I got it! To see my blog on the Daily Mirror website, take a deep breath, compose yourself and click here
Got to write my next post for Monday, with reaction of the first game against Manchester United on Sunday.
Friday 10 August 2007
Wednesday 8 August 2007
Daily Mirror Fans Blog
So Iv applied to write a Fans Blog for the Daily Mirror. I think it would be a great opportunity to get my name out there, get my writing read by a larger audience and, of course, let the truth be known about my football team, Reading FC. It would also give me the chance to keep my blogging regular, as no amount of all-bran is providing the posts that this site deserves. Although, as sarcastic as I am, Im not sure Il be able to match the work of Royals lover, Oliver Holt. Oh wait...
Anyway, so cross your fingers for me. Heres hoping Im the most interesting applicant they get for Reading FC. And if not the most interesting, then the only applicant. Which lets face it, is one and the same.
Anyway, so cross your fingers for me. Heres hoping Im the most interesting applicant they get for Reading FC. And if not the most interesting, then the only applicant. Which lets face it, is one and the same.
Saturday 14 July 2007
Work Placement Reports
Since I'm getting into the habit of sharing with the world I thought Id let you in on the reports of my work placements from early 2007 at two local newspapers, The Wokingham Times and the Reading Evening Post.
Wokingham Times - Sally Bryant:
"Todd is very highly thought of here - he writes quickly, accurately and stylishly. His interview technique is fine and he is very pleasant to work with.
His time-keeping is excellent, we can't really fault him and wish him every success."
Reading Evening Post - Steve Hughes:
"This is the second time Todd has been on a placement here and he has proved to be a useful asset to the newsroom on both occasions. We get a lot of people here on work experience and often they end up writing nibs and peripheral stories. That has not been the case with Todd and he has shown us twice now that he is capable of taking on lead stories and tuning them round quickly and accurately - exactly the kind of qualities we require of our daily reporters. He also seems confident on the phone, has been forthcoming in asking to take on work and has proven he has a grasp of the writing style needed to become a news journalist. I understand from my colleagues at our sister paper - The Wokingham Times - that Todd has been very productive in their newsroom as well."
Well that all seems very complimentary to me - what do you seasoned experts think?
Wokingham Times - Sally Bryant:
"Todd is very highly thought of here - he writes quickly, accurately and stylishly. His interview technique is fine and he is very pleasant to work with.
His time-keeping is excellent, we can't really fault him and wish him every success."
Reading Evening Post - Steve Hughes:
"This is the second time Todd has been on a placement here and he has proved to be a useful asset to the newsroom on both occasions. We get a lot of people here on work experience and often they end up writing nibs and peripheral stories. That has not been the case with Todd and he has shown us twice now that he is capable of taking on lead stories and tuning them round quickly and accurately - exactly the kind of qualities we require of our daily reporters. He also seems confident on the phone, has been forthcoming in asking to take on work and has proven he has a grasp of the writing style needed to become a news journalist. I understand from my colleagues at our sister paper - The Wokingham Times - that Todd has been very productive in their newsroom as well."
Well that all seems very complimentary to me - what do you seasoned experts think?
Second year results
So I go my results through today...Iv been accepted through to the third and final year that will decide my degree score. My results in the individual modules as followed:
Professional Studies: 70%
Journalism In Context: 62.9%
Issues and Representations: 69.6%
Newspaper and Magazine Design: 52.5%
Editorial Photograpy: 55.1%
Online Journalism: 66.2%
Researching the Media and Communication: 68%
News and Feature Writing: 65.1%
Managing Media Projects and Dissertations: 55.3%
That leaves me with an overall 63% for the second year - which is a 2:1
Bit of work to do in the final year still though!!!!
Professional Studies: 70%
Journalism In Context: 62.9%
Issues and Representations: 69.6%
Newspaper and Magazine Design: 52.5%
Editorial Photograpy: 55.1%
Online Journalism: 66.2%
Researching the Media and Communication: 68%
News and Feature Writing: 65.1%
Managing Media Projects and Dissertations: 55.3%
That leaves me with an overall 63% for the second year - which is a 2:1
Bit of work to do in the final year still though!!!!
Thursday 5 July 2007
What do the public want from a newsweek?!
So Iv just come back from a lads holiday to the sunny drinking hole that is Ayia Napa and one of my mates, having flicked through a copy of The Sun remarked how strange it was that "nothing seemed to have happened back in the UK" while we were away.
Presumably he meant apart from
The Prime Minister of the past ten years stepping down
Floods destroying areas in the middle of June
Bombings in the centre of London and Glasgow airport
Best player in the Premiership goes to Barcelona
As well as countless more...
It just makes you think - How much news do the public want from ten days!
Presumably he meant apart from
The Prime Minister of the past ten years stepping down
Floods destroying areas in the middle of June
Bombings in the centre of London and Glasgow airport
Best player in the Premiership goes to Barcelona
As well as countless more...
It just makes you think - How much news do the public want from ten days!
Friday 15 June 2007
The Stirrer
An update on my possible Guest Editor role at The Stirrer. Having not heard back from the editor for a time, I recieved a telephone call this morning. It seems that he is still interested in letting me take control, but has been a little busy lately with his wife expecting a baby. Which is fairly understandable!
So, once everything has settled down in The Stirrer's household, we will sit down and discuss the role. Despite my being in Reading over the summer, I believe that we can come to some arrangement, particularly as he claims to have another person willing to cover the local aspect. This would lead me free to edit from afar!
Until next time
So, once everything has settled down in The Stirrer's household, we will sit down and discuss the role. Despite my being in Reading over the summer, I believe that we can come to some arrangement, particularly as he claims to have another person willing to cover the local aspect. This would lead me free to edit from afar!
Until next time
End of Term
So it's been a while since I last posted...I do have an excuse of sorts. I have been tied up with exams, assignments and moving house which leads to the Internet being cut off. Its never the best.
So I have completed the Online Journalism module, the reason for setting up this blog though I intend to keep it going. The main reason for this was finally getting access to the net and seeing my hit counter which had doubled despite no new postings. Our interactive went quite well in the end, Neil and I being in charge of the video section. The videos that I produced were...
Speedway explained:
Speedway Clips:
An interview with Brummies star Ulrich Ostergaard:
An interview with father of Brummies racer Aidan Collins, Les:
An interview with Brummies boss Graham Drury
I also had an interview with the club secretary Brian Buck, but unfortunately the wind was so loud that it could not be heard.
I had several problems creating the videos. Having never completed a television module I had little experience using the cameras and so on the Les Collins interview the sound quality is very poor. With the Ulrich Ostergaard one, it was a little dark although I managed to brighten it up somewhat in Movie Maker.
Ultimately, our flash interactive never made the UCE News website for a number of reasons. The file size was enormous, over 500mb, which meant that it was far too big to upload. We did not know how to make it smaller. This was probably due to the intricacy of the piece, with seven videos, an audio slideshow and around 14 pages to it, all interlinking. As lecturer Paul Bradshaw noted:
I decided to teach 'forms' (e.g. slideshow, video gallery) rather than 'skills' (frame navigation, audio) this year. It was the wrong decision.
This meant that whilst the individual pieces were good, we struggled to put them together and upload them to the website. This was unfortunate as I was particularly proud of our groups effort, as I had to work very hard to complete our groups flash interactive on deadline day.
So I have completed the Online Journalism module, the reason for setting up this blog though I intend to keep it going. The main reason for this was finally getting access to the net and seeing my hit counter which had doubled despite no new postings. Our interactive went quite well in the end, Neil and I being in charge of the video section. The videos that I produced were...
Speedway explained:
Speedway Clips:
An interview with Brummies star Ulrich Ostergaard:
An interview with father of Brummies racer Aidan Collins, Les:
An interview with Brummies boss Graham Drury
I also had an interview with the club secretary Brian Buck, but unfortunately the wind was so loud that it could not be heard.
I had several problems creating the videos. Having never completed a television module I had little experience using the cameras and so on the Les Collins interview the sound quality is very poor. With the Ulrich Ostergaard one, it was a little dark although I managed to brighten it up somewhat in Movie Maker.
Ultimately, our flash interactive never made the UCE News website for a number of reasons. The file size was enormous, over 500mb, which meant that it was far too big to upload. We did not know how to make it smaller. This was probably due to the intricacy of the piece, with seven videos, an audio slideshow and around 14 pages to it, all interlinking. As lecturer Paul Bradshaw noted:
I decided to teach 'forms' (e.g. slideshow, video gallery) rather than 'skills' (frame navigation, audio) this year. It was the wrong decision.
This meant that whilst the individual pieces were good, we struggled to put them together and upload them to the website. This was unfortunate as I was particularly proud of our groups effort, as I had to work very hard to complete our groups flash interactive on deadline day.
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