Critical Reflection Semester One, Year Two:

WINOL is a student run editorial package, simulating every aspect of a fully functional news operation so that we students are get a real taste of what it is to be a journalist and therefore preparing us for transition into a working environment within journalism. It is presented to its audience on multiple platforms with an online TV news bulletin broadcast each week being the main focus of the project, live, on YouTube. Alongside the bulletin, the news and features team publish written stories and videos on the WINOL website. The website is regularly updated and allows stories that happen before the next bulletin to be published, and those in the bulletins, and more recently the weekly radio bulletin, so that the site users are kept up to date with local news. 

Even though most would assume that a student lead project would be of mediocre attempt at replicating a commercial news broadcast, the reporters at WINOL throw themselves into stories and illustrate thinking outside the box with WINOL specials such as the Police commissioner’s debate and the American election coverage - all produced to a high, professional standard with the help of the production team, tying up all of the knots. All of this hard work is reflected in the website Alexa rankings which stood at 50000 at the beginning of the semester and has steadily lowered in number since. 

To widen the audience and add value to the WINOL online presence the website has been completely redesigned to look more like broadsheet news website, as well as the addition of online features and fashion magazines and a 99 second daily bulletin - which all seem to have boosted viewings and Alexa  rankings have improved dramatically. This is made clearer when the website is compared to the rankings of our rival student project East London Lines, which currently stands at 25000, but at the beginning of the semester had much better ranking than WINOL at just over 37500. WINOL has now over-taken with an Alexa ranking of 12500. 

Being thrown into the deep-end doesn’t quite describe the first week or two of WINOL; my role on production didn’t seem like much to stress about compared to the work that the news team had been putting into their packages. It wasn’t until the first bulletin was underway that myself and the rest of the team realised how important our roles were - without us there would be a bunch of packages and no bulletin.

The first role assigned to me for WINOL was to be part of the production team;. Each of the roles in the gallery, and out of the gallery, were explained to us in great detail and we had plenty of time to play around with the new pieces of equipment, which now seem like second nature to use. Every week, everyone swapped roles so that we were able to build our confidence using the machines. For the first and many of the bulletins throughout the semester I was vision mixer. For the second bulletin, my role in the gallery was to control the sound – this was a little trickier than vision mixing and didn’t rely on the director’s cue. That particular week the sound in post-production was awful and had to be rerecorded in the newsroom. The problem with sound was something that could have been avoided if we had known there was a problem with the microphone we were using. For the third bulletin I was in charge of the VT machine, which in very simple to use, but also very simple to mess up the whole bulletin if VT’s weren’t played at the correct time.

It wasn’t until week seven that I was given the role of director – a role I was avoiding like the plague, that and autocue. Despite being incredibly nervous my fifteen minutes or so in charge went smoother than I thought, but it would have been much smoother if there was more time to rehearse, in particular, the OOVs; when I was directing the script was too short for the length of footage, leaving  empty air. The most useful criticism I got was from Angus, who said I needed to communicate more with everyone in the studio and I needed to rehearse earlier – with or without the presenter. I then directed the next bulletin and tried to meet Angus’ requests. Feeling more confident and more comfortable, I realised it was my favourite role and I should have tried directing sooner. 

Away from the gallery the production team still had plenty to do; collecting packages, creating the headline clips and credits, along with the more experienced third years editing the final bulletin (if needed) and uploading it for its live stream. To give the bulletin a new dynamic we tried out a ‘coming-up’ clip in the middle of the bulletin and a VT highlighting other new stories on the website. These were all made by the production team, another part of the being on production I really enjoyed because it was more relaxed than the goings on in the gallery. I was able to produce a fair few whilst the gallery wasn’t in use, they became easier to make and choosing the best pictures out of the footage the reporters gave us became easier. 

During our weekly debriefs the problems that the lack of organisation, in terms of equipment, were having on the bulletin – it needed to be checked the day before the bulletin because fixing silly things wasted rehearsal time. The most problematic was figuring out the correct format for the VT’s so that they could be played correctly in the gallery.  

The most vital lesson I learned during the first few weeks was forward planning and preparation – getting packages, headlines, the script etc. in the at a reasonable time. This was why a few of the bulletins missed the three o’clock deadline. From then on we worked as a team to get things done properly and on time. This helped a lot when packages were spiked from the bulletin or when OB’s didn’t quite go to plan, which happened several times during the semester. 

Of all the areas making up WINOL that I have been able to take part in, features was the area I produced little content for. Despite having feature ideas that worked in theory, actually achieving them was harder than it looked. The first feature I produced was for the fashion magazine on winter fashion accessories and required mastering Fireworks/Photoshop to fit the style that we had decided on. It wasn’t the greatest piece of work; I had attempted to replicate what I had seen in magazines but I wasn’t entirely sure of how to manipulate it to fit a website. I knew what needed to be improved after we have once again discussed a style for the website. The second piece for the fashion magazine I produced fit the style that we had agreed on and relied heavily on production rather than text. I think it was more successful than the first, but definitely could have been improved. 

I also attempted a 'gonzo' style piece – I would live on the budget of a student living only from a student loan/grant. I worked this out to be around £50 and spent seven days trying to stick to it, while still spending as I normally would. I started out with a daily video diary, explaining what I had spent money on every day. When I was watching it back is was incredibly boring and figured it needed something to give it a little bit of life. My answer was cutaways - the problem was that the cut-aways looked awkward and didn’t seem to make any sense and so I decided not to continue with it.

Half way through the semester the radio news bulletin became a reality, allowing us to connect with our audience on another medium – in my opinion successfully. Even though it is a small team, there is input from the masters students, and the news team  who re-write their copy for radio, if it’s needed. For the short amount of time the bulletins have been going out, majority of which have gone out at the top of the hour (with some small technical glitches), I have helped out by submitting a few ‘and finally’ stories and news stories. Being on production means that there isn’t much time for news gathering and the radio bulletins have given me the opportunity to produce some content for WINOL, even though it may not be to the high standard of what is in the TV bulletin. The radio team also have a set, four hour slot in sound radio to fill in the air-time in between news bulletins. Nadine and I present our own radio show which aims to reach a female audience, by discussing current affairs and celebrity gossip, as well as reality TV. 

Although I was assigned roles, in production, features and more recently radio news, I was able to help out others with bigger projects which took place in the early part of the semester. The first project was briefed to us before we had started WINOL, and this was the BJTC awards. This was the first chance the production team had to practice with the equipment we would be using during WINOL bulletins, but also see what goes into a television show so that it looks good. My role for the BJTC was floor manager, which meant I had to keep everything going smoothly when the director couldn’t be there, to communicate with guests, to cue audience reactions and mic-up those in the show. 

The second of the projects was the Hampshire Police Commissioners debate, and event Louis O’Brien had spent months preparing and planning. This bought the production team together outside of the WINOL bulletin. For this I was floor manager again and attempted to keep the audience in the right places. The entire WINOL team pulled the event off and Louis packaged the debate (and candidate profiles) to a very high standard. 

The third project need the entire WINOL team to pull off; this was Ali Al-Jamri’s American Election special which incorporated news packages, summaries of the nights events, live updates throughout the morning and interviews. For this project I volunteered to be part of the OB team, who were allowed access to the American embassy on the night of the elections. During the weeks leading up to the special the OB teams brief changed – a lot. We were first asked to do a live OB over Skype to the studio. This changed because of the scheduling of the show and the length of the show being shortened. Instead we were asked to film interviews and elements of a package that was edited back in the newsroom. While we were there, myself and Sam were also tweeting the goings on at the Embassy and taking photos of the event. The live broadcast was success and a range of content was broadcast, giving a broad overview of the election night. 

WINOL has been enjoyable, but tough at times. I feel I have learned a large number of skills though-out this semester and will be able to put them to good use in the next. Mistakes were made, but as a team, and individually, our best was done to correct them - otherwise lessons we’re learned for next time those problems arise.

Radio day three;

 As the weeks go on, myself and Nadine's radio show seems to follow the same structure which makes it easier for us to prepare and find content to fill the hour, although the topics that we discuss are very soft news or very gossip/celebrity based (which suits our intended target audience). 

The masters students took over the role of the radio news editor throughout the day and there was little change to the content of the bulletin. There were a quite few technical issues - the microphones in the studio where the news is read from were not working, meaning that the headlines weren't aired. For the second bulletin at 11, the mics played up again but this time the news wasn't aired at all, and was pushed back to the top of the next hour. The radio shows during the four hours were also effected. 

This was my contribution to the bulletin; sourced from the Hampshire Constabulary.

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Three men in Hampshire have been arrested for running a cannabis factory. 

Police forced entry to a property in Fareham, after members of the community reported suspicious activity. 

Officers found an estimated thirty six thousand pounds worth of plants, a large amount ready for sale.

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WINOL bulletin;

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WINOL week nine;

My role this week was vision mixer and I was also required to collect headline clips, create the headline sequence and collect packages for the bulletin, all of which I had done before and so I knew what I was doing. The only difference was the way that the headlines were made – instead of recording the headlines and VT’s in the studio, just the headlines were recorded. They were then captured and the headline clips were cut to fit the headline template and length of the individual headlines. This was fairy easy and similar to making the coming up clips. 

WINOL bulletins;

For the week five bulletin, I wasn't a part of the production team because I was away, filming for the American embassy special, but was back for the sixth bulletin as vision mixer. It was the third time I had the role so I felt quite confident in what I was doing, and the whole team seemed a lot more confident in the gallery.

In week seven I was the director - when I was told I'd be given that role I imagined everything that would go incredibly wrong. It didn't, luckily but I didn't really feel very comfortable or confident during the bulletin because we had very little time to rehearse and there seemed to be a gazillion OOVs out to get me!

For the week eight bulletin I was director again, and taking on Angus' advice I tried to get rehearsals going as soon as the script was completed and we had almost two hours to practice - yay! I felt a lot more confident as director and bulletin seemed to go really. The only problem was a sound issue but that was no ones fault.

RADIO!

Radio News;

WINOL have been allowed to take over sound radio every Tuesday in order to make a basis for our hourly news bulletins.

The radio news day is an early one, so that we are able to find and script the day’s news. Then at 10am the first of the news bulletins is aired, followed by a variety of radio shows throughout the day. Nadine and Myself present the first show of WINOLs take over, and we are followed by sports week and the final show is presented by Harry. 

Week one;

Me and Nadine decided to aim our show at young females, choosing to use gossip and celeb magazines as a basis, as well as current reality TV shows and WINOL features, such as doctor fashion. The first show went really well, I had never done any radio stuff before so it was new and slightly daunting, but I survived. Unfortunately, we were so concerned with content and news bulletins we forgot to record the show!

I managed to get a story and an ‘and finally’ in the bulletins that were played throughout the day – these were the original scripts, but they were changed to fit the script and timings.

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Christmas lovers will be making their way to the Winchester cathedral for its annual German inspired market this Thursday.
A variety of hand-crafted gifts and festive refreshments will be available for visitors from an selection of chalets.
The markets main attraction, an open-air ice rink, will open on the same day and follow the countdown to Christmas.

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Drinkers of Hampshire have been asked to lay off of booze for the launch of a new campaign in support of Alcohol Awareness Week.
Twenty per cent of adults in the county are classified as ‘increased risk’ drinkers and pose major threats to their health.
In a statement yesterday, Hampshire’s director of Public Health said: ‘two alcohol free days a weeks is good sensible health advice.’ This will be the focus of the ‘Give me a break’ campaign. 
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Week two;

This week was less daunting and felt a lot more comfortable in the studio. Before our show began we experienced some problems – the radio broadcasting software crashed and so we had to use a different studio last minute. Maybe next week we will check the studio equipment early, like we do for the TV bulletin so that things go smoothly. The content of our show followed the same structure as the week before, gossip, TV and features.

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I managed to get another story in the later news bulletin this week.  

Police are cracking down on troublemakers in Stanmore after receiving a large number of complaints reporting crime in the area.

They are putting a six-month dispersal order in place from December first, which will involve moving on troublesome groups and those under 16 unaccompanied by an adult after 9pm.

Anyone refusing to leave the area could face a fine of up to five thousand pounds or up to three months in prison. 

History and context of journalism; Lecture/seminar 5

Freud;

Like Marx and Hegel, Freud presented a theory of everything and aimed to address a problem – the misery of the human condition.

He believed that our unhappiness was to do with the fact that we were divided, which causes us to become alienated from ourselves. This unhappiness became Freud’s starting point, but emphasised the idea that we have no clue what we want; what would make us happy. This is where Freud began to develop his ideas and theories surrounding psychoanalysis.

Psychoanalysis, for Freud is a method in which we can access the unconscious mind. The unconscious is really what controls us, but we believe that it is the conscious mind – we are unknowingly being controlled.  Freud believed that he discovered the unconscious mind and that that its secrets needed to be excavated. Freudian slips, dreams and neurotic symptoms are ways in which unconscious shows itself. Our dreams are seen to be the royal road to the unconscious and illustrate the real problem. If the unconscious isn’t dealt with, Freud believed it would send us neurotic.

Freud’s ideas were seen as a sexual renegade and put sex at the centre of everything – this changed the view of the noble creature, challenging ideas during the enlightenment. He emphasised that we are not ruled by our rational mind and takes away thoughts of us being noble. From this we see that Freud held a very pessimistic view of human nature and his theories are based around the dark views he had.

The tripartite that Plato believed in (reason, spirit and desire) was a structure Freud followed. Plato believed that reason is control of spirit and desire, but Freud disagreed because he believed that the rational mind was not in control. Instead he believed that reason was the weakest of the three and that we are driven by desire of which we cannot control – we’re unaware that we are not in control and we are alienated.

Marx also took on the tripartite structure – natural, alienated and species self – our alienation means that we need to seek something better, communism, and that will only happen with the progression of history. Marx believed that we had the power to evolve as history progressed to allow us the potential of becoming better. Freud rejects this and believed that his ideas are too idealistic – he believes that there is a part of ourselves that we cannot escape and will forever be dominated by. This is aggression. Freud’s Hobbsian/Machiavelli view of human nature leads him to conclude that we  only want to hurt  others and ourselves.

His confidence in dismissing the ideas of Plato and Marx comes from his confidence in his own ideas/theories – he believed he had discovered the remarkable by finding the problem and the solution to the problem – psychoanalysis – something that wasn’t there before.

Human nature, for Freud, is pain and suffering caused by internal division. There are three distinc parts to ourselves;

1.       Id – our instincts aimed at gaining pleasure and avoiding pain and can be described as a reservoir. Sex and aggression are fused in the Id and they dominate the personality but we have no idea of it but it is always demanding.

2.       Ego/Self – reality principle – the least powerful part of our personality – the rational self. It is hopelessly embattled and besieged.

3.       Super Ego – the internalised rule of parent/society – it is totally irrational (like Id) and develops after birth. It has internal ideal and impossible standards of perfections, punishable with guilt. It is a morality principle and often uses religion.

All three are our personality in conflict, within ourselves.

Society, for freud, was full of suffering and pain because;

-          Our decaying body; nature.

-          Nature – external world – slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

-          Our everyday interaction with others = pain. Other people are out to get us, to hurt us. But we are also irrational and are inclined to hurt others.

The answer to this pain is psychoanalysis – though it is not open to everyone. The masses will continue in their destructive self. Psychoanalysis makes the ego stronger.

Freud also suggests coping methods for Id, but these are only temporary distractions.

Chemical solution – intoxication.

Isolation – temporary and for only a few.

Religion as a type of sublimation – it is a mass delusion.

Sublime solution - finding society acceptable releases for our aggression, such as sport or work. Though these are too mild compared to the satisfaction we derive from the crude and instinctive urges of destroying an enemy that gives us real satisfaction.

Civilisation is a collective super ego, imposing moral limits on the Id. The ways to access the Id are hypnosis, pressure method, free association and dreams. The methods suggested to ‘let off steam’ will never mean we escape the unconscious and aggression will never be eliminated.

History and context of journalism; lecture/seminar 4

Ethics and aesthetics;

In most systems of morality happiness is important; philosophers thought saw happiness as a supreme good. Though Kant challenged this and said that duty is the supreme ethical motive.

But those who believe in happiness having supremacy in ethics differ from the thoughts of Bentham, despite his idea of the greatest good for the greatest number. Bentham believed happiness (a sensation) and pleasure are equivalent and that maximising either one maximises the other.

Aristotle made a distinction and refused to identify happiness with the pleasures of the senses. He identified pleasure with the activity, whereas Bentham saw it as cause and effect and that all pleasure has the same value; Aristotle believed the value of pleasure was the same as the activity.

This brings us to the ‘qualification of pleasure and pain.’ It is an important concept for utilitarian authority as it establishes an estimation of the pleasure or plain a policy or action may cause to the people.  Bentham believed that A is more pleasurable than B if it is more intense or lasts longer. Judging actions must consider fecundity and purity; fecund pleasure is likely to produce pleasure in subsequent senses. Pure pleasure is unlikely to produce a subsequent series of pains. Also when considering public policy ‘extension’ must be considered – how widely the pleasure/pain will be spread across the population and brings up a questioning of utilitarianism ‘the greatest number of what?’ in Bentham’s thinking it is likely that he was talking about humans. 

Modifications of utilitarianism;

 John Stewart Mill toned down Bentham’s utilitarianism, in his treatises of utilitarianism recognises that people had always thought that life has no higher end than pleasure. He believed this to be a doctrine of a dirty swine.

By distinguishing between different types and qualities of pleasure utilitarianism can out distance between himself and of a swine – happiness involves a sense of dignity and contentment. Though there are some objections to utilitarianism as it can be considered to be too strict because it asks that a single action should take into account universal happiness. It’s also thought to be too lax – there could be times when the abolition of banning actions causes moral representatives to think they can do outrageous things in justification.

Mill offers a defence for both by distinguishing between moral standard and a motive of action. Utilitarianism may offer universal happiness as a moral standard, but it does not feature it to be the aim of every action.

He also suggests a preference for practical over justice – it’s important to make a connection between justice and moral rights. He emphasises that there can be legal rights which are unjust and just claims conflict with laws.

Schopenhauer on renunciation;

Schopenhauer’s ethics are related to metaphysics and the theses that the world of experience is illusory and that the true reality, the thing in itself, is the universal will.

Life is just a gift and the loss of that gift is death – to find the will we need to consider life philosophically. The thing in itself in all phenomena, is unaffected by life or death and death should not trouble us. It is just a sleep in which we forget our individuality. It’s only as phenomenon individuals are distinct.

 Schopenhauer believed that morality is a matter of training character, but this can only be understood if Kant’s reconciliation of freedom with necessity is accepted. The will is free from eternity to eternity. Everything in nature is determined by necessity.

We would be able to predict a person’s future like and eclipse if we had knowledge of a person’s character and motives that are presented to them.  We believe that we have a choice between alternatives because we have no knowledge of how the Will is going to decide.

Schopenhauer rejects the idea that there is only one character by distinguishing several kinds of character;

-          Intelligible character; underlying reality, determines response to situations in the world.

-          Empirical character; what we learn in experience of nature of our intelligible character.  

-          Acquired character; achieved by those who have learnt the nature and limitations of their own individual character. 

Our will can never change but there are many degrees of awareness of will. We are all creatures of will and will of it. Nature is insatiable.

He believes that the basis of all willing is need and pain; we suffer until our needs are satisfied, but once the will lacks the object of desire, once it is satisfied, life becomes boredom – all happiness is essentially negative, never positive. 

Nietzsche;

Nietzsche believes that history shows two kinds of morality, that of the rich and of the poor. This lead to a system called ‘A Tansvaluation of Values’ which he blamed on the Jews.

He believed Christianity had led to the degeneration of the human race because it is rooted in weakness, fear and malice. Christians exalt compassion as a value – when they assist the affected it is because they enjoy exercising power over them. Pity is a poison that infects a compassionate person with suffering of others.

Nietzsche suggested a reversal of the values of Christianity to save the human race by creating a second tranvalutation of values.

He believed that humans fell into two types – ascending and descending; people who represented the upward and downward track of human evolution.

Nietzsche thought that it wasn’t only Christianity that needed to be overturned. We must go beyond the opposition between good and evil. We shouldn’t object to judgement because they are false.  We must affirm life and bring it to a new level – the ubermensch – humanity is only a stage before reaching it. It will not come about through evolution but through the exercise of will. Its arrival will be the perfection of the world and give it meaning.

 Aesthetics;

The point of beauty is to give pleasure and arouse desire – the finest beauty is to be found in nature and therefore the highest aim of art is to imitate nature.

Burke introduced sublimity alongside the concept of beauty. The sublime can be the aim of art. To feel something as sublime is to feel astonishment without fear. He sought to explain what qualities inspire these feelings.

-          Sublime; the fears and horrors implicit in the original instinct for self preservation.

-          Beauty; appreciation for female perfection, derives from the need for social contract and from instinct to continue the race.

Kant’s ideas in his treatise dominated aesthetics. Human beings possess a third faculty- the capacity for judgement, the judgement of taste which is the basis of aesthetic experience.

He suggested two kinds of satisfaction; gratification – sensual delight. And pleasingness – the notion, disinterested enjoyment of beauty.

Judgements of taste are singular in term. Judgements of value are related to purpose. Similarly are judgements of perfection of perfections. However, judgements of beauty are not like either because they do not bring objects under concept. This becomes clearer with Kant’s different types of beauty.

-          Free beauty; no concept of what the object ought to be.

-          Derivative beauty; supposes a concept and perfection with the object. It is ascribed to objects with a particular purpose.

‘Analytic of Sublime’ the sublime is large, overwhelming and mathematical. It is too great to be taken in by our senses and our perceptions become overwhelmed. Resisting it would be in vain but allow us to remain without fear in a state of security.

Nature can be both beautiful and sublime, but only art can be beautiful and we must be conscious that art is artificial not natural. Production of beauty is the purpose of art, but is only a representation of beauty. Three kinds of art are outlined; speech, namely rhetoric and poetry. These are formative arts. There is a third class of art which are sensations. The most important in this class is music, though poetry is most important of all. 

Schopenhauer;

Aesthetic pleasure consists in the disinterested contemplation of nature or of artefacts. When we view something and admire its beauty without thought of our desires and needs that we are treating it as a work of art and enjoying aesthetic experience. Disinterested contemplation, liberates us of tyranny of the will and may take one of two forms.

1.       If the scene I am contemplating absorbs my attention without effort then it is my sense of beauty that is aroused.

2.       If the scene is a threatening one and I have to struggle to escape from fear and achieve contemplation- then what I am encounter is something that is sublime rather than beautiful.

The sublime impression produced in an awareness of two fold consciousness (individual and eternal) is called the ‘dynamical sublime,’ though the same impression may be produced by meditation. This impression of sublimity can be produced also by closed spaces and monument of age.the sense arises from the a contrast of our smallness and insignificance as individuals and vastness of creation of ourselves as pure knowing subjects.

The charming;

The charming is a lower bound of beauty; it turns upon the object of contemplation into something which attracts the will. They nullify the aesthetic purposes and are altogether to be condensed.

In every encounter of beauty has two elements; a will-less knowing subject and an object which is the idea known. The purpose if art is to represent not a particular individual, nor an abstract concept, but a platonic end. 

Nietzsche on tragedy;

He sees the origin of art in human need to mask life’s misery from themselves. There are two escapes from reality – intoxication and dreaming. These illusions are personified as Apollo and Dionysus.

Music is the supreme expression of the Dionysiac spirit, and epic of Apolline. Tragedy is the offspring of Apollo and Dionysus combining poetry and music, though Euripides killed tragedy by injecting it with rationality; the fault of Socrates as he rejected Dionysus and destroyed tragedians’ synthesis.