Television has a real problem. They have no page two. Consequently every big story gets the same play and comes across to the viewer as a really big, scary one.
-Arch Buchwald, 1969
I was lucky to arrive a little earlier than usual as I was sent off to two jobs before 9am. One of the jobs was out to the Cowboys as they had helped fund a trip for a family with sick children. I was told to interview the mother but as obvious as it sounds it was a lot harder to interview the mother as she was chasing after her children. I did get to talk to her for about 10 mins but I found it hard to word my questions as I did not want to offend her.
The next job was at the Palliative care as they were having a morning tea to start the Palliative care awareness week. The photographer and I were running a bit late so I called the contact to inform her and I asked if we could try and arrange the photo before we got there. But she said it would be impossible to get a patient in the photo. After I had finished the call I conversed with the photographer and he told me to call the PR officer to try another route for the photograph. She also said there was not much they could do about it. So we had to change the whole angle of the story as more of a promotional angle instead of a story of a patient.
Once I was back in the office I received two phone calls from the mother from the Cowboys story. I was a bit worried as to why she would be contacting me. But luckily she just thought we should talk a little more as the morning was a tad rushed she also wanted to mention some people that helped her. She asked me to put them in the article and I did but not promising that they would stay in there. As we all know only the chopping block anything can get cut.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Names, names, names
Most magazines have become wallpaper, they're all the same, all the same celebrities. It's really an abysmal time in American journalism right now. But occasionally one story or two will pop out.
-David Talbot
Today was a busy day I had my first job at 9.30 which I went to with a photographer. It was a picyarn about quilts. When it came time for the photograph everyone wanted to be in it, which was fine. But later the photographer was telling me how usually there shouldn’t be more than eight people in a photo. I thought this was a good point to make because there is not much room in a newspaper so the less people in the photograph the better it will turn out.
She also told me that I should start bringing my own camera, because you never know when you might be able to grab a shot of an interesting subject. She also said that it would be helpful to keep in mind the type of photograph that would accompany the article. Whether it should be a group shot, where it should be taken and who should be in the shot. Most times the people in the photo are the ones who have spoken in the article which seems pretty obvious. As the journalist we can assist the photographer with ideas and how the shot would be more effective.
Once I was back at the office I was given another story about a local high school who was receiving a special accreditation. I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t get the press release. But before going out with the photographer I did a little research of my own by looking up the award on Google©. I was lucky enough to find a website although it was quite basic. This just made me think about how important it is to not rely on press releases. If you can do your own research and gather some information, it is better than knowing nothing at all.
The article I had trouble with today was a fundraiser. I wrote the article and thought I did a decent job only to be told to re-write it. I had to relate the theme of the fundraiser back to the sporting club. So I had another go adding a bit more colour which was something I was definitely lacking at the end of the day. My last interview of the day was a phone interview with a TAFE student. Having interviewed a student before I know how shy they can be. So this time I was not going to make a mistake by not grabbing decent quotes. I wrote some open questions and tried to listen to what the student was saying so I could get ideas for questions from her answers.
-David Talbot
Today was a busy day I had my first job at 9.30 which I went to with a photographer. It was a picyarn about quilts. When it came time for the photograph everyone wanted to be in it, which was fine. But later the photographer was telling me how usually there shouldn’t be more than eight people in a photo. I thought this was a good point to make because there is not much room in a newspaper so the less people in the photograph the better it will turn out.
She also told me that I should start bringing my own camera, because you never know when you might be able to grab a shot of an interesting subject. She also said that it would be helpful to keep in mind the type of photograph that would accompany the article. Whether it should be a group shot, where it should be taken and who should be in the shot. Most times the people in the photo are the ones who have spoken in the article which seems pretty obvious. As the journalist we can assist the photographer with ideas and how the shot would be more effective.
Once I was back at the office I was given another story about a local high school who was receiving a special accreditation. I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t get the press release. But before going out with the photographer I did a little research of my own by looking up the award on Google©. I was lucky enough to find a website although it was quite basic. This just made me think about how important it is to not rely on press releases. If you can do your own research and gather some information, it is better than knowing nothing at all.
The article I had trouble with today was a fundraiser. I wrote the article and thought I did a decent job only to be told to re-write it. I had to relate the theme of the fundraiser back to the sporting club. So I had another go adding a bit more colour which was something I was definitely lacking at the end of the day. My last interview of the day was a phone interview with a TAFE student. Having interviewed a student before I know how shy they can be. So this time I was not going to make a mistake by not grabbing decent quotes. I wrote some open questions and tried to listen to what the student was saying so I could get ideas for questions from her answers.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
In the real world, nothing happens at the right place at the right time. It is the job of journalists and historians to correct that.
-Mark Twain
Today was my eighth week at The Bulletin and I felt I was finally feeling comfortable in these hectic surroundings. Fridays are considered as ‘slower’ news days so for me to have my internship day fall on a Friday can be inconvenient. But luckily for me there will always be picyarns that need to be written.
My first job was out with a photographer to interview a local hairdressing salon about some awards they had done. After booking in the photo I did a little background research and then it was out to the salon for an interview and photo. I had already written my questions but I found that it is really important to have the five basic who, what, where, when and how questions before talking to the subject. So then you can ask other questions from their answers. I asked all the questions I wanted to and the hairdresser was very helpful. When I got back to the office I wrote up my story. I thought that this may be my only story on the day- it wasn’t.
The next story I had to chase up was about a school Mother’s Day pampering session they were doing. I didn’t get to go out with the photographer so I rang the contact while the photographer was there. He couldn’t speak to me and said he would call me back later so I asked if I could speak to the mother in the shot. I did and I asked her a question, which she didn’t seem to understand. She came across as a bit rude and I was trying to think of how I could re word the question. So I did and eventually she became more open and I got a few good quotes. The first contact said he would ring within a half hour but didn’t so after an hour and a half I called him back. He was a great source to talk to though he spoke quite fast which only let me think of how easier it would have been with shorthand…
My third story for the day was to re-write a media release. It wasn’t about anything too interesting but it had a lot of information which made it a bit easier. I learnt that this was something that I did not enjoy- rewriting something that had in a sense been already written. So I continued on and wrote it hoping that the one I had written didn’t sound too much like a press release. Overall today was a quiet day and by 3pm I was tired and ready to crawl into bed. Today I learnt I could work on my question writing skills and maybe phone manner having been at the company for awhile I feel I am learning a lot and how it helps to have someone who is willing to help you.
-Mark Twain
Today was my eighth week at The Bulletin and I felt I was finally feeling comfortable in these hectic surroundings. Fridays are considered as ‘slower’ news days so for me to have my internship day fall on a Friday can be inconvenient. But luckily for me there will always be picyarns that need to be written.
My first job was out with a photographer to interview a local hairdressing salon about some awards they had done. After booking in the photo I did a little background research and then it was out to the salon for an interview and photo. I had already written my questions but I found that it is really important to have the five basic who, what, where, when and how questions before talking to the subject. So then you can ask other questions from their answers. I asked all the questions I wanted to and the hairdresser was very helpful. When I got back to the office I wrote up my story. I thought that this may be my only story on the day- it wasn’t.
The next story I had to chase up was about a school Mother’s Day pampering session they were doing. I didn’t get to go out with the photographer so I rang the contact while the photographer was there. He couldn’t speak to me and said he would call me back later so I asked if I could speak to the mother in the shot. I did and I asked her a question, which she didn’t seem to understand. She came across as a bit rude and I was trying to think of how I could re word the question. So I did and eventually she became more open and I got a few good quotes. The first contact said he would ring within a half hour but didn’t so after an hour and a half I called him back. He was a great source to talk to though he spoke quite fast which only let me think of how easier it would have been with shorthand…
My third story for the day was to re-write a media release. It wasn’t about anything too interesting but it had a lot of information which made it a bit easier. I learnt that this was something that I did not enjoy- rewriting something that had in a sense been already written. So I continued on and wrote it hoping that the one I had written didn’t sound too much like a press release. Overall today was a quiet day and by 3pm I was tired and ready to crawl into bed. Today I learnt I could work on my question writing skills and maybe phone manner having been at the company for awhile I feel I am learning a lot and how it helps to have someone who is willing to help you.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Lessons Learned
''The news media are for the most part, the bringers of bad news…and it’s not entirely the media’s fault. Bad news gets higher ratings and sells more papers than good news.''
-Peter McWilliams
As I strolled into the ad features department at 9am I was advised I would be in the newsroom today. I wasn’t sure how to react so I said okay before heading into the news department. After having a browse through Friday’s Bulletin and a few of the other papers, I was summoned. Lendl told me of one story I had to cover about a charity walk as well as a jetty upgrade and a quirky feature on street names.
I was off, but with what? I was not going out report today so I felt I was left with very little information about my stories. I had one media release about the charity walk which was little help so I contacted a few sources. For my jetty story I had nothing! I was told to look up previous stories and gather information from them. So I tried my hardest to write the jetty story from about three or four articles all which were not overly informative. I tried contacting the island’s mayor and council with no reply at all, I kept trying all day. To my disappointment I had no source in my article which I knew meant it kind of fell to the bottom of the importance list.
My street story was just as bad Lendl told me it had to be quirky but when I called a councillor he was in a meeting and the other councillor did not even answer. I rang the city council and got the media department and after explaining to them what I was doing I got an ‘I’ll call you back’. So I was left with two complete stories at 2pm while waiting for contacts to get back to me for my third story as I felt I had reached my limit on decent sources to talk to.
Another I noticed early on in the morning was a few of the journalist’s who received complaints about articles. While not trying to be nosy I did hear how someone was complaining about a photo of their shop appearing in the paper and another complaint about the content of an article. This scared me in a way that someone could complain about what you had written and how there really was no solution. But I guess this is something I may have to deal with eventually- I will not be looking forward to it. A lesson learned- be confident in your stories, check spelling and if you have doubts talk to your editor.
-Peter McWilliams
As I strolled into the ad features department at 9am I was advised I would be in the newsroom today. I wasn’t sure how to react so I said okay before heading into the news department. After having a browse through Friday’s Bulletin and a few of the other papers, I was summoned. Lendl told me of one story I had to cover about a charity walk as well as a jetty upgrade and a quirky feature on street names.
I was off, but with what? I was not going out report today so I felt I was left with very little information about my stories. I had one media release about the charity walk which was little help so I contacted a few sources. For my jetty story I had nothing! I was told to look up previous stories and gather information from them. So I tried my hardest to write the jetty story from about three or four articles all which were not overly informative. I tried contacting the island’s mayor and council with no reply at all, I kept trying all day. To my disappointment I had no source in my article which I knew meant it kind of fell to the bottom of the importance list.
My street story was just as bad Lendl told me it had to be quirky but when I called a councillor he was in a meeting and the other councillor did not even answer. I rang the city council and got the media department and after explaining to them what I was doing I got an ‘I’ll call you back’. So I was left with two complete stories at 2pm while waiting for contacts to get back to me for my third story as I felt I had reached my limit on decent sources to talk to.
Another I noticed early on in the morning was a few of the journalist’s who received complaints about articles. While not trying to be nosy I did hear how someone was complaining about a photo of their shop appearing in the paper and another complaint about the content of an article. This scared me in a way that someone could complain about what you had written and how there really was no solution. But I guess this is something I may have to deal with eventually- I will not be looking forward to it. A lesson learned- be confident in your stories, check spelling and if you have doubts talk to your editor.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
From here, there and everywhere
There are only two forces that can carry light to all the corners of the globe... the sun in the heavens and the Associated Press down here.
-Mark Twain (1835-1910)
It was another busy day in the office as I started my day as news reporter. I was informed that I would be writing mostly news stories today. I was comfortable with this as I had already experienced writing news stories. To most people the number three does not seem like much. But when you are expected to write three 200 word stories- it is. After completing a career profile I was give two media releases. One was about Napoleon Perdis’s visit to the town and the other about the new umbrellas on Flinders Street. So I began looking for as much information as I could from the releases. It turned out that I could write a whole story from the Napoleon Perdis media release but not from the umbrella release.
I had an interview lined up at 12.30pm to meet with a source for the umbrella story. I double checked the photo diary to make sure I had the time correct. A photographer and I drove to Flinders St to capture some shots and talk to my source. After waiting for over half an hour we decided the source was going to be a no show. Which I thought may have been my fault as I could have misread the photo diary. But when I got back I checked and I hadn’t made the mistake. But I still had one major problem no story!
I contacted the media number I had and told them no one had turned up. They then said that someone had gone there earlier but the chief of staff assured me that we had rescheduled an appointment. All I wanted was someone to contact me back. Having previously had little luck with the council I didn’t have high hopes. Within an hour I had a councillor call me back to answer my questions. I had both on record and off record answers. As I continued to ask my questions I couldn’t help but feel his answers were scripted. I guess that is what you get when you interview a councillor.
My next story seemed to be quite a boring one. But I headed out with a photographer where we learned the importance of directions. As we were told we weren’t allowed to park on the grass, which was near where the interview and photo shoot was going to be. I thought I would be conducting my interview with the source that was there but it turned out he was not even aware we were coming. So I got a few quotes from him and then had to contact another source for the rest of the quotes.
Today was a busy one! Along the way I learnt many lessons and I have realised the importance of feedback and taking note of the little things in my articles. If these simple things were fixed it would may my editor’s job a whole lot easier. But I think it is the trouble with learning a new writing style, which is turning out to be a lot harder than I expected.
-Mark Twain (1835-1910)
It was another busy day in the office as I started my day as news reporter. I was informed that I would be writing mostly news stories today. I was comfortable with this as I had already experienced writing news stories. To most people the number three does not seem like much. But when you are expected to write three 200 word stories- it is. After completing a career profile I was give two media releases. One was about Napoleon Perdis’s visit to the town and the other about the new umbrellas on Flinders Street. So I began looking for as much information as I could from the releases. It turned out that I could write a whole story from the Napoleon Perdis media release but not from the umbrella release.
I had an interview lined up at 12.30pm to meet with a source for the umbrella story. I double checked the photo diary to make sure I had the time correct. A photographer and I drove to Flinders St to capture some shots and talk to my source. After waiting for over half an hour we decided the source was going to be a no show. Which I thought may have been my fault as I could have misread the photo diary. But when I got back I checked and I hadn’t made the mistake. But I still had one major problem no story!
I contacted the media number I had and told them no one had turned up. They then said that someone had gone there earlier but the chief of staff assured me that we had rescheduled an appointment. All I wanted was someone to contact me back. Having previously had little luck with the council I didn’t have high hopes. Within an hour I had a councillor call me back to answer my questions. I had both on record and off record answers. As I continued to ask my questions I couldn’t help but feel his answers were scripted. I guess that is what you get when you interview a councillor.
My next story seemed to be quite a boring one. But I headed out with a photographer where we learned the importance of directions. As we were told we weren’t allowed to park on the grass, which was near where the interview and photo shoot was going to be. I thought I would be conducting my interview with the source that was there but it turned out he was not even aware we were coming. So I got a few quotes from him and then had to contact another source for the rest of the quotes.
Today was a busy one! Along the way I learnt many lessons and I have realised the importance of feedback and taking note of the little things in my articles. If these simple things were fixed it would may my editor’s job a whole lot easier. But I think it is the trouble with learning a new writing style, which is turning out to be a lot harder than I expected.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Expect the Unexpected...
''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.
-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.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
The pitfall
Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light.
-Joseph Pulitzer
It was one of those days. I just did not feel like going to my internship today. I think it was the looming problem of what I was actually going to achieve since Linda was going to be away. It's not as if I can't be productive without her there but it just made me feel a tad uneasy.
I knew I had hardly any work that I could complete. Back to the age old problem of people not returning the calls and e-mails I had previously sent them. I struggled through the day searching for subjects to write about. I was lucky enough to receive an e-mail from one person which let me complete a CareerOne story. I edited another previous story of mine and then everything came to a halt.
I felt I had nothing left to do for the rest of the day. My contact for my feature had not confirmed a date to meet for an interview and my other CareerOne profiles had not contacted me. So I decided to start work on my feature gathering some background information and writing from some personal experience. The feature is about dance so I thought I could start filling in some gaps with my thoughts and why dancers had such a passion for it.
Another problem I faced was one of my stories being cut. Due to the deadline Linda had to give my story to another journalist. I did feel a bit disappointed not so much that I wasn't writing it but more that it would be one less story for my profile. As I have a feeling my grade for the internship will depend somewhat on how many stories I have written and had published.
I have learned the features can be a difficult department to work in. Not only is it hard because I am only there once a week but also because of the type of articles that are written. The deadlines are longer which means we have more time write the stories, but this is a long winded process.
I can't help thinking back to my day of filling in for a missing journo in the newsroom. Although it was a busy day. I felt the way of writing was a lot more proficient. The interview and photograph was set all I had to do was go out and collect some quotes along with reading the media release.
Nothing can compare to having your articles published in your local newspaper and I am happy that I have seen my name in Saturday's Bulletin a few times nothing. There is a great pleasure in seeing your own byline, something I think I could never get sick of.
-Joseph Pulitzer
It was one of those days. I just did not feel like going to my internship today. I think it was the looming problem of what I was actually going to achieve since Linda was going to be away. It's not as if I can't be productive without her there but it just made me feel a tad uneasy.
I knew I had hardly any work that I could complete. Back to the age old problem of people not returning the calls and e-mails I had previously sent them. I struggled through the day searching for subjects to write about. I was lucky enough to receive an e-mail from one person which let me complete a CareerOne story. I edited another previous story of mine and then everything came to a halt.
I felt I had nothing left to do for the rest of the day. My contact for my feature had not confirmed a date to meet for an interview and my other CareerOne profiles had not contacted me. So I decided to start work on my feature gathering some background information and writing from some personal experience. The feature is about dance so I thought I could start filling in some gaps with my thoughts and why dancers had such a passion for it.
Another problem I faced was one of my stories being cut. Due to the deadline Linda had to give my story to another journalist. I did feel a bit disappointed not so much that I wasn't writing it but more that it would be one less story for my profile. As I have a feeling my grade for the internship will depend somewhat on how many stories I have written and had published.
I have learned the features can be a difficult department to work in. Not only is it hard because I am only there once a week but also because of the type of articles that are written. The deadlines are longer which means we have more time write the stories, but this is a long winded process.
I can't help thinking back to my day of filling in for a missing journo in the newsroom. Although it was a busy day. I felt the way of writing was a lot more proficient. The interview and photograph was set all I had to do was go out and collect some quotes along with reading the media release.
Nothing can compare to having your articles published in your local newspaper and I am happy that I have seen my name in Saturday's Bulletin a few times nothing. There is a great pleasure in seeing your own byline, something I think I could never get sick of.
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