WINOL - Critical Reflection; Year 2 Semester 1

Over the last few years WINOL has grown and developed to become one of the most successfully run editorial projects by student journalists. This year the WINOL team has advanced due to an increased number of students that equally benefits and limits the project. As we cover a small area that lacks in currently occurring news it is difficult for each reporter to find a new and interesting story each week however when it comes to production, features and editing it is useful to have a number of people to help out and step in when needed. Alongside an acknowledged website, we produce a 10-15 minute bulletin that covers the latest news in relation to court reports, transport and local news as well as sport events at a very high standard that is both professional and legitimate.

As an on- going project it is vital that we keep WINOL updated and ambitious which is reinforced by  measuring our success through our online ratings and links into other various forms of online media. Our increasingly high Alexa rating, places us in the top 500,000 globally, and 10,424 as of the 10^th of December in the UK. With these rankings it places us higher than any other UK student production that we are aware of, whilst also exceeding the local newspaper “The Hampshire Chronicle.” By hitting these rankings it shows the expansive market we are reaching, from Portsmouth to Southampton, Basingstoke and other surrounding areas whilst also acknowledging that our readership is split between residents and students in Winchester.

One of the most recognisable progressions from last year is the improvement within the website, as well as the branches into online media forms such as Facebook and Twitter. The website has transformed due to our web editors changing the platform from Joomla to WordPress that automatically changes the template design. Although WordPress limits the capability of the site, it aesthetically adds a more formatted and structured design that keeps in context with the broadsheet approach that we've chosen to comply too.  The site efficiently distributes the most recent three stories accompanied with a picture that brings a continuous feeling to the site as the audience now knows they can access the top stories each week. By including features on the website it keeps the audience engaged as it extends to other interests such as the arts, entertainment, fashion and beauty; a vital key to bring in readers.

Another tool used to bring in readers is through the use of Facebook, by linking the WINOL site, Facebook users are more likely to click on the links building a positive reputation for WINOL as well as boosting the Alexa ratings.

By including an online twitter feed on the front page of the website it emphasises this “live” quality that again provides an easy access point for news and top stories that the audience can connect too.

We started off our first Monday learning the basic rules and regulations to adhere to when gathering, reporting and editing a news report to feature in the bulletin. Many of us had little idea as to how difficult it would be to put together a full news programme that was engaging, legally safe and professionally presented.

To begin with we were all split into three different teams, news, sport and features as well as voluntarily helping out the third years with production work. In our own meetings we were advised on what to report, how to film particular pieces and how to write scripts to accompany our pieces.

My involvement with WINOL this semester has been as a sports reporter, an area that has never been covered by any female reporters so far since WINOL began, making me determined to create my own niche in a male orientated occupation.

The problem I had with this role to begin with was the fact that I had no interest in sport, did not follow a particular football team and had no idea what the offside rule meant. Each member on the sports team was assigned to a particular sporting team whether that was in football, rugby or ice-hockey as well as other sporting news relevant to the area. I soon became the newest supporter of Basingstoke FC.

The first game I attended was when Basingstoke town welcomed Havant and Waterlooville to their stadium in Basingstoke. Once I had found the grounds, I was quite content to set up my tripod and camera at the top of the stands giving me a good vantage point which covered the whole area of the pitch. I soon discovered though that following the ball with the camera wasn't as easy and simple as I thought it might have been. I didn't anticipate the speed at which the ball would travel and the different angles the players would run to and shoot from making it difficult to manoeuvre the camera in order to capture the shot. It was important to move the camera steadily without any jerky movements which I found incredibly difficult to begin with as you couldn't anticipate where the ball was going to go, a skill that needed time and practise.

When it came to editing, I really struggled with the technicalities of the programme and how to piece together the footage I had shot. I encountered a few problems as the tripod that had positioned the camera had been at an angle, meaning the footage had come out lopsided. I also had not adjusted the settings properly meaning the footage had come out extremely bright due to the sun making it difficult to see some of the goals that had been scored. I also lacked crowd shots and a variety of opening and closing shots that could be used to make the piece more interesting, all of this was down to a lack of experience and could be improved upon. Despite all of this my piece made the bulletin with help from some high-tech editing and an engaging script.

Coming round to week two I was even more motivated to get into the bulletin, marking my usual spot in the stands it was time for Basingstoke to play against Eastbourne Borough. It was vital that I made sure that my tripod was on an even surface so my footage would come out straight this time round, as well as adjusting the settings to suit the conditions I was shooting in, this time in floodlit circumstances as it was an evening match. I felt that I have improved on my movement and co-ordination when following the ball as my shots came out a lot smoother and more efficient. I also focused on really capturing the crowd and their reactions to try and include the atmosphere within the piece to make it more charismatic and appealing for an audience to watch as you can connect with the emotions and feelings projected from the crowd. I was disappointed as I was unable to get an interview at the end of the match from Basingstoke’s manager which I thought would give the piece a bit more variety as so far the piece heavily relied on voice overs and camera shots. Although the piece didn't make the bulletin it was included in Sports Week, an extra feature included in WINOL that discusses and broadcasts all the sport that has been reported on for the week that hasn't made the news bulletin. However for that week I thought that I have really improved on my camera shooting abilities and managed to get several professional looking shots as well as using editing techniques such as slow motion and audio functions to accentuate the goals that were scored.

For the third week, Basingstoke Town were playing away so I was instructed to steer away from football and attend a Winchester rugby match. It was a good chance to experience another sport and test out my refined camera skills in a different environment. I found that filming a rugby match was quite different to a football match as the camera angles needed to be filmed wider and longer as the ball was often kicked higher in the air or longer across the field. It was harder to establish more crowd shots as it was a smaller venue than the Basingstoke stadium so having to improvise and think more creatively was a bit more of a challenge however there were some nice opening and closing shots to play around with when editing. Just as I thought I had finally gotten the hang of filming I encountered a problem with the audio, fortunately I managed to solve the problem later on however I had missed around ten minutes of sound during the match. By gaining experience and practising on Final Cut, I easily solved the problem by grabbing crowd sound captured later on in the footage and copying it to the parts that were missing the audio, a technique I had learned from another member of the sports team. Again I was unable to get an interview which really frustrated me as I wanted to add more diversity and depth to the piece; an aim that I was determined to pursue for my next piece.

After filming both football and rugby I still felt that I hadn't created my own individual mark within my role as a sports reporter, so I decided to branch out from football and report on something a little bit different. For this week’s piece I decided to create a feature rather than a match report, the subject of my feature being horse polo.

As my confidence had grown using the cameras, editing programmes and writing the scripts, with three pieces already used in Sports Week and in the bulletin I felt it would be innovative, fun and a tad unusual to report on Winchesters Polo team. To begin with I didn't know along with many others that Winchester even had a polo team but after getting in contact with the Captain of the team she was more than pleased for me to come along and promote the sport. For this feature I really wanted to get past the pretentious front the sport seemed to be affiliated with and find out the real truth behind playing polo. I decided to get as many cut away and opening shots as possible, filming the stables, the horses, players and the arena used for matches so I could really experiment and play around with different options when it came to editing.  I then decided to do a piece to camera so I could include that option if the piece suited, explaining briefly about the history of the team and the exciting news that they were joining a league.

Finally I managed to achieve my aim, setting up a detailed interview with the Captain of the team and one of the novice players, an important angle to the piece so the audience could get first-hand information revolving around the sport. As an extra for entertainment value I decided it would be extremely original and inventive to get my own perspective on the sport by getting on the horse and having a go myself. By doing my reporters sign off from the horse the piece became memorable and had a certain individual edge to it that I had wanted to achieve.

I found this a great experience and thoroughly enjoyed this aspect of reporting, with help from the guest speaker Graham Bell, a former student and now producer of Omni Sport his advice was crucial when putting together the feature. He aided me in how to script the piece, adding in puns for the voice over that added amusement, for example when I struggled to get on the horse he recommended scripting in something entertaining such as “watching the team from the side lines made me eager to get back in the saddle, however this proved to be my first challenge”.

I was extremely pleased when my feature made the final bulletin, as achieving a place in the news bulletin shows that the hard work and dedication you have put in has paid off. It provides recognition for yourself as well as the rest of the team who have found original and interesting stories for that week. It is a fantastic learning resource that gives students a first-hand experience into a working newsroom as well as producing an accomplished news channel that everyone who has participated in this semester, should be proud of.