In this digital age, journalism seems to be becoming more and more “converged”. Different media platforms are getting together, even the traditional ones and the ones that were not seen hand-in-hand before. Of the three types of convergence, technological and journalistic convergence were experienced during the news days, although not fully. The true mission of converged journalism is to address the growing fragmented news consumers and the consolidated news outlets. Thus, it is only truly convergence when the concept applies to the news itself, the production and the delivering of it.
Many of the times, however, convergence merely revolves around the delivering, i.e. transforming from one format to another using the same materials. For instance, posting a story in print onto a web page. Convergence needs to be more than that. There should have been the coming together of different journalists working on different platforms and making use of the strengths of each medium. For example, a story could be covered by a TV and a print journalist at the same location at the same time. Although court stories were generally done this way, for other stories, it was mostly about throwing everything together after all reporting was done. Nonetheless, there are many occasions when the convergence mindset was used when planning on how to cover a story, e.g. online is best for interactivity, TV/Radio for intermediacy and online news, as print, should provide a more detailed report.
Convergence at its best brings the best bits of journalism together, but at its worst, can lead to a rather messy journalistic operation. To succeed in converged journalism, journalists must learn to adapt, acquire multimedia skills and communicate well with fellow crewmembers.
Throughout the news days, I played the role of a reporter, which I think is a challenging and rewarding experience. Overall, my main strengths are my confidence in technical skills, my research skills and my willingness to chase up for interviewers.
Firstly, I feel that I was able to make good use of the multimedia skills that I had acquired, including editing, filming and using the Buzz website effectively. Especially when it came to filming on location, the confidence in technical handling would give me more time to concentrate on the journalism side of the story. Convergence is all about bringing different platforms together, thus the more things you are good at, the better your work will be.
Secondly, my research skills helped me to add more content to some seemingly lifeless stories. For instance, with online news, I managed to get more facts and figures from various resources to give readers a wider picture. Researching could also lead to finding out new angles or new stories. For example, by looking through national news, I was able to pick up some potential stories that could be localised.
Thirdly, chasing people for quotes could be a rather frustrating task. I did try my best to make contact with as many relevant people as possible. However, the short time scale sometimes made it impossible to get enough or quality interview materials. Again, some researching could help here. For example, when doing a story on the Boscombe reef inspection by three universities, I tried to contact the relevant department/people from all the three.
On the other hand, I was not quite clear about the idea of convergence sometimes. This means I did not fully adopt the convergence “mindset” in order to produce news, but only to deliver it. There was a lack of co-operation between reporters working on different formats. For instance, when covering a story for online or radio, I did not think much about picture opportunities, and perhaps the same applied in other situations. This might have resulted in some rather disconnected presentation of work.
I sometimes relied on press releases to dig up stories, which could hamper the originality of news. Although sometimes, it was difficult in the time given to chase up people for original quotes or no one was available to comment, press releases should be used as starting points rather than main sources. However, sometimes press releases went uncovered by news agencies and in those cases, I made use of them, although with not much originality.
Another thing to point out is the fact that sometimes I did not communicate well with the editors or other members of the team. This might be the reason why I sometimes felt the lack of true convergence. Although I quite often took the initiative to find stories or story leads, I did not always catch up with team discussion or planning, which is why I sometimes missed out on some assistance from other members. Most of the time I managed to get my work checked and approved by the editor/sub-editor but on some occasions, due the shortage of time, I published stories without prior notice, which I needed to be careful about as to avoid editing them again and again.
Throughout the news days, I started to grasp the concept of convergence, which would help me adapt to the work of journalists in reality. My multi-media skills and knowledge were put into practice, which gave me a chance to both brush up and acquire new things. In order to get even a better grip on converged journalism, perhaps I should have shown more cooperation and communicated more with other team members in order to share resources or work together. For instance, I could have asked my editor to get reporters from other groups to work on a story together, which I only experienced once.
In addition, I also learned about time management, which is vital in a rushing work environment. Being able to prioritise some stories over others as well as keeping up with the news beforehand help a great deal in saving time. However, there were times when there was not much left to do due to the size of the team and everything had been covered. In reality, this might not happen as journalists are now doing almost everything from filming, interviewing to editing. Taking part in news days helped me try out different bits and put the pieces together.
The importance of originality was emphasised during the news days as well. To compete in the world of journalism, this is one of the most important things to remember. It was all about finding a new and interesting angle to lift a dull story, to find original stories where no one thinks there is one. Perhaps in the future I should have a notebook with a list of local places with a potential for original ideas, e.g. library, local shops etc.
I hope as I go along the course, there will be even more advanced technical knowledge to be learned so that my work can be truly multi-media. On the journalism side, I hope to keep up with the idea of convergence through co-operation and self-motivation. Preparing for possible news stories and contacts in advance will probably give me more time on the day to create an original piece of work.
I should also focus on the target audience’s needs and interests, in other words, make stories relevant to them. The more people can relate to a story or have some kind of opinion on it, the more they would want to know more through different media platforms, thus, convergence will serve its purpose.
Saturday, 10 April 2010
Friday, 21 August 2009
TIGER YEAR CELEBRATIONS IN HOPE TO RAISE AWARENESS
Bournemouth University students will be helping with the annual Chinese New Year celebration for the first time next Monday.
Bournemouth Chinese School, in Moordown, in the run-up to the event.
The aim is to promote cultural awareness in the community of Bournemouth, and also among the
children of the Bournemouth Chinese School.
The students have spent time creating flyers containing interesting information about the Chinese
culture, making decorations as well as spreading the words to other Bournemouth schools.
allowed us to work with a client of a different culture”
where there will be Chinese martial arts displays and arts exhibition. As this is the year of the tiger,
the tiger mascot created by the students, will be seen throughout the library.
He says: “We need more support because the event is getting bigger, and we want to make it more
popular for people to know about the Chinese culture.”
two weeks later, is also expected to attract more guests.
Friday, 10 April 2009
DO YOU NEED A FLAME TO WORK FOR FIRE?
The 24-year-old presenter at Fire Radio station, Bournemouth is known to colleagues as the ‘best person to wake up to on a Sunday morning’. But to Daniel Baker, radio isn’t everything.
"I LIKE TO THINK PEOPLE KNOW ME FOR WHAT I’VE DONE BUT I NEED SPACE FOR MY LIFE TOO."It is a rainy day that I meet Daniel. Somehow my message into the door answering machine sounded like a hoarse old man, so much so that I was left outside standing for a while. Luckily, the milkman came to my rescue. The door was finally opened and I got in, feeling a bit rough. Just then, a thin figure appeared from the stairs. That radiant smile immediately stole me away from the soggy moment.
Pleasantries indeed felt pleasant as Daniel's effusive welcome made it seem as though I was a special guest on one of his shows. Perhaps honing the skill of engaging with the audience while not being able to see anyone helps with real-life interactions. Just as my curiosity arose, the presenter began telling his "little self biography".Daniel started with a one-year course in agriculture in Dorchester. He thought he would do gardening media at the time; “Just like what you see in Autumn Watch!” – he remarked. Following two years of studying for a National Diploma in Performing Arts, Daniel’s career focus became clearer: radio presenting. Meanwhile, he built up his confidence in the voice training, which was deemed necessary for working in radio. The then student decided to progress on to the next level in performing arts at Winchester University only to drop out after just two days. “After two years of feeling secure, I stopped to wonder will that get me to radio?, and I didn’t like the course that much.”
“The idea of working in radio just occurred to me, probably from my passion for music”. Why didn’t Daniel choose to work in TV? Because it was “overly structured, you read what you’re given, just like a puppet; whereas with radio, you have much more freedom to be a person, to express yourself”. He beams with eagerness explaining how fun it could be – “You got to be creative with radio, and it’s exciting coz nobody can see you!” Sometimes he has to “choke on” his slips of tongue whilst on air. Once when doing impressions of people on a show, he got mixed up between John Major and Prince Charles. Embarrassed but having no direct reactions from the audience, he just had to move on.
Despite being someone who chooses tunes to be played, Daniel admits: “I have a cheesy choice of music,
and weird sometimes!” He likes a wide range, from pop, particularly Robbie Williams, to rock, Nickelback, from contemporary young band, McFly, to legendary group such as Queen. Daniel disclosed that James Morrison was his favourite star he’d ever got to meet as part of the job. “He was laid back, normal, just like anyone of us and so genuine”Daniel’s best achievement in his own opinion is how he progressed and worked up to where he is now. “It’s bloody hard to get into radio, but Daniel has shown great dedication, he’s tenacious, hard-working...and we’re lucky to have him”, said Claire – the programme controller and Head of Music for Fire radio station. Being famous was nowhere near his aim though. “I like to think people know me for what I’ve done but I need space for my life too”. He recalls little moments of joy when some close friends texted him to say how amazed they were to hear him on radio.
Daniel was born and bred in Boscombe, Bournemouth. He was brought up solely by his mum as their parents divorced when he was only 4. Yet the presenter stressed that he had a very happy childhood. His mum - who used to be a carer - was not only a parent, but a friend as well. “I still see my dad at weekends, it’s just not a conventional type of family but I’ve never been affected by it”. Daniel has been living with his partner in their flat for over a year, but they wish to buy their own house and settle down in the near future, ideally by the sea in Bournemouth.
“I don’t have a lot of friends but I do have a handful of close friends who I can spend good time with”. Daniel is the sort of person who doesn’t need smoking or drinking to socialise. He loves computers, technology, gadgets, especially his Playstation. In his free time, a comedy or action film
will do. Daniel would take notice and be concerned if one raised the eyebrow, or winced slightly. Dave - a colleague and also a friend for 3 years commented: “Daniel is always happy, kinda rare. He never moans; no bad words about anyone. He’s an ‘intaker’, a nice guy.” That might explain the warm, if not soft side of Daniel that one could see beyond his voice on radio.Now hosting a breakfast show every Sunday, Daniel isn’t stressed out but admits being lonely at times, especially during late night shifts or early mornings. At one time he used to have butterflies before a show, which he soon dealt with by some special methods “A cup of coffee, a bar of Mars would give you a high sugar and energy level”. He also found a way to take the worry off his mind, “I’d phone mum for some comfort”.
Daniel showed great enthusiasm for seeing the world, for exploring different ways of life, even the weather. “I’d love to emigrate to Australia or America; I still love Britain of course but not being trapped in a place.” Whatever the future lays out for him, it’s certain that he has clear priorities. “Mum and my partner always come first, then friends, then work”.
FILM REVIEW: THE CLASSIC (2003)
As the film title suggests, almost everything in this film is classic. It is classic in a way that many could utter: “Just another mawkish Korean film!” But also, it is the way Kwak Jae-yong, the director, put such elements together to create a splendid tale.
Ladies are likely to be dragged to the screen. The romantic scenes and the graphic elements are laid out like a perfect dream picture of love that one could possibly imagine. That is not to say, though, that one cannot learn from the humanity side, since the film touches upon war, separation, faith, sacrifice and reunion.
The Classic starts off by the present story of two students who both falls for a young talented man in their college. The way Ji-hae, the main character, looks at her love interest, Sang-min, dreamily while he directs his drama club takes us back to our old days. High school sweethearts and that sort of things. Ji-hae even helps at her best friend’s request by writing love letters to Sang-min. How could anyone be so kind? Classic, of a pure heart. No doubt we would expect something for her in return.
The film would be too mediocre if it wasn’t for the intriguing intertwining of the past and present. Ji-hae discovers love letters of her mum, Joo-hee, also played by the same actress. Viewers are captivated by the coincidental love life of the two generations.
Joo-hee fell in love with Joon-ha, who actually was helping his noble friend by writing love letters to her. Although there are some comic moments of silliness, the drama is heart-wrenching. Another classic is depicted through an incomplete love impeded by social classes. Devastated Joon-ha returned from war with blind eyes. The utmost act of sacrifice is classically moving. Joon-ha pretended to have been married so that his faithful Joo-hee would be able to marry someone else, in this case, his noble friend or Ji-hae’s dad. Only when Joon-ha passed away, leaving a son, did Joo-hee find out the hurtful truth. Not unrequited, only unblessed.
The Classic couldn’t end without a classic happy ending, only that this one is for the present. Perhaps the surprise factor is even more prominent. The circle of life is miraculously completed; Ji-Hae finds out that she is in love with the late Joon-ha’s son. The two best friends’ offsprings are reunited, within them a déjà-vu feeling of yesterday.
The cast couldn’t be any more excellent in delivering such emotional twists. Classics make a classic.
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