Semester 2 WINOL Roles

After our discussion in the debreif today, the roles for WINOL so far are:

Managing Editor - Vacant
News Editor - Rota
Features Editor - Hannah Hayesmore
Production Editor - Nicole Collas
Sport Editor - Drew Richardson
Front Page Editor - Emma Wright
News Anchor - Tate Slyfield
Chief Reporter - Alex Delaney
Politics - Calum Warren-Piper
Environment - Laura Allen (or Meg Fisher?)
Police and Crime - Bracken Stockley (?)
Health - Zeena Alobaidi
Education - Lucy Wilson
Crime & Court - Tom Wright
Community - (Meg Fisher?)
Transport - Vacant
Sci-Tech - Vacant
Business & Finance - Vacant
Production/Feature writer/Sub - Charlie Gardiner
European Election Editor - Karina Sleiman
European Election Producer - Nicole Collas

NB: The Editor role has been scrapped and the Managing Editor & Social Media Editor have been combined into one role.

Critical Reflection - Year 3 Semester 1

This semester’s WINOL team, comprised of 40 students, has worked hard to maintain and build upon the work from last year which has led to many innovations not only in the bulletin but also on the features & news sites.

Whilst, generally speaking, the overall quality of WINOL’s output has improved through these changes, the viewing figures have not reflected this. At the first look into our Alexa Rank in early October, we ranked #1,309,425 globally and #38, 579 in the UK which has only improved to #34,210 in the UK and #776,668 globally on the 8^th December. At its peak, on 30^th October, WINOL ranked #27,807 in the UK though only #1,192,940 globally. This mean that our website managed to go up by 10,772 ranks in around 1 month but, over the entire semester, only went up 4,369 places. Compared to the same semester last year, our rank has slipped by 23,872 places as we achieved a final rank of #10,338. During the second semester of last year, at our peak on the 6th March, we achieved a global rank of #372,251 and #9,154 in the UK, which are our best rankings on record and whilst our end figures came to #373,953 globally and #12,025 in the UK on 27^th March, we had gained 21,925 places in our UK rank which is a considerable difference compared to this semester.

There are likely several reasons for this gap in figures. The first is the way in which social media was used compared to previous semesters. In previous semesters, the reporters and social media editor kept up a more consistent presence on site such as Facebook and Twitter and articles were shared with groups with a specific interest in them through these sites. Whilst this did happen to some extent this semester, it was not as frequent and largely began to happen towards the end of our time on WINOL, meaning it had a greatly reduced impact on the viewing figures partly as no trust had been built up between the groups and the WINOL team but also because Alexa averages views over 3 months, the poorer figures from previous weeks skew the rank negatively making it look as though the impact of introducing new ideas and techniques is less effective than it actually is. The other key social media aspect that was overlooked at the beginning of the semester is the email reminders sent to everyone within the university on a Wednesday to advertise the bulletin. By picking this up quite late in the semester it suffered similar problems to the lack of sharing articles to relevant groups on social media sites. This is not to say, however, that the use of social media has had no impact on the viewing figures on the news site. According to slim stat, a word press plug in for viewing figures and analysis, Twitter and Facebook combined account for 2.66% of our viewing figures.

We have also tried to use advertising on the university screens and competitions to improve figures however, the contests were not really kept up throughout the semester and were not particularly well advertised. Whilst there is no specific way of measuring the impact from the advertising screens, the number of views since it was implemented seems to have improved, suggesting that it has helped improve the awareness of WINOL on campus.

Another reason that the viewing figures are not as high as before is that we do not seem to update the site as regularly. Whilst before, we have had rotas to ensure content is uploaded over the weekend, this has not come into fruition this year. Partly, this is due to the inconsistency of News Editor each week as well as the lack of volunteers or interested reporters. Since we have had a front page editor, the site has been much fresher and content has come in earlier and even over the weekend but this wasn’t until the last few weeks of the semester so, again, has seen little impact on the Alexa rank however, the success can be seen in some of the viewing figures on slim stat.

The other major thing that could have had an effect on the figures is the disparity in quality and timing of articles and bulletins. Whilst the production of the bulletins has been good and improved by the use of a new vision mixer and green screen image for the background, due to various technical issues, the bulletin has been late most weeks. To help this, I feel the News Editor needs a clearer image of what they want in the bulletin earlier which would be easier if we had one News Editor rather than a rota as well as getting our reporters to plan their articles more in advance and stick to deadlines better. By using more contact lead stories, reporters could get better stories and scoop other local news sources which would not only improve the quality of the bulletin and our viewing figures but also make the News Editor’s job a lot easier.

A problem that we had a lot, especially at the beginning of the year, was over exposure and poor white balancing and framing in packages, especially with PTCs (pieces to camera) which is likely to be, in part, due to both inexperience and the fact that, as VJs (video journalists) it is difficult to focus, etc. your camera when you are stood in front of it as you cannot adjust the settings on the camera remotely and so have to move to change it. However, as our audience would not know this, they would only notice that the video looked strange and therefore feel it was not as professional as it should be which could make them feel that we are not as trustworthy as other news organisations. Over time, the quality of packages did improve but it is possible that we lost some of our audience members at the beginning as they were not impressed with our work.

There have also been a lot of inconsistencies in the quality of written work which has, largely, been much improved by our team of subs however, the amount of work they put into fixing these stories is far greater than it should be; they should be there to fix minor grammatical and layout issues rather than to completely alter the story which, especially in the first few months, they frequently had to do. This impacted on the amount of time the subs had to work on features and how quickly text stories went on the site which could also have impacted on the overall viewing figures as our site would seem outdated as the latest news was slow to appear.

This semester, we launched a weekly entertainment bulletin which has proven quite popular with our audience. It has improved in quality over the weeks but could be better still with greater planning as often the team doesn’t know what sort of things they are going to film until a few days before it goes out and occasionally end up with a lack of packages due to this. However, it has been an important feather in our cap and has increased our audience. Unlike our news bulletin, Access Winchester knows exactly what its audience is and appeals directly to it; by gaining a better understanding of our audience and defining it either as a student or local news site, WINOL news could further increase its audience as our entertainment bulletin has.

The features site has been dramatically altered and improved over the course of the semester and whilst it now looks good, the continuous changes could well have impacted on the overall figures for the site. Previously, the features have helped make the site ‘sticky’ as well as actually bringing more people to the site either by making them aware of the news site through links on the site or by inter-promoting through social media.

However, the new integrated site makes the features look a lot more professional and regularly updated and has good viewing figures according to slim stat though could have done better still if the content was moved over quicker, the site was re-launched properly and it was updated more frequently. It would probably also have helped if the changes had not come into effect part way through the semester as this sudden change in layout may have confused our viewers. Overall however, I feel the features site is running much smoother both due to the new site and the way we now hold features meetings which is now a lot closer to the way the news conferences work. This improvement is reflected in the statistics for the site, with viewing peaks of 559 in one day and an average weekly reach of around 854 viewers since the re-launch according to slim stat.

Like features, sport is usually a big draw for the site. Although this is still true this year, with it being the 2^nd most popular category according to slim stat, the Sports Week news bulletin viewing figures seem to be down compared to previous years. This may be partly due to the lack of niche sport coverage. In previous years, we have covered more unusual sports such as ice hockey which has meant that people with an interest in more unusual sports have tended to flock to our bulletin. However, we have been unable to cover ice hockey but have not found another sport to replace it nor have we been covering the university teams which would draw a new audience with an interest either in a niche or in the university which would appeal to our student demographic.

As the Editor this semester, I have been trying to improve all aspects of WINOL, co-ordinating the editors and attempt to increase the circulation of the site. Over my time in this role, I have developed my communication and leadership skills as well as learning even more about how a newsroom works for all the various members of staff and attempted to use this knowledge to make the various processes involved in WINOL easier and more efficient. This has been quite difficult as we are all at an equal level in that we are all students, it has been difficult to assert authority when it is needed and to effectively be in a position of authority as I have no real power. I have also tried to fix some of the serious issues the team has had with communication. In the beginning, things such as changes to running order or production were not effectively communicated between news editor and head of production but by stressing the importance of this in debriefs it has gradually improved over the semester as have things such as production values in packages, the use of social media and SEO checking articles. I also tried to increase the circulation by suggesting that the features sites ran competitions and to get the bulletin advertised both around campus and elsewhere. The competitions were not as successful as hoped but this may be due to a lack of advertising outside of the magazine’s social media. Whilst our managing editor did manage to get the news site advertised on the screens around the campus, we were unable to find a way of streaming the bulletin on these which we felt would dramatically increase awareness. I also took the decision to group the features content all together in one new site after gathering the support of the various magazine teams which has been relatively successful so far.

Overall, I feel the team has worked well and the site shows this but there is still a lot of room for improvement. Whilst better circulation can be attained by better use of SEO checks, social media and more advertising, the quality and frequency of uploads needs to improve for us to be able to retain viewers’ attention and build a loyal audience.

Newsroom hierarchy and etiquette

Hierarchy

Diagram showing the power structure of the newsroom

Within the standard model of a newsroom, the Editor is responsible for the decisions made by the entire team both legally and ethically. They have to communicate with the publisher (in the case of WINOL, our lecturers) and explain why decisions were made as well as with the entire team, particularly the executive group (or Editors), to ensure that standards are being met, feedback is being used and staff are being effectively deployed.

The Editors are the heads of their respective fields. They answer to the Editor but, depending on the type of Editor in their newsroom, should make a lot of the decisions on what is best for their area themselves. They are in charge of the what content goes onto the site and in what order as well as ensuring that deadlines are met, work is to a good standard and articles are put up onto the site promptly.

Reporters should be close to obsessed with their field and pitch their articles in a competitive manner to their Editor. They should always have at least one good story to pitch in meetings and should always aim for it to be a good, long package at the top of the bulletin rather than an OOV or just a text story and should try to film enough for this even if the Editor only wants a shorter piece as longer packages can be spiked ready to use if others fall through.

Etiquette

• Everyone should respect the news hierarchy and not undermine Editors authority (i.e. if a journalist disagrees with an editor, they should talk to them separately rather than in front of the entire group)
• Teams should work together and with other teams to ensure the best standards are met and that stories are used effectively (i.e. if a news story could also be good for a feature, journalists from both teams should work together to ensure the material is gathered for both pieces)
• All members of the newsroom should try to communicate effectively with one another
• Feedback and criticism should be professional and constructive and not taken personally
• Journalists must try not to let personal disagreements affect their professional work

News editor and presenter rota

Wk	Editor	Presenter	Shadowing Presenter & script writer	Sport Presenter	Guest Editor
1	Spence	Harry	-	-	-
2	Christina	Liam	-	-	-
3	Zeena	Ellen	-	-	Joe Curtis
4	Harry	Ben	-	-	Graham Bell
5	Liam	Nadine	Lucy	-	Chris Coneybeer
6	Spence	Harry	Laura	Lucy	Will Boden
7	Harvey	Christina	Zeena	Laura	Claudia Murg
8	Kate	Spence	Tate	Zeena	Paul Wood
9	Nadine	Sam	Drew	Tate	Unconfirmed
10	Ellen	Harry	-	Drew	Unconfirmed

 

Reporter check list

·         Picture quality

o   Exposure

o   White balance

o   Focus

·         Sound quality

o   No echo

o   No unwanted background noise

o   Clear crisp audio; not tinny or crackly

·         Shots

o   Plenty of cut-aways

o   No zooms or pans

o   Pull focus (if appropriate)

·         Presenting

o   Take care with tone

o   Slow and steady voice overs and PTCs

·         Interviews

o   Sequence for each interviewee

o   Facts in your voice, opinion in theirs

o   Short and simple quotes

o   Depth of shot for background

o   Appropriate headroom

·         Editing

o   Don’t begin with a PTC

o   Aim to start with best pics and relevant nat. sot.

o   Ensure presenter link to package does not repeat anything from the start of the VT

o   Make sure interviews start talking before their image comes on screen

·         Text stories

o   Should go up quickly; add detail later once you have done your interviews

o   Good quality still picture

o   A version of your VT after the bulletin

o   Good quotes

o   Subject and verb agreement on plurality

Week 1 WINOL feedback

For a first week back, WINOL actually ran pretty smoothly. The production team managed to maintain a calm and professional appearance despite being launched into some stressful situations and managed to hit the 3 o’clock live recording deadline which was superb.

I think the order of stories was slightly unusual. I think we really need to work out exactly who our target audience is to ensure the news order is optimised for them to ensure we grew our viewing figures. Part of what will really help with this is ensuring that the news conference operates as a pitching process where reporters give the news editor their top line, angle, access, etc. This will help the news editor work out which stories are more news worthy and therefore the best order in which to place them in the bulletin.

I definitely liked how well the spike was used this week and how decisive the editor was with cutting stories that were not finished in time or not up to standard. Please make sure you stick to the deadlines given to you if you want to be in the bulletin. Even if you can’t make the bulletin, your package will still need to be finished to accompany your text story on the site. Speaking of text stories, these need to be put up on the site quickly, both by the writers and the subeditors. You can edit the story to add in more detail as you do your interviews, but before then you need to have a skeleton story, probably ending with more to follow, to keep the site looking fresh. The subeditors have been doing a pretty good job so far but must keep up with demand. For a first week though, you’ve done well. You must, however, ensure you fill in the SEO section carefully and tick the ‘NEWS’ category to put it up on the site and it’s probably not worth posting it immediately to twitter when you upload it as it cuts off most of the text. Instead you should let Georgia, our social media editor, know that a story has been uploaded or updated to she can tweet about it.

As Georgia was away this week, the social media use was not fantastic, though the second years that took over briefly deserve a massive round of applause as they did a good job at short notice. It is very important to tweet things directly to people with an interest in the story and for you follow, on your professional account, people and groups who are relevant to your patch.

In terms of packages, there were a few things I’d like you all to work on for next week:

·         Aim to begin with nat. sot. (natural sound on tape) and try to avoid opening with a PTC (piece to camera)

·         Similarly, try not to say things like “I went to find out” unless it’s a more features-y topic as you are not the news, what you’re reporting on is

·         Ensure you film a lot of cut-aways

·         Plan your shots out (even if it’s just in your head) before you leave to film

·         Take care when you set up – make sure you have good quality sound and that your shot is:

o   white balanced

o   well lit

o   not over exposed

o   following the rule of thirds

o   level (check the bubble in the tripod)

·         Avoid writing about the uni as it can be construed as promotional towards them, which is not ideal as we try to be an independent news company

·         Keep your voice over or PTC at a good pace (around 3 to 4 words per second) – often you are talking faster than you perceive yourself to be, so slow down

·         Don’t be afraid to ask your interviewee to ‘dumb down’ or explain more detailed or confusing things; if you don’t understand, neither will our audience

·         Be prepared to film things several times; don’t settle for an okay shot when you have time to try a few more times and get it right

·         Make sure your scripting and package has been checked over for legal errors because I don’t think I could cope with being sued before my career has taken off…

I realise this seems like one hell of a long list, but it’s shorter than when we were in your position, so be proud of the fact you’re better than we were when we started.

Presenter Rota:

As such a large number of you were interested in presenting the bulletin, I have had to prioritise those of us who will, sadly, finish working on WINOL this semester but to give you second years a chance to present and to learn the ropes by getting you to shadow our presenters and (long suffering) scriptwriter as well as present either the sports bulletin or Sportsweek (depending on which Tom would rather you do.)

Week	Presenter	Shadow Presenter & Script Writer (Harry)	Sports bulletin presenter
2	Liam
3	Ellen	Drew
4	Ben	Lucy	Drew
5	Nadine	Laura	Lucy
6	Harry	Zeena	Laura
7	Christina	Tate	Zeena
8	Spence		Tate
9	Sam
10	Harry

If you are shadowing a presenter or presenting Sportsweek/the Sports bulletin, you should still try to find a story for the news bulletin however, you may have to let someone else do the package for it whilst you take charge of the OOV belt or something similar as a way of allowing you more time to get to know the processes of presenting and script writing for the bulletin.

Topics for discussion in Editors meeting:

·         Split bulletin

·         Radio

·         Outsourcing features

·         Deadlines & text stories

·         Social Media

·         European election show

·         “WinchStock”

·         Any issues raised that need addressing