Meeting 18

his week my meeting took place with Daniel Ionescu and Elizabeth Fish at 4pm in Sparkhouse studios on the 26th March, this more then likely going to be one of my lasts meeting as the academic year is coming close to an end (sob).

This week I pitched three stories:

1. New busker in town- A new busker has appeared in town with a exceptional singing voice, for this story my editor told me to take a multi media approach. To help add an USP to the story he told to video the singer playing for at least 2-3 minutes. As Chris Frost writes 'the strength of broadcast media is the human voice hearing and seeing for ourselves how people are feeling.'

2. NHS waiting times - I recently submitted an FOI request (http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/waiting_times_2#incoming-267806) concerning waiting times for student surgery on campus. Already I've thought of a unique angle as after speaking with the NHS press office the figures aren't entirely accurate as some people requested a later appointment.

3. Tops event for the summer around Lincoln- Me and Daniel have decided that I should do another top 10 piece which involves the best family events coming between May and August. I've begun my research and are looking at specialist events which my sometimes get overlooked.

This week I want to talk around mutli-platform deadlines. I'm probably using these words in a quite unique sense. Alongside this placement I do radio shifts at Siren FM so I find a lot of the stories I use for the Lincolnite are suitable for Siren and vice versa. However the only downfall with the arrangement I that I find the time is takes me to write up my Lincolnite stories is longer. The flaws for working for radio is that I don't have access to recording equipment on demand so I usually have wait until Thursday when my radio shift is our rent out a Marantaz but as I have found recently the flaw with borrowing for the Uni is their not always available so I've had to prolong interviews key to my stories. Though to try and help justify this length of waiting is using clips of the interviews for the Lincolnite which I've done in the past (http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2011/03/pilot-recalls-world-war-2-experiences/) despite it not attracting a lot of views as it may have not been made clear in the title or the clip with to long, however a radio wrap may not be suitable and this area may take time to master. As way of putting how vital it is to have an variety of multi media approaches is summed up well by Chris Frost 'Radio makes pictures. Unlike, television', meaning that approaches need to be sometimes different, like for the bukser story, sound may be good but pictures help display a reaction.

Critique- (http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2012/04/scottish-artist-sets-up-studio-in-lincoln/)

This week after a delayed publishing my artist story was put on the site. Another editorial practice I became aware of whilst writing this story is how some stories could be sometimes held back for a while due to considerations required based on what the story contains. In summary this story was held back as my editor planned to coincide it with the artists website going live. Which in summary was a good idea at helps to promote the artist but gives the story a fresh feeling like it's on the bleeding edge of breaking news.

Other times this has been was with my caffeine and ice cream stories which my editor had stock piled these stories for the Christmas period during the time it's considered quiet on the news front.

Looking at the content of the article I feel I've missed an opportunity to build up further contacts. Since the artist was based in a building full of other creative minded people I could have added them to the interview list as well to give a better impression of the what was on offer in terms of art in Lincoln.

In terms of the photo I took I feel could have taken a more creative shot which could have helped demonstrate the more current events going on in the artists studio.

Again I also had used a recording device to help me transcribe the interview I could have somehow used this to help create a USP for the story. Though on the downside sadly I experienced technical difficulties with my marantz (a digital recording device used by radio broadcast journalists) so the audio is cut in two and some partially lost.

Positively however I think my quotes came out highly accurate and that interviewee had a very interesting back story and in comparison to other artists and hasn't come from a hugely conventional educational background.

Meeting 17

This week my meeting took place at the usual time and place but this time another double knotted twist was introduced. My meeting was with my editor Daniel Ionescu and Alex Colman.
This week we decided on two stories to follow up on as I'm currently still working on my graffiti story.

1. Artist profile- During my investigations into my graffiti story I found an artist with an interesting back story. The angle we decided on was how he was retired and painting had been a hobby but now he did it full time.

2. Wildlife at the riverside- Recently the local wildlife surrounding the river has been under threat from external sources (http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2012/03/information-wanted-on-swan-attack-gang) however I noticed a story in the Metro about the drought was having an effect on river creatures. So I decided to attempt some localisation by adding a local slant to it. I plan to talk to the Environment agency since the RSPCA don't necessarily have a lot information of the subject and can't provide the kind of statistic data required to make this story viable.

On the subject of my newsgathering since I've come back from Christmas has been more difficult then it has prior to my break, I've found it harder find stories which are unique and highly appealing to my editor. However to combat this I'm going to try and be more creative with my story ideas. Chris Frost writes on the subject of story gathering. the 'non-rational parts of our mind are as important as the logical and rational' maybe if I expand the non-rational part my story gathering may become more appealing.

For example I attempted employing this kind of thought this week. Recently popular drinks company Robinsons is running a campaign to restore local areas to give children something to do in their spare time, this did not come from a usual story source. We decided not follow up on this due to my first two ideas being a lot more time consuming. Maybe in the future I need to think of a clearer angle to pitch. It may best to remember Chris Frosts thoughts on the subject is how will it 'excite readers or viewers.'

Meeting 16

This week my meeting had a slight twist to it's usual format. It took place at the normal time and place but this time Alex Colman returned to hold my ideas meeting.

1. Kony coverage event- As a tie-in with the viral video concerning Joesph Kony I want to report on the planned promotion event which is happening in April to see if it has the desired effect it outlined.

2. Finding the most interesting displays at the local museum- I propose the idea of going to the local history museum and compiling a list of the most interesting displays they have.

3. Bug wildlife- I've heard from friends their has been a bizarre shift in wildlife in the local area so I propose investigating to see if the shift in weather which is unnatural for this time of year has caused this.

To add to the twist we decided we'd keep the Kony story in the pipeline but the other two we decided to put on hold until some research and some extra planning had been done.

The twist deepens as we decided this week I would follow up a story on graffiti art. The angle is 'is it art ?', the essential part of this story is to be keep completely balanced which has been my downfall in the past especially with my ice cream shop story which read more like an advertorial piece rather then balanced journalism since I essentially had one shop and no other supporting to opposite interviewees.

To ensure this doesn't happen again I will speak to two opposing sides of the debate. One will be the authoritative side so I plan to speak to the council to see what their views on the subject are and the police for what punishments they have for graffiti artists. One the opposite side of the debate I will speak to someone who works at an art gallery to see if they see graffiti as art work and finally I will speak to someone who does graffiti.

For the last interviewee I wish to find it may be difficult since it's criminal offence people may not be inclined to talk to me. This means I may have to exercise some journalistic traits, namely the subject of eaves-dropping. Chris Frosts thoughts on the subject is that 'a good reporter is interested in everything and sometimes can't help over-hearing interesting conversations or seeing something out of the ordinary.' This has helped me before but never to the extent is could have resulted in un-ethical journalism like the phone hacking scandal. This helped when I was looking for interesting stalls at the Christmas market (http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2011/12/top-10-stalls-at-lincoln-christmas-market/).

However a further skill I'll have to add to my story gathering especially for this story is I 'should immediately identify him (me) or herself (not me) to the speaker.'

Critque- (http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2012/03/lincolnite-on-lost-city-search-for-charity/)

So this week I had another story published. This one was the Inca walk story. I was quite happy with the interview as I found the woman to produce some extremely memorable quotes and had quite an emotive back story and special motivation for doing the walk.

I think I have met my editors requirements of finding an interesting person. This is also critically valuable in terms of academics as I found an off diary story and as Chris Frost says 'off-diary stories are more difficult to come by.'

Of course I found this story be following Chris Frosts advice of 'keeping your eyes and ears open for unusual happenings.' Thanks to me using my eyes I found this unusual happening in the form of a poster in the University atrium which wasn't connected to the Student elections. So it stood out.

Meeting 15

This week my meeting took place at 4pm at Sparkhouse studios and as usual it took place with my editor Daniel Ionescu. This week I pitched two stories-
Inca trail- A woman at the university is doing a sponsored walk around the Inca city. My objective is to interview her and obtain a picture. This is exactly what Daniel is looking for. He has said in pervious meetings he wanted me to look for stories which involved someone doing out of the ordinary. This is also a academically viable story as Chris Frost writes 'Whether it is a local charity, the Scouts or Guides, a church group or a social society, these are local people doing what interests them in the community and some of it at least can be turned into news or features.', this can be also seen as being interesting to the community as well since it's a unique task the woman is undertaking.

'm learning to juggle in under a certain amount of time- For my radio show project I'm going to the Lincoln juggling club to learn how to juggle in a short period of time. A bonus of this kind of story is that I will be recorded doing it. This will be USP for the Lincolnite and will stand out since not many of their stories come attached with audio. Though something I need to be wary of with this is background noise. I have previously been down to the club and now it will be noisy, however I don't want to record the story in a quite room as Chris Frost writes 'background sound can add authenticity to a story.' what I will simply have to do is 'beware of background of noise effects that detract from the story.' I will aim to be get more background noise then my previous audio about the war hero (http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2011/03/pilot-recalls-world-war-2-experiences/ ).

This week I'm going to look at the idea of developing personal contacts. Already I have a collection of contacts from starting the Lincolnite and various work experience, though I was thinking that I hadn't produced any contacts of value I suddenly realised I had. As Chris Frost writes 'Every reporter lives by his or her contacts- it marks the difference between a good reporter and a great reporter.'

've already seen some promising marks about my cultivated contacts as 'no matter what is happening, they will know someone who can tell them all about it- our at the very least give them a name of someone who can tell them about it.' Two examples I can think of include Hobb Whittons has messaged me recently about him starting his second book (http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2011/06/blue-fire-burning-for-local-author/). I have another one which is not Lincolnite related but was when I did a radio shift at Siren FM I was following up a story about tourism, so our usual port of call would be the city's tourist information centre, however they were unable to help us but since I had been in touch with them before they were able to give me the contact details of someone else to contact.

Critique- It's been a while since I've produced this part but now I have a published story to talk about (http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2012/03/in-pictures-lincolns-exotic-pets/). This was the exotic pets story.

My editor was impressed with the photos I took as I took his advice on board about going for detailed close ups of the animals and not being afraid about getting close.

Focusing on the copy however I believe their is room for improvement. I was happy about the transferable content of story meaning it had more value. As Chris Frost writes about the nature of the on-line journalism format 'are more likely to be receiving material gathered for one of the more traditional media and sent for an on-line news site.' 

Also looking at the quotes I have for the story looking back through my notes I think I have found a quote which would have produced a clearer angle for the story concerning the classification of exotic pets. 'Exotic pets aren't just alligators or giraffes they can cover snails and even hamsters.' If I had included the part about hamsters it may as Chris Frost writes it may help 'to align such shared value' thus making the story more appealing for a wider audience.

Meeting 14

This week my meeting took place in the usual setting and usual time but this time my meeting was primarily with reporter Elizabeth Fish.

This week we decided on three stories I should look into:

1. A  busker feature- This week I saw a new busker performing near the Stonegate area. This one dresses up as night and any donation goes to the national trust. As far as I can tell the gentlemen is in town on a Saturday. One of the difficulties I find with interviewing buskers is they are hard to track. As Sharon Wheeler writes they may be considered to be quite underground 'certain organisations and sections of the community are rarely represented in routine ring-arounds.'

2. Exotic Pet shops- Elizabeth drew my attention to the exotic pet shops in Lincoln, in total their are two. I've been asked to go to these shops and obtain close up photos of the most bizarre animals. This will be a good photo story. However this story does prevent a sense of fear for me. It could be said I have quite a strong aversion to spiders and since they are classed as exotic pets I may well encounter one and have to be up close to it to obtain a photograph. This story may involve some unique preparation in which I attempt to become more accustomed to the appearance of a spider. This will help me conform to Sharon Wheelers feelings about how a journalist should conduct themselves during an interview 'it's absolutely vital to go into the interview as well prepared as you can and to keep your cool.'

3. Shadowing the fire services whilst they perform special training- Every so often the fire service go to the Brayfood pool and perform various drills to prepare themselves for water based rescues. I plan to shadow them throughout this period and see what they do. This also a good chance to build up contacts and help to build up a relationship of trust. As Sharon Wheeler says it's long road to build these contacts up 'You won't get the scoop every time, and it can take eighteen months to really get your face known in the area, but gradually contacts come to trust you.'

This week I have huge variety of stories. Most of which I wouldn't necessarily dress in the same way. Mainly because for the emergency services story is more hands on and I may have to wear older clothes which I wouldn't mind getting dirty. For the knight story I would go in something casual and relaxed but formality may put the busker at an unease. For the exotic pets story it may be suitable to go dressed in a long sleeve shirt if I am going to in contact with the animals especially of they have claws.

Though all these thoughts are practical I should not forget the primary objective when dressing for an interview which is to put the interviewee at ease. Chris Frost writes that 'you need to be appropriately dressed with the tools of your trade-notebooks, recorders or cameras discreetly out of sight. You should not be smoking, chewing gum or doing anything else that is likely to spark an adverse reaction.'

Meeting 13

So this week my meeting took place at the usual time which is 4pm at Sparkhouse studios with my editor Daniel Ionescu. This week we decided on one idea for me to work on:

 1. Alternative sports- Since a lot of the local media covers the main football team the Lincoln Imps feature quite prominently we have decided on the idea of looking into other sports which take place around the city like hockey or rugby. This will act as a USP for the site as the Imp's feature prominently in local sports media. I'm already using one of Chris Frosts recommended contacts in the form of a press officer. Currently I'm contact with the city female football team the Lincoln Ladies about arranging some interviews with the players and staff. Unlike the angle for a majority of Lincoln sports coverage which tends to be match reports (http://www.lsjnews.co.uk/2012/02/18/match-report-kidderminster-harriers-1-1-lincoln-city-city/) and doesn't tend to search for a feature angle, this leaves an a gap and a strong unique selling point.

This week my editor has told to keep my eyes open and look for subjects for features which have a focus on people who are somehow deemed 'special'. Or a more academic observation of the these kinds of stories and how to find these subjects comes from Chris Frost. He writes ' Ordinary people include: committee members of local organisations and charities, trade union officials, teachers and health works.. the list is long because you never know who you are going to need as a contact. That why it's so important for a reporter to socialise with as many people as possible.'

This doesn't hark back to the stereotype of journalists spending a lot of time in the pub this is suggesting that journalists should expand their social circles from their usual social diet of going to the cinema or parties with co-workers or friends. This applies to going social networking events to build up industry contacts or even meet people in your field, going to art gallery openings and forming connections with the local art scene like I did at the local gallery called The Collection. It could even mean going to a bar or new social area opening like the Linc did with new bar opening at the Engine shed. In conclusion this means I should expand my social circle as all these events have a story they just simply need to be found.

Critique disclaimer- As you may have noticed I haven't featured this section for a few posts. The reason is that some of the stories I write are 'spiked', which means they tend to be not suitable for publishing. This could be because the story isn't newsworthy and doesn't have an angle. An example of this recently would be the Durkeys story, I discovered the identity of the species which was Muscovy ducks (Follow this link to find out how I identified them http://www.ispot.org.uk/node/247124) though this was a unique find my further research indicated their was nothing overly special about the species and their wasn't much more to write about. Some stories however are in the pipeline like the Lincoln Ladies story which may be incorporated into my alternative sports story, in a way this is similar to my Cathedral story. My editor had decided that the inital story didn't have a strong news angle but managed to use a quote from it for another story (http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2011/11/lincolns-historic-buildings-at-risk/ )

Meeting 12

This week their was variation in my meeting structure. The time and location was the same but this week my meeting took place with reporter Alex Colman.

This week I pitched two ideas:

 1. A and E over use- The NHS recently announced that unnecessary visits to the A and E department was taking away funding which for more important medical matters like transplant operation. Alex mentioned he had covered it (http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2012/02/one-in-10-ae-patients-could-go-elsewhere/) and so worked out a different angle. The angle we decided on was contact the NHS press office and devise a set of questions to find out where patients would be better off going. We decided to keep this story in the 'pipe line' and not set an immediate deadline for it because of the less vital nature of the story.

2. Lincoln Ladies- A majority of the community has become dis-interested in the male football team Lincoln City due their lukewarm performances. I pitched the idea that we do a profile story in which look at the success of the team and the difference of lifestyles between male and female players. This could be unique selling point of the Lincolnite since most of the local news outlets sport output focuses heavily Lincoln city. I plan to talk to the teams press officer and arrange interviews with players and obtain photos of a training session.

 This week I'm going to look at diary stories. Though they can be considered predictable and maybe not a strong USP they're are still important to the readership. For example the story of the A46 being re-surfaced would have been common knowledge for a while but still is important because it affects the readership as it's in their geographical area (http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2012/02/a46-from-lincoln-to-newark-to-be-resurfaced/).

Some material like embargoed stories can be a useful to 'stock pile' as they can be seen as useful in a slow news day when few stories are about. For example the Olympics story (http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2011/05/olympic-flame-to-visit-lincoln/) which had been embargoed so it meant it could only released on a certain so in terms of output it's guaranteed story and it's also of interest to the readership because it's happening to them.

Chris Frost description of this kind of news gathering is 'Diary stories (or on-diary as they are sometimes known) are notified to the news desk from a number of external sources and are entered in the diary.' Their is also no fear of this form getting stale Chris Frosts says 'there are plenty of other routine events that entered in the diary year after year' but it would be advisable to use a variety of stories or output could become to similar to competitors. For example the Lincolnshire Echo covered the Olympic torch story (http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/Olympic-Torch-route-Lincolnshire-revealed/story-13775393-detail/story.html ) as well as The Lincolnite. Though they do not have any off diary stories happening in the streets like creative busker (http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2012/01/lincoln-busker-makes-his-own-quirky-instruments/ ).