Capturing Cardiff: A Ray of Hope

The way the media industry appears to be going at the moment, I was beginning to wonder if the journalism course I'm currently studying would include lessons on noose tying and razor-blade sharpening.

It's easy to get depressed by all the doom and gloom surrounding local journalism. Every week it seems another newspaper group is posting declining profits, announcing redundancies, or even going into administration.

Local broadcasters aren't fairing much better either. As well as the high profile problems at ITV, which they continue to attempt to resolve, local radio stations have been stream-lining, merging and closing like never before. The Guardian's Dippity timeline (below) illustrates the current state of the industry.

And none of this matters a jot to the 'average man or woman on the street'.

But perhaps it should. At the risk of sounding pompous, local journalism is meant to be at the centre of the community, informing the region of what's going on on their doorstep. It's the conduit for local politics, news and gossip. If local newspapers go to the wall, how will we find out how the council intend to spend our money, what our community's priorities are, or how the local sports teams are doing.

A perfect storm

Here in Cardiff, the South Wales Echo has been chronicling local events since 1884, and their owners, Trinity Mirror, are among the many newspaper groups cutting back as they weather what Alan Rusbridger describes as a perfect storm.

But perhaps it's also right here in Cardiff that a glimmer of light is about to emerge from the storm.

Next week Ofcom Wales will start taking bids for a chunk of the digital radio spectrum.

Digital upgrade for local news?

Despite the name, the winner of the licence will actually be able to broadcast digital TV to Cardiff and the surrounding area.

The frequency can be used either for providing the Cardiff area with mobile broadband coverage, or for a number of local TV channels (or a 'multiplex' to use the jargon).

'A really exciting time for Cardiff'

To find out more about this venture, I went to see Hywel Wiliam, the Head of Broadcasting and Telecommunications at Ofcom Wales.

He told me that although the chunk of the spectrum could be used for either mobile broadband or TV, the most likely option would be to provide a dedicated digital TV service for Cardiff.

You can hear more what Hywel calls a 'really exciting time for Cardiff' by listening to the full interview (below).

Hywel Wiliam - Ofcom Wales

As you can hear, Hywel is pretty positive about the prospects for the frequency, despite the timing of the auction meaning bids not being as high as they might have been a year or two ago.

It follows the success of Channel M, which has been providing a similar service for the Manchester area since 2000.

Mancunians (as well as the rest of us) can tune in to Channel M through Sky, Virgin or Freeview, as well as analogue in the region. The channel shows six hours (seven including repeats) of local news every day, plus numerous sports programs providing in-depth coverage of the city's various teams. They even show highlights from local non-league football.

And if anyone missed the evening news bulletin's report on Stockport County Council's effort to stamp down on pigeon droppings (tenuous pun not intended), they can catch it again online.

Convergence in Cardiff

Cardiff's local papers have done a fairly decent job of getting online. Media Wales, the subsidiary of Trinity Group which owns The Western Mail, The South Wales Echo, Wales on Sunday and Celtic Weekly Newspapers, pool their resources to provide WalesOnline.co.uk.

They combine to provide a fairly comprehensive overview of the news in Cardiff and the  surrounding area.

So imagine the potential if local newspapers, desperate to halt the decline in sales, advertising and revenue, decided to foray into TV. Instead of complaining about the BBC's growing local coverage, this would provide the perfect opportunity to turn the tables.

Broadcasting upwards of six hours of local news a day is unheard of anywhere in the UK except Manchester.

And it's a prospect that could change the tone of the media industry in Wales. Suddenly, after a doom filled 2008, 2009 may suddenly be looking up for all of us trying to break into an industry many commentators have written off as being in decline.

But it will all depend on who has the highest bid when the auction closes in February.

A one man brand

As someone pursuing a career in journalism to escape the rat-race of Sales and Marketing, I was slightly dis-heartened when our latest guest lecturer started talking brands.

Rick Waghorn, a former Norwich Evening News football correspondent, has set up myfootballwriter.com, a site which allows football fans to follow and respond to what their local football writer is saying about their team as soon as it's written.

This means they get the latest updates, match reports, transfer rumours, national embarrasments (below), and all the rest, without waiting for the next edition of the local paper.

The reasoning behind this venture is that Rick's audience reached the point where they valued his views above those of the paper/broadcaster he writes for. Therefore when Rick parted company with the Norwich Evening News, his audience followed him to his new outlet...myfootballwriter.com.

You see, the journalist has effectively become a brand...potentially bigger than their paper/broadcaster.

Examples such as Robert Peston and Jeremy Clarkson seem to back this up. Peston is now generally accepted as the voice of the 'Credit Crunch', with some going as far as saying he was too in touch, perpetuating the crisis he was meant to be covering. And, argues Rick, the Telegraph's readers aren't interested in the paper's views on motoring, they're interested in Clarkson's views on motoring.

So, logic dictates that if one of these 'brands' parts company with their 'platforms' the audience follows.

We learned how Rick has since mastered the arts of broadcasting (by podcasting), distributing (by web-hosting), managing a community (his readers), twitter-ing, blogging, marketing, search engine optimisation, selling advertising space, hiring, firing and paying staff, managing finances and becoming the managing director of his business. All this on top of bringing his audience the latest news about their cherished football club.

Leaving the "Jack of all trades, masters of none" debate to one side, I'm not sure how accurate Rick's analysis of the brand issue is. Robert Preston is heavily associated with the Credit Crunch because the BBC provided him every possible medium available. He was able to break news of Northern Rock's collapse on TV, radio and online virtually simultaneously.

His contacts, which he spent over 20 years cultivating as a journalist and stock broker, and his talent as an investigative reporter, which was recognised by various awards during those years, meant that he got the story first. The BBC's ubiquity meant he was able to cover the story 'in 360 degrees' for a huge and varied audience.

To me the brands seem to be co-dependent. The reporter builds his reputation on the back of a big media outlet's. He gets access to relevant people on the basis of his association with the organisation, and whistle-blowers are more likely to approach a big media company with a story than an unknown individual. In return, the outlet benefits from the reporter's skill and professionalism. Their ability to tell the story impartially, accurately and quickly.

While in some instances there may reach a point where a journalist is respected enough by his audience for them to follow him to a different publication, the fact remains that the majority of journalists depend on the outlet to provide support, resources, and an existing brand reputation.

After all, if it wasn't for the Norwich Evening Post's advertising budget, Rick's face wouldn't have been on the hoardings at Carrow Road promoting his column to their fans, and he wouldn't have had the chance to build a following.

While myfootballwriter.com may yet thrive because it offers supporters a new, 24/7 way of following their local team, I'm not sure the majority of us will be able to build a sizable brand on the back of our web presence alone.

Community management: When The Conversation gets out of hand.

Today's guest lecturer was Shane Richmond, Communities Editor for mytelegraph.co.uk, the 'communities' section of the Daily Telegraph's website.

As Shane said, his job title is only partly accurate, as although he's responsible for providing a platform (to use the jargon) for communities to develop, he actually does very little editing. Freedom of expression is a core tenet of the Daily Telegraph's right of centre readership, and therefore undue censorship will not be tolerated! Sub-ing the pages would be impossible with the number of posts received each day (...there are about 30,000 user blogs, and the journalists' blogs and articles attract a further 2,000 comments from the public a day.)

This level of interactivity provides one of the most difficult challenges currently facing media outlets; while on the one hand traffic generates advertising revenue, it also poses the problem of moderation.

One example of this dilemma is bbc.co.uk's old Football Forums, which allowed fans of all teams to discuss whatever was going on at their beloved club. Transfer gossip, injury news, takeover rumours...all in one place.

It provided a place to rant about the players, the management, the owners, Arsenal's latest dirty trick.

But it also provided the perfect place to bait fans of rival teams. Wind up merchants were rife, and brought with them a constant headache for the team of moderators whose job it was to enforce the Forum's rules.

In the end the forums were closed down and replaced with the current 606 message boards. They no longer feature 'Team Boards', only moderators can start threads or conversations, and opening hours are restricted.

The BBC was able to implement measures which were generally unpopular with its users because it doesn't depend on traffic to make money. Commercial providers do not have this luxury, and must instead try to find a more even balance between practicality and popularity.

Mytelegraph.co.uk does this by allowing/requiring its users to self-moderate. Comments on some sections of the website are read before they're published, but the majority of the blogs and the rest of the site rely on readers flagging up comments which they deem abusive or illegal.

The comments left on Shane's blog post explaining his moderation method provide a quick glimpse of the problems that come with justifying removing or not removing particular comments.

Potentially illegal messages left on blogs and forums have come to the fore in the last week, with the leaking of the BNP membership lists and the naming of Baby P's parents.

Each case represented a different kind of legal problem, but both involved highly emotive subjects and ultimately the threat of danger to those involved.

The identification of Baby P has been banned by the High Court, but that hasn't stopped dozens of posters on various message boards publishing their details. Anyone with one finger and the ability to use Google can find their names in a matter of seconds.

The same tools will help you find the BNP Membership list, the publication of which also flies in the face of a Court Order taken out by the BNP months ago.

In Smith v ADVFN PLC Justice Eady accepted that defamation laws may have to change, with messages on online forums being considered slander rather than libel.

The advent of the internet era may also mean changes need to be considered for contempt of court legislation. We may already be at the point where these changes begin to take place; whether or not action is brought against ISPs who allowed the publication of the BNP Membership List will serve as an interesting test of the effectiveness of the current contempt of court laws.

Defamation Laws have changed significantly since the days of the Guttenburg Press, when lies about the spread of disease were the major concern for a population ravaged by the plague. The focus moved from slander to libel as various means of mass comunication developed. The laws had to adapt again in the mid-20th Century as TV and Radio proliferated, and it seems now, less than a hundred years later, the laws will have to be looked at again to ensure their effectiveness in dealing with the challenges that come with a global conversation.

Employment in South Wales

This post is now a blog...click here to see it.

Blogging about Blogs

The subject of this week's Online Journalism lecture was 'Blogging: Reporting in the Web 2.0 Era'. Quite appropriate considering the medium has just been declared dead by some commentators.

The guest lecturer was Adam Tinworth, Head of Blogging at RBI, who gave us an insight into how publishing companies are adapting their business models to fit the modern shape of their industry.

Many of the criticisms of the current state of blogging come from 'amateur' bloggers, who feel they're being sidelined by pro's who supplement their articles in printed publications with blogs. Hearing how Adam trains staff at RBI to blog gave us a different perspective on this arguement, with very contrasting conclusions...

Adam began by emphasising the importance of engagement, or being part of a conversation, pointing out that being on the web is not the same as being part of the web. It's meant he's had to encourage his writers to shift their mentality, from simply writing articles they now have to engage thier audience in a conversation.

The amount of money that major publishers are putting into blogging indicates that they don't believe the format is dead...if anything the opposite. However the resources of major publishers will doubtless make it difficult for bedroom bloggers to compete.

But that doesn't mean they should give up. Adam's definition of the qualities of a good blogger requires them to be:

• Inquisitive


• Communicative


• Honest


• Enthusiastic


• Social


• Informed

None of these qualities are exclusive to professional journalists (in fact some might argue that many journalists are completely devoid of one or two of these qualities!) so there's a lot of room for 'amateurs' to prove themselves by writing about subjects they are able to be enthusiastic about, in a well informed, honest way.

Proof of this is FlightBlogger, aka John Ostrower, who set up a blog about the aviation industry. At just 21, his knowledge, enthusiasm and contacts meant he was often breaking news before the professionals. As a result RBI signed him up and he's now one of their most popular bloggers.

Conclusions I draw from this are that while the proliferation of blogging means that the medium may have become over-saturated, and companies with huge amounts of resources have encroached on the 'citizen journalist's forum', quality will shine through and can still provide an outlet for amateurs with the skill, and desire, to succeed.

Digital storytelling

I've been having a quick look back at my previous blogs, and realised I could be accused of being fairly negative with a lot of what I've written...it's not intentional, just my natural cynicism shining through.

However, I'm pleased to say that our lecture on Digital Storytelling was not only quite an eye-opener for me, but Daniel Meadows' enthusiasm for his chosen medium proved infectious.

Until now, when I looked at YouTube, I thought 'video clips', but it turns out I should have been thinking 'digital narratives'. The popularity of sites like YouTube, Metacafe, and more recently Qik reflects the growing use of video as a method of expression, and runs parallel with the advances in commonly used technology.

The fact that most mobile phones now come with integrated video cameras means that it's much easier for people to quickly capture video and upload it to their computers. The wider availability of broadband means more people can view the videos easier, so it's only natural that this form of media has become more popular.

Evidence of this can be found in coverage of the current US Elections. Both campaigns have made use of YouTube to get their election message to a wider audience, with Obama and McCain both seeing that they can reach a younger demographic which doesn't always engage in political debate in traditional media. Members of the public have also posted videos which have had at least as much, if not more impact than official campaign videos.

I couldn't finish without a touch of cynicism though...and unfortunately the digital video format was effectively undermined in our Reporters and the Reported lecture on Friday, when guest speaker Nicolas Brett came to talk to us about the future of Magazine Journalism. A number of the slides in his Powerpoint Presentation depended upon video clips illustrating his points. Unfortunately, the University's network wasn't up to playing them, and, despite the best efforts of the tech assistants, turning the computer off and back on again didn't help. Eventually he resorted to describing the videos, which didn't have quite the same impact.

Alas, the future remains the future. Should be good when it all works though!

Losing on aggregate

Until a couple of years ago, if someone had mentioned 'aggregate' to me, I'd have expected them to either be talking about European football results or concrete. Now though, it's a term that's becoming more and more common in media usage.

Today Matthew Yeomans spoke to us about journalism in the future, the shape it will take, and what factors will shape it.

As he said, no-one knows...and if they claim to, they're lying.

But the growing commercial pressures on media outlets, combined with the easier access to more news sources that the web brings with it, mean that news aggregation is a quickly growing trend.

Services like Google News, Yahoo! News, and countless others enable websites to offer a comprehensive overview of news from around the world, without the need to employ a single journalist. They simply take content from other outlets, and put it all in one place.

These, and RSS feed readers like Google Reader, allow consumers to customise their 'front pages' so they can see what's happening on all of their chosen news websites/blogs on one browser.

Matthew explained to us how he had previously been editor of the ag, a blog on Time magazine's website which used RSS feeds to aggregate news on a range of issues from around the world.

Time was able to provide their readers with news which was relevant to them, in real time, and only pay one person for it. Sounds great! Right?

Maybe not if you're a journalist.

And probably not if you're a reader.

If one person is responsible for the entire content of what is effectively an online newspaper/magazine, what happens to all the journalists? Sure, there'll be someone, somewhere, working for a news agency or PR Company churning out the press releases which are being coming through the RSS, but who's going to double check whether the story's true? And who'll be finding the stories that don't simply promote the official line? Who will be digging through the dust-bins looking for dirt? Who'll be finding the stories we're not meant to hear about?

The danger is that the news aggregators and RSS feeds make it even easier for PR companies and governments to manipulate the media and set the agenda, and there are less and less 'independent' journalists to scrutinise what's being said, in which case, we all lose.