About the �鶹Լ�� Feed

The European Broadcasting Union's Quality Journalism Initiative

2017-08-23T13:50:34+00:00

At the EBU, we have just launched a Quality Journalism initiative to help broadcasters adapt to changing demands and learn from the experience of others across the continent. We already have new services like Eurovision Social Newswire which provides newsrooms with upwards of 60 pieces of cleared eyewitness content every day to help ensure public service media remains a trusted source of news and information but we are keen to do more.

I have recently travelled around Europe to research a report on the challenges facing public service news providers and the findings were heartening. Everyone knew that a process of change was under way and everyone seemed committed to rethinking their work to engage those people who feel excluded and to keep public service news relevant for the next generation.

You only need to look across the Atlantic to see why the effort is worthwhile. Europe is lucky to have a strong tradition of public broadcasting and it must continue to be a vital source of reliable information in the tumultuous times which lie ahead. If it takes a little self-examination to ensure that happens, that's all to the good.

Bill Dunlop is President and CEO at Eurovision Americas Inc.

Bill Dunlop is also the author of the report, “Perfect Storm: the multiple challenges facing public service news and why tackling them is vital for democracy.” Published by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), it can be read onthe EBU website
Find out more about the European Broadcasting Union

Operation Sanctuary: An Inside Out North East and Cumbria special

2017-08-09T15:31:49+00:00

Spring 2016. Inside Out Producer Dan Farthing rings from Newcastle Crown Court.

“You will not believe what I have just heard…” and what he went on to describe was indeed pretty extraordinary.

Dan was following a series of interlinked trials of more than twenty Asian men, accused of grooming vulnerable young teenagers in the west end of Newcastle. Reporting restrictions banning broadcasts until the conclusion of the final trial meant we’d seen little early evidence of Dan’s regular days on the press bench.

Then, out of the blue, the prosecution revealed Northumbria Police had used a CHIS - a covert human intelligence source - to supply information on so-called “parties” where teenagers were plied with drink and drugs and sexually assaulted.

And in this case, the CHIS chosen by Northumbria Police was a man convicted as part of a group who raped a child in 2002. In an extraordinary turn of events, XY, as he was known, had fallen out with his police handler and was threatening to go to the press - alleging he’d been asked to plant drugs and even drive girls to the “parties”. His fee from the public purse? More than ten thousand pounds.

For the lone figure on the press bench it was a red flag moment.

And so began more than a year of legal wrangling to allow the public to know about the police tactic. Defence teams - even in the normally staid, bewigged world of the court - were animated. They, like us, wanted to hear from XY. Eventually the judge agreed that XY, now under police protection should be brought to court to give evidence in an Abuse of Process hearing. Potentially his evidence and claims of evidence of planting drugs could scupper the trials.

The prosecution, however, did not want the press present.

Until then, much of the information on XY had been largely Dan’s - a producer in a small, dogged current affairs team in the North East. Challenging the secrecy of the court would mean that was no longer the case. We would need to share our story - both inside and outside of the �鶹Լ��.

Joining forces with other news organisations, we argued for our case to be allowed to hear the evidence. Having won the right to stay in the press benches, we were able to witness XY’s extraordinary court appearance. Our programme, Operation Sanctuary: An Inside Out Special Investigation, edged closer to transmission.

The use of XY is surely a decision which merits public debate. The former head of the government body set up to tackle child sexual exploitation told us that as an ex-police officer he would not have sanctioned the use of a child rapist in this way. A grooming victim who now advises police forces across the country described it as a “kick in the teeth” for other survivors.

The police argue that to catch the kind of men who preyed on vulnerable children you need to work with difficult people. They lobbied vigorously ahead of transmission for us not to major on the employment of XY within the documentary. They had, they said, been given a clean bill of health by the IPCC - a report we have yet to see. Shortly before the final verdicts the Chief Constable, 52-year-old Steve Ashman, announced his retirement from the force.

Then as we headed back to court - this time to argue about the timing of lifting reporting restrictions - the police sent their own barrister to argue that the Judge should impose retrospective restrictions on significant sections of what we’d heard in open court last year. In effect, much of the detail of XY’s engagement would have been denied to the public - including his payment. The Judge declined and our programme will be broadcast tonight (on the day the trial has concluded). A freedom of information request about the cost to Northumbria Police of protecting XY has been turned down on national security grounds.

So we have, finally, been able to explain to viewers a key part of the controversial police tactic in tackling a criminal gang. But should it really be so difficult to report on the decision to pay a convicted child rapist from the public purse? Should it be necessary to spend even more public money to allow viewers and listeners to know as much of the whole story as possible?

And had producer Dan not been paying attention in his lone press bench vigil - perhaps none of us would have been any the wiser.

Operation Sanctuary: An Inside Out North East and Cumbria Special Investigation airs on Wednesday 9 August at 7.30pm on �鶹Լ�� One in the North East and Cumbria and 8.30pm on the �鶹Լ�� News Channel. The programme will also be available on �鶹Լ�� iPlayer

�鶹Լ�� Hyperlocal Forum

2015-11-18T12:55:00+00:00

As part of the current discussions about the future shape of the �鶹Լ��, there is a lot of thought being directed towards how we interact with the UK’s local news media. What can we do that supports the sector, that ensures local life is well reported from a wide variety of viewpoints, that combines the best of what we do with the best of what others do?

The Hyperlocal Forum, which met for the first time in Birmingham on Thursday 12 November, is one way of finding out how the most diverse, vibrant and changing part of the local news landscape can interact with the �鶹Լ��. We’ve committed to convening it twice a year, in whatever format works best (more on that in a moment).

Firstly, thank you to everyone who came and made it such a productive conversation, their names are listed at the end of this post. Naturally enough discussion travelled outside the room via Twitter and TalkaboutLocal have blogged a summary here.

Linking out

As Local Live modules roll out across the UK, so the opportunity to add links to other people’s journalism increases. All the online eds who run the English news sites are aware of the local web list and wherever possible will signpost �鶹Լ�� users to relevant content. A number of places use an agreed hashtag to actively suggest stories to include in the local live feed – the more people who take part, the better. It’s not as visible as we’d like and we’re working on that, but we’re confident it’ll get more profile across bbc.co.uk as soon as the roll-out is complete in the summer.

Training

There appears to be a widespread desire for the �鶹Լ�� to support the hyperlocal sector through training and development, beyond what is currently online. Sharing best practice and raising standards would benefit everyone, so we’ve taken away a long list of interesting suggestions for the Academy to mull over. We will continue to make sure that any training we’re involved in with other industry partners is open to hyperlocal operations too.

Charter ideas for local

We chewed over the �鶹Լ��’s three primary ideas for this topic in the next charter (p65, section 5.3 of The Future of the �鶹Լ��). While the local accountability reporters plan is being discussed, there was broad support for the news bank idea (notwithstanding the technical challenges) and also a data unit that made its work available for other news outlets to use. The head of English Regions, David Holdsworth, had made it clear at the outset of the day that the idea of the �鶹Լ�� buying some types of content from hyperlocals in future was very much on the table. However the detail of how that might work in practice is still to be worked out.

Future forums

We’re going to look at two ways of running the next forums. Firstly we’ll look at where we can incorporate them alongside existing events which have a relevant audience and secondly we’ll look at using technology to increase remote participation. If you’d like to suggest a suitable event or a simple solution to include a virtual audience, you can contact me matthew.barraclough@bbc.co.uk directly.

Contributors included: David Prior (Altrincham Today); Luke Addis (Birmingham Updates); Anna Noble (Birmingham Eastside); Emma Meese and Hannah Scarborough (C4CJ); Pamela Pinski (Digbeth is Good); Martin Russo (ENTWO); David Hayward (Hayward BlackMedia); Kathryn Geels (Nesta); Keith Morris (Network Norfolk); Beth Balshaw-English (Preston Local News); Sarah Hartley and Will Perrin(Talk About Local); Russell from (Twickerati); Frank Kennedy (Tyburn Mail); Pat Gamble (West Bridgford Wire); and Sarah Pulleyn (Your Local Link).

Matthew Barraclough, �鶹Լ�� Local Journalism Working Group

�鶹Լ�� launches award to honour Komla Dumor

2015-01-19T12:50:00+00:00

Earlier today, �鶹Լ�� World News announced a new award in honour of its presenter, Komla Dumor, a year after his unexpected death aged 41.

Komla Dumor was an exceptional Ghanaian broadcaster who in his short life made an extraordinary impact - in Ghana, in Africa and around the world.

He represented a confident, savvy and entrepreneurial side of Africa.

Through his tenacious journalism and compelling storytelling, Komla worked tirelessly to bring a more nuanced African narrative to the world.

The �鶹Լ�� is committed to continuing Komla's legacy.

We are proud to announce the launch of the �鶹Լ�� World News Komla Dumor Award.

The award will be given to an outstanding individual living and working in Africa, who combines strong journalism skills and an exceptional talent in telling African stories, with the ambition and potential to become a star of the future.

Through the award, we will invest in the future of African journalism by offering the winner the chance to come to the �鶹Լ�� and share Africa's stories with the world.

The winner will be given an opportunity to gain recognition and experience, working with teams across �鶹Լ�� News during a three month placement in London. The winner will also have the chance to broadcast on TV, radio and online to the �鶹Լ��'s audiences of 265 million across the world.

This post first appeared on the �鶹Լ�� News Website

�鶹Լ�� College of Journalism's third Social Media Summit

2014-05-13T09:41:10+00:00

Logo updated for #smsldn London Social Media Summit on 16 May 2014.

On Friday 16 May 2014, the �鶹Լ�� College of Journalism will be hosting the third Social Media Summit on �鶹Լ�� Broadcasting House in London. The full agenda of the event is available on Eventbrite. College website editor Matthew Eltringham introduces the days events, including a session with Director of News and Current Affairs, James Harding.

It’s becoming a springtime ritual - along with the shorts, the Pimms and the cricket, comes our Social Media Summit.

This one - #smsldn - will be the third we’ve held and the second with our friends and partners at the New York Times, with the support of the Knight Foundation - after #smsnyc last year and #bbsms in 2011.

The purpose of the event remains the same: to provide practical, relevant and useful conversation about how social media is affecting the journalism that we do day in, day out. But the focus of that conversation has changed dramatically since 2011.

#SMS has therefore become a default yardstick that allows us to measure the incremental, daily changes in newsrooms around the world caused by the pervasively disruptive influences of the global families of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and their many relatives.

Read the rest of this post on the �鶹Լ�� College of Journalism Blog.

Learning on the job - The �鶹Լ�� Radio Journalism Apprenticeship Scheme

2013-05-07T10:53:47+00:00

Graham Ellis, the controller of Radio & Music Production, learnt the basics of journalism as an apprentice working on a local newspaper. A wry smile crosses his face when he recalls his editors and sub-editors ripping his early stories to pieces – both literally and metaphorically.

The �鶹Լ�� Radio Journalism Apprenticeship Scheme is his initiative.

In Radio & Music Production apprentices may research guests, record reports, or make sure the studios run smoothly

We’re not proposing to recreate a school of hard knocks in quite the same way! However the aspect of starting at the bottom and learning on the job, and of not having to be fully formed or with a good degree in your pocket in order to get in the door, is the very essence of an apprenticeship scheme.

In the past doing an apprenticeship helped you kick start your career. In journalism it was how you learnt the basics like court reporting, media law and shorthand. Today apprenticeships are important because they help attract recruits from a wide range of backgrounds by offering the opportunity to earn a wage while learning. People applying for the Radio Journalism Apprenticeship Scheme will be judged on their passion and potential, rather than their qualifications and experience.

The apprentices will have periods of study at Lambeth College in London, but most of their time will be spent working with our radio teams making programmes. �鶹Լ�� Radio & Music Production makes programmes primarily for Radio 4, but also for Radio 3, Radio 2, and the World Service. Apprentices may find themselves working on Loose Ends, Radio 4’s entertainment show, photographing Primal Scream playing live in the studio for the website and Twitter. They may join the Science unit travelling to the Glastonbury Festival to record The Infinite Monkey Cage with Brian Cox. Or they could work in the Drama department researching a play based on a major story from that week's news.

The scheme combines study at Lambeth College with work placements on �鶹Լ�� Radio productions

These are not traditional ‘news’ programmes, so people have been asking me, “why the emphasis on journalism skills?”

From my experience - and I’ve been in the department for many, many years working on programmes as varied as Desert Island Discs and Any Questions? - we in Radio & Music Production need to have a journalist's nose; setting those alarm bells ringing when it comes to balance, accuracy and impartiality, every bit as much as our colleagues in News.

I did a straw poll among our programme teams. This is what some of them said;

Karen Dalziel works on Woman’s Hour, she says, “Journalistic skills are very important on a programme like Woman’s Hour where you cover a vast range of subjects and genres, often with very little lead time for preparation.

“Take the issue of abortion in Ireland. This is a complicated issue in both the Republic and Northern Ireland. Understanding the historical, political and social context of the subject is crucial to avoid crass errors and to achieve a balanced broadcast. Journalism training helps you develop an instinct for checking all the angles, being aware of the potential pitfalls and the consequences of getting it wrong”.

The producer of one of our live conversation shows remembers sitting in the studio enjoying the lively chat when a guest, warming to their subject, inadvertently revealed something juicy but potentially damaging to another star’s reputation. Colleagues need to spot and deal with that sort of thing quickly.

Something as seemingly light hearted and delightful as The Nation’s Favourite Disc, when Desert Island Discs listeners were asked to choose their favourite tracks raised all sorts of issues for Eleanor Garland who was in charge of the selection. “All the �鶹Լ��'s output needs to be rigorous, balanced and impartial. We needed to be sure that the final Nation's DID list wasn't being manipulated by any commercial interest or pressure group. A background in news journalism helped me to spot the potential pitfalls and the research skills to be able to find the stories behind the raw data. Why was an obscure track from an unknown band suddenly rising very fast in the list? And why were most the votes seemingly cast from Manila? Journalism teaches speed, accuracy and thoroughness - essential for any programme maker whether you are working on Today or working out which track most people (rather than a computer programme) voted for.”

You’ll recall, in the end, The Lark Ascending by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams came top.

At the end of the two year period, our apprentices will have all the skills and knowledge they need to gain an Advanced Apprenticeship in Journalism, developed in conjunction with the National Council for the Training of Journalists.

So, how will we measure whether the scheme is a success?

Well it comes back to the fact we’re looking for their passion and potential, and we should hear that on air. Also our programmes have occasionally faced criticism for featuring too narrow a range of voices, and we hope this scheme will help us cast a wider net. We want our apprentices to bring a new perspective to the stories we cover, as well as access to communities we don't always represent.

The application process opens on the 6th May and will close on the 20th May. The apprenticeship and work placements start in September. You can find out more and apply at the �鶹Լ�� Careers website.

Angie Nehring manages the �鶹Լ�� Radio Journalism Apprenticeship Scheme.

The �鶹Լ�� offers free online journalism training and advice in addition to a regularly updated blog over on the �鶹Լ�� College of Journalism website.

The �鶹Լ�� Academy also offers face-to-face courses to people outside of the organisation. More information can be found on the Academy portal.

Helen Boaden, Director of �鶹Լ�� News, at the LSE

2011-06-10T14:01:04+00:00

This external content is available at its source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qszeHv9z6RA

Polis is a journalism think tank based at the London School of Economics. Today they're hosting the second annual 'Value of Journalism' conference, on the theme 'media and power'. Helen Boaden gave the keynote address - about 'holding power to account' - and then joined a Q&A hosted by Krishnan Guru-Murthy from Channel 4 News. This video of her appearance was made by the �鶹Լ��'s College of Journalism.

Steve Bowbrick is editor of About the �鶹Լ��

Read the text of Helen Boaden's speech on the �鶹Լ�� Press Office web site and Polis Director Charlie Beckett's preview of the event on his blog.
Watch other sessions from the conference and subscribe to College of Journalism videos on YouTube.
Follow Charlie Beckett and the College of Journalism on Twitter. The hashtag for the event is #Polis11.