''The media’s the most powerful entity on Earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s the power. Because they control the minds of masses.''
-Malcolm X
My fifth week at The Bulletin proved to be an interesting one. I began my day by editing my feature and Careerone profile I had been working on. Linda then read through my feature article offering improvements and advice about how to properly structure a feature article. I learnt some valuable tips. I also had the feeling that feature writing was not as simple as it first appeared to me. It has a specific structure and must produce a more conversational flow compared to hard news. I think this is where I have the most trouble, the conversational flow. I blame it on my little time spent writing features and that I spend most of my week in uni world which is spent writing in an essay style. The day was mostly a learning curve for me by trying to take in the knowledge of Linda and a fellow journalist who were giving me pointers on my articles.
By lunchtime I was informed that I would be writing two news stories. At this stage I wasn’t sure how to prepare myself as I recalled the last day I did two news stories it had been quite a whirlwind. After meeting with Chief of Staff in the newsroom Leonie Johnson I was assured that I would not be going out with any photographers. This was due to the fact that one photograph had been taken and the other had yet to be booked.
After to speaking to the two sources for my first story about a new Anzac memorial, I started writing the article. I realised that I had very little quotes and I found this a tad difficult when I was trying to write the story. At this stage I thought of how much easier it would be if I had learnt Shorthand which I am determined to do. Next I had to organise a photo for my second story about Safehome inspections. I have faced this problem before- no answer. But this was different. As I checked the Photo Diary I saw there were only two spots left for the day. I was in a panic I needed to book a photo straight away.
The fire departments did not answer apart from one that declined the photo due to training commitments. This station offered me another contact. I contacted this source with the offer that they would ‘get back’ to me. It had been over an hour. I could not stop thinking that I was going to be in trouble for having a story with no photo. Eventually a representative from the fire association, told me the photo, could be taken at my preferred fire station. I was surprised to say the least. It took over three phone calls including regional representatives just to get one local photo. I once again learnt my lesson of the importance of booking a photo as soon as possible.
Thankfully I had two stories completed with two photos. It seems the trouble of contacting people does not get easier. But I have to say one of my highlights was hearing my editor’s phone call to a local MP which proved to be interesting and exhausting as she expressed her frustration of talking to them, mainly her listening and the MP talking. This was something that I was not looking forward to doing in the future.
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