A journalism student discusses why graduating into the industry is becoming less and less appealing.
Silent Wordz: ‘Why I no longer want to be a journalist’
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Ronkayela.com: This is not the end of your daily newspaper…
Following the news that the Tribune Co. has filed for bankruptcy, ‘journalist turned activist’ and former editor of the Los Angeles Daily News, Ron Kaye, writes on his blog that this is not the end of your daily newspaper.
“It’s just the beginning of the end for hundreds of newspapers and the collapsing of many others into single regional franchises that can survive as the only source of printed news and advertising on a daily basis.”
Kaye, who was fired by the Daily News seven months ago, says ‘Let the conversation begin.’
Reporting restrictions: who can access them?
As reported on the main site, and as I commented previously on this blog, reporting restrictions which – if broken – would contravene the British Contempt of Court Act, seem increasingly irrelevant.
My own experiences in trying to access the reporting restrictions are perhaps a case in point. Since posting the earlier blog item on the Baby P case, we have had comments posted to this blog which we immediately suspected would contravene the reporting restrictions.
I decided to ring the Old Bailey to find out what they were. Firstly, being put through to the press room by error led to a bizarre encounter with someone (a maverick journalist?) who, extremely rudely, told me ‘you don’t pay’ so ‘why should I send you them to you’, suggesting that I put £50 in an envelope to access them.
His identity remains a mystery (he told me he had forgotten his name before hanging up). I then called the correct department who asked me to send my request by fax. After another couple of stages in which I had to confirm my status as a journalist, I finally accessed the material.
Now I know, for certain, that many of the blog comments we deleted could have seen us prosecuted under the Contempt of Court Act 1981, had we published them. The restrictions themselves forbid me to go into anymore detail than that.
The point here is that bloggers who write about Baby P have no way of accessing the reporting restrictions and therefore no way of knowing whether comments are libellous in breach of the Contempt of Court Act, or not.
When I asked the executive director of the Society of Editors, Bob Satchwell, about educating the general public about Contempt of Court he did not consider it a priority, suggesting that any policing of the internet was something of a lost cause.
But, nevertheless, before (that’s if they do) reforms come in, we have a tricky predicament. Surely, as an intermediary measure there’s a need for anonymised reporting restrictions which would explain to bloggers, social network users and citizen journalists why they can’t print certain details.
After all, journalists – on the whole – understand the need for protection of fair trials. Isn’t it time to explain things better to untrained online publishers?
Lost Remote: Print journalist riled by user’s choice news bulletin
John Brummet, journalist with the Arkansas News, has rejected a new feature introduced by local broadcaster KATV, in which users/viewers choose one two-minute news item for the station’s six o’clock bulletin and website.
Brummet says the initiative lacks editorial experience and professionalism, but Lost Remote argues that KATV is experimenting with ‘new approaches to interactivity’.
Stop-and-search: new guidance for police treatment of photographers
As reported by theregister.co.uk and the British Journal of Photography, new terrorism guidance for police officers has been issued. The National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA) has released its update ‘Practice Advice’ on stop-and-search powers, with reference to the Terrorism Act 2000.
The advice includes guidance for police officers on how to deal with photographers, but is not final. It has now been circulated to forces for final comments. After further consulatation it will need to be endorsed by the Assosiation of Chief Police Offices. (ACPO) [information courtesy of photojournalist Marc Vallée]
This announcement follows up from Marc Vallée’s assessment of the situation here and here.
The guidance:
“The Terrorism Act 2000 does not prohibit people from taking photographs or digital images in an area where an authority under section 44 is in place. Officers should not prevent people taking photographs unless they are in an area where photography is prevented by other legislation.
“If officers reasonably suspect that photographs are being taken as part of hostile terrorist reconnaissance, a search under section 43 of the Terrorism Act 2000 or an arrest should be considered. Film and memory cards may be seized as part of the search, but officers do not have a legal power to delete images or destroy film.
“Although images may be viewed as part of a search, to preserve evidence when cameras or other devices are seized, officers should not normally attempt to examine them. Cameras and other devices should be left in the state they were found and forwarded to appropriately trained staff for forensic examination. The person being searched should never be asked or allowed to turn the device on or off because of the danger of evidence being lost or damaged.
“Film and memory cards may be seized as part of the search and images may be viewed as part of a search.”
Marc Vallée asks on his blog:
“What is going on here? Does Section 43 of the Terrorism Act 2000 override the long held journalistic protection of Special Procedure Material under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE)?
“As an article on the EPUK website put it last year: ‘Under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, material such as a journalist’s notes, photographs, computer files or tapes are classified as Special Procedure Material, which have a higher level of protection than ordinary possessions.’
“Which means if the police want to look at such material then they would have to go in front of a judge and explain why.”
Pictured: A press photographer files images on the move as environmental activists march from the Camp for Climate Action to Kingsnorth Power Station Hoo, Kent, England on Saturday August 9 2008. 2,000 campaigners marched on the Power Station with the aim to shut it down for the day. (Photo Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2008.
In the meantime, until further information is obtained, Ray Mincoff, the NUJ legal editor, has issued this statement:
“We welcome the publication of unequivocal guidance showing that the Terrorism Act does not prohibit the taking of photographs in public places.
“The authorities must now ensure that police officers are aware of the limits to their powers. It must also be made crystal clear that the right to seize film and memory cards can only be used in the very exceptional circumstances where there are strong grounds for suspecting someone of being a terrorist.
“If section 43 of the Act ends up being casually used by officers in the same slapdash manner as other parts of the legislation, it would seriously inhibit the ability of journalists to work in our cities. The police cannot routinely use anti-terror or other legislation to stop journalists in their lawful and proper work. Neither must they see these guidelines as a green light to seize journalistic material, the special nature of which is recognised by law.
“We will also be looking carefully at other aspects of the guidelines to assess other possible effects on civil liberties and the free press.”
UPDATE:
Marc Vallée wrote to the National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA).
“Under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, material such as a journalist’s notes, photographs, computer files or tapes are classified as Special Procedure Material, which have a higher level of protection than ordinary possessions,” he wrote.
“What is the view of the NPIA on this in the context of stop-and-search powers like S43? Could a UK Press Card carrying photographer use Special Procedure Material to stop or limit the scope of a stop-and-search under S43? or S44?”
They responded:
“There has been no change to the law. These guidelines remind officers that they can only stop-and-search photographers in exceptional cases where they believe they are involved in some kind of terrorist information gathering activity.”
UPDATE TWO (02/12/08): the NPIA has now added this statement:
“The Practice Advice makes it clear that there has been no change in the law. Journalist material will continue to enjoy the higher level of protection offered under PACE.
“For example, if a police officer suspects that photographs are being taken as part of terrorist information gathering they will rightly investigate. But once the stopped person makes it clear that they are a journalist then this will usually reassure police that they have legitimate reasons for taking photographs.”
Official statement from family of BBC journalist, Kate Peyton
Further to the interview and news item on the Journalism.co.uk main page, here is the Peyton family’s official statement, made following the conclusion of the inquest investigating the circumstances of BBC journalist Kate Peyton’s death in Somalia in 2005. The Coroner’s verdict can be read here, as reported at the Guardian.
“We are gratified that, after nearly four years, the Coroner has been able to offer some advice as to how the BBC might improve its treatment of journalists asked to undertake dangerous assignments – especially when there may be aspects of their personal lives or of the nature of their employment that impair their capacity to make a clear and considered judgment of issues of risk, both to themselves and their colleagues.
“However, we have found it baffling, depressing and exhausting that the BBC has put so much of its energy, and considerable financial resources, into preventing that advice from being heard – beginning in 2005 with a claim from a senior newsgathering executive that it was ‘neither necessary nor appropriate’ to look into the detail of the deployment and the role of Kate’s immediate manager in it, and concluding with strenuous efforts to narrow the Coroner’s scope so radically that nothing would have been considered other than events after Kate’s arrival in Mogadishu.
“We would like to believe that the BBC is sincere in its assurance, given in court, that it will incorporate the Coroner’s advice into its future procedures; but given that, since this summer, it has strained every nerve to prevent him from having the opportunity to deliver that advice, and even now has not ruled out judicially reviewing his decision, we have reason to doubt its seriousness.
“We wholeheartedly agree with the substance of the Coroner’s advice. In light of it, we would like to ask whether it is sensible to employ journalists who may be asked to go to dangerous countries on a regular basis using short-term contracts. In our view, this practice presents a clear possibility of the repetition of tragedies such as this.”
British and Spanish journalist kidnapping in Somalia – details still to be confirmed
Although reports with additional information are available online, exact details of the journalists kidnapped in Somalia remain unconfirmed. Articles that name the journalists have been removed from various news sites.
BBC yesterday reported:
“A British and Spanish journalist in Somalia have been kidnapped from the north-eastern Puntland region, local authorities say.
“Government officials said the pair were taken from their hotel in the port city of Bossasso.
“(…) the journalists were in Bossasso to cover the story of piracy hijackings off Puntland’s coast. He says the foreigners were abducted by gunmen along with two local reporters.
“‘The two foreigners are British and Spanish,’ Abdulkebir Musa, Puntland’s assistant minister for seaports, told news agency AFP.
“The office of Puntland’s president confirmed this information to the BBC.”
Journalism.co.uk will update when further reports are received from the relevant sources.
MediaGuardian: Peyton inquest finds ‘unlawful killing’
The inquest into the death of BBC journalist Kate Peyton has found a verdict of unlawful killing. The coroner said he would write to the BBC under ‘rule 43,’ which allows a coroner to suggest further action he/she believes necessary. The coroner emphasised that he was not criticising the BBC, and that his letter would not imply liability on the part of the corporation, the Guardian reports.
MediaGuardian: London students dominate the Guardian Student Media Awards
Eight categories were won by London university students in this year’s Guardian Student Media Awards. Student journalist of the year went to Tom Roberts, the editor-in-chief of Felix, the student newspaper of Imperial College London.
Too old to become a journalist: Interviewing or the reason this blog post is late
“If journalism is a craft, interviewing is an art,” says Sally Adams in her book Interviewing for Journalists.
I’ve just bought said book in order to hone this essential skill having spent the best part of a week interviewing 12 artists and writing up the subsequent feature.
A week – a whole week! The problems were two-fold:
1) I decided to record the phone interviews using a handy Skype plug-in rather than take them down in shorthand. It was either that or ask the interviewees to speak at 60WPM.
I remember someone asking what the point of shorthand was at the start of my NCTJ course. Why couldn’t you just record people?
My tutor explained: bar court proceedings, shorthand is a time-saving skill of the gods. She wasn’t wrong. Taping, then transcribing, then rewinding because you missed a bit or you’ve been interrupted by the cat being sick takes AGES. A whole week in fact.
2) The word count for each artist’s profile was no more than 150 words. You can just about say their name and where they come from in that space.
That didn’t seem to stop me asking a wealth of questions, the answers of which, I knew would never fit into the allotted space.
I got carried away. I don’t specialise in writing about art, but it’s a subject I’m pretty interested in. My interviews were more like two-way conversations, rambling on about art theory.
While being chatty and sharing anecdotes can be a good way of putting your interviewee at ease – a point PJ White discusses amongst other things in ‘How to: get the story from inexperienced interviewees’ on Journalism.co.uk – the time factor must come first.
I would never have that sort of time-luxury at a staff job and didn’t want to fall into bad habits. I went to my tutor for a magical tip that would make it all seem clearer.
There’s no magical tip.
She advised to carve up the interviews to see what other stories I could get out of them and to revisit any interesting points the interviewees made at a later date when I had more time.
The way I interview, however, was down to me. It’s an issue of time and money, she said – your time and your money.
I’m hoping the book will be more helpful.
In response to this a fellow classmate said he wanted to be a journalist because of a love of writing and people not money.
I can see both his and my tutors points, but, to me, journalism’s a job not a hobby and thinking of myself as a business requires constant vigilance.
I’m thinking of manufacturing an egg timer that has plastic pound signs pouring through it instead of sand. That should focus my questions.