Four weeks into the production of WINOL and it's about time I blogged on my thoughts on proceedings thus far.
All things considered the programme is now looking a lot more like a professional, well-rounded news and sport production. My role on the production team (and part-time presenter) has been a valuable experience and I have encountered many 'toils and snares' to quote a famous song lyric, all of which have furthered my education as a journalist.
The first week was always going to be riddled with cliches concerning rustiness and general lack of practise. To the team's credit, already by week two we were producing a bulletin that mirrored the standard that the third years reached at the end of last year. Similar standards were reached in weeks three and four, an effort praised by visiting guest editors from well-knows news corporations.
There are, however, a few minor issues to solve. Editorally, there appear to be few hard-hitting news stories with strong angles and pictures. Admittedly, Winchester is quite a sleepy town news-wise with only the odd parking issue rearing its ugly head now and again. On a positive note, it's good to see reporters working sequences into their packages and starting to eliminate the jarring GVs that smack of rushed filming and a general lack of pictures.
The sport team will always have the advantage of forward planning and has now reached the point where it can be creative and produce more entertaining news packages. It is easy for them to slip into a state of dependency on highlights rather than belt-and-braces news stories concerning sport. It would be nice to see a real sports news story rather than a procession of highlight reels.
The structure of WINOL is now easing the workload on the various departments. Consequently, the website now looks far more professional and eye-catching. The fact that content is pouring into the system is fantastic and, coupled with the drive to include more visual content (pictures and video), the website is now like a living, breathing organism compared to the asthmatic, forgotten runt of the litter it appeared to resemble a year ago. As a member of the production team, it's great to be able to come up with clever, pun-laden headlines when subbing a story.
Let's hope that by Christmas we can pull our socks up even further still and challenge for some serious student media awards. In my opinion, they can start engraving the trophy now. Here is the latest bulletin exclusively for your viewing pleasure.
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