Xmas message

Sanctimonious secular season's greetings to all our readers...

Paul Deal endorsement and WINOL LIFE - first edition

Here's some more endorsement. This time from Paul Deal, lately of the BBC college of Journalism. The great thing is that these guys in the training arm of the business go round all the colleges, so if they are singing your praises this will do you a lot of good in a general way.

PAUL DEAL - see: http://www.youtube.com/user/Winchesterjournalism#p/a/u/1/EtDfhBDauVI

And this is great fun - the first attempt at a ONE SHOW type light journalism magazine programmer ('sofa vision'). In line with Angus's remarks below is a bit of a train wreck, but we will get better at it. One advantage is that because we have this now as an outlet for all the lightweight stuff, we can concentrate on making the news much more heavier and substantial. As ever it is all about separating out the generic forms - so no fluff in the news; and no heavy stuff in the fashion magazine (etc). It is like having a balanced meal with distinct courses and not just a mush of all the ingredients - sweet and savory all the time. Get it? More of this sort of approach next semester (partic. year three).

Here it is: WINOL LIFE: http://www.youtube.com/user/Winchesterjournalism#p/a/u/0/Bv9_FkQGgCk

Blimey its exactly the same task!

Sorry to twitter but I am listening to the programme (see below) and the panel were asked to find 'Orwellian language' in each of his categories, just on a single day. So there it is - there's your homework done for you (at a basic level). But it would be better to find funnier examples using video. Video has more impact. (PS - I like DJ Taylor's point about the language being refreshed by new words coming up from the streets such as Chav, and not just being a pedant.

YEAR TWO - Zeitgeist again

Discussion on Radio Four "Word of Mouth" about Orwell's 'Politics and the English Language'. Should give you some good ideas for the easy/fun/serious task of analysing some ffound 'Orwellian' langauge and hopefully making a short video about it; or writing a short 'special' piece on your blog. If you are producing a piece of writing this should be about 500 words. The video should be uploaded or embedded on your blog (you can upload to the WINOLNEWS you tube account and then link to that.). I am hoping to link all the pieces together in order to create something really worthwhile.

You can listen to the WORD OF MOUTH programme on the BBC replay (Radio Four). It was broadcast on Monday evening December 21st) at 11pm. It is being discussed by various big cheese journos such as David Aaronovitch of The Times, etc

Remember you've always got your finger on the intellectual pulse of the nation when you sticj with Winchester Journalism.

LATEST WINOL

While not wishing to appear too much of a Christmas humbug, Wednesday's production was pretty shambolic. What made air on the news and sport side was a testament to the hard work you had put in previously in the semester, not about the organisation on the day. Without a deadline it turned into amateur time.

We have not deconstructed the bulletin as such, but it should be said that just because it went out once, doesn't mean that those packages that had poor edits, dodgy sound and black holes in them, should then be repeated in exactly the same form as before.

I'm sure those prospective students who were interviewed by us on the day were more impressed with the studio, rather than what was going on in it, or the way it was run.

Our visiting editor Paul Deal was clearly more inspired by the set up, rather than the performance.

Despite all this it has been a good semester. A number of you have produced work of a very high standard.

Your report and reflections will be important, and should take in to account all your experiences of the year in the studio, what you've learned and how you've learned it, and suggestions of how your time could have been improved.

Enjoy your break, and year twos get ready for a full but very fulfilling semester ahead.

By the way....Happy Christmas.

BBC COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM

It's so good that you may want to leave university now and spend your fees on flights to Las Vegas or Chelsea season tickets - the BBC has finally opened up its entire College of Journalism resources to the public. It is, in my humble opinion, now the greatest website on the planet for student journalists - apart from WINOL - check it out at:

www.bbc.co.uk/journalism

Wonders of You Tube

For years and years I've wanted to be able show this ancient advert for the Guardian in order to make a point about balance and bias. But I could never be bothered to track it down in a film library somewhere. Now here it is in all its very clever brilliantness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3bfO1rE7Yg&NR=1