After all the doom and gloom in the newsroom yesterday, today I am working with a group of media students at the local University.
And to quote the old cliche: what a difference a day makes.
They are all fresh faced and excited about getting jobs in the industry, enthusiastic about news and broadcasting.
What a wizened, cynical, embittered old hack I seem in comparison!! It's astonishing to think I was the same as them only 8/9 years ago, when I first got into journalism.
What a difference a decade makes...
I hadn't the heart to tell the students about how bad yesterday was, and about what I believe is the imploding state of TV news. And they will be cheap to hire - so may get jobs very easily anyway.
After all, the company that I work for ran an advert a few weeks ago, appealing to "new talent" to come forward and apply for jobs, "no experience necessary." (!!!)
You can imagined how angry and heartbroken we all were - what's wrong with us, the old talent?!
Don't worry - I already know that the answer is in the question. We are too expensive....
Saturday, 4 October 2008
15 - This Too Will Pass
Today is one of the dark days.
We were given the specific number of job losses across the country, and it's bleak.
In my newsroom, for every ONE person that will keep their job, TEN others will lose theirs.
There were audible gasps as the verdict was read out, despite a year of build up.
In the end, it was worse than we could have feared - isn't it always with redundancies?
And those who do stay won't even recognise their new job, because it will be so different to the way they worked before.
But through all of the tears and fears today, all I can do is relentlessly keep reminding myself of the wise advice of my family: "this too will pass.**"
** Borrowed from Abraham Lincoln, of course... and he probably got it from someone else!
We were given the specific number of job losses across the country, and it's bleak.
In my newsroom, for every ONE person that will keep their job, TEN others will lose theirs.
There were audible gasps as the verdict was read out, despite a year of build up.
In the end, it was worse than we could have feared - isn't it always with redundancies?
And those who do stay won't even recognise their new job, because it will be so different to the way they worked before.
But through all of the tears and fears today, all I can do is relentlessly keep reminding myself of the wise advice of my family: "this too will pass.**"
** Borrowed from Abraham Lincoln, of course... and he probably got it from someone else!
14 - So Far From Whence We Came
So Ofcom have announced their findings.... and yesterday my Blog was an outpouring of my general anger at the situation.
But it is personal too, as you know.
And now my bosses have decided that they still need a bit more time (argh!) to digest the findings, and tell us what it means for our jobs. Though considering Ofcom have approved the entire plan, there can't be that much head scratching.
Still, it will now be early next week before we are given some real ideas about how many job cuts there will be. And even then, it's all open to another round of discussions and consultations....
So it could be ANOTHER month or more before we know definitively exactly how it will work, and whether I have a place in the New World Order. 14 months after the first announcement about job losses. After that there will be the interviews, selections and dismissals or offers.
Do you get the sense that this is like slow, steady, mental torture for me? I continue to work my hardest in the job I love...
But I can't sleep, I can't talk about anything else, I can't plan my life beyond the next few months, yet I can't stop planning all of the variable outcomes. I'm driving loved ones mad.
I suppose it's my mind trying to impose order on chaos. But if it carries on like this for much longer, I'm sure I'll lose my grip....
And underneath all the worry, anger, speculation and desperation is the same relentless throb of sadness.
How has it come to this?
13 - Ofcom: a Toothless Tiger?
So the verdict is in.
And despite an entire year of rigorous analysis, debate and procrastinating, Ofcom have decided that ITV go ahead with its plan to slash regional news exactly as it is. The finer detail is still to be determined, but not one of ITV's core ideas has been altered, improved or even rejected out of hand.
ITV can do exactly what it planned. And many are very happy with that.
And so regional news patches with be merged from 17 into 9 - and "local" news patches will triple in size. They will now cover geographical areas that range from Land's End to northern Gloucestershire, from Dover to Banbury in Oxfordshire, from Banbury to northern Nottinghamshire and so on.
You get the picture. Vast.
And the Watchdog, which is supposed to protect viewer's interests, is allowing regional news to be decimated.
In the next few days, the details of how that will affect my working life will become clear.
But for now the general employees are just all dismayed and devastated. That between the Unions and Ofcom, not one extra regional service or one extra job has been saved.
But what can we do?
In the end, as with everything, it all comes down to money.
And the buck stopped today, with Ofcom.
And despite an entire year of rigorous analysis, debate and procrastinating, Ofcom have decided that ITV go ahead with its plan to slash regional news exactly as it is. The finer detail is still to be determined, but not one of ITV's core ideas has been altered, improved or even rejected out of hand.
ITV can do exactly what it planned. And many are very happy with that.
And so regional news patches with be merged from 17 into 9 - and "local" news patches will triple in size. They will now cover geographical areas that range from Land's End to northern Gloucestershire, from Dover to Banbury in Oxfordshire, from Banbury to northern Nottinghamshire and so on.
You get the picture. Vast.
And the Watchdog, which is supposed to protect viewer's interests, is allowing regional news to be decimated.
In the next few days, the details of how that will affect my working life will become clear.
But for now the general employees are just all dismayed and devastated. That between the Unions and Ofcom, not one extra regional service or one extra job has been saved.
But what can we do?
In the end, as with everything, it all comes down to money.
And the buck stopped today, with Ofcom.
12 - The End is Nigh
Tomorrow Ofcom publish its review of Regional News, and how it will look in the future.
For most people, that will involve finding out how their BBC license fee will be better spent, and how their ITV local news will change.
For me, it's a verdict on whether there will be a job for me, and my friends, in the new world order. And where my base will be, how my working life might change.... etc etc.
It's a day that has been coming for more than a year now.
But it turns out that it is possible to long for, and to dread the same event.
Many feel that news from our bosses is long overdue. But it's unlikely to be good news, as it has been made clear from the start that budgets - and staff - will be cut. Drastically cut.
The tension at work for the last few weeks has been unbearable. Lots of short tempers, sick days, whinges about workload, tearful phone calls to colleagues on the drive home. And everything in between.
Tomorrow will crank up that pressure even further.
Wish me luck.
For most people, that will involve finding out how their BBC license fee will be better spent, and how their ITV local news will change.
For me, it's a verdict on whether there will be a job for me, and my friends, in the new world order. And where my base will be, how my working life might change.... etc etc.
It's a day that has been coming for more than a year now.
But it turns out that it is possible to long for, and to dread the same event.
Many feel that news from our bosses is long overdue. But it's unlikely to be good news, as it has been made clear from the start that budgets - and staff - will be cut. Drastically cut.
The tension at work for the last few weeks has been unbearable. Lots of short tempers, sick days, whinges about workload, tearful phone calls to colleagues on the drive home. And everything in between.
Tomorrow will crank up that pressure even further.
Wish me luck.
11 - Deadlines
How well do you perform under deadlines?
I ask because my working day is made up of three, or often four immovable deadlines. If I miss those deadlines (the on air slot for my story) by even a few seconds - I may as well miss by days.
And that would mean big trouble. No greater sin for a reporter than to "not make" my slot, as the jargon goes.
And friends often comment, "how do you cope with the stress!?"
But actually, I am better under immediate pressure, and so is the entire team. We all make decisions more quickly, think more clearly, and communicate more efficiently. And I find that the day flies by when I am working towards mid morning, lunchtime, early evening, and even late programmes.
Don't get me wrong, it's not always ideal. When you are lost driving to a live location, don't know the subject properly and only have twenty minutes until you are on air (which has happened more times that I can count!) I would give anything to slow time.
But the rest of the time I thrive on it.
Perversely though, over the years it has made me hopeless at every day tasks when out of work. If something doesn't need doing in the next few hours, I don't bother!!
I've become a last minute merchant, which isn't a popular trait...
I ask because my working day is made up of three, or often four immovable deadlines. If I miss those deadlines (the on air slot for my story) by even a few seconds - I may as well miss by days.
And that would mean big trouble. No greater sin for a reporter than to "not make" my slot, as the jargon goes.
And friends often comment, "how do you cope with the stress!?"
But actually, I am better under immediate pressure, and so is the entire team. We all make decisions more quickly, think more clearly, and communicate more efficiently. And I find that the day flies by when I am working towards mid morning, lunchtime, early evening, and even late programmes.
Don't get me wrong, it's not always ideal. When you are lost driving to a live location, don't know the subject properly and only have twenty minutes until you are on air (which has happened more times that I can count!) I would give anything to slow time.
But the rest of the time I thrive on it.
Perversely though, over the years it has made me hopeless at every day tasks when out of work. If something doesn't need doing in the next few hours, I don't bother!!
I've become a last minute merchant, which isn't a popular trait...
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
10 - Blame the Law or the Media?
Further thoughts.
In the case of reporting a victim or accused/guilty's name, I don't make the rules.
I don't like hiding behind the law, but if it states that I can't name those people, I can't name them.
Part of the reason I don't name then is because I could get fined or go to prison for contempt of court...
But strictly selfish reason aside, I believe it is a morally grey area too. In the most extreme cases, I could be the root cause of a vigilante attack etc because I published a name.
In every case that I cover I have a different moral opinion about the right or wrong of publishing a name. And so does the public.
But my opinion doesn't matter then, and it never matters in any story I do.
(Why should anyone care to hear what I think, and anyway, Ofcom requires me to be neutral.)
And in these stories, the law is the law. Dont name names.
If that pisses you off, blame the law not the media.
In the case of reporting a victim or accused/guilty's name, I don't make the rules.
I don't like hiding behind the law, but if it states that I can't name those people, I can't name them.
Part of the reason I don't name then is because I could get fined or go to prison for contempt of court...
But strictly selfish reason aside, I believe it is a morally grey area too. In the most extreme cases, I could be the root cause of a vigilante attack etc because I published a name.
In every case that I cover I have a different moral opinion about the right or wrong of publishing a name. And so does the public.
But my opinion doesn't matter then, and it never matters in any story I do.
(Why should anyone care to hear what I think, and anyway, Ofcom requires me to be neutral.)
And in these stories, the law is the law. Dont name names.
If that pisses you off, blame the law not the media.
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