Tom Turrell

Feature Idea

2006-11-23T23:33:00.000Z

For my feature I would like to look at the development of instant news. Newspapers are now at least 12 hours behind and the result is a declining circulation.

However, as one industry loses ground another emerges and according to Pete Clifton it would appear that its the world of online.

I ll concentrate on the growth of news via mobile phones. Picture, television and text alerts are being sent to our cellphones all the time and i was only told in a lecture this morning that this is the future.

so in summary my feature will be on the future of news and the means by which we receive it.

* Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

2006-11-19T10:48:00.000Z

Pete Clifton ere, wanna make sumin of it?

Pete Clifton is head of BBC news interactive that's everything from BBC online to Ceefax to pressing the red button on your remote.

Just when you thought that the BBC was the most politically correct institution ever, you're introduced to Pete. His advice to us all studying journalism here at Cardiff is:

"If you can't spell and you can't write accurately you can fuck off".

Come on Pete tell it like it is, don't wrap it up, we can handle the truth.

Pete told us the BBC's vision statement:

"to be the most open and accountable news agency in the world."

Well Pete with you at the helm it will certainly be open and it will have to be accountable.

It was a refreshingly new style to a lecture, but the content was familiar: User Generated Content does not mean the death of the journalist. Pete was keen to stress that the media world is changing, but we're all invited. His message was not swamped with woolly phrases and overly articulated words, but was clear and blunt: Work hard at the basics, be accurate, learn to tell a good story and you'll do well.

It was interesting to learn as a broadcast journalist that the future of online news lies, specifically, in short video footage. Vodcasts and podcasts are all huge growth areas and Pete was keen to stress that this is the future. Sky are relaunching their web-site at present and rumor has it it's video based.

So as my newspaper colleagues cringe and wince at their uncertain future, it would seem that broadcasters can breath a huge sigh of relief for now. aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Mr-Cool-As-A-Cucumber

2006-11-14T22:18:00.000Z

Iain Dale is the creator of the political online television programme 18 Doughty Street and a Conservative A-list politician.

I was unable to go to this lecture due to work experience, so I thought I would look at the blogs of people who did.

I predicted there would be a political divide amongst the bloggers. Surely his right wing views wouldn't appeal to the lefties in the audience? But this wasn't totally the case. Actually, from the sample I observed, it appears that political interest didn't fully influence their opinion. For example Oliver Hawkins, who admits on his blog that despite not being a conservative he liked Dale's liberal attitude "you can think what you like".

The split amongst the two camps in the audience seems to have been from those people who appreciate his emphasis on freedom of speech and those who think 18 Doughty St is just a political gimmick. Emma Barnett blogged, "Iain Dale has won me over" "His lecture was truly inspiring" she even pet named him, "Mr Cool-As-A-Cucumber-Dale" and Rachel Arthur Blogged that Dale's freedom of speech message was an important one.

Not everyone was convinced by Dale's apparent smooth performance. Patrik O'Geary criticised the lecture for being, "partly an add for 18 Doughty St"and seemed surprised to learn that Dale, "Didn't know what he'd do if a representative of the BNP wanted to get on Doughty Street". Tom Williams was not impressed either adding, "I feel people will quickly lose patience with online TV"

Whether Iain dale is a political propagandist or simply an advocate of free speech, one things for sure, Jomec students aren't sitting on the fence on this one.

"Mr Cool-As-A-Cucumber-Dale"

"partly an add for 18 Doughty St"

If you would like to e-mail Iain then do so at.... iain@iaindale.com

Programmes for the masses or by the masses?

2006-11-09T19:49:00.000Z

This week our guest lecturer came from closer to home. Dr Daniel Meadows works teaching New Media and Photography here in the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University.

Dr Meadows was the creative director of the BBC's digital storytelling department. He has pioneered the development of the movie workshop 'Capture Wales' which is designed to create short movies starring the normal people of Wales.

Dr Meadows explained to us how digital story telling started in the US and is based upon the drive for User-Generated-Content. He explained how he does not view 'pressing the red button or texting to vote for you favorite pop idol is not a fully interactive media. His aim is to create an interactive medium, to "democratise the media".

The selection of short movies which he played to us were indeed stories of local Welsh people. Each had a story to tell, some more interesting than others. But I'm still not sure, is this really the way forward?

I think Daniel is right, we will see increasingly more user-generated-content. However, I don't believe it will be the short stories that are created on capture Wales. I believe its more likely that the media oligarchs will take viewer recordings of breaking news, such as, the mobile phone footage of 7/11.

Unfortunately, my view may have been tainted. Can ordinary people entertain? Does everyone deliver a good story? I certainly felt that in delivering his lecture their was an underlying irony.

Dr Meadows was telling us how broadcasting will come, increasingly, from us. He stressed that we are all presenters now, but ironically his own presentation to us was difficult to follow. His main message was distorted and unclear. He lost is own way several times in the Q&A session and needed the question repeating. He read from several pages of notes by torchlight, thankfully interspersed with digital stories.

Regrettably his own presentation influenced me. Rightly or wrongly, I felt the main message from this lecture was to leave the presenting to the professionals.

You can find more on Dr Meadows at http://www.photobus.co.uk/Blog/

* If you aren't important don't blog

2006-11-06T20:33:00.000Z

Richard Burton is the former editor of the Daily Telegraph online. He left a life time of print to join The Telegraph, but says he hasn't looked back since.

"Its the fast pace of news on the net which makes it so appealing".

Only minutes after the news breaks, it will appear on the web. He delivered his lecture standing infront of a giant screen showing The Daily Telegraph online. Every now and again he would spin round and check to see whether it was being updated, "they're slow today", he grumbled.

Richard loves the pace of change online, describing how, by the time newspapers are able to get a story out its yesterdays news. Not only has the pace of news online changed things, but it is also trying to produce content that its viewers demand. Richard said he would analyze how many web-impressions were being made on stories and would focus on the most popular ones. Dr Meadows this seems to be the true democratisation of the media - with your vote, you decide.

But, Berton is an elitist. He works for the Torygraph for a start, but more than that, he's not interested in reading blogs of the masses, so.............................................................................

Well ok I won't stop, but only because I agree. Who gives a toss what some twenty something thinks about current affairs? Christ, Im usually told I don't even live in the real world. I was synical of blogging once, but I ve changed, well kind of. I think that this new outlet for our freedom of expression is positive. It enables many people to have a voice that they wouldn't otherwise have. I agree with Richard though, some peoples voices will always be a lot louder than others.

One things for sure, this fast pace and increasing communication with the reader, listner and viewer through bloggs, analysis of page impressions, texting, e-mailing, podcasts or vodcasts will continue way into the future.

Mild today, don't you think?

2006-10-26T18:06:00.000+01:00

Will the last person to leave Planet Earth please turn out the light?

Politicians are turning up the heat on the global warming debate. We've been told that blue is the new green by David Cameron who alledgedly cycles to and from work, albeit, followed by a 4x4 Lexus gas guzzler. Tony Blair, in light of the Stern report , has just announced that 'the world cannot afford to wait before tackling climate change' and the liberals have always banged on about saving the planet.

So what are we to do? Well, for a start, unplug mobile phone chargers when they're not in use, don't leave TV's on standby and use energy saving light bulbs. The trouble is that there's a folk across the pond who isn't really convinced about all this global warming malarky. Unfortunately, he's the most powerful man in the world and the very same man who asked "Which state is Wales in?" and insisted, "the French don't have a word for entrepreneur". That's right I'm talking about George doubleya.

Many argue that tackling global warming here in the UK is pointless without the president on side and they might have a point, but don't we have a moral imperative to lead the way. We must practice what we preach. We account for only 2% of total Carbon emissions but we must aspire to be more like our Scandinavian neighbor's.

The next couple of years is going to be really very interesting in Westminster. Who will win the green vote in the UK? Which party will promise more on the environment than the opposition? The good news for us is that this battle, if fought, really has no losers.

Live by the sword die by the sword

2006-10-13T13:52:00.000+01:00

Amanda Powell is the editor of BBC Wales online. She's our first guest lecturer and so I suppose that she has the advantage of holding more sway with us than the guests to follow. If you only have one view point to consider and its a more highly qualified one than your own then you'd be wise to listen to it wouldnt you?

Ms Powell was keen to explain the importance of keeping a record of your notes. She explained how as a result of the Hutton enquiry the beeb demanded the reemergence of shorthand (thanks auntie!!). She went on to explain the legal difficulties the web faced - unlike newspaper readers, online journalism can be sued years after an article has been published.

Amanda explained how our increasingly litigious society has meant she's developed a hardline on viewer comments and censored many that were sent to her. However, she's keen for her website to reflect the views of the readers.

I got a real feeling from this lecture about the mechanics of an online newsroom. I understand, now, how the BBC construct short stories so people will read them (the average time spent on a bbc news website is just over 3-minutes). This forces the hand of the journalist to produce copy of four paragraphs in length, resulting, in some cases, in severe editing. The need for brevity means information must be axed and this often puts the journalist at risk of falling into the trap of defamation.

This was a clear lecture that covered a lot of ground, but it gave me pause for thought. If newspaper circulation is falling and people are spending less and less time reading the news will the in-depth knowledge of Joe Blogs 2106 be less than that of his predecessor of 2006? If that is the case is the standard of journalism being dictated by the power of market forces. Discuss...

Mistake or Freak?

2006-10-11T15:44:00.000+01:00

Mistake or Freak? That is the question that fans and pundits are asking about Paul Robinson's mis-kick at England's away game to Croatia on Wednesday.

England were already a goal down, but the game was taken out of their hands when Gary Nevill passed back to Paul Robinson. The England keeper swung at the ball to clear it from danger but the ball hit a divet, bounced over Robinson's swinging foot and rolled into the unmanned net.

Robinson, understandably, blamed the unnatural undulation of the ground, claiming it was a 'freak occurrence' which he could do nothing about. He's not alone, ex-England keeper Beasant added: "It hit a raised divot the other keeper made for taking his goal-kicks."

Others seem less inclined to let the issue drop quite so easily. Robinson was surprised by the criticism he received from some fans who asked Whats wrong with trapping the ball first?

Either way one thing's for sure, Robinson will have some sleepless nights between now and the New Year when he will, hopefully, have the opportunity to prove himself once more.