Well, its not too bad overall. It may have been better had I done a better interview with the Youth Coalition Director, and could present more precise views on the issue.
I'm not confident enough to call it broadcastable. It could probably have been done a bit more tightly, but I suppose that comes with practice. It might have helped if people had been willing to talk to me in the first place, and I could have had a little more time to work on it.
Still, in racing the deadline, I couldn't help but think a real radio journalist would have done it in ten minutes, so not enough time isn't really an excuse.
I think I need to be more pushy when getting interviews, I think they're unwilling to let you down if you show up in person. Its harder to reject a hopeful and friendly young woman. :)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Scripting the intros
I had a bit of difficulty trying to get conflict into the piece. Essentially, the groups were arguing the same perspective. However, the UCSA president had a couple of views on the issue, so I incorporated this into the stories.
The first was the positive aspects of the case. The second was negative, and invovled some consequences of the changes. The last story was a negative, but hopefully panned the issue of the gap year students, and that particular aspect of the Youth Allowance issue.
The first was the positive aspects of the case. The second was negative, and invovled some consequences of the changes. The last story was a negative, but hopefully panned the issue of the gap year students, and that particular aspect of the Youth Allowance issue.
Editing the bugger
Editing was good this time. I listened through the interviews, and took notes on the time and the good stuff that was said, before deciding on using it in stories. And audacity worked like a charm, I had no worries in getting the cuts I wanted.
There was one problem with the grab I had for the president, because he awkwardly raised his voice at the end of the part I wanted to use, but I made it a bit quieter to make it sound marginally less awkward.
i also had a whale of a time trying to record my own voice for the voicer and the wrap package. I still hate that my voice sounds so high. I think this in part comes from the nervousness in recording so that I don't breathe properly and this restricts my voice. And I have a stupid voice. Ah well.
I found as well in reading my parts that I stumbled over words, and found that the words I had written didn't make sense or the sentences were too long. Its hard to get the emphasis right when there's so much sentence. It ended up being editing and recording at pretty much the same time.
There was one problem with the grab I had for the president, because he awkwardly raised his voice at the end of the part I wanted to use, but I made it a bit quieter to make it sound marginally less awkward.
i also had a whale of a time trying to record my own voice for the voicer and the wrap package. I still hate that my voice sounds so high. I think this in part comes from the nervousness in recording so that I don't breathe properly and this restricts my voice. And I have a stupid voice. Ah well.
I found as well in reading my parts that I stumbled over words, and found that the words I had written didn't make sense or the sentences were too long. Its hard to get the emphasis right when there's so much sentence. It ended up being editing and recording at pretty much the same time.
Actually doing the interviews
Monday was pretty hard. I got my phone interview with the Youth Coalition Director. I had a little sound difficulty, but I fixed that. I think I ended up recording her interview without enough volume, but I fixed it in editing. :)
She was also not exactly up-to-date with the changes to Youth Allowance, and the impact that might have specifically, but she had a bit of an idea, and was unimpressed with the lack of consultation to people concerned with the changes. I was a bit nervous about the interview, but interestingly, sitting in a booth and staring at a mike was very calming. I even managed to question her in a way to clarify her answers a bit, without offending her. She was very nice to interview.
I was a bit stumped for the second interview. My first attempt at talking to someone in the UCSA ended with an email address, and no phone numbers, despite asking. I duly sent the email, but again, had no response. Knowing that I couldn't go the day without one, I went back in and hassled the desk guy again to find me anyone who would do an interview, and lucky me! He pulled out the president.
He was quite informed on the topic, and took hold of the mike and gave great responses. He also understood that when he stuffed up sentence (which he did a couple of times), he did his own re-take, so I could use it as a grab. That was really helpful.
And I had two interviews! Yay!
She was also not exactly up-to-date with the changes to Youth Allowance, and the impact that might have specifically, but she had a bit of an idea, and was unimpressed with the lack of consultation to people concerned with the changes. I was a bit nervous about the interview, but interestingly, sitting in a booth and staring at a mike was very calming. I even managed to question her in a way to clarify her answers a bit, without offending her. She was very nice to interview.
I was a bit stumped for the second interview. My first attempt at talking to someone in the UCSA ended with an email address, and no phone numbers, despite asking. I duly sent the email, but again, had no response. Knowing that I couldn't go the day without one, I went back in and hassled the desk guy again to find me anyone who would do an interview, and lucky me! He pulled out the president.
He was quite informed on the topic, and took hold of the mike and gave great responses. He also understood that when he stuffed up sentence (which he did a couple of times), he did his own re-take, so I could use it as a grab. That was really helpful.
And I had two interviews! Yay!
Chasing down people
Come friday, I was pretty desperate for an interview, and discovered that there were no edirols left that I could borrow. Fortunately, I learned how to use the booth in building 9 to record phone interviews.
This was good, but I didn't end up getting any interviews that day. I spoke to the very helpful switchboard woman, and learned how to dial a local number without bothering her. I think the instructions need to be updated.
Still, I had a bit of luck, the director of the ACT Youth Coalition was happy to talk to me on monday. And I had booked an edirol for monday, so thats all good, to hopefully catch the President of the UCSA.
This was good, but I didn't end up getting any interviews that day. I spoke to the very helpful switchboard woman, and learned how to dial a local number without bothering her. I think the instructions need to be updated.
Still, I had a bit of luck, the director of the ACT Youth Coalition was happy to talk to me on monday. And I had booked an edirol for monday, so thats all good, to hopefully catch the President of the UCSA.
More research, and preparing to go into the field
Well, after having consulted my tutor on what topic I should refine it down to, I definitely stuck with science funding. I didn't know much about what they had received from the budget at this stage, but I wondered that it wouldn't be a great deal.
Turns out, they got heps of money. Billions. And universities to do science research and development too. Which was good news for them. However, I was trying to find a story with conflict. I don't anyone had an issue with the vast amounts of money they were receiving as a result of the recommendations in the 2020 summit. The science community was chuffed.
I attempted to get in touch with them anyway, and this was the start of my problems. In order to contact anyone, details have been restricted to an email address. Which means easy screening of uni students, and no-one has to reply. I got a phone call through to FASTS, who represent the science community, and the friendly guy even took my details to give to the Executive Director. I didn't get a call back.
That didn't matter, because I had decided to chase an issue with more conflict, one that was close to my heart. The changes to Youth Allowance. I was pretty aware of what the changes would mean, and had a pretty good working knowledge of all the ins and outs of it all.
Turns out, there were a lot of changes, and I actually think many of them were good. But I needed conflict. And I found it in a particular set of changes, the ones that had specifically barred me from getting the youth allowance payment. Grrrr.
So, I found a couple of articles that said people were concerned with these changes, and tried to get in touch with the relevant organisations. An email to DEEWR sent me to Julia Gillard, (at least they replied), but I knew she wouldn't have the time of day for a uni student. A phone-call to Centrelink, which got an answer, said I should go to DEEWR. Not helpful.
I figured I was aiming too high. I thought I might get in contact with the UC student assocation. I talked to the friendliest woman, who even gave me the phone number of the Association Vice President (which I found out later they're not supposed to do). Still, I tried calling, no answer.
This awesome lady also told me that the President would definitely be in on monday, so I tried to keep this as a last resort.
Turns out, they got heps of money. Billions. And universities to do science research and development too. Which was good news for them. However, I was trying to find a story with conflict. I don't anyone had an issue with the vast amounts of money they were receiving as a result of the recommendations in the 2020 summit. The science community was chuffed.
I attempted to get in touch with them anyway, and this was the start of my problems. In order to contact anyone, details have been restricted to an email address. Which means easy screening of uni students, and no-one has to reply. I got a phone call through to FASTS, who represent the science community, and the friendly guy even took my details to give to the Executive Director. I didn't get a call back.
That didn't matter, because I had decided to chase an issue with more conflict, one that was close to my heart. The changes to Youth Allowance. I was pretty aware of what the changes would mean, and had a pretty good working knowledge of all the ins and outs of it all.
Turns out, there were a lot of changes, and I actually think many of them were good. But I needed conflict. And I found it in a particular set of changes, the ones that had specifically barred me from getting the youth allowance payment. Grrrr.
So, I found a couple of articles that said people were concerned with these changes, and tried to get in touch with the relevant organisations. An email to DEEWR sent me to Julia Gillard, (at least they replied), but I knew she wouldn't have the time of day for a uni student. A phone-call to Centrelink, which got an answer, said I should go to DEEWR. Not helpful.
I figured I was aiming too high. I thought I might get in contact with the UC student assocation. I talked to the friendliest woman, who even gave me the phone number of the Association Vice President (which I found out later they're not supposed to do). Still, I tried calling, no answer.
This awesome lady also told me that the President would definitely be in on monday, so I tried to keep this as a last resort.
First Assessment 3 post - News Story Research
I started off looking about a month ago at all the then-current issues in federal politics - the boat people crisis, and maybe the issue of getting rid of temporary visas; how successful the alcopops bill was, whether government was actually going to announce if Australia was in recession. It looked pretty interesting, but I realised straight away that getting a comment in person from anyone in federal politics was going to be difficult.
Anyway, by the time it came along that I was actually starting the assignment, heaven sent me the budget. :) It had plenty to go on, and is big news. There were lots of things to look at, increase in pensions, increase in infrastructure, science funding, art funding, education reform, as well as the Oppositions response to the budget, which in my opinion was pretty pathetic. One change to medicare rebate in exchange for a cigarette tax hike. Then they ranted on about how Swan didn't actually say how much they were in deficit. Big whoop.
I decided on doing science funding research, because I'm sick of doing art, and I think I might like to go into science reporting.
Anyway, by the time it came along that I was actually starting the assignment, heaven sent me the budget. :) It had plenty to go on, and is big news. There were lots of things to look at, increase in pensions, increase in infrastructure, science funding, art funding, education reform, as well as the Oppositions response to the budget, which in my opinion was pretty pathetic. One change to medicare rebate in exchange for a cigarette tax hike. Then they ranted on about how Swan didn't actually say how much they were in deficit. Big whoop.
I decided on doing science funding research, because I'm sick of doing art, and I think I might like to go into science reporting.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
The Story/The End!
The last part was finding a connection in all this mish mash. Yes, people had differing views on speed cameras, so what? I was missing an angle.
Finally, much research later: I had lots of road traffic stats from the ABS, a town called Swindon abolishing fixed speed cameras last year, and finally, last week, the ACT nabbed federal funding for black spot programs. Woo hoo! And one of my grabs kindly mentioned "bad spots" so thats a pretty good connection.
I suspect the whole story appears biased against speed cameras, but maybe they really don't do anything. No-one thinks they do, and there is no supporting evidence for it. I could make a connection by some swiss research I found, by it would only be my own conclusions. I will let the people have their say.
Finally, much research later: I had lots of road traffic stats from the ABS, a town called Swindon abolishing fixed speed cameras last year, and finally, last week, the ACT nabbed federal funding for black spot programs. Woo hoo! And one of my grabs kindly mentioned "bad spots" so thats a pretty good connection.
I suspect the whole story appears biased against speed cameras, but maybe they really don't do anything. No-one thinks they do, and there is no supporting evidence for it. I could make a connection by some swiss research I found, by it would only be my own conclusions. I will let the people have their say.
The Editing
Oh dear. Well, problem one: I wasn't holding the microphone close enough in the first round of vox pops. It recorded, but in playing them back on Audacity, I discovered a lack of waveforms appearing on the screen. I still had sound, I knew what was said, but editing those grabs was monumentally painful without those helpful squiggles.
I discovered on Audacity useful shortcut keys. Space bar will play the highlighted section, or from the cursor, again and again. And holding down shift and clicking to either side of the highlighted part will extend it just that much. And using the arrow keys will move the cursor along, so I can get it back to start of the track easily. The markers though, known as the "label track" was sometimes useful. Not as good as NewsBoss there, I think. Maybe I need more practice with it.
I also discovered useful features to make the sound quality better. There is the "silence" button, to get rid of noise but keep the time. There is the "fade in/out", to make transition smoother, and also to soften background noise without losing it entirely and ruining flow. And the "amplify" feature, thank goodness! It helped me reduce louder portions of grabs, and also adjust all the grabs from the first round to reach the same volume level as the second round. And after doing this, I discovered that this is the way to make those waveforms appear, at least a little bit. Too late to be useful. >:P
Also, the decisions t0 use which of the grabs came easily. There were a few good ones, and then there were those that didn't have me talking over the top of people. And I wanted that range of voices, and it also gave me a range of responses.
When I finally put together the five grabs that I'd loosely cut the words I wanted from it, lo and behold, it was about 45 seconds. That was awesome. :)
Then came a period of tweaking to get flow, making use of fade/out a lot, and I'm pretty happy with the finished product, despite having my voice in it at one point. It was unavoidable however, that last man's response was too good not to use.
I discovered on Audacity useful shortcut keys. Space bar will play the highlighted section, or from the cursor, again and again. And holding down shift and clicking to either side of the highlighted part will extend it just that much. And using the arrow keys will move the cursor along, so I can get it back to start of the track easily. The markers though, known as the "label track" was sometimes useful. Not as good as NewsBoss there, I think. Maybe I need more practice with it.
I also discovered useful features to make the sound quality better. There is the "silence" button, to get rid of noise but keep the time. There is the "fade in/out", to make transition smoother, and also to soften background noise without losing it entirely and ruining flow. And the "amplify" feature, thank goodness! It helped me reduce louder portions of grabs, and also adjust all the grabs from the first round to reach the same volume level as the second round. And after doing this, I discovered that this is the way to make those waveforms appear, at least a little bit. Too late to be useful. >:P
Also, the decisions t0 use which of the grabs came easily. There were a few good ones, and then there were those that didn't have me talking over the top of people. And I wanted that range of voices, and it also gave me a range of responses.
When I finally put together the five grabs that I'd loosely cut the words I wanted from it, lo and behold, it was about 45 seconds. That was awesome. :)
Then came a period of tweaking to get flow, making use of fade/out a lot, and I'm pretty happy with the finished product, despite having my voice in it at one point. It was unavoidable however, that last man's response was too good not to use.
The Question
I had a little deliberation with the question I was given. I was pretty thankful it wasn't too contentious, but the initial structure of it irked me.
"Speed cameras: revenue raiser or road safety measure?"
I tried to reform it in a way that sounded a bit smoother.
"Do you think speed cameras are there to prevent accidents or just to raise revenue?"
I was hoping the "just" wasn't influencing people too much in to saying yes, its a scam, and it didn't. People held their opinions, I believe.
I also came a across the problem of follow up questions. I felt too nervous to think of anything on the spot, after a few interviews I did a rehearsal beforehand to help remember what I might say to help them explain. Although "could you explain that" worked pretty well.
"Speed cameras: revenue raiser or road safety measure?"
I tried to reform it in a way that sounded a bit smoother.
"Do you think speed cameras are there to prevent accidents or just to raise revenue?"
I was hoping the "just" wasn't influencing people too much in to saying yes, its a scam, and it didn't. People held their opinions, I believe.
I also came a across the problem of follow up questions. I felt too nervous to think of anything on the spot, after a few interviews I did a rehearsal beforehand to help remember what I might say to help them explain. Although "could you explain that" worked pretty well.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Vox Pops Take Two
I tried again today for some more vox pops. Back to Kippax again.
Pretty much similar success this time. This first woman I accosted seemed incredibly reluctant to answer, but yet didn't say no, so I launched into it and she gave me a beautiful response.
I also tried aiming for a few younger people, but I found their responses tend to be very straight-forward. Maybe they're nervous being in front of a mike. Which is quite understandable.
Saw some cops at the shops too, and was tempted to go ask them, but they were busy hassling some kids that smelled like pot, so my companion and I thought we'd leave them to it.
I heard a lot of people talking recently about their technical stuff-ups when doing the vox pops, and I thought I had escaped, having done mine well the other day. However, today I realised that I may have had the mike switched off for a couple of interviews. :P
I also found that I was too "stop-happy", cutting off people when I thought they were finished again. I learned by the last vox pop I did, and I kept recording for a change, but he finished talking as he was walking away, and naturally made the best comment last. I hope its turned out alright.
So, I've yet to listen to all of them, but hopefully most of these ones turned out okay.
Pretty much similar success this time. This first woman I accosted seemed incredibly reluctant to answer, but yet didn't say no, so I launched into it and she gave me a beautiful response.
I also tried aiming for a few younger people, but I found their responses tend to be very straight-forward. Maybe they're nervous being in front of a mike. Which is quite understandable.
Saw some cops at the shops too, and was tempted to go ask them, but they were busy hassling some kids that smelled like pot, so my companion and I thought we'd leave them to it.
I heard a lot of people talking recently about their technical stuff-ups when doing the vox pops, and I thought I had escaped, having done mine well the other day. However, today I realised that I may have had the mike switched off for a couple of interviews. :P
I also found that I was too "stop-happy", cutting off people when I thought they were finished again. I learned by the last vox pop I did, and I kept recording for a change, but he finished talking as he was walking away, and naturally made the best comment last. I hope its turned out alright.
So, I've yet to listen to all of them, but hopefully most of these ones turned out okay.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
First Attempt @ Vox Pops
I went out this afternoon with the edirol and a companion for moral support to try and get some sweet grabs about speed cameras. And it went pretty well. :)
The first place we stopped at to do some vox pops, at the crossing between sections of the Canberra Centre, was rejected for traffic noise.
The second spot, which seemed okay, had a few kids busking, which had me worried again about the background noise. Still, I went a little way away, and accosted my first bystander successfully.
After the initial confidence, it was easy going, got one yes and a bunch of rejections, before deciding to relocate again.
This time, I was further from the buskers, and more in the way of general foot traffic of Garema Place, not far from the merry-go-round. I got a few responses, one from a man with not only a great answer, but an incredible voice. I think I was almost too distracted thinking how great his voice would sound to even listen to his answer. :P
I had one great disappointment, where in one interview I thought the woman had finished speaking, and I hit the stop button, when she made a final comment about the speed cameras, "necessary evil," which I instantly regretted not recording. Must remember to keep it going just that little bit longer.
I also had one rude rebuff, which made me a bit sad, and my moral support companion did well to keep me boosted. However, I found that being incredibly polite and smiley, practice from my old checkout chick days, made all the other rejections very bearable, as they were likewise polite.
After finishing the vox pops at civic, I decided to try and get a few from Kippax, hoping to get some from the greyer set, as its located next to a retirement village. I got a pop from a woman and her friend, and then the battery ran out on the edirol.
On reflection, I find it was possibly easier asking people their opinions about speed cameras than other topics, because it is fairly universal, and not particularly confronting.
I also think I was too focussed on staying away from young people, that I have over-compensated with older voices. I will prob try again on friday to get those young people's opinions.
The first place we stopped at to do some vox pops, at the crossing between sections of the Canberra Centre, was rejected for traffic noise.
The second spot, which seemed okay, had a few kids busking, which had me worried again about the background noise. Still, I went a little way away, and accosted my first bystander successfully.
After the initial confidence, it was easy going, got one yes and a bunch of rejections, before deciding to relocate again.
This time, I was further from the buskers, and more in the way of general foot traffic of Garema Place, not far from the merry-go-round. I got a few responses, one from a man with not only a great answer, but an incredible voice. I think I was almost too distracted thinking how great his voice would sound to even listen to his answer. :P
I had one great disappointment, where in one interview I thought the woman had finished speaking, and I hit the stop button, when she made a final comment about the speed cameras, "necessary evil," which I instantly regretted not recording. Must remember to keep it going just that little bit longer.
I also had one rude rebuff, which made me a bit sad, and my moral support companion did well to keep me boosted. However, I found that being incredibly polite and smiley, practice from my old checkout chick days, made all the other rejections very bearable, as they were likewise polite.
After finishing the vox pops at civic, I decided to try and get a few from Kippax, hoping to get some from the greyer set, as its located next to a retirement village. I got a pop from a woman and her friend, and then the battery ran out on the edirol.
On reflection, I find it was possibly easier asking people their opinions about speed cameras than other topics, because it is fairly universal, and not particularly confronting.
I also think I was too focussed on staying away from young people, that I have over-compensated with older voices. I will prob try again on friday to get those young people's opinions.
Friday, March 20, 2009
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