It was a great experience to hear advice and stories about the industry from someone who has been a part of journalism for 20 years. Ian originally started off as a Production Journalist for the BBC and has spent most of his time helping to produce bulletins for the 6pm and 10pm news shows. He was honest with his words when he explained that a lot of his job opportunities came down to luck and he was lucky enough to take on the position of editor and lead the team.
He was constantly reminding us all how important the content is and made a point of saying "do not take sharp corners" with the narrative. Meaning that everything should flow and should be relevant or explained otherwise you could end up losing your audience. This was exemplified in one of our practice packages where someone had tried to tell too many stories at once.
Ian also pointed out that we should make a lot of use out of pieces to cameras. He claims that the audience enjoy seeing the reporter involved and it will easily capture their attention if done correctly.
To help with our broadcast journalism he advised that we break down news packages from the local news, as well as the national, and look at their:
- opening shots
- interviews
- pieces to camera
- closing shots
As a final interesting point Ben asked Ian what his views were on privacy laws. He answered that "as a journalist I'm against them as it's just another hurdle. Places such as France have privacy laws and it has been protecting those in high up places for far too long now". An interesting view on a highly debatable subject!
I really enjoyed reading your piece.It is well written and basically narrates every important aspect of Ian's visit.I must say ,the experience was great whilst it lasted.
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