ITV news trainee and journalist Mark Ansell blogs

Seeing my first report on ITV Thames Valley Tonight was a great feeling.

There’s a lot of work that goes on before a report goes on air and I’ll outline the process using my report, called ‘local hero’ about a soldier who died during the First World War, as an example.

STEP 1
Firstly comes the idea, preferably original i.e. it hasn’t been in a newspaper, on the radio or on TV.

Last week I went back to my school in Thame, East Oxfordshire, for a reunion. I heard about Eric Rose, a former student of the school who died during the First World War. He’s just been made the face of a new stamp collection in Commonwealth countries commemorating Armistice and students at the school have been learning about his life. This sounded like a great story and I was reminded of it in the local paper, the Thame Gazette.

 STEP 2
Every morning at the editorial meeting we discuss all the stories we could cover in the day’s programme and think about future features.

I suggested the local hero story and the rest of the team were interested so I called the teacher at the school who had been teaching his Year 8 class about Eric Rose. He was happy for me to come in and interview a few of his students who’d been learning about Eric’s life.

STEP 3
Every story has to have a ‘sheet’ with all the information about the story including the location, contact details, pictures/footage to enhance the story and details of the cameraman and reporter.

Kim, the news editor, gave me the opportunity to cover the story which I gladly took!

STEP 4
Shooting the story.

I’ve been told on more than one occasion that the three most important things to remember in TV journalism are ‘pictures, pictures and pictures’!

My key concern was that we had a lack of objects relating to Eric that we could film but thankfully on the day Ian (the cameraman) and I shot the piece, there was a fair bit to shoot.

We filmed the school archivist showing the students some of Eric’s memorabilia; we also shot pictures of a display in the Humanities Department on Eric’s life and a remembrance board of former pupils of the school who had died in the First World War. The board is in the Sixth Form Library where my piece to camera was shot.

STEP 5
Edit the pictures and write and record the script.

After a few hours I’d put the report together with shots of the archivist showing the students Eric’s memorabilia, interview clips with the archivist and the students, my piece to camera in the library and shots of the remembrance board. The report wasn’t quite as well crafted as was needed to go on air so a craft editor reworked parts of it.

STEP 6
The producer checks the introductory link to the report that the presenter reads and then watches the report to check it. Then when it’s time for the bulletin, the team in the gallery (where the bulletin’s pictures and sound are controlled) play out the report at the right moment.

It felt strangely appropriate for my first report to be at my old school, the place where I had learnt so much. The staff and students were very accommodating and I hope the viewers found it interesting to watch.

You can watch Mark’s ‘local hero’ report by clicking here.

Reporter Derek Johnson blogs about producing the special Armistice 90 programme

There are just three British survivors of the Great War - all of them are centurions.

So all of us covering the 90^th anniversary of World War One knew this would be the last major commemoration which featured men who served in the first truly global conflict.

The Meridian East team was tasked with providing as-lives, lives and interviews to those who requested them. As it happened, other ITV regions such as ITV Wales sent their own Upods (outside broadcast trucks) and news teams, proof of the enduring interest in the 1914-18 war.

We camped at The Somme on the sort of filthy, rotten day that made you realise how truly grim life must have been in the trenches of the Western Front, even without the shelling and bombings.

Another graphic illustration of this came at a place called Auchonvillers, re-named Ocean Villas by the Tommies. Here an original line of trenches has been excavated and recreated. This was the setting for one of our lives and close to a field where hundreds of men died.

A cellar in a nearby building still has the names of soldiers carved into the walls, and a stretcher - dating back to the days when it was used as an operating room for the soldiers shot and wounded just a few feet away.

The Western Front stretched 400 miles in all, encompassing this part of France and sweeping through Belgium also. For much of the war the Germans were camped one side of the trench line, the British, French and allied forces on the other side.

Between long periods of stalemate thousands of troops would die in short, sharp attacks, often in a single day. And often little or no ground was gained.

The next day we travelled to the Thiepval monument, a huge memorial to the British infantrymen who fought and died in The Somme, and whose bodies were never found. Tens of thousands of names grace the monument.

We covered a deeply moving Armistace Day ceremony and then travelled to Ypres in Belgium to another memorial at the Menin Gate in Ypres. This was a town devastated by the war, barely a building stood by the time the guns stopped for good in November 1918.

Here the East team hooked up with ITN to transmit their evening programme live, with guest Canon Bruce Hawkins. Ian Axton anchored the coverage, linking into items honouring the military and civilian casualties and looking at how the war impacted on the South East of England.

For more on Armistice 90 including a re-cap of the live bulletin visit our World War One page here.

It’s a tough life being a mink, and from finding enough fish to survive, to evading capture from angry boat owners – who can begrudge the cheeky creatures the opportunity to live the high life every now and then?

Well, Elliot and Andrea Maurice for two apparently, and after a particularly hardy Mink boarded their £100,000 yatch, left a trail of droppings and munched through hundreds of pounds worth of equipment – they’re on the warpath.

Fervently hoping that the animal has swum off to pastures new, they have nonetheless set the traps should be back on board again any time soon.

Apparently there is no boat insurance that covers third party, fire and mink.

So keep an eye out next time your in Brighton Marina – has anyone else seen a mink sneaking about the boats moored there?

Flickr image courtesy of Rick Leche

Meridian and Thames Valley intern Peter Andrew blogs.

My name is Peter Andrew and I’m 21 years old. I have just joined ITV Meridian news on a six week IGN internship. I have always been into media since I was a kid I have always taken an interest in watching the news to see what is going on in the world.

I started getting into media when I went to college I decide to do a GNVQ in media which was a great challenge for me and one which I really enjoyed. Such things as making short adverts, music videos and documentaries. Most of the equipment I used had to be adapted to my needs to allow me to get the most out of my course.

I had a huge taste for being in the media after finishing my course but I did not want to carry on at college because I saw myself as a more practical person and wanted to try and get some hands on experience and to prove my GNVQ qualification was not just a piece of paper.

The situation came about through a lady called Catherine Goodyear who is the press officer for Leonard Cheshire; the organisation responsible for where I live. Catherine knew that I loved media because I have worked on a few stories for Leonard Cheshire  in their monthly magazine Choice covering subjects such as disability, which I really enjoyed doing, and Catherine thought they were really good. It was when she told me she thought I could do media for a career I was totally shocked that she got hold of her contacts in the media to see if they could help me.

Since being at ITV Meridian I have been able to research the following:

Visiting various areas of Meridian at Whiteley and meeting all the staff.

Practical activities have included working with subs on news production and watching from the gallery as news programs are tried and tested before broadcast. News and weather reading from the studios and also a live link from outside using the Meridian OB vehicle.

Other aspects have allowed me to work with ITV Local and a news cutter to edit some breaking news. Also producing edited pieces for overnight stories, these coming from news sent on the wire.

EVERYONE has been so very helpful giving me the chance to see their individual units in operation with verbal tuition and hands on experience where possible.

I have really enjoyed my time here so far, it has been my dream, I would like to thank all the staff and of coure Jon.

 

Congratulations to news teams at ITV Thames Valley and ITV Meridian for scooping top awards at the prestigious EDF Energy London and the South of England Media Awards 2008.

Thames Valley Tonight was named Best Television News / Current Affairs Programme of the Year for their half-hour live broadcast from Heathrow’s Terminal 5 on the day everything went wrong. What had been planned as a relatively straight forward news OB suddenly became a major news story as the baggage handling and flights descended into chaos. The EDF judges said they were highly impressed at the ability of the programme to deal with a major breaking story. The award was collected by Thames Valley’s Acting Head of News Kim Hewitt (pictured right), who also produced the special programme.

“This was a real team effort, from our presenters Wesley Smith and Mary Green, on location, to the entire reporting and technical teams at T5 and back in the gallery at Whiteley. T5 had problems all afternoon and so we had to keep making changes to the programme. Then, as we were about to go on air, our Transport Correspondent Mike Pearse was tipped off that scores of flights were to be cancelled and no bags would be checked in all night. As our titles rolled, I was still re-writing the links and making major changes to the running order. On the ground, the team found experts and stranded passengers for live interviews. We pulled out all the stops, and the result was first class!”

The broadcast followed weeks of planning and, because of special access negotiated by Thames Valley, feature items included shots showing construction over a five year period. 

Mike Pearse was highly commended by the judges for his coverage of the 777 crash at Heathrow in January in the Reporter of the Year category. He was the first reporter on the scene and broadcast live into the ITV Lunchtime News, Thames Valley Today, and TV stations all over the world. 

Well done to all those involved.

Barack Obama’s former brother-in-law, Ian Manners, blogs from his Berkshire home

I was married to Barack Obama’s elder sister, Auma for 4 years; we had a relationship for 10 years. During this time I got to know Barack reasonably well. I found him to be charming, polite, very intelligent and at ease in anyone’s company. He treated everyone he met with respect and as equals regardless of the position they held in society and regardless of race. I am a competitive sportsman and am the managing director of my own company. As a result I have had to deal with all sorts of situations as they arise and different people from all walks of life. I therefore consider myself to be a reasonably good judge of character.

I had the opportunity on several occasions to play golf with Barack. It is on the sports field you can often judge someone’s character. I found Barack to be a very capable golfer. He played hard and competitively but fairly. He had a quiet steely determination and he remained very calm under pressure.

He has been accused of being too young and inexperienced to be President of the USA. I for one do not believe that to be the case. No one person can claim to have the experience to be President. They can have a good idea what the job entails but until they actually reach that position no one knows what it is truly like or how they as individuals will react. Every President or every Managing Director or anyone in employment learns on the job.

I believe Barack has the ability and attributes to be a very good President. He is up to speed with the modern world and technology and his campaign bears that out. He is very well educated and has learned how tough life can be by growing up without a father close to him. His mother and maternal grandparents however showed him that you can only get on in life by sheer hard work and determination and they made sacrifices to give him a private education. They taught him to have a very balanced view of life and to treat everyone as equals. They taught him humility and how to empathise with people of all ages and races.

He has experience of how tough life is by working on the south side of Chicago in the community projects for three years. He has experience of being a State Senator and then on to be a full Senator for Illinois and now Washington and Government functions. He also has a good understanding and appreciation of different cultures.

I have watched his progress with great pride. I have watched his success in the campaign so far in the Presidential campaign. I have watched the reaction people have to him not only in the USA but the reaction around the world. He has a rare quality and the ability to break down barriers. The rally in Berlin was a shining example. I was on holiday in Scotland at the time and ‘working out’ in a gym with 20 others. All the TV’s were tuned into the News Channels and when he came on to speak everyone in the gym stopped for 5-10 minutes to listen to him. It was a remarkable moment. There were men and women of all ages in the gym.

I have spent the last two weeks in Kenya visiting my daughter Akinyi who is at school here and was on half term. I have followed the campaign on the TV and in the papers. The response to him has been phenomenal. The interest goes beyond his Kenyan heritage. I have spoken to Kenyans and Europeans here and the majority agree he is a truly remarkable man who has the ability to help bring about world peace and help in the battle to reduce poverty the world over.

I believe he will be an inspirational President at a particular difficult time with the world economy. I think he will surround himself with very capable people to assist him in overcoming all the problems thrown at him. He doesn’t suffer fools gladly or prima donnas and he is a man who is prepared to listen to advice. I believe he will be an exceptional President. He is an exceptionally gifted man.

Best wishes

Ian