WINOL: week four running schedule

News

Lead Story

GBH (Andrew Giddings)

Length: 2mins VT

Deadline: Weds 12pm

Second Story

Depression jobs (Stu Appleby)

Length: 1min 15secs NIB

Deadline: Weds 1pm

Third Story

Gower Graduation (Aimee Pickering))

Length: 1min VT

Deadline: Weds 9am

Sport

Winchester Comeback
Length: 50secs VT

Guy Butters Interview

1min

Totton
Length: 22secs OOV

Basketball

Length: 28secs VT

WINOL STATS

With the Third week of WINOL now safely under our belts, the amount of traffic has risen considerably. Both the Alexa Ranking and the GB Ranking has gone up again, giving an obvious indication that the amount of activity WINOL is experiencing has increased. I predict, and would be very disappointed, if the rankings do not continue to rise in the next few weeks as WINOL enters a period of stability and routine.

Now for the real stats, the percent of global Internet users who visit winol.co.uk has risen by 30%, and although the percentage is very low for overall internet traffic, for it to rise by such a percentage is no mean feat. In addition to this, the percentage of visits to winol.co.uk that consist of a single page view has also gone down. This can be interpreted in a number of ways: people are actively seeking out and are thus navigating the site, or that people have accidentally stumbled upon WINOL and are genuinely interested and intrigued by it's content.

The time spent on the site has risen dramatically by 165%. This is simply because we have added new content etc, but I am sure that promotion and competitions have had a huge effect on the traffic hits. On top of this, the bounce percentage has fallen again, and by 10%. The fact that the bounce rate has reduced, by no matter how much, is very positive and speaks volumes for us as a publication; people are logging on and not leaving the site on first glance.

The percentage of visits to winol.co.uk that come from a search engine has gone down again by 85%. This is very positive as people are going straight to our URL- meaning that people are taking note of the various mediums of promotion made available. Increased promotion brings people straight to the site, making the use of a search engine redundant. Despite the fact we have made our URL noticeable, the concept of search engine optimisation needs to be looked at, as even if people are looking for us, they may not find us. A negative factor in less search engine searches reaching us is that it doesn't bring WINOL higher on Google and others, which is a problem.

More notes of positivity can be taken from the Search Query Results. More direct searches for WINOL are bringing users to the site i.e. the most common search that brings people to the site is 'winol tv'. This is particularly interesting as it shows that people know we have a bulletin and that these people are not people who are overly familiar with us (meaning unique viewers), because our own students, and people who regularly use WINOL, know that we are not called "Winol TV". Furthermore, "Ba Journalism Winchester" has gone down in regards to the search enquiries which bring traffic to WINOL, which means people are searching for us as an independent news provider as opposed to a University-based publication.

As far as what content users are viewing when on WINOL- our top three most viewed articles are made up of our competition and two features. This would reaffirm the saying that 'people come for the news but stay for the features'. Clearly features are a vital tool in increasing traffic flow. It was obvious from the start of WINOL that the competition would bring the most traffic to the site, but it is now clear that features are bringing more traffic than news, so ensuring that they are of a high quality is imperative.

National Student Journalism Awards

The number of awards for journalism excellence are certainly on the rise. With the Guardian Journalism awards increasing their categories of awards, and other establishments initiating their own prizes, there has never been a better time to celebrate journalistic achievement.

For Journalism students at the University of Winchester to win any of these awards would be hugely significant for a manner of reasons. As far as publicity goes, to win such a prestigious award would direct attention towards the University of Winchester's Journalism courses, and drive focus and crucial traffic towards our deservedly treasured Winchester News Online publication.

As I write this, many people's faces spring to mind, who, I feel, could easily put up strong competition, if not, win, any of these awards. Despite the shortlist consisting of mostly Russell Group Universities, there are a few educational institutes which are certainly on a par with the meagre reputation of that of the University of Winchester e.g. Nottingham Trent University who have two entrants this year for the category of Broadcast Journalist of the Year alone! I mean, come on, if we can't muster up one credible journalist for the Guardian's shortlist, and Nottingham Trent have two, then there is something seriously wrong.

The notorious Guardian Student Media Awards are unfortunately now closed to new entries, but if we prepare now then we can triumph in every category next year. This year there are six categories of awards, which include: Publication of the Year, Reporter of the Year, Writer of the Year, Photographer of the Year, Digital Journalist of the Year, and Broadcast Journalist of the Year.

For Publication of the Year, there is indeed some very credible entrants this year. The University of Manchester's The Mancunion, and Kingston University's the River, offer very good arguments for claiming the prize, with both being very content-rich and engaging. However, Winchester News Online offers a greater sense of interactivity as well as consisting of intriguing content. Both these challengers offer very little in the way of video; they certainly don't produce live news bulletins, but where they come up trumps is that their writers are clearly gifted wordsmiths who produce content thick and fast. If Winchester News Online improves it's feature content and reputation, it would easily take the prize as Publication of the Year due to it being both more attractive and user-friendly than potential rivals. To get noticed we need to promote and nominate WINOL, or it will be forever condemned to the depths of obscurity and anonymity, while lazier and archaic publications reap the rewards through lack of evolutionary competition.

On an individual level there are also some very gifted people who could enter and win the categories of Reporter of the Year, Writer of the Year, and Photographer of the Year. As proved with the Gonzo pieces - where the third years followed an MP on their campaign trail - we can make great copy and I strongly believe that some of the footage would not look out of place on a television programme such as Channel 4's Dispatches. And what's more, with the dedication and lengths that many reporters are willing to go for a great story for WINOL, what excuse is there not to nominate yourself or for others not to nominate you? The same goes for Writer of the Year and Photographer of the Year - Many writers and one particular photographer spring to mind as I write. It's all about putting yourselves out there!

As far as Winchester News Online is concerned, it will win next year's Publication of the Year- If it doesn't then then justice has not been fulfilled.

Media Law and Ethics: Defences

Despite Defenses being one of the briefer areas discussed in Mcnae's Essential Law For Journalists, let that take nothing away from it's significance and importance in Journalism law.

As with other lectures, we were given a written task, which depicted a situation that could cause controversy (i.e. libel) in being published. The task was to study a series of quotes with regard to the topic of the planning permission for wind turbines, and decide which quotes were safe to run and what sort of privilege protected us Journalists.

Here is an example of one of the quotes which gives balance and fair comment (defence) about the erection of the wind turbines:

'Mr Wagstaff isn't at the meeting, but one of his employees Geoff Salt is. He says: "I'm no expert on green energy, but Mr Wagtaff has told me that without the income form the turbines, he might have to pack it in, and I'll be on the dole. So I think it's a good idea."' Including this quote gives balance, as such a quote defends Mr Wagstaff, who is under attack form other people, with regards to him putting up the wind turbines. This would be an essential quote to include in any article publication as it would stop the article being one-sided.

An example of a quote which should only be included in an article after being deemed safe was: 'After the meeting has ended, Mr Eagle comes up to you and says: "The truth is that Wagstaff was black-balled by the committee last year and this is his revenge. Not a lot I can say, but many of us think he was routinely handing in falsified cards. Never settled his bar bill either. Not our sort at."' Using this quote could prove very dangerous indeed as it is highly defamatory of Mr Wagstaff. The points that Mr Eagle make about Mr Wagstaff cannot be classed as being of public interest as they are irrelevant with regards to the wind turbines being built. Also, the quote contains malice and prejudice throughout, which are aspects that make such claims hard to defend if they were to come to print. This is a very hot topic indeed.

The main points of discussion this week was that of Privilege. Privilege allows journalists to write or broadcast material which can be defamatory, or untrue, or even both at the same time. It gives us protection from being sued.

There are two types of privilege:

Absolute Privilege - where it is applicable, is a complete answer and bar to any action for defamation. It does not matter whether the words are true or false. It does not matter that they were spoken or written maliciously. Absolute Privilege applies to court reports, but reports must fair, accurate and contemporaneous.

Qualified Privilege - is available as a defence where it is considered important that the facts should be freely known in the public interest. Qualified Privilege is available on many occasions under statute (e.g. for a report of a public meeting). The defence is qualified because it is lost if the motive in publishing is malicious.

WINOL: Week 3

Third week in and I am now very aware as to my responsibilties as Managing Editor. First thing, Monday morning, Cat and I went over the bulletin together to prepare for her debrief to everyone in the newsroom. We went over the notes from my blog, which I had written the night before so we left no stones unturned and all problems with the bulletin were noted to give the best possible feedback.

As far as directing people to the site goes, this week's progress is worth taking note. I sent endless emails to valued websites who could link us to sites, which in turn will increase our traffic through the accumulation of more back links. As well as sending many emails, I also added an an event to the Winchester City Council website so that anyone visiting the site will see our website advertised (winchester.gov.uk). In addition to this, I requested advertising at the Discovery Centre in Winchester.

For the first time I published our statistics for www.winol.co.uk. The statitics were accompanied by a detailed analysis as to where we are at the moment as far as traffic stats and page rank etcetera, and also what we now need to do to improve the number of hits and unique users we receive. From the analysis of lasts year's Winol and that of the previous week, it was blantantly obvious that most of our traffic was coming from people visiting our competitions, so it was clear that we needed a big drive in competiton promotion for this week (my area); I decided we needed double the amount of flyers than the previous week. The analysis of statistics led to me making a new blog - on Chris's requests - that would detail all of my notes, which I thought would be of use to everyone on the course (www.winolinformation.blogspot.com).

At the editor's meeting I had to stand in for Kayleigh, which meant I had to take notes and discuss the strength of the stories, with the other editors, that the reporters had offered earlier that day. This was simple but good experience for me for the future when I have to stand in for others again. After this, I made my usual notes on the temporary running orders, which would be put on the wall and made available to people (who wanted them) in the newsroom.

After discussing the issue of promotion with Brian, we decided that radio could be a good path to go down. Most local radio stations didn't get back to me, however I got in contact with South Today (ambitious, I know) and they suggested that Winol could try and get some promotion on BBC Radio Solent. They suggested that I could try and get on the Nick Girdler programme to talk about Winol - this an area I am definitely going persue in the next few weeks. Local Radio would be a great way to promote us as people respect the honesty of radio, and if we could get someone on from Winol, our traffic would easily double.

Other Managing Editor responsibilties I had to do this week included: helping to write the competititon script, making all hard-copy advertisment and leaflets, intervene in disputes between one of the section managers and one of their writers, keep the news room tidy and equipped with essentials (i.e. newspapers and paper for the printer), emailing Keith to put the word out on Wednesday, and run and edit the autocue script.

The achievement I am most pleased with this week is an email I received on Friday from Ian Murray (Editor of the Daily Echo). As with many other publications, I had asked if we could promote ourselves via there publications and establish links with their sites, and Ian had got back to me and said that there would be a posssibilty of Winol working with the Daily Echo and that we should come to the Daily Echo to discuss working with their paper.

WINOL BULLETIN REVIEW: WEEK 3

It was a highly satisfactory bulletin this week, with everything running far more smoothly than it had in the previous two weeks. Despite major changes and updates to the bulletin at the last minute, we were able to film with one attempt, which bodes very well for us producing live bulletins in the future.

Our guest editor was South Today's Editor, Lee Desty. He commended us on many aspects of the production, including the discipline everyone maintained throughout the day - he was very impressed with the direction and attitude of the gallery and studio floor. It was good to have a different and insightful perspective, as his input and feedback was somewhat of a change from the normal feedback, and as it came from a person who produces news bulletins daily, was invaluable.

Particular points he picked up on, which I now whole-heartedly agree with, was the fact that our headlines were not engaging enough and had low impact due to their short nature. He stressed the importance to make our headlines more catchy, and reaffirmed that if our headlines are not catchy then a news bulletin loses its appeal.

Another point he picked up on was the fact that sometimes we don't remain impartial in reporting and convey far too much opinion. This is a key point, and one which is often, wrongfully, overlooked. I believe that our packages refrain from malice and libel but sometimes too much comment creeps in. The overuse of comment will only lead to more serious consequences such as contempt of court or alienating viewers.

Further points he picked up on was the length of sport in the bulletin. I acknowledge the fact that sport is an essential part of the bulletin, but I have thought for a long time now, that it is far too dominating - making up 30% of the bulletin. I feel that sometimes the news part of the bulletin acts as merely a warm-up act for the sport as far as it's importance goes.

Personally, this week, I felt like there was a distinct lack of communication between the gallery and the studio floor. This point can be best summed up by the fact that there were changes in the script at the last minute which were not mentioned to anyone on the studio floor; this meant that there was no changes in the autocue. An even more freightening point was that those in the gallery had made a decision to cut a package from the bulletin but the presenters and those on the studio floor were unaware of these changes. This simply would not fly in a televised studio news bulletin. If it wasn't for the run-throughs, the presenter would have read a link which had nothing to do with the VT that followed.

Further points of consideration:

- Audio problems

- Dominating actuality over voiceovers

- Audio overlapped: interview and voiceover

- Problems with wind

- Oddly positioned interviews (not at eye-level)

- Bizarre cutaways with no relevance to story

- Overuse of GVs

- Strap lines appeared whilst interviewee was performing tasks, not talking

Overall, I think I speak for the whole team when I say that I'm very pleased with this week's production. With the all-round improvements in content and production, and improved promotion, I would be very surprised if our traffic has not improved greatly this week.

Media Law and Ethics: Libel

Although already having written a blog on libel and defamation, I stumbled upon an article on The Guardian website, and felt compelled to blog on it.

The article's tone discusses the inabilty of the average person to be able to persue libel action as the risks of entering a libel lawsuit costs, usually, a minimum of £150,00. The article is very much of the opinion that the libel law is one which is merely reserved for big businesses who can afford to sue for libel. This is terrible! The very laws put in place to protect the INDIVIDUAL's - as well as business' - public reputation are simply useless with such financial restrictions put upon those who may have been publicly mistreated.

The article goes on to argue why the issues of libel is reserved to being heard at the High Court when compared to other more serious issues which are heard at less important courts. The argument is that libel cases should be heard in lower courts (County Courts), which don't entail massive fees associated with the High Courts.

See the full article below

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/organgrinder/2010/oct/18/libel-reform-high-court

WiNOL: week three running schedule

Lead Story

Cutting funding to homeless charities (Jack Courtez)

Length: 1min 15secs VT

Package Deadline: Weds 10am

Second Story

Court Report (Andrew Giddings)

Length: 40secs NIB

Package Deadline: Weds 10am

Third Story

Council Take Away Allotments (Stu Appleby)

Length: 1min 10secs VT

Package Deadline: Weds 12pm

Fourth Story

Train Fares Rise (Julie Cordier)

Length: 1min 10secs VT

Package Deadline: Weds 11am

Written Deadline: Thurs 12pm

Fifth Story

Public Debate (Gareth Messenger)

Length: 1min VT

Package Deadline: Weds 10am

Written Deadline: Thurs 10am

And Finally

Bishop Doctorate (Michael Connolly)

Length: 1min VT

Package Deadline: Weds 12pm

SPORT (3 minutes)

East Cowes V Winchester (Grant Payne and Karen Purnell)

Length: 30 secs VT

Package Deadline: Weds 4am

Women's football: Winchester V Eastleigh (Rebecca Gray)

Length: 30 secs VT

Package Deadline: Tues 5pm

Basketball (James Fraser)

Length: 30 secs

Package Deadline: Tues 5pm

Ice Hockey

TBA

PLUS GRAPHICS

WINOL: STATISTICS AFTER SECOND BULLETIN

WINOL has slowly but surely begun to move up the Alexa ranking after a dormant summer of complete inactivity. We moved from something like 12,000,000 up to the current 1,414,368 in a few weeks of resuming the activity on the site via updating the site and promotion.

Although it is to be expected that our Alexa ranking would increase now we have resumed production again, it is nonetheless encouraging, and somewhat of a morale-booster, to see that the site is gaining more traffic. In addition, some very important factors to take into consideration include the fact our bounce rate % has fallen by 18%, meaning that people are actively seeking us out to view content, or that those who have accidentally reached the WINOL site have not immediately clicked off. Equally impressive is the fact that in one month, the amount of time people stay on the site has risen by 124%, which is nothing short of exceptional.

Furthermore, the percentage of people who have visited WINOL by using a search engine has decreased by 61%. This can be interpreted in two ways: either people are responding to the advertising and are logging on by going straight to the website, or, alternately, that it is simply people who know the WINOL address well (e.g. journalism students) who are visiting the site as they have no need to use a search engine - I choose to acknowledge the former interpretation.

When analysing the data from Joomla with regards to traffic and hits etc, it is clear that competitions are a huge factor when determining the amount of traffic, which Winchester news Online receives. At present, the Win With Winol competition is the second most viewed feature of the site.

Such competitions are integral for both bringing and maintaining traffic numbers. The screenshot below reveals the hits on WINOL from last year, and it is clear that the majority of traffic brought to the site was from competition appeal; both the first and second most viewed features were competitions. SO it is essential to continue to promote WINOL through competitions as well as other forms of advertising.

WINOL BULLETIN REVIEW: week two

Another cracking bulletin this week, with interesting and engaging stories throughout. I can honestly say that I was interested in every story this week. The scripts were strong (both the presenter's and reporter's), which is far better than last week, as often I felt a tad lost when trying to grip the essence of some of the stories, or felt that the presenter's script told too much of the story - this was not a problem this week.

However - as we experience in the debriefs - it is far easier to criticise for errors, as they are much more obvious than the good points, which are taken for granted. The fact that there are few points to pick up on this week, implies that the bulletin is moving forward in quality, however, some mistakes are so easily rectified, and so glaringly obvious, that it ruins an otherwise quality bulletin through negligent inconsistencies.

Personal points I noted include:

- Rushed opening sequence. The first headline felt like it was squeezed into the opening sequence. It's only a minor thing, but it's points like these which distinguishes the likes of professional bulletins and our own.

- Audio was another massive issue this week. Some packages even had numerous different audio levels to them.

- Some voice overs were too quiet, and had to compete with background actuality sound.

- Audio merged in two different interviews.

- Cutaways would often happen before we really got to see what an interviewee actually looked like.

- Again, strap lines were too brief.

- Jumpy shots. (It is easy to get a tripod)

- Overexposure of shots. This looks absolutely terrible.

- OOV didn't work and felt cringe worthy to watch due to poor timing.

- A point which I noted on the noticeboard, was that the first years believe the voice overs to be unenthusiastic (a view which I share).

As far as content goes, the bulletin this week was top notch. Journalistically, it was of a high quality as everything was interesting and news-worthy, but the simple things let the production down; eradicate these, and our bulletin is perfect. Then the only problems we have is studio production, which will get better with time as people become more acquainted with their responsibilities in both the gallery and the studio floor. For me to only be able to find flaws in the list above is something of an achievement in itself, I feel.

Media Law and Ethics: Defamation

In the same vein as last week, the beginning of the lecture consisted of us undertaking a task to assess the area of law we are studying. This week, the topic of the lecture was Defamation. We were given a series of statements made by people about a housing company, who it would appear is not fulfilling its duties and responsibilities properly.

One statement read, "They keep making promises they will fix things, but nothing happens. There's definitely something wrong with this company. I reckon that boss of their's John Smith is raking off all the cash and hiding it from the council - how else would he be driving that Bentley of his?" This is a highly defamatory statement and s

uch a statement is very libelous due to the fact that it would cause harm to John Smith's business, and he could possibly be shunned and avoided via these unfair comments. The fact that the words 'raking off' are used, implies that he is partaking in some sort of illegal operation. As these are merely uninformed personal opinions, they don't have any libel defences i.e. justification, as they have not checked the facts. So this is an example of libel.

Alternately, an example of a 'safe' defamation statement we examined in class reads, "If you ask me most of the problems seem to be with this sub-contractor they've been using - Peerless Plumbing. Totally incompetent and haven't got a clue what they are doing. I wasn't at all surprised to see that Hampshire Trading Standards took them to court last week for making a total mess of an old lady's house and then overcharging her for the privilege". This is entirely justified defamation on the speaker's part. He is giving his ho

nest opinion which is a clear defense against any libel issues which may crop up. In addition to this, he is also basing his opinions on facts and public interest as it is fact that the Trading Standards took Peerless Plumbing to court, and it is in the public interest that an old lady was financially exploited.

PUBLICATION + DEFAMATION + IDENTIFICATION = LIBEL

Defamation

- Lowering someone in the estimation of right-thinking people.

- Causes them to be shunned or avoided.

- Disparages them in their business, trade or profession.

- Exposes them to hatred, ridicule or contempt.

Defamation via Pictures

- Common danger in TV

- Careless use of background shots with a voice over.

- People or companies must not be unidentifiable in certain contexts e.g. fraud news package. (Juxtaposition).

- Imprecise shots e.g. filming a business premises that has been investigated for fraud, but the shot includes other businesses in close proximity of the one being investigated.

Reputation and Meaning

- Reputation is important if you are in public

life, have money, or both.

- Meaning as interpreted by reasonable man.

- Inference and Innuendo are both hazardous.

- Asses the whole context.

Libel Defenses

- Justification - it's true and we can prove it.

- Fair comment - honestly held opinion based upon facts, or privileged material, in public interest.

- Absolute privilege - court reporting

- Qualified privilege - police quotes, pressers.

Further Defenses

- Bane and Antidote - defamation removed by context (balancing).

- Apologies and clarifications.

Reynolds Defense

- Material must be : in the public interest

product of reasonable journalism.

NO Defense

- Not checked the facts

- Not "referred up"

- When you haven't put yourself in the shoes of the person/company you write about.

- Got carried away with a juicy story.

- Not bothered to wait for lawyer's opinion.

Recognise Risk

- Who am I writing about, and could they sue?

- Is what I'm writing about defamatory?

- Do I have a defense?

A famous libel case was the case where the Sunday Mirror (2008) ran an article claiming that Kerry Katona (formerly of Atomic Kitten) worked as a prostitute before she became famous as a performing artist. The story was based on the Mirror claiming that Katona's mother was to release a book which would have detailed such claims. However, Katona's mother has not written an autobiography or is even set to publish.

This was highly libelous on the part of the Sunday Mirror as the results of these unfair claims would have unfairly caused Katona to be defamed. Much of her finances comes from advertising, and such media coverage would - if it wasn't to be found untrue - have caused her to be shunned or avoided, damaged her profession, and exposed her to ridicule. (However I'm not sure that such findings would have lowered her in the estimations of right thinking people HAHAHA).

For this particular case there are no defenses, and after being taken to court, it seems that the Sunday Mirror had merely fabricated such a story to sell papers... NOT A VALID DEFENSE.

WINOL: week 2

WINOL is now in full swing, and I'm now very familiar with what is required of me as Managing Editor. There was very much a sense of relief and comfort buzzing round the newsroom this week as both the second and third years settled into their roles.

For me, this week has a somewhat bitter-sweet taste to it, as I felt frustrated and elated at times with both my downfalls and successes respectively. First thing on Monday morning I met with Tim Moss of the Student Union to finally get an advert for WINOL on SUBTV. Everything seemed great as he informed me that as soon as I edited an image with layered strap lines, that he would put it on the TVs. However, when I got to the newsroom, he sent me a message saying that WINOL would need to pay a fee if it was to have such advertisement rights! I explained that it would be difficult to raise such funding, so I offered the Student Union (him) free advertising on Winchester News Online as opposed to paying the financial installments. He agreed and the rest is history.

Other advertising included putting signs out advertising the bulletin and the website, and a competition to encourage traffic to the site. I decided to have raffle tickets attached to every leaflet Paul and I designed, as I felt that the fact that there was a raffle ticket on the flyers meant people would immediately become interested as the semantics of raffle tickets and winning prizes is so strong; I went on the theory that everybody loves to win prizes, so they will visit the site). After we decided on the format of a competition, "Win With Winol" was filmed.

Additional promotion included getting the Faculty of Arts to circulate emails to students within the faculty, putting a message on the portal, announcing the bulletin through Facebook. On top of this, Brian had given me a lesson on Search Engine Optimization. The idea is to essentially increase both WINOL's page ranking and Alexa Ranking. There are numerous ways of doing this, including getting relevant websites to link to our own URL so that we can increase the number of valuable back links, thus increasing the traffic of WINOL. SO I have now embarked on a mission to get as many back links, from as many well-respected websites, as possible.

On Monday I attended the usual Features, News, and Editors meetings. But, as Veronica was away filming a feature package, I stepped in her place as features editor and relayed all the information she requested as well as reaffirming deadlines and listening to new ideas for features. After the meetings I forwarded her a run down of how they went and also gave her all the new information I had acquired at them.

On Tuesday, I filled in for Catherine - who was up filming in London - as editor. I wanted to use this time to really assert myself as a capable manager and someone who could fill Catherine's shoes. However I felt that despite me being Editor for the day, not much needed being done editorially; and where an editor was necessary people - upon realising Catherine was unavailable - would go to their respective editors instead of me, which disappointed me somewhat. I look forward to the next time I can assume the editor's role (preferably either on a Monday or a Wednesday).

Other "managing editor" roles I performed this week included: distributing a features timetable, setting all news deadlines, assembling and distributing the bulletin running orders, emailing all students to link their blogs to the WINOL URL, ordering new toner and fixing the printer, keeping the news room tidy, and collecting the newspapers every morning.

Winol: week two running schedule

Lead Story

International students unable to use foreign ID (Jack Courtez)

Length: 1min 20secs VT

Deadline: Tues 5pm

Second Story

Tuition Fees (Julie Cordier)

Length: 1min 20secs VT

Deadline: Weds 12pm

Third Story

Journo Award (Madeleine Klippel)

Length: 1min 20secs VT

Deadline: Weds 12pm

Fourth Story

Dog Court Report (Andrew Giddings)

Length: 1min 15secs VT

Deadline: Weds 10am

Fifth Story

Queen in Southampton (Aimee Pickering)

Length: 20secs OOV

Deadline: Tues 5pm

Sixth Story

Chocolate (Michael Connolly)

Length: 1min

Deadline: 5pm Tues VT

Sport

Winchester V Hayling (David Champion)

Length: 30secs

Deadline: Weds 9am

Alresford V Winchester Castle (Michael Smith)

Length: 30secs

Deadline: Weds 12pm

Varsity (Rebecca Gray)

Length: 30 secs

Deadline: Tues 6pm

Basingstoke Bisons (Highlights being sent in)

Length: 30secs

Deadline: Weds 9am

Basketball (James Fraser)

Length: 30secs

Deadline: Weds 9am

Graphics X2

Length: 45 secs

Deadline: Weds 12pm

WINOL BULLETIN REVIEW: week one

After the first bulletin, which I must admit was an outstanding success, I feel I must give my Managing Editor's criticisms (ha). Despite a great first bulletin, which is a thousand times better than the first bulletin we (the third years) made in last year's first edition, there were clear mistakes with all VTs and production.

Key mistakes in this week's bulletin included:

Reporting:

- Problems with audio (interviews different volumes and wind noise)

- Some of the stories were difficult to follow as there were too many subordinate clauses etc.

- Strap lines were occasionally too short, and lacked detail/were not present when needed.

- Certain Gvs felt rushed and some were quite jerky.

- Need a greater variation in GVs. Certain GVs were used more than once.

- Guilty signs.

- Libeling people!

Production:

- No bed-music over headlines.

- Very obvious black holes in the headlines and throughout.

- The variation in sound levels of the headlines was odd.

Scripting:

- Scripts are needed for a presenters to appear professional and avoid mistakes.

- I felt some of the presenter's scripts told too much of the reporter's stories.

The fact that these are the only things which I can personally find any fault in suggests that we are very much on the right track. A lot of these mistakes can be rectified by experience, and I'm certain that they will be.

Media Law and Ethics: Reporting the Courts

In today's lecture we deconstructed a fictitious scenario and analysed the various points at which we, the journalist, can report the news of criminal activity.

The task was very useful in conveying what a journalist can indeed print between the times before capturing criminals, upon their arrest (at this point the case becomes active), and before/during their trial. Ian had us right out various openings for stories where firstly: the police were on the lookout for two suspects, secondly: the police had made their arrests, and thirdly: the police had charged the suspects.

I found this most engaging and it acted as a great refresher of the various media laws, which we went on to study for the rest of the lecture.

The key points of the lecture were:

A case is legally active

- when the police make an arrest

- an arrest warrant is issued

- when the magistrates order a summons

- a person is charged

Detention without charge

- police normally have 24hrs maximum to question suspects

- an extension of 12hrs can be made by a senior officer

- further 36hrs detention if magistrates agree

- cannot exceed 96hrs

- terror suspects can be held for 28 days

Categories of offence

- Indictable-only: possible sentence of 5+ years, dealt by Crown Court

- Either-way: can go to Crown court of magistrates court i.e. assault (serious or not). Depends what the magistrates court decides or on defendant's choice.

- Summary offences: stay with the magistrates court

Magistrates' powers

- 6 months jail - fines up to £5000

- suspended sentences

- conditional discharge

- community orders

- binding over

- ASBOs

Pre-trial reports

- names of defendants, ages, addresses, occupations

- charges faced or a close summary

- name of court and magistrate's names

- names of solicitors and barristers present

- date and place to where court is adjourned

- arrangements as to bail

Key stages of trial

- prosecution opening

- key prosecution witnesses

- defense opening

- key defense witnesses

- judge summary

- jury sent out, deliberation and verdict

- sentencing

Court Reporting

- fair

- accurate

- contemporaneous (up to date)

- no recording (tapes etc)

Children and young people

- legally juvenile until 18

- generally anonymous until 18

- beware of accidental identification

Interestingly, in the media at present, there are issues of the restrictions/ lack of restrictions imposed on journalists. The Ministry of Justice is looking to further the rights of journalists for reporting in family courts. Family lawyers have greatly opposed the extended freedom for journalists to report issues in the family courts.

Journalists are allowed to report on family cases, but the proposed extensions of the Children Schools and and Families Act, will allow journalists to report individual cases.

The first phase of the Act means that most details will be allowed to be reported unless a judge says otherwise, identification and sensitive information can only be released if a judge agrees, the media can name paid expert witnesses. The second phase allows the media to report sensitive information, name all expert witnesses, and make it harder for judges to pose restrictions on journalists.

Solicitors are concerned that the changes in the act will deter children from giving vital evidence in a trail; fearing their own safety. The government is set to review the the issue before a conclusion and alterations are made on the act.

For an interesting read on journalists in court, check out this link:

http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/law/101005reporters.shtml

WINOL: Week 1

Well, my first week as managing editor flowed rather effortlessly in comparison to my initials fears and preconceptions of the job description.

Managing Editor

1. Convene the main editorial conferences and review of edition. Take notes of these meetings and circulate copies to all staff.
2. With the editor, ensure all editorial deadlines are met.
3. Answer all correspondence to the site, or ensure that it is answered, and adjudicate on any complaints.
4. Draw up and circulate lists of up to date contacts (phones, e-mail) make these available to all and keep track of all staff in a duty log on the wall.
5. Analyse and publish the weekly number of “hits” achieved by the site.
6. Adjudicate in any disputes between staff and allocate or re-allocate staff as appropriate.
7. Work with the section planning editors to ensure that the sectional and overall news/features planning diary is kept up to date and is disseminated.
8. Ensure that the newsroom is kept in good working order and establish working relationship with the technicians. Organise the arrival and storage of daily newspapers.
9. Make arrangements for the use of specialist equipment (eg cameras) as appropriate.
10. Deputise for the editor when required to do so.
11. Co-ordinate advertising and promotion of the site in conjunction with the course leader (publisher).
12. Answer to the editor and course leader.

As you can see, my role requires me to act as somewhat of a facilitator in ensuring the fluidity of all operations. Acting as Managing editor requires me to liasse between all department editors and the main editor. In addition to this I am also to act in aiding anybody when they require help.

My first week, despite being slightly overwhelmed and unsure of my real responsibilities, I did thoroughly enjoy it and found it most productive. Monday was very busy, and as managing editor, my work input was needed from the offset. My first task was to create the contact lists for new, sport, and features so that everybody could be easily contacted etc. Chris asked me to put them on my blog so as he could direct people to it, and in addition to this I also produced hard copies to be mounted on the wall at the front of the news room. Despite being a rather mundane task, it is essential and integral for a newsroom to function with any sort of efficieny, so I appreciated it's neccessity.

Much of Monday was dominated by various meetings between reporters and editors. I attended all of these meetings, writing notes and giving input where appropriate, but not too much so as not to undermine the news editor (Kayleigh) or the editor (Cat). From these meetings we were able to construct a provisional running order for the news bulletin, and a list of features and their respective deadlines. Again, as with the contacts lists, the news and features lists were available on my blog and the wall-hung hardcopies. In addition to this Kayleigh and I put up the temporary running order of the bulletin on the white board.

Making headway in promoting the site this week is worth mentioning as a triumph on my part. Through networking within the Union I managed to get permission for a still-image advertisements to be projected from the various screens within the Student Union. I am very pleased with this endeavor as I am well aware of the potential attention such exposure will give Winchester News Online. I couldn't even hazard a guess as to how many times I myself have stared aimlessly at the Union television screens when socialising there, so I am very confident that the advert will bring Winol a higher flow of traffic. The advert will consist of a photograph of the studio floor in action, and will convey, through text, the reasons why students should explore WINOL i.e. the inclusion of buzzwords such as, "WIN" and "PRIZE", are imperative to attract traffic. Also, over the next few days I wish to design and create attractive yet formative flyers and place them strategically throughout all areas of the University. In addition to this I further increased my email contacts list so as to alert as many people as possible about WINOL.

Other minor, yet important tasks I undertook this week in accordance with the criteria of managing editor included: relaying problems with the site to Chris (hyperlinks were not properly working), contacting Paul Manning to get permission for new furniture, getting Keith Edwards to spam everyone within the Faculty of Arts.

Other tasks which I undertook included: emailing the news team to tell them what Catherine expects them to bring to the news meeting next Monday, helping Kayleigh to keep the news team focused in getting their stories in on time etc, checking all VTs before they are canned and help with re-editing where applicable, lending a hand to help sub-edit articles, and collate questions from University students, with Vernoica, to ask the SU president for a video/text feature.

WINOL (Features): Important contact details

Magazine Editor: Chanin Lloyd

07897694409

Features Editor: Veronica Frydel

07899664333

veronicafrydel@hotmail.co.uk

Investigations: Stuart Appleby

07511849527

stuart23fc@hotmail.co.uk

Comment/ Reader response: Thomas Hobbs

07879263565

t.hobbs@winchester.ac.uk

Feature Writers/VJ:

Hanna Keegan

07955041165

hana204@hotmail.co.uk

Jake Gable

07971121864

jakegable@hotmail.hotmail.co.uk

Claire Lomas

07951058726

clairyell@btinternet.com

Katie Rowles
07716235648

katierowles@live.co.uk

Justyna Czlad

07598923614

justina-cee@hotmail.com

Features: Week two

Happy lady from food hall (Thomas Hobbs)

Format: profile/article/video

Deadline: Tuesday 5pm

Facebook impact on today's culture (Thomas Hobbs)

Format: article

deadline: Tuesday 5pm

Two sisters campaign against asbestos (Stu Appleby)

Format: Article/video

Deadline:Tuesday 5pm

Fashion of the season (Jake, Kate, Claire)

Format: Article/video

Deadline: Moved to next week

Make-over with artist, Nikki (available Tues)

Format: Article/video

Deadline: Moveds to next week

Staff Profiles: Neil Marriot, Kate Gardner (Katie and Claire)

Format: Article/video

Deadline: Tues 5pm

Navigating around Winchester (Jack + Kate and Claire)

Format: Article/video

Deadline: Tues 5pm

Course Review (???)

Format: Artcile/video

Deadline: Not this week

Day in the Life (Hannah and Justyna)

Format: Video

Deadline: TBA

Disabled girl at Uni (Thomas Hobbs)

Format: Article/Video

Deadline: TBA

Miscarriages of Justice (Veronica Frydel)

Format: Video

Deadline Weds

Billy Middleton Interview: Wrongly accused (Veronica Frydel)

Format: Video

Dealine:TBA

Winol (Sports): Important contact details

Sports Editor: Grant Payne

07545549689

grant_lfc123@hotmail.com

g.payne@winchester.ac.uk"

Chief Sports Reporter: James Fraser

07742769776

j.r.d.fraser@unimail.winchester.ac.uk

Sports Reporter: Karen Purnell

07517487255

kazpurnell@hotmail.com

Sports Reporter: Will Cooper

07789843411

will.cooper123@live.co.uk

Sports Reporter: David Champion

07969079498

daviddchmp@gmail.com

Sports Reporter: Rebecca Gray

07901525365

r.k.gray@winchester.ac.uk

Sports Reporter: Michael Smith

07867841285

m.e.p.smith@unimail.winchester.ac.uk

WINOL (news): Important contact details

Editor: Catherine Hayes

07897 715760

c.v.hayes@winchester.ac.uk

Managing Editor: Jon Hopley

07897375016

jonohop@live.com

News Editor: Kayleigh James

07837 579036

kayleigh_james89@hotmail.com

News Planner: Lucy Pilgrim

07929 445357

xlu_amberx@hotmail.com

Chief Reporter: Madeleine Klippel

07825 515949

madde_klippel@hotmail.com

Political Correspondent: Joey Lipscombe

07963 352734

joe_lipscombe@hotmail.co.uk

Reporter (Crime/Community): Andy Giddings

07717 290122

andrewgiddings@btinternet.com

Reporter (Finance/Consumer): Julie Cordier

07572 123615

j.c.n.cordier@googlemail.com

Reporter (Campus/Students): Michael Connolly

07840 954276

m.connolly@winchester.ac.uk

Reporter (Entertainment/Showbiz): Aimee Pickering

07758 035360

a.j.pickering@winchester.ac.uk

Reporter (Local Government/Region): Gareth Messenger

07530 998662

gareth_messenger@hotmail.com

Reporter: Jack Courtez

07592 880864

jack_courtez@hotmail.com

Features: Week one

Freshers Fashion (Justyna Chlad/Hannah Keegan)

Format: Written/Video

Deadline: Weds, 12pm

Course Review: Interview with Paul Manning. (Justyna Chlad/Hannah Keegan)

Format: Written/video,

Deadline: Thurs, 3pm

Campus navigation guide (Jake Gable)

Format: Written/video

Deadline: Weds, 12pm

Staff Spending (Stu Appleby)

Format: Written

Deadline: Tues

Students and alcohol (Thomas Hobbs).

SU encourages students to drink

Format: Article

Deadline: Tues 12pm

Should English students study abroad? (Thomas Hobbs)

Format: Article

Deadline: Weds 2pm

Studio interview with Seba and Jaz from Union (Veronica)

Format: Studio Interview

Deadline: Weds 12pm

Winol: Dummy run schedule

The temporary running order for week one's Winchester News Online bulletin is as follows:

Lead story

By-election (Stu Appleby)

Length: 1min 15sec VT

Deadline: Weds 10am

Second story

Tory party conference (Joey Lipscombe)

Length: 1min VT + 1 min OOV via SKYPE

Deadline: Weds 12pm

Third story

Rape Alley (Andrew)

Length: 1min 15secs

Deadline: Weds 12pm

Fourth story

Student Finance (Julie)

Length: 1min 15secs

Deadline: Tues 5pm

Fifth story

Primark (Jack)

Length: 1min

Deadline: Weds 9am

And Finally

Conference Football Coverage (Grant)

Length: 45secs

Deadline: Weds 9am

Sport (30secs per package)

Highlights of Eastleigh V Basingstoke

Second round FA cup action

Basingstoke Bison highlights

Women's football

Graphic round-up of non-league football

3o secs of links