Throughout the convergence unit, I have realised that in practice, convergence journalism has many merits and pitfalls. Sharing information, ideas, audio and visual clips and suchlike enables a news organisation to reach many audiences and therefore traffic can be directed between media. For example, should a story be aired during a radio bulletin, the presenters can direct the audience to the organisation’s website for a more in-depth look at the incident. Additionally, by sharing information, a news story from one medium can benefit from the same authority and quality produced by another. For example, when I was writing sports stories for online news, the television team shared an interview with an AFC Bournemouth player, enabling me to add quotes to my story which I otherwise would not have done. This gave my story added interest, alongside quality and authority.
“Convergence refocuses journalism to its core mission – to inform the public about its world in the best way possible. But nowadays, the best way is not just one way: newspaper or television or the Internet. The best way is a multiple media way…To be successful at convergence, journalists need to understand the strengths of each news medium or outlet and work to develop news stories that dovetail with those strengths. Convergence requires journalists to put the reading, viewing, and browsing public at the center of their work.” (Kolodzy, J. 2006. Convergence journalism: writing and reporting across the news media)
But convergence also has its pitfalls. Most journalists already established in the industry have spent their entire working lives with one medium. To now introduce convergence to these people will cost news agencies both time and money. However, the trend is a big positive for those training to become journalists now, as they will have that advantage over the older, established journalists. Additionally convergence journalism, whilst making the news accessible to as many people as possible, could also potentially limit the news the audience can consume. Each medium runs the same stories through convergence, which they may not otherwise have done. And whilst this helps solve the issue of audience fragmentation by giving different audiences in different areas of the media the same news to consume, it also restricts the choice. Someone listening to a radio bulletin will hear the same stories as if they looked online, which with headline stories may always have been the case, but less so with smaller stories.
Throughout the duration of the convergence unit, I had roles including convergence coordinator, script writer (mainly sports), features writer, news reporter and sports reporter. These each presented me with different challenges and overall, I felt I had strengths and weakness with all of them. The most successful roles for me revolved around sport and I definitely felt more in my comfort zone reporting and writing scripts about sport. I was most productive when reporting on sport and certainly enjoyed my day more. However, I felt my work for online features was also successful and I produced a few good pieces and additionally, I felt I adapted well to my role as convergence coordinator. Usually, working with technology and especially solving technological problems is not my strong point, but during the two days in this role I learnt a lot and was productive.
During the convergence weeks, I discovered strengths and weaknesses in areas of my journalistic practice. I felt that my script writing for television and radio was sound, as well as my writing ability on both online news and features. I adapted my writing style well depending on the media outlet, ensuring that sentences written in radio and television scripts were short and concise, whilst being able to branch out more in online news and particularly features. I also felt that as convergence coordinator, I improved during the two weeks in which I occupied this role – becoming more technically competent and being able to transfer content between groups with increasing ease and speed. Weaknesses included poor efficiency and time management on a couple of occasions and I was disappointed, as a result, to only produce one piece of work in each of two consecutive weeks. Whilst doing something I enjoyed (for example sports reporting) I was a lot more motivated and therefore produced more work and I consider this a weakness too. I felt, in hindsight, that I should have been capable of producing similar levels of content, whether in or out of my comfort zone.
Throughout the unit, I have learnt the value of convergence and what benefits it can bring to a news organisation and I feel such knowledge will leave me well equipped when I enter the industry, as many news organisations are also realising the benefits of convergence. I also found it a valuable practice to learn of some personal strengths and weaknesses I was not previously aware of, as highlighted above.
In hindsight, I should have done more to diversify my portfolio. Whilst I know reporting on sport is a strength of mine, it would have been good to take the opportunity to broaden my horizons and report on other areas to build my confidence and know-how. I could also have been more efficient on the convergence days by researching ideas in advance. I started to do this towards the end, but I should have invested the time prior to the convergence days throughout, in order to produce more content at a quicker rate. As such, I have decided to keep a diary whilst I am completing my work placements in the summer, recording what events are taking place, the duration of the events, locations and any relevant facts surrounding certain events which could be good ‘pegs’ for any articles.
Using this idea, I hope that in the future, my work will be more organised and prepared (or at least as much as it can be in the ever-changing, unpredictable world of journalism!) and this should especially enhance my feature writing. It should also help my news reporting and broadcasting, as by being prepared for certain calendar events, I can ensure I have interviews ready, as well as background information and opinion pieces. This will hopefully enable me to be more productive and focussed. Additionally, I hope to be able to take my experience from the convergence unit into my work placements and future employment, as I have already learnt the benefits first-hand, as well as areas that need improvement and can hopefully share this knowledge with those still coming to terms with the transition within the industry.
In conclusion, the convergence unit has opened my eyes to not only the nature of converged journalism, its positives and negatives, but also to my own personal strengths and weaknesses when working under pressure and having to adapt to numerous variables within the workplace.
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Broadcast Logbook - TV Package and News Show
I settled on a story about a Moordown resident who had collected rare photographs depicting Bournemouth’s centenary and, with Bournemouth’s bicentenary in 2010, put the pictures into a calendar. I found this story on the Echo website, contacted the subject, Paul Miles, who agreed to an interview.
The interview gave me a lot of audio. I didn’t manage to get as varied visual shots as I’d have liked but I had the idea of filming the old pictures in the calendar, then filming the current day scene. I managed to get an interview with a lady from the Tourist Information Centre about the success of the calendars, as they were being sold there.
When editing, the transition between the calendar shots and the modern scenes went well, with the fading effect working as I’d envisaged.
Our news show went as well as previous weeks. We researched the headlines of the day and wrote short pieces about each, which our presenters read between our packages.
I was pleased with how my personal package had turned out and as a group we were happy with how we worked together and the success of our news show.
The interview gave me a lot of audio. I didn’t manage to get as varied visual shots as I’d have liked but I had the idea of filming the old pictures in the calendar, then filming the current day scene. I managed to get an interview with a lady from the Tourist Information Centre about the success of the calendars, as they were being sold there.
When editing, the transition between the calendar shots and the modern scenes went well, with the fading effect working as I’d envisaged.
Our news show went as well as previous weeks. We researched the headlines of the day and wrote short pieces about each, which our presenters read between our packages.
I was pleased with how my personal package had turned out and as a group we were happy with how we worked together and the success of our news show.
Broadcast Logbook - TV Youth Show
We came up with the idea of basing it on ‘Live from Studio 5’, which tends to debate news rather than present it. We felt that presentation would have a younger feel and would engage the audience, getting them involved.
With time constraints we couldn’t debate the headlines as we’d have liked, but we added a couple of asides regarding a sports story. This story was a fun piece and we used a clip from YouTube to add colour. Also from YouTube, we closed our show with a clip of a kitten being tickled, which was a light-hearted way to end the programme.
As a backdrop to our presenters, we had headlines from news sources on Twitter, which alongside our clips from YouTube, gave our show a youthful, contemporary feel.
Additionally, we utilised our documentary from last week and ran packages about youngsters doing something inspirational. In the media, youngsters are presented as troublemakers and never make the headlines for the right reasons, so we wanted to address our audience and reverse the stereotype. We re-edited last week’s documentary and shot a package about Mikey, a student who spends his spare time as a carer.
Finally, we wanted to embrace the fact that Christmas was approaching so filmed a package giving students advice on cooking a Christmas meal on a budget.
With time constraints we couldn’t debate the headlines as we’d have liked, but we added a couple of asides regarding a sports story. This story was a fun piece and we used a clip from YouTube to add colour. Also from YouTube, we closed our show with a clip of a kitten being tickled, which was a light-hearted way to end the programme.
As a backdrop to our presenters, we had headlines from news sources on Twitter, which alongside our clips from YouTube, gave our show a youthful, contemporary feel.
Additionally, we utilised our documentary from last week and ran packages about youngsters doing something inspirational. In the media, youngsters are presented as troublemakers and never make the headlines for the right reasons, so we wanted to address our audience and reverse the stereotype. We re-edited last week’s documentary and shot a package about Mikey, a student who spends his spare time as a carer.
Finally, we wanted to embrace the fact that Christmas was approaching so filmed a package giving students advice on cooking a Christmas meal on a budget.
Broadcast Logbook - TV Documentary
We explored many possible topics including Poole RNLI and a Christmas box collection. Following discussions, we settled the story of young female football coach, Emma Hankins, who coaches girls at the Dorset Centre of Excellence and has ambitions of coaching in America. When filming, she had applied for a position in America and was waiting for the results of a rigorous four-hour interview.
The filming process went well and captured some general footage and conducted our interview. We then went to her coaching session in Wareham, where we interviewed her boss who gave us some great sound bites.
The editing didn’t get off to a good start as we discovered the interview with Emma’s boss had no audio, losing much of the ‘American’ angle planned.
Consequently, we had to change our angle and opted to look at how she juggles her coaching with playing football and her degree.
We selected the clips we wanted to use and placed footage of her coaching, studying and playing over much of her interview.
Finally, we chose a music track to run in the background and overall, considering the late change of angle, we were pleased with the outcome.
On watching the documentary back, we realised that part of our footage which we had tried to slow down for effect, came out jerky and out of alignment with the sound, which was too late to alter. However, overall we were pleased with the final product.
The filming process went well and captured some general footage and conducted our interview. We then went to her coaching session in Wareham, where we interviewed her boss who gave us some great sound bites.
The editing didn’t get off to a good start as we discovered the interview with Emma’s boss had no audio, losing much of the ‘American’ angle planned.
Consequently, we had to change our angle and opted to look at how she juggles her coaching with playing football and her degree.
We selected the clips we wanted to use and placed footage of her coaching, studying and playing over much of her interview.
Finally, we chose a music track to run in the background and overall, considering the late change of angle, we were pleased with the outcome.
On watching the documentary back, we realised that part of our footage which we had tried to slow down for effect, came out jerky and out of alignment with the sound, which was too late to alter. However, overall we were pleased with the final product.
Broadcast Logbook - Radio Feature Package
I decided to look at non-league football teams competing in the FA Cup, as at the time of broadcast it was the weekend of the first round ‘proper’. As such, I focussed on Tooting and Mitcham United, a non-league side who had been draw agaisnt League One Stockport County. I took the angle of the ‘dream’ of the underdogs and elected to aim my piece at the News Xtra audience.
To ensure my piece was suitable for the target audience, I listened to Newsbeat on several occasions. I realised that their packages used short, sharp sentences, sandwiched between lots of interview clips, with a music bed underneath, which is how I produced my piece.
Additionally, to appeal to the young audience, I also elected to use clichés (“The magic of the FA Cup”), puns (“Postman Matt”, “First class deliveries”) and a ‘cheesy’ song to add an element of fun and light-heartedness.
The song ran for the duration of the piece and was used as upsound after my introduction and to close the package. I felt my choice of music acted as a narrative through its lyrics.
The only problem with the song choice was the length of the introduction before the chorus came in. It meant that in order for my spoken introduction to fit over the music, I had to rush which made my words quite difficult for the audience to take in.
The cue for my package didn’t give much away and so maintained audience interest. I decided not to name the team I’d be focussing on, so fans up nationwide stayed engaged by guessing which side it may be.
I began my introduction with a Chelsea v Manchester United reference, which was the big game that weekend. By doing so, I involved fans of top-flight clubs and offered a stark contrast to the non-league teams. This was enhanced further by the mentioning of non-league players having normal jobs, such as plumbers and PE teachers. This brought a sense of reality and I felt it added interest by showing that these players are just average people who the audience could relate to. This reinforced the challenge they had ahead and enhanced the excitement.
I included commentary from Tooting’s game in the previous round to add colour, background information, excitement and crowd atmosphere and it helped lead to the forthcoming clips.
These clips weren’t as clear as I’d hoped as I interviewed them from their mobile phones, whilst on the team coach. I should have signposted this to add atmosphere and explain the poor quality. Also Matt York’s piece had a clipped edit at the end but unfortunately this was necessary due to background noise.
Towards the end, I put the emphasis on the fans, as this was another trait I’d noticed on Newsbeat, who tend to interview supporters rather than players/managers.
I felt my package was appropriate for the target audience and did the job of a feature. I continued to establish my ‘voice’, which I had been developing over the course of the newsdays and although there were a couple of improvements which could have been made, I was happy with the end product.
To ensure my piece was suitable for the target audience, I listened to Newsbeat on several occasions. I realised that their packages used short, sharp sentences, sandwiched between lots of interview clips, with a music bed underneath, which is how I produced my piece.
Additionally, to appeal to the young audience, I also elected to use clichés (“The magic of the FA Cup”), puns (“Postman Matt”, “First class deliveries”) and a ‘cheesy’ song to add an element of fun and light-heartedness.
The song ran for the duration of the piece and was used as upsound after my introduction and to close the package. I felt my choice of music acted as a narrative through its lyrics.
The only problem with the song choice was the length of the introduction before the chorus came in. It meant that in order for my spoken introduction to fit over the music, I had to rush which made my words quite difficult for the audience to take in.
The cue for my package didn’t give much away and so maintained audience interest. I decided not to name the team I’d be focussing on, so fans up nationwide stayed engaged by guessing which side it may be.
I began my introduction with a Chelsea v Manchester United reference, which was the big game that weekend. By doing so, I involved fans of top-flight clubs and offered a stark contrast to the non-league teams. This was enhanced further by the mentioning of non-league players having normal jobs, such as plumbers and PE teachers. This brought a sense of reality and I felt it added interest by showing that these players are just average people who the audience could relate to. This reinforced the challenge they had ahead and enhanced the excitement.
I included commentary from Tooting’s game in the previous round to add colour, background information, excitement and crowd atmosphere and it helped lead to the forthcoming clips.
These clips weren’t as clear as I’d hoped as I interviewed them from their mobile phones, whilst on the team coach. I should have signposted this to add atmosphere and explain the poor quality. Also Matt York’s piece had a clipped edit at the end but unfortunately this was necessary due to background noise.
Towards the end, I put the emphasis on the fans, as this was another trait I’d noticed on Newsbeat, who tend to interview supporters rather than players/managers.
I felt my package was appropriate for the target audience and did the job of a feature. I continued to establish my ‘voice’, which I had been developing over the course of the newsdays and although there were a couple of improvements which could have been made, I was happy with the end product.
Broadcast Logbook - Radio Newsdays
Throughout the newsdays, I took on the role of sports presenter, which is a task I love and although I don’t particularly enjoy the presenting part, I felt that over the course of the newsdays I had started to establish my ‘voice’.
During our South Coast newsday, we gained a firm understanding of our audience - our stories and running orders reflected this. Alongside our content, we also had great stings and beds.
Between our two bulletins, we altered the tone and style of our broadcast, to ensure we gave it a real ‘afternoon’ feel. In our first bulletin, we forgot our presenters’ ident, but this was the only real mistake we made. The high point of this bulletin was our self-generated Sea Monster story, which had great clips from an interviewee.
The afternoon bulletin was strong as our editor made good decisions regarding which stories we should progress and which we should replace. The sport stories had all moved on to look at Premiership swine flu fears and preview the evening’s matches, including a Portsmouth match for a local angle.
Our Talbot FM newsday started slowly and lacked pace and enthusiasm. We hit some problems as we sent a roving reporter out but upon his return, we realised the story was flat and dropped it, which was frustrating for the roving reporter and the team as we had little self-generated work.
Fortunately, our afternoon bulletin was a bigger success with a better pace and tone alongside more self-generated content. The presentation on all desks was snappier and chattier – suitable for the younger audience and our roving reporter’s vox pops worked well with the surf reef story, adding colour and atmosphere to the bulletin.
During our South Coast newsday, we gained a firm understanding of our audience - our stories and running orders reflected this. Alongside our content, we also had great stings and beds.
Between our two bulletins, we altered the tone and style of our broadcast, to ensure we gave it a real ‘afternoon’ feel. In our first bulletin, we forgot our presenters’ ident, but this was the only real mistake we made. The high point of this bulletin was our self-generated Sea Monster story, which had great clips from an interviewee.
The afternoon bulletin was strong as our editor made good decisions regarding which stories we should progress and which we should replace. The sport stories had all moved on to look at Premiership swine flu fears and preview the evening’s matches, including a Portsmouth match for a local angle.
Our Talbot FM newsday started slowly and lacked pace and enthusiasm. We hit some problems as we sent a roving reporter out but upon his return, we realised the story was flat and dropped it, which was frustrating for the roving reporter and the team as we had little self-generated work.
Fortunately, our afternoon bulletin was a bigger success with a better pace and tone alongside more self-generated content. The presentation on all desks was snappier and chattier – suitable for the younger audience and our roving reporter’s vox pops worked well with the surf reef story, adding colour and atmosphere to the bulletin.
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