Today I went with John to the press conference, about the missing mother of Tia Rigg, at the police station in Swinton.  The radio reporters were allowed to interview first.  John, Victoria from Real Radio and Simon a reporter for BBC Radio Manchester pooled the interview.  I stood a little behind with Key’s new flip cam filming John’s interview.

John’s experience and knack for getting a story paid off.  As he uploaded the audio in the car to send it back to the office, a man casually walked over to see what was going on.  John explained there was a police conference as Tia Rigg’s mother was still missing.  It turned out that the man knew Lynne Ahmed and was happy to chat to John about it.  He was in a rush to go to work though so he only had a few minutes.  John sent the audio back to the office as the man carried on walking down the road.  It gave the story real texture to have audio from a friend.  Even after Lynne was thankfully found, Key was able to run the story with the audio from the friend because the statements from the police were too dated.

I’ve definitely learnt a lot about the North West patch over the past few weeks.  Of course I know Manchester but I’ve seen places and met people I wouldn’t ordinarily see and met and I suppose that hunger for what’s going on is why I want to be a journalist and more specifically a journo in the North West.  I’ve already started networking with my potential future colleagues on Twitter.

North West stations were recognised in the Sony Radio Awards which were announced yesterday.  The Key breakfast presenters Mike and Chelsea have been nominated which is great.  Real Radio has been nominated for News Journalist of the year which is exciting and shows that commercial radio should not be considered “lite” in terms of journalism and current affairs coverage.

My last assignment for my placement at Key 103/Bauer was the assemble and read the 6pm Magic1152 bulletin.  It’s attached the top of the page.

The North West is definitely the place to be.   Not only are there many talented media professionals to work with but its such a brilliant  patch to work in so many ways.  I’m looking forward to my placement at BBC North West next week.

Coming out of Alice and looking up at the night sky and lettering boasting railway warehouse goods, I imagine that I, like Alice, am going to set sail to New Worlds. 

The nature of film demands a formulaic plot, whereas the lack of such a plot is what makes Lewis Carroll’s books so wonderful.  Even so, I enjoyed a lot about the film which became a quest story.  Alice’s dresses were delicious.  I loved loved loved Helena Bonham Carter and the flashbacks to Alice’s first visit to Wonderland as a child where she coined the term “Underland” because she couldn’t pronounce Wonderland.   I think the casting of Alice was really good and I loved her gothic pale skin.

I was less enthusiastic about the Mad Hatter’s dance at the end….

old meets new in Manchester

In the Manchester Evening News today, journalist David Ottwell’s article “We’re at the centre of a bloody battle” says the North West is the key battlefield in the 2010 General Election.

I always thought elections were won or lost by voters within the M25.  It seems that this isn’t so this year.  Ottewell writes;

“It could come down to just a few seats – and several of those are in and around Greater Manchester.”

Both David Cameron and Nick Clegg are expected in the North West today, getting a head start.  Cameron will be in Bolton while Clegg will be in Liverpool.

Last night I watched both Granada and BBC North West.  Claire Ashforth reported from Westminster.  She and NW’s Political Editor, Arif Ansari, both agreed that the battles over swing seats in commuter places up here (like Bolton West, Bolton North East and Bury North) will be the ones to watch.  

But what of the North West electorate?  This morning I went to the Town Hall to interview the Head of Democratic and Statutory Services and an Election Officer at  Manchester City Council about how they are reaching out to young people (Key 103 listeners) to get them to register to vote.

Naturally, social networking sites are playing their part in this election’s electoral roll numbers.  An advertising campaign means Facebook users between the ages of 18-24,  who live in Manchester areas, will notice an advert on their page encouraging them to register to vote.  Clicking on the ad will take the user straight through to the council website so they can register online.  I’m sure this is being used by councils UK wide.  It will be interesting to see how social networking campaigns change the demographic of UK voters this time round.

On a personal note, I just confirmed my own registration in Cardiff today by phone.  I did it by post as the website wouldn’t recognise my post code.  It was pretty simple really.  The hard part will be trying to decipher all the policies. 

More than 2000 people have joined the Facebook group and messages have been posted by classmates, friends, family and strangers all touched by her death.

Stations and channels run news on a “Saturday Service” over Easter but I have been surprised at editorial decisions.  Today Real Radio led their news with the Earthquake affecting LA and the north of Mexico.  Real is a regional, rather than local station so I am surprised there were no regional stories to lead with, especially as the murder of Tia Rigg is a national story in the North West patch.

Today I went to Weeton Barracks in Lancashire with Key’s reporter Kirsty Waters.  It took us over an hour to get there.

The soldiers have just returned from 6 months in Afghanistan.  Family and friends were there to welcome them home.  Kirsty interviewed a lot of families as they waited in the gym.  Because Key 103 is part of Bauer, the audio can be exchanged with different stations in the North East which are part of the group and can use interviews of soldiers and their families from the areas. 

The regiment arrived at around 4pm to cheers and applause.  Kirsty and I interviewed some of the soldiers shortly after they were reunited with their wives, parents and children.  At the homecoming were Gamal Fahnbulleh from Granada, Michelle May the Sky North West correspondent, a reporter for ITN and a reporter for BBC North West.

We arrived back at Key after 6pmand uploaded the audio as raw clips for weekend news producer and reader Marta Newman to edit tomorrow.  The soldiers return will probably lead the morning bulletins as it’s strong local news and the station tries to lead on its own material rather than take national stories.

Key 103 produced a lot of content for the website including an audio slideshow that included archived reports from Picadilly Radio and an interactive map. 

In television news, Granada ran special reports,  including a 5 min report on the website.  BBC North West don’t archive separate packages online like Granada so I can’t link to them.  I was only able to catch theshort 1:30pm bulletin.

Granada were  creative in their use of the Happy Monday’s song, Step On.  The use of a split screen when interviewing people involved helped set the scene as you saw images of the interviewees from 20 years ago.   The dramatic reconstruction of events was powerful and there was a varied mix of interviews for different perspectives.

In the 6pm bulletin they used graphics to give the regional story at UK wide perspective by explaining how many prisoners there are in the UK today compared to twenty years ago.

While the special report was a feature, the 6pm package went with the news angle that there are still problems with the prison service in the UK despite recommendations in the Woolf Report, issued after the Strangeways Riots – with overcrowding identified as the biggest problem.

Among the interviewees for Granada were:

Paul Taylor who started the riots

Anne Owers – the Chief Inspector of Prisons

Erick Allison – a journalist who served time at Strangeways

Mark Leech – a former inmate and now respected monitor of jails

Brendan O’Friel – the Governor of Strangeways in 1990

I’m back in Manchester, spending my Easter break on industry placements as part of my postgrad journalism course.

I’ve always loved commercial radio and I chose Key 103fm for my radio placement.  At short notice the News Editor John Pickford agreed my placement and so here I am, working on the news desk.

The Key 103 office over looks Castle Quay and is only a 5 min walk into town.  I could be looking out on to the canals of Amsterdam.  There are house boats outside my window and a weeping willow.

It’s Wednesday and so far I’ve been given a lot of things to do which is great practice for me.  I’ve been court reporting on the case of Stuart Halliday pleading guilty to death by dangerous driving.  I went to Salford with reporter Kirsty Waters to interview the mother of Paul Croft, who was murdered 5 years ago, on the launch of the 5 year appeal.  I interviewed the MD of Manchester Airport and Vice President of Emirates over the arrival of the Airbus380 coming to Manchester. 

Key 103 has a big online presence so I’ve been writing for the web and editing, then uploading audio.  You can read my article on the new search for Keith Bennett’s body up on Saddleworth Moor here.  I edited down 11 minutes of an exclusive interview Search Leader David Jones gave John.  Keith was 12 when he was snatched by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley.  He was their third victim and the only one never to be found.