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/ ).

Meeting 11

This week my meeting took place with my editor Daniel Ionescu at Sparkhouse studios at 15:30pm on the 7th February.

This week we agreed on two ideas for me to follow up on, conclusively it was thought it was a quite news week but an improvement on January. It's during these quiet news periods like I mentioned in my other blog it's important to examine off-diary stories.

1. Linkfest- On Facebook I found a campaign which was promoting a music festival happening in Lincoln (http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100003356226950 ) again this is another off diary story because it's an 'unusual happening' and Chris Frost uses this as a definition of off-diary. Via Facebook I shall get in contact with the organisers. However I will ensure the interview if either done face to face or over the phone. As Pat Sharpe said on the subject of interviewing interviews via email or electronic communication can help to put across difficult questions but the fact interviewees have more time to consider their responses 'live' interviews generate more honest responses and physical contact could help put responses into context.

2. Turkey ducks- Around the Brayfood Pool area resides an strange breed of winged animals which in terms of physical appearance look like a cross between turkeys and ducks. To approach this story I will take photos of the animals and contact the River Care  (the body which does a lot of work around the Brayford pool area, their website- http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/AboutUs/ContactUs/Default.aspx), as Chris Frost says 'a good pictures makes a good story' and since the photos I took were quite close up and illustrate the subject of the story it should make it more digestible for readers.

This week my editor gave me quick crash course on expanding my multi-media pallet in the form of using my phones video camera function. We discussed how to use camera in situations. It was concluded I should go for a midway shot and work around any diversions and attempt to keep the camera steady. From the start of filming I should start from afar and come closer of any obstacles get in my way. An example of when I could have done this better would have been for when Top Gear visited Lincoln during the summer, in which I shot some footage on camera phone (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_hCspYqhU0). Critiquing it I would say this camera angle was a little to wide I overused the zoom function and camera was unsteady and at times completely unfocused on the important parts of the frame. Though since it was exclusive and a media format no over outlet used it became a USP for The Lincolnite, all thanks to some quick thinking and resourcefulness.

This demand for more news outlets print and online to produce video based content was highlighted by the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/06/business/media/news-organizations-plunge-into-video-production.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all). Again the over saturation of media in today's world could be considered responsible for this need in using a secondary media format, as the articles says  'The Internet and a fleet of devices like the iPad have made it possible for, say, The Wall Street Journal to compete with CNBC and CNN for viewers’ time.' Though it could help support the print industry it could merely ensure the print product becomes a secondary and less important aspect of the organisations output.

Meeting 10

This week my meeting took place on the 31^st of January at half past three at Sparkhouse studios with my editor Daniel Ionescu.

This week we decided in two stories for me to work on-

1. Local dog groomers- In North Hykeham a specially qualified dog groomer has set up a business for pets to be groomed. Me and Daniel have outlined an angle to see if the groomer has any interesting anecdotes about unique animals they have groomed or any funny stories. The key to this story is to find a unique angle and one that doesn’t necessarily come of biased towards the business and a promotional piece.

2. Chris Addison interview- Popular comedian Chris Addison is doing a live show on the 18^th of February and his representation has contacted the Lincolnite asking if we’d like to interview prior to the show. Reporter Elizabeth Fish will contact me later in the week to give me further details, it’s not yet sure of the interview will be over the phone or face to face. The pre-research I’d have to find out about the nature of his tour and if he has visited the city before.

This week the story of the dog groomer presented a difficulty. Geographically the dog grooming saloon is more then an hour away by foot across busy roads. Usually all of my work for the Lincolnite is geographically convenient so this has presented a difficulty. I don’t posses any form or personal transport like a bike or a car so I’d have to rely on public transport namely the bus. This then limits the times I am able to interview the saloon owners so the interview will take place early next week.

This has me to the further of complementary skills or equipment a journalist should have access to a form of personal transport or at least a driving license. Though it’s not an essential it could be viewed by an employer as skill which separates you from the crowd. As mentioned by my editor previously employers use  shorthand as a way of cutting down their interview lists but with a skill like driving or access to a vehicle could help separate you further from the crowd.

Applying theory to this situation some companies are sympathetic on the nature of possessing your own private transport as Chris Frost writes 'Many companies insist you drive a car even in the centre of the biggest and will pay you a mileage allowance for its use.'

Though it's conclusively thought by Chris Frost that 'journalists spend a fair bit of time on the road for their employer' but optimistically 'your company may well have an account with a taxi firm' which implies some companies may not be see driving as a vital skill. So may even insist on so Chris Frost suggests 'keep timetables of buses or trains handy so you can find your way about.'