201MC Reflection

My professional experience for 201MC consisted of fourteen days working in the Touch Radio newsroom and four days working at the Coventry Evening Telegraph. As mentioned in my proposal I had wanted to work in science journalism for my placement. In that respect I failed, but the placements I did get allowed me to compare a career in broadcast with one in print. I took advantage of this opportunity to work out for myself which specialism to pursue.

Quidem Midlands Ltd is a company that runs several “local” radio stations around the Midlands; these are Touch FM, Rugby FM and Banbury Sound. All the shows for the different stations are run out of the studios situated in a business park in Kenilworth, which is where my placement was based. There is one Sony award nominated news team working at the organisation that provides localised news for all the different areas, making it one of the busiest radio newsrooms in the country.

Having completed broadcast modules at university I had a background in the theory and some technical knowledge. This helped me to quickly adapt to the way things were done which proved invaluable for my learning. Because I could get involved almost immediately with scripting bulletins, the entire three weeks was a honing process for my broadcast writing, which I will be able to take with me into next year’s module and potentially further into my career.

I was also familiar with gathering audio, but this wasn’t an area I felt particularly comfortable working in. Having the opportunity to go out with professionals and observe how they conduct interviews taught me to ask the right questions to get the most usable clips, and by the end of my three weeks I was confidently interviewing strangers and collecting quality material.

These are the practical skills I developed, but I feel that more useful is simply the understanding of the industry that comes with working in a professional environment. As the work experience guy, a lot of my duties weren’t critical to the stations output. I did however join the reporters when they covered bigger stories, for instance the sentencing of axe-murderer Michael Kelly.

Acting as a passive observer I got a real feel for how the media works in these situations, not just in court reporting but at any event that receives press coverage. While it’s not a tangible thing, seeing and being amongst the interaction of journalists and press officials was definitely a valuable experience.

Touch is a commercial radio station and the priority is entertaining its audience with music and banter. The news team output is limited to two minute segments several times a day. While it’s a skill to get the day’s important stories into these two minutes, the process often focuses on presentation more than content. As such, Touch FM will never break a big story, because it simply doesn’t have the time or resources to research them. One of the reasons I want to be a journalist is so I can be informed and be up to date on the latest news all the time. This is impossible if my focus is on presenting rather than news gathering.

This was really made clear when, by chance, when returning from an interview the reporter and I were some of the first to arrive at the scene of a traffic accident. There were two deaths, and a busy road had to be closed for ten hours. We drove away, rather than find out what was going on so we could report it and warn people about the road closure. Obviously there are boundaries, and we could not deal directly with those who were involved in the crash, but it did feel as if we were just going to leave the incident to the “real” journalists to report.

When I then moved to The Coventry Evening Telegraph and settled into the role it was far closer to my expectations of working in journalism. Working there encouraged taking the initiative, being creative and using intelligence. Because it’s based in Coventry it was easy to make the most of my time pursuing my own stories as well those I was asked to cover.

Also the research was a much more interesting process. I was fortunate to work with the Political Reporter, Les Reid, during the time he broke the story about a potential Coventry enterprise zone and the 10,000 jobs that could be created because of it, before the people responsible wanted the information in the public domain. Having the right contacts and asking the right questions got a big story that was valuable information for the people of Coventry. This was far more in keeping with my ideas about working in journalism.

As well as being a better fit for my interests working in print gave me the opportunity to publish my work in a hard copy format. Several stories, some with my by-line and some without, have been published or are going to be soon. This includes a double page spread feature I produced with a work experience photographer. While the story wasn’t hard news, I’m still proud to have gotten so much of my work in the paper in only four days.

I think that separately the placements would have been great experience in working in media. Both have improved my understanding, style and technical ability. I think, however, that the real value of the placements was in taking them both at the same time to compare the different formats. I thoroughly enjoyed working in radio, and it offered me the opportunity to meet interesting people and get involved with the showy side of reporting. Working in print is more stressful, challenging and demanding, but is ultimately more rewarding and grants a degree of job satisfaction that I could not achieve working in broadcast.

This module has thrown into the spotlight some glaring gaps in my skill set. Writing for broadcast requires a formula which takes skill to perfect but is ultimately non-personal and simplistic. By the end of three weeks the news editor was giving my work glowing reviews, which was flattering, but also tainted with the knowledge that I had to shed style and substance to get to that level.

Writing for print allows for a certain amount of creativity within the boundaries of truth telling and accuracy. I think this is where Journalists develop their “voice”, and working at the telegraph showed me how much I need to work on balancing writing style with coherent story-telling. This is an incentive to work next year on my own projects independent of the Universities requirements.

Regardless of specialism it is vital that I pass my driving test. There is a lot of travelling involved in journalism, but I only now realize that to get by without transport would be completely impractical.

Also working at the Telegraph has renewed my efforts to learn shorthand. I now know that simply passing the Add-vantage modules will not suffice, and I’ll take Les Reid’s advice and revise half an hour daily until I get up to a realistic word per minute count.

To conclude, these eighteen days, without a doubt, will factor into my future career decisions. They’ve also helped me feel confident and prepared for professional life, and my thanks’ goes to everyone who I have worked with.

Coventry Students’ Work on Display

Coventry University students are using innovation and creativity to raise money for their degree show. The 3^rd year students from the Illustration and Animation course have bought a week’s worth of display time at the Glass Box, a gallery and exhibition space owned by Coventry City Council and managed by the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum.

The students are exhibiting some of their work and are hoping to sell copies as part of a drive to make £3000 for their degree show to be held in June, though official dates have not yet been announced.

George Warner, one of the Students whose work is on show, explained the sort of work on display in the Glass Box.

“Work in the exhibition ranges from hand drawn illustration to digital prints and t-shirts. All the students have developed their own unique styles, including 3D work and classic animation.”

“The weeklong exhibition is a great opportunity for ourselves to promote our work to the people of Coventry, it has allowed us to showcase our talents, along with raising money towards our end of year exhibition.”

The shop has so far raised upwards of £300 for the degree show. At £35 a week to use the Glass House it’s likely the students will get back around ten times the money they put in.

This profit, along with other money raising ventures, has helped the students make £2000 so far in their attempt to reach the £3000 target.

As well as a money raising venture, George and his colleagues from Illustration and Animation are glad of the opportunity to showcase their talents.

 “The ideal location and layout of the gallery also means that not only people interested in art but also passersby can be drawn in by our work, which is great exposure for the class.”

Quiet in the Library

British Sea Power and Life in Film are the latest bands to grace the stage at Rugby Library as part of the “Get it Loud in Libraries” project.

The project, launched in 2005, is “designed to give people, especially young people who love music, a damn good time in a library” according to the website. The idea is to introduce young people to libraries as a Google-free way of finding information or entertainment. Hosting gigs on site gets them through the door and experiencing a public service that they may not even realize is available.

You may be thinking that loud music and stage lighting don’t really lend themselves to a comfortable reading environment, and you would be right. It does, however, emphasize the multimedia purpose of the modern library, and makes them a relevant part of peoples’ lives in the digital age.

I asked the bands what they think about “Get it Loud in Libraries”.

“Anything that gets people into libraries is brilliant, because libraries are brilliant” says Abi Fry of British Sea Power.

Sam Fry, Life in Film front man, was feeling nostalgia for a time when libraries played a larger role in communities.

“There used to be a big culture in England for social places, like libraries, where you could meet on a level that’s more than just sitting in a pub talking rubbish. I think we’ve lost a lot of that.”

So, is “Get it Loud” a way of returning Libraries to their former glory? “Absolutely” says Sam.

“Libraries have evolved; they’re not just about books now. It’s about music, film, and art.”

Especially in the face of dwindling popularity and budget cuts, it’s refreshing to see Libraries attracting more public attention.

If you would like to know if anything is planned for your local library, you can check out the “Get it Loud in Libraries” website here: http://www.getitloudinlibraries.com/

Biomedical vs. Biopsychosocial

 As part of the Professional Lecture series, Gill Furze, Professor of Adult Nursing and Health Care at Coventry University, has given a talk in which she highlighted the importance of Biopsychosocial care in medicine today.

Biopsychosocial care was developed by George Engel, and the idea behind it is that patients should be treated within the context of their individual lifestyles.

“To help people with a chronic condition, you also have to work with their beliefs, their knowledge, their emotion and their motivation, and you have to do it within their framework, not yours” Gill Furze

In the talk, she used Angina, a symptom of heart disease, as an example of a problem which should be treated within the framework of the patients’ background, rather than rolling out the same treatment for every sufferer.

In 2009, Keith Fox, Prof. Of cardiovascular medicine at Edinburgh University, drew together the evidence behind the treatment for stable heart disease, particularly Angina, from studies and a meta-analysis that compared revascularisation, coronary artery bypass graft and angioplasty vs. optimal medical treatment.

What he found was that angioplasty (PCI) is often used to treat stable angina, where there is no benefit on mortality and it is not cost effective.

“We need the courage to change practice: many patients, internationally, undergo PCI procedures for minimal angina symptoms and in the absence of demonstrated ischemia” Keith Fox

Gill Furze proposes that a Biopsychosocial treatment would be better for patients and be more cost effective for health services. Biomedical treatments can leave patients confused and scared leading to misconceptions about the how to manage their conditions.

Sufferers may act overly cautious in response to the cardiologists’ recommendations, and end up reducing their quality of life or even worsening their condition, if, for instance, they give up exercise to reduce the frequency of angina, potentially damaging their health in the long term.

By educating and informing patients medical institutions can help them self-manage, reducing the cost and increasing the effectiveness of the treatment.

This is the aim of biopsychosocial programmes like the Angina Plan. This is a brief cognitive behavioural self management programme developed for use in primary care.

The patient is given a 70 page manual and relaxation tape, and have access to a specially trained practice nurse. After a 30-45 minute introduction session there are 10-15 minute phone calls on weeks 1, 4, 8 and 12.

This simple plan was shown in a randomized control trial to have drastic effects on the well-being of angina sufferers. Instances of angina were reduced by 43%, along with reductions in anxiety and depression, while physical function was greatly improved.

As well as improving treatment quality it also reduced cost, according to a longitudinal study, conducted by the UK National Refractory Angina Centre, which found it saved £1,337 per patient per year.

Despite the clear benefits of the Angina Plan the National Director for Cardiovascular Disease, Prof. Roger Boyle, did not designate any extra funding for bio psychosocial cardiovascular rehabilitation, including the Angina Plan, and instead put £3000 Million into the ineffective biomedical treatments.

“He wrote an entire chapter saying people should have it, but he did not provide the funding for it. Since then, programmes still struggle to get funding.” Gill Furze

On the 15^th December 2010 the National institute of clinical excellence released a draft guideline for the management of angina.

The guideline states that there is insufficient evidence to back the effectiveness of cardiovascular rehabilitation in the case of angina. However, this gives the opportunity to fund further research. Gill Furze closed the talk saying “fingers crossed” that the research will bring about the changes necessary to get the right type of treatment to angina sufferers everywhere.

Coventry Out of Speedway League

The Coventry Bees, along with the Peterborough Panthers, have released an official statement declaring that the team will not be participating in the 2011 British Speedway Elite League. Their inclusion has been uncertain since last year, when the teams walked out of the AGM in response to proposed rule changes.

The statement comes in response to the British Speedway Promoters Association’s recent announcement that “It has been unable to resolve the ongoing dispute with Coventry and Peterborough on an amicable basis.” The BSPA says that it made an offer to the teams in January that would have seen the teams return, but “that offer was rejected.”

In their statement, the Bees made it clear that the BSPA were ignoring the terms of the offer, which they say were “designed to further disadvantage the two clubs both financially and competitively”.

They went on to say that in fact an agreement had been reached following the rejection of the BSPA offer, and an end to the dispute was supposed to be announced on the 18^th February. The announcement was cancelled, because the BSPA negotiators “prevaricated on the details”, according to the Bees statement.

The Bees claim that BSPA Chairman Alex Harkess’ behaviour has been lamentable. Avtar Sandhu, owner of the Coventry Bees, stated “I will return to speedway any time on any day for the sake of speedway and our fans, but not as long as Alex Harkess is Chairman of the BSPA. Their behaviour has been almost criminal in their attempts to keep both [the Bees and Panthers] out of the sport.”

Sandhu says that “for the good of speedway” the team has conceded to several BSPA demands, but would “Never give way on the principle of fairness and the same standard for all clubs”.

 According to the Bees website both clubs will continue with legal action.

Library Closures

16 of the 34 Warwickshire Council ran libraries face closure as a consequence of the £2 million cut in budget for the Warwickshire County Council Libraries and Information Service. The cuts are a part of the planned £60 million budget reduction across all Warwickshire County Council services over the next three years.

Councilor Colin Hayfield, Portfolio-holder for Customers, Workforce and Partnerships, said: “We must question the practicalities and public value of trying to maintain 34 separate library buildings, when integrating and co-locating some libraries with other local services would be more cost-effective and help improve service delivery to the public.”

The 16 libraries that “have been identified as being no longer sustainable in their current form” are:
Baddesley, Harbury, Bedworth Heath, Hartshill, Bidford on Avon, Henley in Arden, Binley Woods, Keresley, Bulkington, Kineton, Camp Hill, Kingsbury, Dordon, Studley, Dunchurch and Water Orton.
The remaining 18 libraries are likely to have their current opening times clipped. The proposal is that the three largest libraries, Nuneaton, Rugby and Leamington, will lose

at least 6 hours per week. Some branch libraries will be limited to only 20 open hours per week. How the reduction in open times will be applied is yet to be decided, but a consultation period from March to June aims to finalize the plans.

A part time employee at two Warwickshire libraries, as well as a student of Coventry University, could have their hours drastically reduced as a result.

“If some of the proposed changes take place I will be earning less than half of what I’m on now”

“Times are hard enough as a student, what I earn in the library isn’t just beer money, I need it to sustain myself while I’m studying here”

According to the council website a report on the Library and Information Service will be considered by Overview & Scrutiny Councilors on 1st March and then will go to Cabinet on 17th March for consideration.

Driven to Innovation: Automobiles and Efficient Energy

How different would life be if it weren’t for cars? Without them as a means of fast commute society would grind to a glacial crawl. But, despite the inconvenience, without a doubt a life with no cars would mean a lot less carbon.

In a lecture at Coventry Universities Goldstein Theatre, Professor Peter White, Associate Dean of Engineering, gave an industry insight into the future of cars in the face of climate change.

It’s important to understand the scope of the harmful Carbon Dioxide emissions produced by the automotive industry, before tackling the potential solutions. In 2000, the use of fossil fuels released 34 billion tons of Co2 into the atmosphere.

This figure, divided by the 6.5 Billion global population, indicates that each person is emitting 5.5 tons of Co2 per year. In actuality, the figure varies drastically between developed and developing nations, with the European average around double at 11 tons per person, and double again in the US, with 22 tons per person. 

Current climate models predict that to avoid a two degree increase in global mean temperature, the average emissions per person would have to drop to one ton per year by 2050. This reduction seems like an impossible feat, considering the reluctance of developed nations to inconvenience themselves with expensive and time consuming energy efficiency, and the exponential growth of developing nations like, China and India, who will need to use more fuel to power their industries.

If the target of one ton per person is not met however, and the global mean temperature increases three degrees, models predict that sea levels may rise as much as seven meters. White suggests we only need look at the devastating floods last year in Pakistan to understand how dangerous an influx of water could be.

So, what can the automotive industry do? At present, 23% of the world’s emissions come from transport. This is a huge percentage, but even if all transport emissions were reduced to zero, we would still not meet the one ton per person specification.

“To hit targets, the Automobile must make a positive contribution”

White believes that, despite not being solely responsible, the automotive industry will have to drastically reduce its emissions if we have any hope of combating climate change.

The average European vehicle emits 160g of Co2 per km. The EU targets are to reduce that figure to 130g by 2012, 95g by 2020 and 60g by 2030.  There is no easy solution to get these figures. White discussed the projects underway at the moment, and gave his view of their likelihood of success.

Hybrid, electric and hydrogen cars are developments that could potentially cut emissions. The problem is that at the moment they are all relatively inefficient. The average Hybrid emits 115g per km, still more than the EU target for 2012.

Electric and hydrogen share the same problem. When driving these vehicles there are zero Co2 emissions. The process of charging electric cars from the grid and producing hydrogen fuel, however, is very energy intensive and demands a large amount of fuel in itself. White believes that “There needs to be a paradigm shift in attitudes”, if the process of powering these vehicles is to be de-carbonized. Only then will they be truly realistic options.

There are other methods of making the automobiles more efficient. Mass reduction, aerodynamics and rolling resistance are all factors that can increase fuel efficiency. White champions Total Energy Management (TEM) as the way forward, because it takes the whole design of a vehicle into account when considering efficiency, not just individual areas. He points out that an 80kg reduction in mass will equate to a 3g saving in Co2 per km. If designers only focused on the one area in order to meet EU targets “Motor vehicles will have to be made of balsa wood and capable of being carried around in one hand”.

Clearly there are challenges, but white seems to think that if we can streamline efficient methods of production, fuel gathering and driving, there is a place for cars in the fight for Co2 cuts.  

 “The Automobile industry can lead the way by developing technologies which could make major contributions to Co2 Reduction, but they would need major support from the electricity generating sector”