Question Time is Twitter Time

While no doubt BBC Question Time‘s traditional audience figures rocketed tonight as viewers tuned in to watch the spectacle of BNP leader Nick Griffen’s first and hopefully last appearance on the flagship current affairs programme,  the media’s new kid on the block proved itself to be a real voice for democracy.

Just as the Twitter community turned on the Daily Mail’s Jan Moir following her insensitive and ignorant rant about Stephen Gately’s death, they unleashed their full force against Griffen and his sorry band of followers.

While the panelists and studio audience took every opportunity to expose Griffen and his sick policies as he tried to hide behind a veneer of respectability (hear, hear to the woman who likened him to a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”), the public turned to the social media tool to join in at the rate of a thousand Tweets a minute (on the bbcqt hashtag alone) – 54,000 Tweets by the close of the programme.   (Source: tweetminster)

While Question Time has been encouraging tweets for some time now, the controversial nature of this particular programme highlighted the growth of the active media audience and the rise of many to many broadcasting in tandem with the traditional one to many broadcasting we’ve been used to.  Twitter, it seems, has now come of age.

View from the Other Side

Together with Lucinda Broadbent from mediaco-op,  I spent the day delivering a media training session to a group of Chief Executives and senior managers from the Social Enterprise sector.

As well as putting the participants through a series of challenging exercises and scenarios, we encourage them mentally take a step into the journalists’ shoes.  To think like a journalist is the best way to prepare for an encounter with one.  Given an opportunity to role play, the “journalists” not only enjoy their moment as part of the hack pack, they gain valuable experience which they can call upon in the future.

Another exercise challenges the perceptions participants have of the media and vice versa.  No matter how many times I have taken part in this exercise, I am always amazed at how much baggage we carry around with us, and how easy it is to colour our judgement with stereotypes.   I think if this short exercise was introduced into school classrooms, workplaces and especially in the training of journalists, it could go some way to breaking down barriers within our communities.

War on Words – IPI Conference on Terrorism, Media and the Law

This week  four of our new Multimedia Journalism post-graduate students (Cristiana Theodoli, Martin Graham, Alaster Phillips and Kenny McKay) enjoyed the opportunity of conducting a radio interview with reknowned journalist Hamid Mir.  The executive editor at Geo TV in Pakistan, who was in Vienna at the War on Words conference hosted by the International Press Institute, told the students how he became the first journalist to interview Osama bin Laden post 9/11.  He also spoke of the importance of press freedom in the fight against terrorism and, poignantly, of the number of journalists who’ve been killed pursuing the truth in difficult parts of the world.

The link up with the conference follows a visit to the university in May when the IPI held a mock press conference for students and a reception at BBC Scotland’s HQ in Glasgow.  One of last year’s MAMJ students, Louise Hallman, then gained valuable experience working at the IPI’s World Congress in Helsinki in June.  Highlights for Louise included Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta being honoured for its defense of press freedom and a talk by BBC World Service Correspondent Alan Johnston, on “Talking to Terrorists”.

26 New MAMJ students arrive

Teaching for the new semester here at Glasgow Caledonian is well underway and with 26 new post-grads, it looks like a very busy year ahead.  We’ve been trying to improve resources over the summer and have begun phasing out the old mini-discs and replacing them with the Marantz PMD661 portable recorder – so much better.   We’re finally almost there with integrating our Burli radio software:   we’ve set up the Press Association and Sky News Radio feeds to come directly to the In Queue; we’ve set up a newsroom email account (newsroom@gcal.ac.uk); and installed a PC in radio studio and linked that to the Synergy desk so that we can finally use the prompter and get rid of mountains of paper and log jams in the control room.  We’ve also upgraded all the Avids to Composer, added in some new monitors, and we’re hoping to continue rolling out the networking soon too.  My wish list is still rather long, but I’m hoping the changes will make for a smoother year ahead.

Meanwhile, our first group of 8 Multimedia Journalism Masters students are on the final hurdle.  The portfolios are in, the essays are being penned, and the drinks are chilling at the bar.  Good Luck!

Still not convinced about Twitter?

I know.  I admit to remaining somewhat sceptical about Twitter myself.  But it is rather infectious and when you look at the handy list of tweeting journalists in the UK compiled by PRblogger.com, can you really afford to be left behind?

Exactly how journalists are using Twitter may vary widely, but at the end of the day it’s all about networking and sharing information – the basic building blocks of good journalism.  The technology and its use will continue to evolve, but telling a good story will always draw a crowd, or should that be flock?

Who says soap and oil don’t mix?

Just back from the screening of Red Oil, mediaco-op‘s fantastic new documentary about the social revolution and the oil industry in Venezuela.  But as the tag line above suggests this is far from a worthy but dry modern studies lesson.  Mediaco-op’s colourful South American subjects are painted like soap opera characters – goodies or baddies, heros or villains.  And just as you start to cheer or hiss,  there’s yet another twist in this real life plot.   Who says debating foreign politics and social issues like poverty in shanty towns can’t be fun?

“Don’t miss it…. Insightful and funny” The List
“A dramatic cast of larger-than-life characters… You couldn’t make this up…” Clare English on BBC Radio Cafe

And as an extra treat for everyone at the screening in Glasgow tonight,  La Redonda from Caracas, the band who composed the soundtrack for Red Oil played live.  Oh, if only I had a smidgeon of South American rhythm!  Check out their My Space page to hear some tracks.

Peace One Day

Just watched The Day After Peace documentary by Jeremy Gilley on BBC2.  As soon as the film was finished, I went to www.peaceoneday.org and made a commitment to observe Peace Day next year.  The number of peacemakers who were being added to the website in the moments after the film finished was a testament to the inspirational work of Jeremy and his team of filmmakers.  In my new post as a lecturer at Cally I hope I can show journalism students just how much difference their work in the future can make to the lives of individuals both in their own communities and indeed all around the world.  I shall certainly be buying a copy of the DVD to illustrate both the power of journalism and the responsibilities that lie with a journalist to use that power wisely.