Knowing Your Audience

Journalism is all about publishing.
Publishing is all about knowing your audience.

Rate card is something all advertisers do to analyse newspapers to know where to put there adverts.

It will include answers to all kinds of vital questions;
How many people buy the newspaper?
Where do they live?
How much money do they earn?

Tesco is the company that is recognised to have the best rate card. it has the best database of who you are, what you buy and what you want. For instance, a person could go to Tesco and ask what do most 32 year old women want to buy in January and Tesco would have the answer. It is no coincidence that slimming items would be on sale just after Christmas when some women may have indulged a little too much in the Christmas pudding.

Although Tesco might have the leading rate card, Facebook have is absolutely gold dust - they know who you are, but they also know who are you trying to be. We often buy above our means - we want to portray ourselves as a little bit better than we are. Facebook can tap in to your aspirations. Google also knows about you - gmail, blogger, search engines - every search you've ever typed in, Google knows. It is important because it means people can sell crap to you, it knows exactly what you want.

Adverts define the audience of the publication - whether is a website, a television or a newspaper. I decided to grab a few newspapers and from the adverts, define who the audience is. Here's the results:

METRO - People looking for low-rate fixed mortgages and are on Tesco mobile. They've got Britain's best value TV box from TalkTalk and like to watch things like 2 Broke Girls and Grimm.

THE DAILY TORYGRAPH - Whoops, I mean Telegraph. These people like to wear their Rolex watches whilst flying to a Lloyds TSB to take out a business loan. They like to go to the theatre and watch musicals after giving about a fiver to charity through Vodafone to make them feel better about themselves after just paying for a skiing holiday in the Alps.

I - People with leather sofas from Harvey's that fancy having a weekend away to Holland for the low price of £22. They quite into technology and would happily spend £269.95 on headphones. A high chance they're into photography and quite possibly have a young child or children. They're looking for low-rate mortgages and a nice Picaso so their kids have room in the back.

DAILY MAIL - The audience is a mix between the people of i and the people of the Telegraph. It appears they're always looking for bargains, whether it's half price furniture or the price cut items from ASDA and Morrisons. They'll more than likely be wearing nice glasses and be wearing a nice suit after they've scrubbed up from painting their house.

None of the above is to be taken to literally, statistically, you're as likely to see a doctor with The Sun as you are to see him with the Telegraph.

Burberry Acoustic

Burberry Acoustic is a collaboration between the designer label and British artists, selected by Burberry's Chief Creative Officer, Christopher Bailey. Bailey has been with the company since 2001 and was promoted to CCO in 2009, yet has already been crediting for transforming the company's fortunes.

When people think of Burberry, let's be honest, the first thing most people think of is chavs. Keds. Townies. Whatever you want to call the. Tacky caps and cheap handbags.

Burberry Acoustic is an attempt to turn this image around.

Here's a little taste.

Surprising, isn't it?

"We have collaborated on so many projects with new and young emerging British bands over the years," Bailey says.

"We felt that with the great interaction that we have experienced with our social media Web site, artofthetrench.com, that we could collaborate with musicians and artists to put together an incredible group of ongoing acoustic sessions from some of the finest talent coming out of the UK and bring them to the broad global Burberry audience."

Burberry Acoustic have introduced relatively unknown and new stars such as Misty Miller, above, and Wolf Gang, below.

They have also worked with more famous bands such as Keane, below.

It is clear Burberry is trying to shake off this lower-class, cheap reputation and swap it for a more desirable, upper-class, 'Jack Wills-esque' label. Whether they will accomplish this or not, there are going to be some pretty songs along the way.

Interview content taken from main.stylelist.com

Why Aren't All Film Soundtracks This Amazing?

Films can be made so much better by an amazing soundtrack and often promote a song like it couldn't be promoted in any other way.

Five songs I've fallen in love with from films are as followed, in no particular order:

Anthony Hamilton - Do You Feel Me?

Taken from American Gangster, 2007

As soon as I heard this, literally, still during the film, I googled it and downloaded it. It's smooth, slow and funky. All you need to do is close your eyes and you can pretend you're in a blues soul club in the late 60s in America. Just. So. Good.

The Smiths - Asleep

Taken from The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, 2012

I'm gonna throw this out there, The Smiths are just simply brilliant. This song is incredibly depressing, as it is about suicide, but it fits in with the film so perfectly. It's something you can play on repeat for at least three times before you have to turn it off before you start crying. It's just so beautiful.

Stealers Wheel - Stuck In The Middle With You

Taken from Reservoir Dogs, 1992

For those of you that haven't seen Reservoir Dogs, you're tossers. Just kidding, you do need to see it though. Anyway, I digress, if you haven't seen Reservoir Dogs, this song is played whilst a crazy bastard named Mr Blonde is about to torture a hostage police officer. Grim, I know, yet the song adds such an unusual feeling to the scene and you don't really know how to feel. The song definitely sticks in your head after the film and for some odd reason... makes you wanna boogie?

Quindon Tarver - Everybody's Free

Taken from Romeo & Juliet, 1996

I first heard this song when I watched the film in an English class at school when I was 14. It plays when Romeo and Juliet are getting married and it just touches your heart when that little boy raises his head and starts singing in such an angelic voice... you know everything is going to be okay. Well, you think it is. It's not. They both die. But still...

The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter

Taken from The Departed, 2006

The Stones, just so legendary. Just seriously, what a band. Who doesn't love them? The song is played at the start of the film when ultimate boss, Jack Nicholson, walks on set and does his thing. It sets the tone for the film and you just know it's going to be an amazing film. You just can't not love this song. There is just no way.

A Day With Michael Palmer

With thanks to Michael Palmer, Robert Palmer and HIDEOUT.

Words and photographs, Bronte Dawson.

Social Action and Community Media

Social action media uses media as a creative tool to increase public knowledge and awareness and sets out to analyse current social issues and problems and bring to public attention. Essentially, it encourages people to action in response to what they have seen on heard. Community media provides a vital alternative to the profit-oriented agenda of corporate media. They are driven by social objectives rather than the private, profit motive. They empower people rather than treat them as passive consumers, and they nurture local knowledge rather than replace it with standard solutions. Ownership and control of community media is rooted in, and responsible to, the communities they serve and they are committed to human rights, social justice, the environment and sustainable approaches to development. Social action and community media is key to creating a strong, socially responsible civil society.

A great example of social action and community media on a global scale is the 15 minutes of social action broadcast journalism of Michael Buerk on the BBC 9pm news in 1984. The shocking images, such as people being touched on the head if they were to receive the much needed food and those rejected, looking to an inevitable and fast approaching death, watching those that have been chosen to receive food and shelter, combined with his evocative language, the broadcast showed the tragedy of biblical proportion.  This sparked a massive movement in charitable actions across the world, the nation’s opinion changed entirely and everybody came together as a community to help stop the poverty in Ethiopia. Straight after it was broadcast donations were flooding into existing charities and had an impact on a certain person, who would start something to change the world; this was Bob Geldof.

 He is the man behind Live Aid, which got so much food and necessities over to Ethiopia. It all started off with Geldof contacted some of the best known names in music such as George Michael, Bono and Bananarama to create a charity single where all the profits would go to helping the people of Ethiopia. This was the first record ever made that was free from any tax due to Bob Geldof publically standing up to Margaret Thatcher making all the headlines, even a studio was offered to them at no charge for 24 hours to create the record. The single went straight to No.1 in the charts and outsold every other song in the chart combined. It became the fasted selling track in the UK of all time, selling well over a million copies in the first week of its release. After the charity record was released, Geldof decided to set up Live Aid, organising concerts across the world. With the profits of Band Aid and Live Aid combined, approximately 283 million pounds was raised for the Ethiopian famine.

The impact was huge, following the release of the first Band Aid single in 1984, numerous records have been produced to support charitable causes, even another Band Aid single in 2004, all with a direct correlation to Bob Geldof. Together with the actions of Michael Buerk and Bob Geldof, the nation felt like a global community and united in a cause that was deep in everyone’s hearts.

An example of social action and community media on a smaller scale is an article written by Lord William Rees-Mogg in The Times in 1967, titled ‘Who Breaks a Butterfly on a Wheel’. The article was about the popular and controversial band of the time, The Rolling Stones. This was following the severe sentences they received after a minor drug bust at one of the band member’s homes. The Rolling Stones weren’t regarded as acceptable by established Britain due to their sexualised, animalistic music and it was clear the sentences were just to put the Stones away and get them out of the public’s eye rather than due to their actual crimes. With The Times being the ultimate establishment newspaper of Britain, when the article was produced, the nation read it and it changed their perception towards this one group of men. The article brought to the public’s attention that something as small and insignificant as the crime committed receiving such a heavy handed punishment is not acceptable. Shortly after the article was written, the sentences came to appeal and were reduced.

Although the most well-known examples of social action and community media are on a national or global scale, it also takes place in the local media regularly. An example from the past months in local media is the SWORD campaign, Save Weddington: Oppose the Residential Development.  The local newspapers have been backing the campaign and with the efforts of everyone combined managed to get the developmental plans to be refused for now. Not only did SWORD approach the local newspapers to represent them, but they also set up their own media to get the public involved. In SWORD’s statement, it is written “In a democracy it is the people of Nuneaton and Bedworth who should determine our future.” The battle against Hallams the developers is ongoing but with the continued efforts and support of the local press, the developers will have difficulty getting the plans to build on Weddington’s green land approved.

Not only can social action and community media evoke the public’s emotions in order for them to act out but it can also change the public’s perception on a certain issue. This has become quite apparent with the recent outrage of journalists hacking crime victims and celebrities’ voicemails, with the public becoming very aware of the liberties the mainstream press are taking with their civil rights and, quite rightly, uniting in their opposition to the invasions of privacy the press has been involved in.

The Guardian was the first newspaper to report that police had found evidence suggesting that the private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, was hired by News of the World to collect personal information about the family of the missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler, following her disappearance in March 2002, and the subsequent discovery of her murdered body six months later. This caused a public outcry and eventually there were more and more cases of phone hacking reported which lead to the shutdown of News of the World and bought more shame to the already despised name of Rupert Murdoch.

Arguably, propaganda has been around since the start of the printing press. From the Boxer Rebellion in China in the 1900s, to wanted posters in America in the late 1700s to Nazi propaganda in the 1940s, social action and community media is all over the world. Nazi propaganda is probably the most powerful social action media there has ever been. Through provocative posters, videos and speeches, the Nazis managed to get an entire nation to discriminate against Jews, blacks, gypsies and many other stereotypes of people, causing the death and torture of millions.

Social action and community media’s power and importance amongst society in modern day society is unfathomable. The impact it can have on society can change lives, whether on a local, national, or global scale or even completely change the public’s perception on a matter.

Defamation

"To be a journalist is to publish - that's what we do."

In publishing you have to aware of so many different laws & today I am going to write about one of three most important laws for a journalist to know inside and out - defamation.

Defamation is a false accusation of an offense or a malicious misrepresentation of someone's words or actions. Everyone has the right to their reputation, defamatory statements could take this from them.

Under the catergory of defmation is slander and libel; slander being defaming someone in a non-permanent form such as a spoken statement which isn't recorded, libel being defaming someone in a permanent form such as broadcasting a statement on a radio station, television or in a newspaper.

Libel requires:

• The statement is defamatory
• It has been 'published' to a third party i.e. a letter or comment on the internet
• That particular identified person has been defamed 

A defamatory statement is anything that causes any of the following:

• Exposes them to hatred, ridicule or contempt
• Causes them to be shunned or avoided
• Discredits them in their trade, business or profession
• Generally lowers them in the eyes of the right-thinking public 

If you get sued for libel. it has to the potential to destroy you and whoever you work for. You have the potential to kill that publication stone dead so it is vital you check everything you write or publish is 100% accurate.

If you libel someone, even if they're dead, you've broken the law - but hopefully you have a very good defence. Remember, being a student is not a defence. A student could say they have no money but the university would have to pay the fine on their behalf.

There are three main defences:

• Justification - the statement is not only believed to be true but is 100% fact. It may be necessary to have witnesses willing to stand in court.
• Fair comment - it's simply comment and not fact, however, it was honestly held with no malice. The Freedom of Speech Act gives journalists a lot of scope to say hurtful or controversial things as long as it is made clear that it is only COMMENT and not FACT. For example, "Thomas Jones is ugly" is presented as fact, even if it is opinion - "I think Thomas Jones is ugly" is comment as 'I think' is in it.
• Absolute privilege and qualified privilege - it's fair, accurate and contemporaneous. In certain cases, public interest demands that there should be complete freedom of speech without any risk of proceedings for defamation, even when statements are defamatory and turn out to be untrue. Absolute privilege is the complete answer and bar to any action of defamation. It doesn't matter whether the statement is true, untrue, malicious or not.

Freelance Travel Journalism; The Essential Guide

Imagine it now.

The constant stress of having to perform to your highest standard or risk going unnoticed or losing work, always worrying about where your next paycheque is coming from, having to chase up unpaid invoices, always working for new people in different environments, having no consistency and moving from place to place constantly. Every day would be a challenge.

Yet if the above issues stressed do not deter you, then deciding to work as a freelance travel journalist could be one of the best and most rewarding decisions of your life.

Getting Started

Before leaving the UK, it is wise to save up a considerable amount of money to fall back on whilst you’re in another country - plan for the worst but hope for the best.

As you start out, it is best to have a part-time job in the country you’re staying as security in case you can’t find work.  It is better to be prepared and work in a job you hate whilst you try to make it in the industry - sacrifices have to be made but if you stick at it, success is more likely.

Try and gain as much experience in the industry as possible, this is something editors will look for when employing a freelancer. Try and shadow a couple of journalists, get experience at your local newspaper, radio station or at television studios.

Another important thing is to ALWAYS write and ALWAYS read the news. Keep up to date with what's going on and do whatever you can to get your articles published. The more published the better.

As in most industries, it very much so about who you know. Before you leave, gain the vital contacts that will get you work abroad. Set up meetings in London with foreign editors and get your name known, remember - no contact is a bad contact.

Making A Living

When working in freelance, you will usually be self employed. It can also be on a fixed contract basis ranging from anything to a day or a year. This often increases your popularity with employers as freelancers have a greater flexibility and are responsible for their own tax, National Insurance and pension contributions.

There are hundreds of publications in the UK which would be interested in foreign news and features. On average, for a news story expect to get paid around £90-£160 for 700-1,000 words. However, features pay considerably more. Of the UK newspapers, The Independent and The Guardian are the most interested in foreign features.

Publications Interested In Travel News & Features

World  Politics Watch – interested in foreign policy and international affairs. 

Noticias Aliadas/Latin American Press – interested in social and development news from across Latin America. 

New Internationalist Magazine – interested in development and human rights issues. Slate - interested in foreign news.

Times Higher Education Supplement – interested in news of higher education in countries across the world.

The Guardian - interested in foreign features and news.

Most newspapers and magazines cover some form of foreign news, whether it be features or straight news. Research different publications and find out who you want to write for.

Pitching An Idea

You must remember that you can’t copyright an idea so when you’re pitching an idea to an editor, show them you’re the person most fitted to write the article.

Firstly, decide which publication you wish to sell your article to. Contact them and ask if you need to send the article up front, or send in a précis. You can sell the same idea to multiple publications but not the exact same article. 

Ensure copyright issues are discussed, the publisher can either buy the full rights of the article therefore allowing it to be published anywhere without having to pay the author again or partial rights can be sold where any reprint, other publication printing or in an international publication, the writer is due another payment.

Take great care and time writing pitches and make sure that you have already figured out the piece in your head. Do not expect an editor to sort out your muddy thoughts for you. 

  

So Why Is It The Best Job?

Freelance journalism has it downfalls as most jobs do, but the benefits may surpass any negative it may have.

You can be your on boss, you can write about what you want to write about, you have the freedom to travel around the world with hardly any commitments and nothing can hold you back.

If you have the drive and the passion, you can be a freelance travel journalist and it could be the best decision of your life.

Marketing and Public Relations

Marketing

mar-ket-ing

NOUN:

1. The action or business of promoting and selling products or services.

Public Relations

pub-lic re-la-tions

NOUN: 

1.The professional maintenance of a favourable public image by an organisation or a   famous person.

2. The state of the relationship between the public and a company or other organisation or a famous person.

All business, charities and organisations rely on a public relations team and a marketing team. Both public relations and marketing and incredibly important in gaining any form of success or decent reputation. They are what can make and break a company. The teams do all the work not necessarily seen in the public eye and are made to think thoroughly before any actions are made. I am now going to outline the functions of marketing and public relations and how and why that is carried out in organisations such as North Warwickshire and Hinckley College (NWHC). NWHC is a college with two campuses, one in Nuneaton which has courses such as Beauty Therapy, Mechanics and ICT. The other campus is in Hinckley which is an arts college, with courses such as Journalism, Music Performance and Dance. Although already a well-established organisation, it still relies heavily on PR and marketing, particularly during the current economic climate and the opening of the new Hinckley campus.

Marketing is the action or business or promoting and selling products or services. This is necessary for an organisation to do as without it there would be no profit and essentially, no one would know about it. There are different stages in which marketing teams operate. The first is the strategic planning stage, it is necessary to find out who the target audience is and then anticipating who wants it, in the words of Susanne Davies, marketing manager for NWHC, “you need to know what they want, before they want it.” The next thing to do is satisfy audience expectations whilst knowing the audiences likes and dislikes. Those in the marketing industry need to know how an audience want to use a product or service, when they want to use it, how they want to use it and so on. Marketing officers need to know everything about the audience and how to portray the service or product they’re providing and what format is wanted to the target audience.

There are several different ways that a marketing officer works including direct marketing, publications and websites, social media, recruitment events, annual reports, strategic plans and competitor analysis. Direct marketing involves text messages, e-mails and letters. This helps the market officer directly contact an audience which makes it more personal and can contain a lot of important and necessary information. It is also very rare these days that a person wouldn’t have access to an email account or doesn’t own a mobile phone so it is more cost effective and easier to contact people directly. Publications, websites and social media all come hand in hand. These are all ways of easily broadcasting a message whether it be about an event, a product or recruitment at once. They can also reach an audience that they wouldn’t normally target so it can bring in a wider range of attention. Recruitment events are also a useful way of reaching out to an audience for a marketing employee, it helps them use personal techniques so they can talk to an audience member one and one and really sell a product. Annual reports and strategic plans don’t go to an audience directly but helps a marketing team together to realize aims, targets and achievements which can bring a team together and help focus. This is similar to competitor analysis. In reviewing how competitors are doing and the way they’re reaching their audience and the feedback they’re getting helps a marketing team review on how the business or organisation they’re working for is doing and possible changes they can make to up the game and get better results than competitors, as it is always a marketers aim to have their organisation at the top of the industry and the best it can be.

Davies has been working for NWHC since 2008 and has had 10 years experience prior to working at the college which makes her more than competent of taking on the role of marketing manager. She studied a public relations and marketing degree and university and worked in the private sector before embarking on the management role at NWHC. Her marketing team consists of two marketing coordinators, a marketing assistant, a graphics designer, herself and the college looking to recruit a junior designer onto the team.

The team works effectively together using the afore mentioned techniques to promote the college. They hold around one college per month to keep the college fresh and relevant, keeping it in the public eye, and also hold recruitment days for young, prospective college students at local schools. As well as this, they control some aspects of the college prospectus which goes out to anyone interesting in studying with NWHC.

However, it’s not easy work. As hard as it is trying to recruit people to study at the college, they have to acknowledge competitors and keep advancing. Davies said “The market place is so competitive, last September 3 colleges opened on our patch so we have to be more aggressive with our approach.” She went on to say “Warwickshire College and Stevenson College are now operating on our patch and we have to respond to that.”

Competition with other colleges isn’t to only trouble that the marketing team faces, over the past year they’ve had to deal with the loss of EMA, transportation issues from campus to campus as well as a lack of resources. Speaking on behalf of the marketing team, Davis said “We don’t have an endless pot of money; in an ideal world we could have more resources.”

Current goals of the marketing team are; maximizing, strengthening recruitment through marketing campaigns and to support college growth geographically, evaluation of the college brand and launching a new brand, to improve the learner experience by celebrating success, creation of a new college website and a continuing goal, “to acknowledge that the learner is at the heart of everything we do”.

Marketing and public relations work hand in hand yet are two different disciplines.

Rowena Knight is head of public relations at North Warwickshire and Hinckley College and said “PR is about reputation” which accurately sums up her role, to maintain a positive and respected reputation for the college. The current PR industry is thriving, with the job rate hiring more than any management function of the last 15 years. The UK PR industry is the more developed in Europe and is growing faster than advertising. Rowena got on the job training and said “no two days are the same.” PR includes working with colleges and partner schools, planning a PR programme and gather knowledge about the sector and organisations.

Each year, there is an annual PR plan made which includes objectives, target audience, key messages, tactics, timings, budgets and evaluation. Although not necessarily seen, there is a lot of hard work that goes into PR. For the organisation, the PR has the responsibility to creates press releases, articles, features, case studies, letters, speeches and any online copy. Not only is it a significant amount of work to do, Knight also has to do it in strict keeping with what she’s told, to maintain the college reputation and make sure it is the establishments views and opinions in any work produced rather than her own.

Another important part of PR is media relations. A PR has to be proactive and reactive as well as developing and maintaining a good working environment and relationship with local press and business to network effectively.  Knight said “it is important to communicate with the media.” Whilst having to deal with work externally such as phone calls and press conferences she also has a lot of internal work that she has to deal with as well, such as meetings with the principal, staff briefings, award ceremonies and international visits and guest lecturers attending the college such as Ben de Lisi.

Marketing is all about promoting the college in new, original, exciting and creative ways yet marketing varies greatly in different industries as marketing techniques for a supermarket would involve entirely different techniques as to that of a college. PR, although obviously differing through different industries, remain the same with trying to keep a good reputation and reflecting the establishments or organisations opinion in a formal and very uniform style. Both are incredibly important for any business to have any form of success.

10,000 Views!

I hit the first milestone - 10,000 views!

Thank you to everyone ready my blog and commenting on posts - it really means a lot to me.

Journalists... What Sneaky Bastards!

This is the opinion of many people... but it's not necessarily the case. There are strict laws and regulations put in place to stop journalists being sneaky little bastards.

Printed journalism, i.e. newspapers and magazines is regulated by PCC, The Press Complaints Commission. This organisation was created by the industry to self regulated and raise journalistic standards by administering the Editors' Code of Practice.

Broadcast journalism, i.e. radio and television, is regulated by Ofcom, the Office of Communications. Ofcom is an independent regulator and deals with most complaints against broadcast journalists.

Both of these are in place so that the majority of journalists are well behaved and respectful.

You may be shocked by this - there are actually rules! The thing is, whilst most journalist adhere to the rules, you don't hear about it. Rupert Murdoch and his homies have given journalism a bad name with there unethical manner and quite frankly, disgusting behaviour. The industry has been shamed but there is hope, laws and regulations are in place and are strict.


PRINTED JOURNALISM

There is a slim line between having laws and maintaining the right of free speech and free will. There in no law in the UK on who can own or run a magazine, newspaper or website - they are free to have opinions on politics and public affairs. They are also free to criticise those in the news or anyone else - but not restraint from libel laws and other laws.

The Editors Code has 16 clauses setting out ethical standards on;

• Accuracy & opportunity for people to respond to inaccuracies
• Privacy
• Harassment
• Intrusion into grief and shock
• Excessive detail covering suicides
• The welfare of children subject to journalism
• Anonymity for victims of sexual assault & children in sex cases
• Crime reporting
• Making enquires at hospitals
• Secret filming and recording
• Using subterfuge or misrepresentation

The code also bans pejorative material which discriminates on the ground of gender, race, religion, disability or sexual orientation.

Although breaching the Editors' Code isn't a criminal offence or a civil tort, following it is a pretty wise idea for journalists that don't fancy ending up in court any time soon.

Certain exceptions may be made if the code is breached if it was 'in the public interest'. This includes detecting of exposing serious crime or impropriety, protecting the public health and safety and preventing the public being misled by an action or statement by an individual or an organisation, as well as other things. In order to do the above, a journalist may need to deceive people about being a journalist and by undercover reporting.

Now onto the subject that everyone has heard about, recording phone calls and phone hacking. Many journalists, particularly those involved in investigative journalism, may want to record their own phone calls whether it be an interview or if it is wanted for proof if the matter ever goes to court. It is legal in the UK for any one party in a phone call to record it, even if the other party is unaware. If a journalist in a phone call purposely misleads or lies about being a journalist breaches the code and could be in big trouble. Incepting a phone call - using external technology to hack into another's phone conversation or answering machine - in practically all circumstances would breach the code and most likely, the law.

The News Of The World was full of sneaky bastard journalists that thought it was super duper to hack into phone calls and messages - which not only shamed the industry but has made it likely for the PCC to be reformed or replaced after an official enquiry into press ethics.

BROADCAST JOURNALISM

In the UK commercial broadcasters - those funded by advertising revenue - are regulated in terms of ownership and journalistic output. Broadcast organisations and journalists must be impartial about politics when reporting news. They must be accurate, treat people fairly, respectful and try not to cause offence or harm. If any journalist or broadcast organisation does not adhere to the rules, OFCOM can impose a substantial fines.

CASE STUDY - Source: McNae's Essential Law For Journalists - Mark Hanna and Mike Dodd

The highest regulatory fine imposed for unethical broadcast journalism is £2 million paid by Central Independent Television, part of the ITV Network, after a 1998 Independent Television Commission ruling that scenes in The Connection - a documentary which claimed to show a new heroin smuggling route from Columbia to the UK - were fabricated. The ITC said it was a 'wholesale breach' of the trust viewers placed in the programme makers. The Connection had won awards before its authenticity was questioned in an investigation published by The Guardian newspaper, which led to the ITC's findings. (ITC press release and The Guardian, December 18, 1998).

Ofcom has various rules for broadcasters including;

• Not broadcasting material that may 'seriously impair the physical, mental or moral development of people under 18' before the 9pm watershed.
• Protecting children involved in programmes and taking due care over 'the physical and emotion welfare and dignity' of children who take part or are otherwise involved in programmes, irrespective of any consent they, their parents or guardians may give.
• Material likely to cause offence must be justified by context, and appropriate information should be broadcast where it would help avoid or minimise offence.
• Programmes should not include material which, taking into account the context, condones or glamorises violent, dangerous or seriously anti-social behaviour and is likely to encourage others to copy it.
• Broadcasters must take precautions to avoid harm to viewers who have photosensitive epilepsy.
• No payment or promise of payment, directly or indirectly, to 'convicted or confessed' criminals for a programme contribution by the criminal relating to his/her crime, unless doing so is in the public interest.
• No offering of payments to witnesses or anyone who may be reasonably expected to be called as a witness in active criminal cases.
• Views and beliefs of those belonging to a particular religion or religious denomination must not be subject to abusive treatment.
• News, in whatever form, must be reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality.
• Presenters and reporters of 'personal view' programmes may express their opinions and thoughts on a topical issue but must fairly present the other opinion/the other side of the story.
• Broadcasters must avoid unjust or unfair treatment of individuals or organisations in programmes.
• Secret filming and recording should not be used without those being recorded's consent unless it is in the public interest.
• The location of a person's home or family should not be disclosed without consent.

There are various other in depth codes of practise within Ofcom, all this can be read up on the Ofcom website.

You may think all journalists are sneaky bastard, and there certainly are some, but the industry as a whole is not corrupt and still has many laws and code in order to keep the quality of journalism high.

Chris Horrie on Court Reporting - The Basics

To the left is Chris Horrie's essential law of articles.

Basically, the more interesting a story is, the less likely it is to be true. There are plenty of stories that will be amazingly interesting - just not so true. Then you have the other side of the story, there is plently of stories that hold nothing but 100% truth - yet they're boring and no one wants to read them.

This is where court reporting helps us journo's out. Don't get me wrong, there are stories out there that are interesting and are true... but they can be hard to find. Court reporting however, is often interesting, and normally true.

Unfortunately, before you go to a court of law and start writing about everything you see, you need to know the law - what you can write, when you can write it, how you can write it and what you can include.

To start off, there are different divisions of law - the main two being criminal and civil.

Civil law -  disputes between individuals or organisations, for instance; divorce. In a civil matter, the defendant/respondent can not be sent to jail. However, if a person does not comply with the ruling at the end of a civil case, it could be classed as contempt of court which is a criminal matter. Civil matters can be tried in Magistrates courts, County courts or various tribunals. Tribunals are not courts, do not confuse them. In civil court, a claimant sues a defendant or respondent, who admits or denies liability, and is found either liable or not liable. If liable, the defendant will be ordered to pay damages.

Criminal law - an offence against a person and/or the community, for instance; murder. In a criminal matter, the defendant can be sent to jail, but it is not a certainty that he or she will be. Criminals matters always start in Magistrates court but can move to another court if deemed necessary. They can also be tried at Crown courts and a Supreme Court, but usually only after the case has been to Magistrates court. In criminal court, a defendant will be prosecuted, pleads guilty or not guilty and will be convicted or acquitted, and if convicted, fined or jailed.

With all this talk of courts, I thought I'd lay out which courts and for which cases.

• Magistrates court - civil and criminal.
• County court - civil.
• Crown court - criminal.
• High court - family, chancery, Queen's Bench (civil and criminal).
• Court of Appeal - civil division, criminal division.
• Supreme court - civil and criminal.

In any of these courts, if you comprise a case or do not adhere to the final ruling, you can be in contempt of court. This is a criminal offence and can be punished with a jail sentence. The greatest risk of the media committing contempt of court is publishing material that may prejudice a fair trial by influencing jurors to think badly of the defendant whilst the case is active.

A case is considered active when;

• a person is arrested,
• an arrest warrant is issued,
• a summons is issued or
• a person is charged orally.

When a case is active, you have to be incredibly careful about what you write, right down to the little details. If you are not experienced in court reporting, it is best to leave the writing to experts until the case is closed or you have gained enough experience.

There are different stages for a prosecution of a crime. The sequence is usually as follows:

1. Police suspect a crime has taken place, gather evidence and make an arrest.
2. Police can detain people for maximum of 24 hours, unless the case is related to terrorism, for which they can detain he or she for 92 days. The police may also apply for an extension of the 24 hours if necessary. After this process, the must make arrangements for court and the suspect may be released on bail if the police deem it appropriate. If the police think that suspect is a serious danger to society and will commit another crime if allowed bail, the police can hold them on remand.
3. The criminal trial will start at a Magistrates court. There is no jury at a Magistrates court, which means serious crime, (carrying a prison sentence of five years or more, for instance, murder), can not be judged there. The case will have to be sent for trial at a Crown court. There would be no evidence given, just proceedings. Minor crimes, (for instance, an unpaid parking ticket), can be tried at the Magistrates court. Three magistrates in the court can hear evidence, decide on the verdict and impose penalties. This can be appealed by the defendant to take to the Crown court. This is called summary justice.
4. Some crimes are considered "either way" offences. An either way offence is a case that can be tried before a Magistrates court or a Crown court. The accused can opt for a "jury trial" at the Crown court or opt for summary justice.

A case is considered closed when;

• the arrested person is released without charge - except on bail,
• no arrest was made within 12 months of the issue of an arrest warrant,
• the case is discontinued,
• the defendant is acquitted or sentenced,
• the defendant is found to be unfit to be tried, or unfit to plead, or the courts orders the charge to lie on file.

There is a defence for contempt of court which is as follows;

In the event of a publication being unaware that a case is active, there is a defence available. The defence applies if the person responsible for the publication, having taken all reasonable care, did not know and had no reason to suspect when the matter was published, that relevant proceedings were active.
The burden of proof in this instance is on the person being accused on contempt.

When a case is closed, you can write about it - as long as you're 100% certain everything you're writing is fact. For instance, if you're in court and the defendant says "I wasn't at the house that night.", you can take it as fact. What the defendant is saying may not be true but it is fact that the defendant said it. The media is allowed to print every word that is said in court.

Part II coming soon.

Reporting for Television

This is the essential guide for television reporting. The main thing you must remember is stories, 95% of the time, are about people. People ARE stories.

Firstly, it's important to know the terminology.
PACKAGE - a journalist's TV report.

PTC - piece to camera. Essentially, it's a reporter talking to a camera.

SOT - sound on tape.

GRAB/CLIP - interview sound of tape.

UPSOT - sound up on tape.

OOV - out of vision.
ULAY - an underlay.

NATSOT - natural sound on tape.

VO - voice over.

TALKING HEAD - an interview.

GV - general view.

CUT AWAY - covering shots - useful for editing or change of scene.

SOQ - standard out cue - cut off.

So now you know the basic terms and their definitions - here's the essentials of what you have to do to make a good piece.

ON ASSIGNMENT:

• First and foremost, do your research. Know where you are going, why you are going there, who you're going to see, why that person or place is important, who will be your target audience - cover all grounds.
• Know your library. It's good to know what resources you'll be able to use so you can prepare properly for your package.
• Check your equipment. This may sound basic, and it is, but it is vital you do this. There would be nothing worse than getting the chance to have the perfect interview and not having a tape to record it on, or a book to write it down.
• Get permission. It is legal for you to film in public as long as you're not being a nuisance or identifying children. Just check before you go to a location that you have full rights to be there.
• Know where you're going and be punctual. It is better to be an hour early than a minute late. It is vital if at a press conference or any important meeting you get the best seats in order to get the best quality film.
• Start shooting as soon as you can. Moments don't wait until you're ready, you want to make sure you don't miss any.

FILMING:

• Shoot in sequences. Be in control and try and get all the shots you need, using variation and thinking about actuality and shots for cutaways.
• Use different size shots. Keep the filming interesting. However, be careful not to zoom in and out to much because that's not what happens in real life with your own eyes - keep it realistic. 
• Shoot longer and more than you usually would. This is vital for editing. Cutaways can be used to cover edited moments and if you film a few seconds before and after every important shot it will give you more lenience during the editing process. Remember, too much is better than too little.
• Maintain continuity. Remember the specifics of shots so that you won't have five second with a man with a gun in his left hand, then change shot and it's in his right side.
• Shoot cutaways. It is vital to use them to cover up any possible jump cuts to make the piece smoother.
• Shoot in thirds. This is very important for decent shots. Imagine your shot has a grid of 9 squares, all equal sizes. Use it to guide your shots, for equal proportions and professional shots.

PTC:

• Don't start with PTC. That's just simple - try to be more inventive. If you want your piece to stand out from the others, try and shake it up a bit.
• Place yourself in the action. It's not going to add anything to the piece if you're sat at home talking about a riot in another city.
• Use movement. Don't just sit or stand there - walk and talk. However, make sure you start walking before you talk, otherwise it will look unnatural.
• Only do PTC if it adds something to the piece. People won't want to hear you talk if it doesn't make the piece any better. Don't try and drag it out, get the best information in. If you don't manage to fit your face in, well, that's just too bad.

INTVERVIEWS:

• Get cut aways. By now, we all know the importance of that.
• Get an intro shot for your interviewee. Introduce your interviewee with images somehow. It doesn't need to be amazing or in-depth, just something simple. For instance, if you are shooting a story about a man who was ran over by a car and lost his legs, film him getting out of bed and into his wheelchair.

COMING HOME:

• Start writing your story. Everything will be fresh as soon as you're coming home. Write down the idea of the construction of what you want.
• Check pictures. Make sure they're out of the library and on database.
• Organise graphics. Use graphics to explain facts and statistics.
• Report back to the news editor. It helps to keep in touch and if anything needs altering or changing it'll solve possible problems from arising.

WRITING YOUR INTRODUCTION:

• Introduce your piece before everything else. People need to know what your piece is about in a short, sharp way to know if they're interested or not. It is, however, important to ensure you're first line/s of your introduction aren't the same as the link.
• Remember the five W's - and the occasional H. Who, what, when, where, why and how. You need to fit this vital information into the first part of your piece, then you can expand.
• Never repeat yourself. Ensure you don't go over information in your main piece if you've already said it in your introduction.

WRITING YOUR STORY:

• Use present tense if possible. Keeping it up-to-date and now will maintain people's interest.
• Keep stories fresh. In an ever changing world, people want to know what is going on right now - they don't want to be told the same thing in the same way over and over again.
• One idea per sentence. Don't go on and on, say what you have to say and move on.
• Use plain English. Most people understand plain English - stay with simple.
• Use simple numbers. Saying two thirds is much better than 66.6%, it's just keeping it easily understandable.
• Use graphics to explain numbers. It makes it clearer for the audience to understand and it makes it more interesting - rather than just watching someone talk.

PACKAGING:

• Start with your best pictures. The first few seconds are vital for capturing the audience's attention. Reel them in with your best work.
• Don't name your interviewee. Just use a caption at the bottom of the frame, it's just keeping it short and sweet.
• Limit grabs to 20 seconds maximum. For instance, three vox pops. Once again, it's about maintaining the audience's attention by keeping everything fresh.
• End with something that has significant meaning. Don't end with a question, that's just typical. You want something that will be memorable and will make the audience want to tune in again.
• Don't end on an interview. That's the lazy way of signing out - it just doesn't work.
• Use natural sound. It makes the entire piece seem more real and natural.
• Don't describe the picture. Only use words to compliment a picture instead of describing it.

That is the basic guide for creating your television piece - follow the simple rules and with practise, you'll be able to make a decent piece.