A camera, a mic and a modem

*Clowns R Us?

2006-11-23T14:07:00.000Z

I’m thinking of becoming a clown instead of a journalist. Yes, you did hear me correctly!

Why? Because journalists are expected to be able to juggle so many balls these days including:
1) Old school journalistic writing
2) Web design
3) Filming with cameras and video phones
4) Increase user generated content contributions but be able to spot fake photos and stories.

I’m sure the best clown in the circus couldn’t juggle all of these. But, amazingly, have to manage them. Good old multi-tasking huh?

I felt I could relate to the online speaker today. Sarah Radford was a diploma student here at Cardiff. She’s a young woman at the beginning of her career but with a passion to be a journalist. It was an opportunity to see where we could be this time next year. Sarah Radford is an online journalist with ‘Newbury Today’ – the online website of Newbury Weekly News. The website, which was launched in May 2005, won the Newspaper Society’s Best Weekly Newspaper Internet Site last month.

So, even though she studied the newspaper diploma option, Sarah Radford is an online journalist. Due to major technological developments, broadcast students are expected to write online news stories and newspaper students are expected to carry a camera around with them to record video clips for the web.

So are newspaper journalists stealing our jobs? I don’t think so. It just means that all journalists must now integrate and work together to bring news of the highest standard.

Mummy knows best!

2006-11-23T10:18:00.000Z

It’s official. The web is becoming more accessible.

Only a few hours after I published my post about my online feature, somebody else interested in the '.cym' campaign left me a comment, gave me some suggestions and referred me to another relevant blog. People from all over the world can discuss current issues with each other via the web. Online networking is the ‘in thing’.

I'll be using the web to its full potential in my feature. Like I’ve done on this blog, I'll use links to refer to online debates and discussions. This is an online feature about an online issue. I’ll also be investigating and getting information from the web. Ironic or what? That's not to say that I'll rely entirely on the web. I’ve contacted those behind the campaign and I'll be interviewing them tomorrow. I'll be asking the public on the streets what they think of the campaign and if they think it'll really make a difference to their identity.

At the end of the day, you can’t rely entirely on the web for information – especially for accurate information. You still need to do the old fashioned way of investigating. As my Mum says all the time – “It’s so sad these days. People never talk to each other in person like they did when I was younger.” Bohoo! But she has a point. The web is great but we mustn’t become too engrossed. Mum would be glad to know that she at least had some influence over me!

My online feature

2006-11-17T14:07:00.000Z

It’s a very exciting time for Wales online. On Friday, BBC online ran a story about the increasing possibility that people will soon be able, instead of using '.co.uk' or '.com', to use a domain which celebrates our identity as Welsh people. A campaign has been set up to get '.cym' accepted as a domain for websites with a Welsh interest. For those of you who don't know, 'Wales' in Welsh is 'Cymru' hence the '.cym' - it's therefore not in any way rude (don't tell me that you didn’t consider that!).

To date, 5003 people have signed the petition. Liberal Democrat AM Peter Black strongly supports the campaign on his blog.

I feel a domain is a brilliant way of celebrating various identities, cultures and nationalities. The web is such an exciting field that is constantly changing and developing. A unique national domain would mean that Wales would be keeping up with these current developments - instead of living in the nineteenth century.

Of course, Wales will not be the first country to adopt a national domain. In January Catalonia succeeded in getting '.cat' at the end of website addresses. How will it work in Wales? Will it promote the Welsh language? Maybe it will. Maybe it won't. We must wait and see but I’m confident that there will be major developments in the next couple of weeks. This issue matters to me and that’s why I’m writing my feature on it.

Interaction is the future

2006-11-16T17:00:00.000Z

5 million people read it daily.

380 staff work on it.

It's BBC News Interactive.

Did you know that you can download video clips off the BBC website onto your i-pod so you can watch the news on your way to work? I didn't! 'Vodcasting' is the new craze and who better to tell us this than the head of BBC News Interactive himself, Pete Clifton?

He stressed that interactive news invites people to generate news stories by sending in their photos, audios and videos. Their contribution is essential, Pete Clifton said. The Sun is also following the interactive route. They've recently launched 'My Sun' - a way to get the public to share their experiences and to write online articles.

So should the BBC, like Channel 5, start paying the public to contribute? Are journalists getting too dependent on the public and becoming lazy journalists? Is citizen journalism taking over? Pete Clifton says "No". I agree with him. If the public want to contribute, journalists should welcome their willingness to share their ideas. It’s a way of knowing what the public want to know. It's up to the public if they want to contribute. They’re obviously not looking for money or they wouldn’t be sending so many things in.

What we have to remember is that journalism is an occupation. Journalists should welcome any information with open arms but they're there to regulate and develop the public's ideas. Don't worry journalists, you're jobs are safe!

Are we running out of trees?!

2006-11-14T18:19:00.000Z

What's the future of magazines? As Peter Preston from the Guardian said last week, will new media kill the good old newspapers? I don't think I'll experience this in my lifetime. But newspaper journalists know the challenge this new era is posing on their industry. The Guardian have therefore published Guardian Unlimited.

And the magazine industry is quickly following their footsteps. Nicholas Brett came to talk to us today. He's the former editor of the Radio Times and is currently the Deputy Managing Director of BBC Magazines. The BBC publishes six magazines in Britain but, like newspapers, we're currently experiencing a revolution within the magazine industry. There are online versions of magazines such as 'Good Food' and 'Top Gear'.

What I find hard to understand is how can this ensure good commercial revenue? If I had the option of going to a shop and paying £2.50 for a magazine or go online, there's no doubt I would go for the cheaper online option (you must remember that I am a student!). I can understand that most websites use advertising as a way to make money but what about BBC magazines? Magazines can't rely on advertising to make money.

Mark Ellen, the editor of 'The Word', says that people don't read anymore. But that's not the case in my opinion. More and more people are turning to online sources. People are reading but not from paper. Thousands of trees could be saved from now on. That's one positive thing at least!

Capturing reality

2006-11-09T13:54:00.000Z

Daniel Meadows is the Creative Director of ‘BBC Capture Wales’. But what is it? It’s exactly what it says on the tin! It’s a BBC Wales venture capturing the lives of the people of Wales.

The BBC aims to increase audience participation. The BBC receives an estimate of 10,000 emails each day by ‘newsers’ which shows that the public WANT to give us stories. Mr Meadows said journalists should listen to their ideas. Instead of looking down at our audience, we should look up to them.

Capture Wales is doing just that. People all over Wales are creating their own digital story. 500 stories have been produced in five years.

Some of my fellow students had trouble understanding how this related to news. Our role as journalists is to inform people of what’s happening in the world and the things which affect them. But how can we find out what affects them if we don’t, as journalists, make the effort to find out? Mr Meadows called this the ‘Democratisation of media’. What point is it for a group of people in a studio in Cardiff to decide which stories to cover? This isn’t fair or democratic and shows true ‘media power’. It’s the people’s news and our interest should be in what affects them.

Mr Meadows said that Wales is leading the way with these developments but other media organisations have started to follow that path. The Sun is asking their readers to ‘tell them their story’. Who’ll be next?

It's a scary world out there

2006-11-06T11:36:00.000Z

In my reaction to Mr Iain Dale's speech on the 20/10/06 , I stated that one thing seriously scares me and that is the lack of web regulation. People are free to send all kinds of messages all around the world. This news story is extremely relevant. In it, the British developer of the world wide web says he is worried about the way it could be used to spread wrong information and dangerous messages across the globe.

Cat fight!

2006-11-02T13:09:00.000Z

“Newspaper readers are like dogs and web users are like cats.”

An interesting statement. But Richard Burton had a very good point when he said this. He said that newspaper readers are like dogs because they're loyal to that paper whilst web users, on the other hand, are like cats because they lick the plate and then leave if nothing grabs their attention.

This shows how essential it is to grab the user’s attention on the web. The web journalist not only has to be a professional and accurate one but also has to understand how to design web pages and ensure that the user continues to use their site. Users will surf web pages and look for a particular story. As journalists, we should attempt to draw their attention to the rest of the site’s content and ensure that they use you site the next time they surf the web for news stories.
What I've learnt during these online journalism lectures is that you don't necessarily need to be a computer whizz kid to be able to design eye-catching web pagesy. Phew!

Not THAT Richard Burton!

2006-11-02T09:19:00.000Z

Our guest speaker today is Richard Burton. Some of you will associate that name with the late actor from the South Wales valleys. But this is a different Richard Burton (obviously!) who was, until last August, the former Editor of the online edition of the Daily Telegraph. As someone who was involved in the reorganisation of print to digital journalism, it’ll be interesting to listen how he dealt with these developments professionally and personally. He is also a blogger and I'll be listening out for any useful tips! Notice on the profile of his blog how he says

"My views here do not reflect those of any of those organisations."

I personally think bloggers such as Richard Brunstrom should also declare this message on their blogs (read my post on 27/10/06 - 'He's done it again!').

The traumatic life of a journalist

2006-10-30T10:53:00.000Z

I thoroughly enjoyed Mark Brayne’s speech on the different types of trauma we're likely to face during our careers as journalists. I hadn’t seriously considered what journalists have to see and experience every day. Not only this, but it’s the journalist’s job to react professionally and report those events to the readers or listeners. What Mr Brayne made us realise was that we are all human beings and most of us will react to tragedy like human beings. Some of us will freeze, others will want to cry whilst some will want to run away. As he said, we're human beings first and journalists second. But as journalists we must inform our audiences of what's happening in the world. If we ran away or burst out crying, we would not be acting professionally.

This does worry me. I'm an emotional person (just ask my parents!) and I don’t tend to hide my emotions. But I was relieved to hear that there are organisations who train journalists to deal with trauma. Mark Brayne works at the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma. They promote ethical reporting of tragedy and support us as journalists in the face of any traumatic experiences.

I did feel much better by the end of the talk. At least there is support out there for journalists today which wasn't available to Mr Brayne when he was a journalist. But I wonder how many journalists will take advantage of these services? Some, I'm sure, will not face up to the trauma or would rather deal with it on their own.

Reporters and Reported

2006-10-27T11:14:00.001+01:00

Every Friday lunchtime a variety of current or former journalists come and share their experiences and to discuss various journalistic issues. So far Charles Reiss, Gill Phillips and Peter Preston have been discussing various journalistic issues with us. We're about to go to the lecture theatre to listen and to question Mark Brayne who was a BBC and Reuters Foreign Correspondent in Moscow, Berlin, Central Europe and Beijing. He will be discussing 'Emotion, Trauma and Good Journalism'. It sounds extremely interesting. I will post a blog later to tell you what he had to say.

He's done it again!

2006-10-27T10:42:00.000+01:00

Richard Brunstrom's blog is in the media for making yet another controversial statement on his blog. This proves my point that blogs are increasingly being used as a source for generating news stories (read this post).

We should start asking ourselves should people be allowed to declare their opinion on their blogs? What if they’re working for an establishment such as the police? What if that opinion is different to the establishment’s views?

There’s no simple answer. People, in my opinion, should have the right to have an opinion and to share it with others – that’s freedom of speech. At the end of the day, Mr Brunstrom is a person like any of us and should be allowed to say how he feels about current issues. But if Mr Brunstrom, who is the Chief Constable of North Wales Police, uses words such as “nimbys”, doesn’t that make the reader think that it’s also North Wales Police’s view? Some people might think that.

I think blogs should state clearly that it’s his personal opinion as an individual and not the police force’s views. For example, I don’t think there should be a photograph of Mr Brunstrom in his police outfit on his blog because this suggests a strong connection between his opinion and the police force’s opinion.

This time the North Wales Police Authority will not take formal action against Mr Brunstrom over his online blog, but what will happen next time?

My favourite thing #2

2006-10-25T17:04:00.000+01:00

Last time I chose Richard Brunstrom as my 'Blog of the week'. This week I've decided to go for a light-hearted blog which will make a lot of people laugh out loud at their computer (click here)!

As you can see, this essential sign warns cyclists that they should dismount. The problem is, it doesn't say this in Welsh. This is what is says (wait for it!)...
'Bladder disease has returned’!!!!

So whichever poor cyclist is riding towards this sign will think that he's about to meet Mulder and Scully from the 'x-files' as they try to control a bladder disease spreading like wild-fire around the area!

Yes, it’s hilarious. On the other hand, it’s very worrying. Road signs are essential for our safety on the roads. If this sign said 'Bladder disease has returned' in English, it definitely would not have ended up on our roads.

This raises the question of who are the translators who translate these signs? Are there translators or are people becoming over-dependant on computers to translate things for them? This is a very dangerous thing to do and this is a perfect example of how we can become too dependent on new technologies.

Translating from English to Welsh is becoming more and more evident around the country which is a fact we should merit. But, to ensure that these are of high standard, there must be a system which prevents signs like the one above from being placed on our streets.

Oxjam

2006-10-23T10:09:00.000+01:00

The weekend has just flown by once again. I had a very relaxing weekend even though it rained, rained and rained. On Saturday, I had the bright idea of hanging my clothes up on the line. The only problem was, when took them down some hours later they were wetter than they were before I put them up!

To bring some sunshine back into my life, I went to a gig at Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff. It was part of Oxfam’s latest idea of a way to raise money. It’s called ‘Oxjam’ and its slogan is ‘Make music ~ raise money ~ change lives’. Throughout October they’ve been urging people all over the country to arrange music events to raise money. It’s a brilliant way of promoting music and to have fun whilst raising money for a good cause. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and even though it was still raining when I left the gig, I kept on smiling! I hope Oxfam will arrange something similar in the near future – especially when it starts snowing and my clothes freeze on the washing line!

Should we doubt Doughty Street?

2006-10-20T10:41:00.000+01:00

Whilst I'm writing this post, some of my fellow students are still discussing what Iain Dale had to say in his speech. His name should rather be Mr Iain ‘controversial’ Dale. He’s a passionate Conservative and expresses his views openly.

But should we be wary of 18 Doughty Street? Is it only a propaganda tool for the Conservatives? A great deal of students disliked what he had to say because they say his views were bias. Personally, I think it's healthy for people to have opinions and to use current technologies to share those opinions with others. I'm sure it won't be long until other political parties create their own online political programmes. Competition is a positive thing.

But I am doubtful about something. Mr Dale stated that due to the development of new media, the world is becoming an uncontrollable place. We could create a programme here and now to be broadcast online – and there’d be no regulations to stop us. That’s a scary thought. When asked if the European Union’s plans to regulate internet-use would be successful, Mr Dale reacted by saying that it would be impossible to apply. To which extent will the internet be used to spread messages and videos across the world? What kind of messages will these be? Mr Dale made me realise that even though new media is a stimulating area, it can be extremely dangerous. As Mr Dale said himself about blogging - it can be destructive and constructive.

Mr Iain Dale

2006-10-19T09:21:00.000+01:00

Our guest speaker on new media this week is Mr Iain Dale, a man who Francis Wheen describes as "a one-man political Reuters". He blogs regularly on a range of things but his main interest, as you may have guessed from Wheen's quote, is politics. Click here to read his blog. I've just been reading through it and he says that he is on his way to Cardiff to deliver a lecture to media students (that's us - even though he calls us media students! I guess you could call us media students because we thrive to work in the media but I've always thought about us as journalism students.)

Mr Dale is also one of the founders of 18 Doughty Street - an online political TV channel which is broadcast live on the web from 8pm on Monday - Thursday. It's only been up and running for a week and so I feel privileged that he's coming to talk to us in Cardiff.

After reading his views on his blog, I'm not sure I'll agree with everything he says (he's in some people's bad books already for calling us media students!). On the other hand, he's at the forefront of current new media developments and there's no doubt that his speech will generate very lively debate. I'll fill you in!

Blogs: the 21st century history books?

2006-10-17T10:35:00.000+01:00

I was listening to Radio Cymru's morning news programme, Post Cyntaf, this morning and one sentence made me turn the volume up to find out what the story was all about......

"Are you a blogger?"

And I felt like shouting back at the radio - "Yes! I am!"

The presenter then went on to explain that blogging is now a way of recording history. A Welsh organisation, under the 'History Matters' venture, is trying to get people to post blogs to allow people in the future to study our way of life at the beginning of the 21st century. Go to www.historymatters.org.uk/ before the 1st of November to leave your comment in Welsh or English. You would then be taking part in the biggest blog in history!

The same way as the St.Fagan Welsh life Museum had a system of recording people talking about their lives on tapes, the 'in thing' to do now is to post everything on a blog. I'm so proud of the fact that I'm in with the times!

Who knows how people in the future will be recording their feelings and way of life? Watch this space!

Networking away

2006-10-16T11:20:00.000+01:00

I've had a comment on my blog for the very first time! It comments on my reaction to Amanda Powells' statement on ‘Cymru’r Byd’.

The commenter agrees with me that the resources for Cymru'r Byd aren't as strong as the English pages i.e. they aren't updated as regularly. He also argues that the main problem is that the majority of Welsh speakers consider English as the language of the media and don't expect to see anything on the web in Welsh.

He refers to this page where figures for a recent survey on internet use are analysed. According to the Survey, 57% of Welsh speakers don't access the internet. Does this mean that Ms Powell's statement did have some truth in it after all? No. The article goes on to say that 62% of non-Welsh speakers in Wales don't access the internet - only 5% more than Welsh speakers.

I still feel that the problem is much deeper than a lack of technology amongst Welsh speakers. The question we must ask ourselves is, do Welsh speakers feel they have an obligation to support Welsh language newspapers because if they turn their backs on them the print media will suffer a painful death? If this is true then we need to inform them that Cymru'r Byd also needs to be read to develop Welsh provision in this growing world of new media. We as journalists should guide and inform our audience about the advantages of using the internet as a source of news coverage.

*Are Welsh speakers surfing or still walking?

2006-10-15T21:27:00.000+01:00

How better to start off our online lectures than with a controversial statement? That’s what we got from our first guest lecturer. Amanda Powell, BBC Wales’ ‘new media’ editor, spoke about major technological developments in the BBC and their affect on our work as journalists.

They’re currently developing TV and video clips on the web. Therefore, the interaction between online and broadcast journalism is growing closer. It’s highly possible that these two types of journalism will amalgamate in the near future. It’s a very exciting time for journalism and we, as journalism students, are a part of this changing world.

She also discussed UGC (no, not the cinema in Cardiff but User Generated Content). It’s ironic that the contemporary relevance of blogging was raised during the same week that we as journalism students set up our own blogs. I think blogging is a brilliant way of promoting free speech and for BBC staff and new media users to interact with each other.

But there was one thing Ms Powell said that nearly made me choke on my tea (I didn’t have any tea but you get my point!). When asked why significantly less people use the Welsh language pages compared to the English pages, she argued that many Welsh speakers don’t have internet connection. I strongly disagree with this. Most people have access to the internet wherever they live. The fact that they speak Welsh or not is not relevant. If Welsh speakers were informed of the advantage of reading BBC news online in their mother tongue, the story would be very different.

My favourite thing!

2006-10-13T11:27:00.000+01:00

Each week we're expected to read various blogs on the web and choose our favourite. It gave me an opportunity to read all kinds of blogs about all kinds of things – chocolate, politics, music. You name it, there’s a blog about it!

My favourite blog was that of Richard Brunstrom, North Wales Police’s Chief Constable. I’m sure most of you have heard about Mr Brunstrom mainly due to the comments posted on his blog. His blog is the source of many of his controversial statements, and has generated a number of lively debates subsequently covered in other media (here is one example). Is this the start of a new phenomenon? Are blogs the new medium for generating news stories?

One of Mr Brunstrom’s most recent statements was regarding the policy of handing out clean needles to drug users in the UK. Here are some quotes from his blog…

"The policy is based upon humanity; a recognition that drug users are human beings not vermin, that they have needs and aspirations like the rest of us, and that common decency requires them to be treated as victims and patients not just as criminals (though many are that too). "

I'm also intrigued with the way he handles the press.....

"In the meantime the media have got hold of it (I deliberately did not publicise the planning application in order not to sensationalise the matter) and are doing what they usually do with such issues - seeking to polarise it still further."

As a journalism student it’s interesting to see how these two sources – the media and the police – are reacting to each other. Who'd have thought that the Chief Constable would have the opportunity to say what he thought about the media via the web? This proves how essential it is for us as journalism students to keep our finger on the pulse in this blogging world.

Croeso! Welcome!

2006-10-11T17:05:00.000+01:00

Helo! Mae'n rhaid i mi gyfaddef na fyddwn i erioed wedi meddwl y byddwn i'n 'flogiwr' fy hun ond dyma ni - fy mlog cyntaf erioed.

Mae'n syniad da i ddechrau i son pwy yn union ydw i. Dwi'n 22 mlwydd oed ac yn dod o Gaerdydd yn wreiddiol. Mi raddiais i o Brifysgol Cymru, Aberystwyth eleni. Dwi newydd gychwyn ar gwrs newyddiaduraeth darlledu yn Ysgol Newyddiaduraeth Prifysgol Caerdydd. Dwi'n teimlo fel ychydig bach o fradwr a dweud y gwir achos mi dreuliais i flwyddyn gyfan yn gweithio i Swyddfa Farchnata Prifysgol Aberystwyth dros yr Haf!

Un agwedd o fy ngwaith cwrs i ydi sgwennu blog ac mi gawson ni oll dipyn o sioc pan eglurodd y darlithydd ein bod ni'n mynd i gael marcio ar ein hymgeision. Serch hynny mae'n rhaid i mi gyfaddef fy mod i'n mwynhau'n fawr a dwi’n edrych ymlaen i weld sut fydd fy mlog a fy agweddau i’n newid yn ystod yr wythnosau nesaf. Mi fydd sgwennu blog yn ffordd wych i mi drafod amrywiaeth o faterion sy’n bwysig i mi ac yn fodd i mi ymateb i’r holl siaradwyr gwadd a fydd yn ymweld a ni yn ystod y flwyddyn. Mae’r rhyngrwyd a blogio yn arbennig yn faes mor gyffrous ar hyn o bryd ac mae’n datblygu’n ddyddiol. Dwi’n edrych ymlaen at fod yng nghanol y datblygiadau yma.

Iawn, well I mi fynd. Dwi’n mynd i wylio Cymru’n chwarae yn erbyn Cyprus yn Stadiwm y Mileniwm - c'mon Cymru!

************************************************************************

Hello! As you've probably guessed by now, I'm a fluent Welsh speaker and I'm now officially a blogger - hurrah! I never thought I'd be blogging on the web - but here I am. Before I proceed, I'll quickly tell you a little about myself. I'm 22 years old and I'm from Cardiff originally. I'm currently doing a broadcast journalism course at Cardiff University's Journalism School. I actually feel like a traitor because I spent a whole year working for Aberystwyth University’s Marketing Office!

One aspect of my coursework is writing a blog and to tell you the truth we were shocked when the lecturer informed us that our blogs would be assessed. However I am thoroughly enjoying this blogging so far and as they say, things can only get better. I’m therefore very excited and it'll be very interesting to see how my views and attitudes will develop during the next few months. It will also be a great opportunity for me to discuss various issues and to comment on the range of guest speakers who'll be talking to us during the year. The web and blogging in particular are such fascinating fields that are constantly developing and I can’t wait to be a part of these developments.

Right, I’m off now. I’m going to watch Wales play Cyprus at the Millennium Stadium – come on Cymru!