Practical Radio

Over the past two sessions, we have been gathering and editing audio for radio news and, so far, I’m loving it! Partially because I feel like I’m doing really well and understand it but mostly because I find it both interesting and fun. What I didn’t find fun was talking to actual members of the public… 

Let me start at the beginning. After our session on different types of radio news, we were asked to come up with a question and record the answers given to us by ‘the man on the street’… which would’ve been fine if I didn’t hate talking to people I don’t know. Stick me in a room with friends or in front of my own video camera and I can talk for England but ask me to talk to a stranger, whether individually, to a crowd or over the radio or television and you’ve got no chance (though, thinking about it, I read the news on the radio a couple of times before Christmas, so… slight exaggeration)

Before that though, we had to set up the Marantz. People that have only used the pocket tracks seem to be of the opinion that these are big, scary and complicated – they’re really not. All you have to do is put the microphone in the socket saying mono, the headphones in the bit that says headphones and you’re pretty much ready to rock (though you want to check it’s recording in the right format and it’s not set to internal mic). Saying this, we got out, turned it on and decided it didn’t have battery – in the future we’ll remember to check before we leave, though it was a brilliant excuse for a coffee break.

So, once that was sorted and I’d conned Emma into doing the talking, we set off to ask the world, only to be rejected by it. Like, completely. Which is when she decided it was my turn…

We got back with 4 really good responses and, before the next lecture, I got bored and downloaded some free audio editing software to have a go. Apparently, I’m quite good at it. I think this is largely due to my previous editing experience from a-level media and video club (video club = youth group who filmed things and had better equipment than the local TV station place). Anyway, by the time we got to the lecture, I already knew what bits of audio I wanted and roughly how to use the software so creating the voxpops was fairly straightforward. We then recorded a short piece to introduce them, voiced by Emma (because if I had to ask strangers, she had to introduce it – it’s only fair).

How to use the radio booths:

1.       Turn on mixer & mic

2.       Turn the 2 grey master faders on the right all the way up

3.       Ensure mic is plugged in (should be in the far left, the fader below controls it)

4.       Turn on laptop & open Adobe Audition

5.       Record by pressing red record button on transport controls. Select 44100 stereo, 16 bit

6.       Ensure speaker is off/muted to stop feed back

7.       To play back, stop recording, switch mic off and speaker on & press play

For next week, we’re finding instrumental music to use as a bed (I would assume that’s what it’s for anyway).

I got bored and had a go home here…

(Bed: Daedelus - Make It Drums. Licenced under a creative commons attribution licence. Link to FMA site: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Daedelus/Bonus_Beat_Blast_2011/15_daedelus-make_it_drums)

We also learnt about techniques for a good radio interview. It is essentially dependant on having good questions and the ability to operate the equipment well.

Equipment:

·         Ensure it works before using it (ahem…)

·         Hold microphone firmly and keep steady to avoid mic rattle

·         Keep recording; pausing it won’t lessen your editing at all and you may miss something interesting or important

Questions:

·         Try to make it sound and flow like an unscripted chat

·         Listen to answers given and adapt around them

·         Research your interviewee and subject first

·         Avoid closed questions

·         Encourage interviewee to continue by looking interested and nodding (even if it makes you look a bit stupid)

That’s it so far; looking forward to learning more next week.

Media in the 21st Century - Popular Music History

Due to the problematic nature of proving firsts, it is better to look at popular music history as a series of events without using specific dates.

Modern music revolutions tend to follow the same sort of pattern:

·         1920’s – Jazz – originally mistrusted, seen as dangerous, associated with drugs & miscegenation

·         1950’s – Elvis & Rock ‘n’ Roll – morally suspect, thought to sexualise young women

·         1960’s – Dylan ‘goes electric’ – seen as a betrayal of culture and politics – also a technological revolution

·         1970’s – Punk – created fear over moral values, seen as untalented

Nowadays these styles are seen as significant steps forwards in music and are often praised and therefore have cultural worth (often leading to increased prices on related items – ‘vintage’).

This sort of pattern can also be seen in technological revolutions; the use of amplification in music can be debated as either de-skilling or democratising the ability to play instruments such as the guitar in the same way that auto-tune has with singing.

This shows that histories are constructed narratives which can be made to fit the views of an audience to provide evidence for a certain point of view.

Romanticism, Realism and Revolution

In 1698, there was a point where instead of the British Empire, we had the Scottish Empire instead. At a cost of 1/5 of their total wealth, Scots went across the ocean to set up a colony called “New Caledonia” with disastrous consequences – the area was a malarial swamp and many of its inhabitants died. Scotland became essentially bankrupt, making it easy for England to bribe them into signing the Act of Union in 1707.

1746 saw the Jacobite rebellion, ending in the defect of Prince Charles Stuart at Culloden which ultimately established the United Kingdom.

Ireland signed their Act of Union in 1801.

1799 - The government created income tax as a “temporary measure” to pay for the expensive Napoleonic War

In around 1805, British naval power is absolute and blockades French ports, allowing British exports to boom. With Europe at war, Britain is able to build its empire without resistance and creates a monopoly trade with South America – unfortunately this results in the enslavement of millions of Africans in the Transatlantic Triangular Trade.

The end of the war resulted in the end of Britain’s boom and the beginning of widespread unemployment and a dramatic fall in wages. This led to the Corn Laws which were enforced between 1815 and 1846. These laws imposed a tariff on imported grains in an attempt to make British grown produce both profitable and the most affordable to buy and save the British Farming Industry. Industrialists of the time were against the Corn Laws as it meant they had to keep wages higher in order for their workers to be able to afford bread to eat; by repealing the laws, they would be able to pay them far less for the same amount of work as they would still be able to feed themselves.

The ending of the Corn Laws in conjunction with the Enclosures Act forced farmers to move to the cities to make room for more efficient, industrialised farming. For the factory owners at this time, this allowed them to make wages incredibly low due to the affordability of bread and the amount of competition to secure employment but the towns and cities were dire slums and had little or no political representation in Parliament. This created pressure for political reform and after an initially fairly brutal political reaction, the government created the 1832 Reform Act.

The 1834 Poor Laws led to the creation of workhouses which were on the utilitarian belief that people aim to live with as much pleasure and little pain as possible. The solution to unemployment needed to be worse than being employed in the factories as otherwise no-one would work due to the awful conditions.

William Cobbett was a Romantic. Romanticism formed a new moral system based on manners, aesthetic motive and the importance of taste. It rejected the Enlightenment and supported organised religion and nationalism. It also led to anti-Semitism; in rejecting the Enlightenment, they also rejected the religious tolerance that came with it. This was further fuelled by pseudo-scientific theories of race and racial inferiority of the time. This is seen in Cobbett’s rural rides when he writes:

“I could not help calculating how long it might be before some Jew would begin to fix his eye upon Highclere, and talk of putting out the present owner.”

Romanticism in England was, essentially, paused during the Napoleonic War for some reason that I personally cannot quite understand. However, this made way for the industrial revolution which romantics were against as it destroyed the beauty of towns and the countryside. After the war finished, Romanticism began to be popular again.

Cobbett set out to ‘tour’ the countryside and document the effects of the Industrial Revolution on farmers in his book titled “Rural Rides”. This is an empirical way of gathering information as it is derived from sensory data and experience rather than thought and logic.

Realism also becomes popular in light of the Industrial Revolution; Charles Dickens in his novels depicts ordinary people in ordinary settings in a way that is both frank and honest and was inspired by the squalor, neglect and abandonment he saw around him. In this respect, it could also be argued that Cobbett is also a realist.

Public Affairs - Councils

First of all, contrary to my belief, MP’s don’t control the council. Neither do they have any control over the courts, though I didn’t think they did. All MPs do is represent their constituency in Parliament. That's literally it. Well, perhaps not quite literally, but if you had to give the job a four word description “represent constituency in Parliament” would be it.

The council (and therefore not the MPs) control the budget for the area and have all the power. It also has a hierarchy; from most powerful to least, it goes:

County Council

District Council

Parish Council/Town Forum

Large cities, however, often have a Unitary Authority which, essentially, is all of these merged into one.

This table demonstrates the differences in power for local councils:

Hampshire County Council (HCC)	Winchester City Council (WCC)
Turnover £1.8 billion	Turnover £12.5 million
Responsible for: 500,000 homes, Education (170,000 pupils and 10,000 teachers), 53 libraries, 8 County Parks	Bins, leisure, parking, environmental health.

Councillors, much like MPs, are voted for. The area that votes for them is called a ward (for MPs it’s a constituency).

When reporting on Council meetings, you do have qualified privilege but it is subject to explanation or contradiction. This means that you must ask people involved for their stance and give them the opportunity to deny any allegations made against them. This must be included in your story.

WINOL Review

It seems that over the holidays WINOL has undergone a bit of a face lift. Whilst this, in many respects, is nice to see in an ever evolving world of media, I can’t help but feel that many of the elements are strange or unnecessary, particularly the “voice of God” at the beginning of the show; for a British audience, which this programme is aimed at, this is particularly unusual and, in my opinion, off-putting. In fact, it made me laugh. I’m not sure if this is because I found it so peculiar or because it sent me into a micro-rage at how everything nowadays is becoming “Americanised” (which is, in itself, an Americanisation – they’re becoming almost impossible to avoid).

However, on the whole it’s still very good, particularly as a student news programme. Of course, there are a few areas for improvement; some of the presenters talk much too fast still and, on occasion, look far too casual in the posture or positioning in front of the camera and there are also a couple of really slight issues with some of the lighting and sound, but perhaps I’m just over scrutinising it.

I also am still having problems with the length of time given to sport. It may be, in part at least, due to the fact that I don’t have any personal interest in it, but I can’t help but think that the amount of coverage given to one individual game of football is a little ridiculous. For example the coverage of the Eastleigh game this week lasted one minute and 28 seconds which doesn’t sound a lot but considering the whole sports section is four minutes 21 long and the entire bulletin is just over 15 minutes, you can start to see what I’m talking about. The same thing goes for coverage of the ice hockey. This is not to say that these aren’t well done, they just feel like they drag on a little. I think this may be largely due to the amount of detail and large gaps between sentences filled with clips that don’t feel overly relevant. The coverage of the Winchester City game I think is done much better; it’s short and to the point, giving enough detail to know what has happened without going into so much that it seems to go on forever…

Perhaps I’m biased with my major dislike for sport (particularly football).

Watch this week’s WINOL bulletin here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo0Xbie48wo

Radio News

In case you missed the lecture or don't go to University here but are interested, this video summarises what we learnt in our first Radio News session:

 

I hope you found it useful/entertaining/interesting.

With a bit of luck (and a lot of coffee) I will finish the HCJ blog I have been working on for three days now at some point soon; something to look forward to.

Until next time!

Media in the 21st Century – Media History, Censorship and the BBC

As with many events, there are various approaches in which you can look at Media history. Week 1’s media readings outline some of these.

Curran and Seaton, in their book “Power Without Responsibility”, outline two different ways in which the rise of the free press can be seen. The first is the “Whig” approach where the press winning its freedom is depicted as a “heroic struggle against state repression”[1] which is often accredited to the abolition of acts such as Fox’s Libel Act in 1792 and the press taxation between 153 and 1861. The second, the “market” approach, implies that the press did not become free until it reached financial independence through advertising and the growth of profits through this “rescued the press from its compromising dependence on state or party subsidies.”[2]

However, it could also be argued that the press’ reliance on advertising to be profitable is in itself a form of censorship – as this is what they relied upon to be able to make a profit, they would be inclined not to run stories which the advertisers or the public did not like as this would affect the amount of companies advertising in their paper. Of course, you could also argue that other companies would be willing to advertise in their place, and therefore allows much greater freedom than government or party subsidies.

These perspectives can also be applied to television – as the BBC is, indirectly, government funded, it does not need to concern itself, necessarily, with shows that a mass market will enjoy and is therefore able to produce texts which are educational and informational as well as entertaining, as per its charter, whilst commercial channels need their texts to appeal to a large number of people in order to get funding from advertisements.

What is also interesting to look at is whether technology is driven by social needs (symptomatic technology) or if technology alters the way society works (technological determinism) which is looked at in Raymond William’s “Television”. In this reading, he discusses several different ways in which the relationship between television’s invention, the texts produced and the way in which society uses it can be viewed – whether television has changed the way in which society works or if the evolution of society has driven television to develop the way it has as well as how the market may or may not have affected the development of either or even both.

Kevin Williams, in chapter 5 of his book “Get me a Murder a Day”, seems to imply that technological determinism is not necessarily accurate as, in the case of the radio, technology is often developed for one purpose such as the military and then turned into a form of media afterwards, often by companies selling receivers for the medium (and therefore, supporting a market perspective) – “The BBC began as a private company… formed by the leading wireless manufacturers.”[3] However, you could interpret it as providing evidence for technological determinism as society adapted itself around the new technology rather than the other way round.

All of this suggests that there is no definitive perspective with which media history can be viewed, though many would disagree having already formed their own opinion on the subject.