

Around 2pm I'll have some lunch; a sandwich or some pasta. I usually make something quick and easy. Some days I'll walk into town and meet up with friends for lunch or a coffee. After lunch I pick up the guitar or sit down at the piano and play for a while. I play through covers and my own music but I try to write at least one song everyday just to keep me “sharp”, so to speak. I've been playing guitar for seven years and piano for four. I play a variety of other instruments and write and record a lot of my own music. I'm also in a number of bands so sometimes my day will be taken up with a band practice, beginning at 12pm and finishing late in the evening.

After playing music for a while, I'll go and watch some TV or play xbox with James. My older brother, Paddy gets home at around 6pm from work and I talk to him for a while or we play xbox together. If its a Monday or a Friday both my mum and dad will be working so I wont see them until around half six. On any other day of the week only my dad works but he's usually not home until between seven and nine. If my mum is off work she might go and visit her parents who live in a care home about 20 minutes drive away from our house. Unfortunately both my Granny and Grandpa suffer from Alzheimer and dementia, which is hard work for my mum. They are both content though so it’s not too bad.

We usually eat dinner around 7pm or when dad gets home from work. Dinner could be any number of things and is usually cooked by mum. On a Friday my Granny, on my dad's side comes over for dinner with us and I'll play scrabble with her and my parents. The same thing happens on Sunday nights as well, but we'll usually have something a little more fancy for dinner. On a Sunday we also take our black labradors - Tilly and Tess for a walk, in a nearby forest park. My mum, dad, aunt, uncle and they're dog, Spencer all go and we end up walking four dogs around the park, with the addition of Lucy, my granny's Pomeranian.

On some days I'll have a gig in the evenings, either playing with one of my bands or on my own. On these days I'll spend the day preparing – practicing and sorting out my instruments and set list. Then I'll head off to the gig early in the evening and won't be back until pretty late depending on how the night goes.

Bedtime varies greatly. If I've been out I'll go to bed at whatever time I get in. If I'm at home I'll usually head to bed around 1am but if I feel I haven't had a productive day I'll go on the computer and try and do some more design work or anything constructive. I sometimes stay up until after 4am, by which time I'm exhausted. In bed I might read for a while, depending on how late it is. Then I drift off, sometimes listening to music or good old radio 2 again – I don't like falling asleep in silence.