Ayo (tired of using?) Technology

As I have probably said on this blog I am taking NCTJ exams next month in a bid to make myself more employable. But last week I got an e-mail from the holy examination gods themselves about the changing format of the Newswriting exam that I will be taking.

In September, the NCTJ introduced multi-media units to its news writing programme of study to ensure that students and trainees are taught about convergent multi-media skills in the newsroom.

Editors agreed that students and trainees should be tested on their ability to write for print and the web, and to test their knowledge of different multi-media platforms. It is essential that all candidates can think about different publishing platforms when reporting news stories.

Minor adjustments have been made to the news writing exam to reflect the changes. The format of the exam primarily remains the same, but question four has been split into two sections, A and B.

So it got me thinking that maybe UCLan was one step ahead of the game when it merged the Print and Online routes for the first time in my last year into a Print and Online journalism course and it wasn't because there was not enough numbers to fill each route ;)

I wish I had an example of the old website of my local paper compared to this one as the new one is a massive improvement visually and to navigate around - so it shows that newspapers are concentrating almost as much on websites as their printed version.

One of the best online versions of their newspaper has to be the Manchester Evening News but as I studied in Preston for three years we followed the Lancashire Evening Post quite closely and they also are embracing the web as a way to boost their competitiveness and maybe even reach a new audience.

Anyways, my point is the NCTJ are acknowledging that the Newswriting exam has to change to make sure newly trained journalists can write for the web and more time is being invested in newspaper websites so what is the end result?

The end of newspapers = I doubt that but obviously adaptations will have to be made and as anyone can see who takes a minute to browse around some newspaper websites they are as some are prepared to break stories online before their next print edition.

Whatever the future holds I hope I can be involved in some way which is why I am taking the NCTJ exams and why (I hope) they will send me on the right track to a good journalism job.

Life After University

It was my aim when I started this blog for it to be based on the media and journalism but that just has not happened unfortunately and I can't blame anyone but myself. It has become more of a personal diary on the internet and as someone on a forum I frequent said:

"If you are going to start a blog make it interesting and relevant - not something that adds to the already massive amount of crap that clogs up the world wide web."

However, in an attempt to change the things I post about from stuff like this:

I have received my final certificate regarding my journalism degree so that is me offically finished at Uni with a 2:2, not what I wanted at the start but that's the way it goes sometimes. I now know my date for graduation and have two NCTJ exams coming up (Newswriting on the 18 and PA on the 19 November) while holding down a 31-hours a week part time job at a local supermarket to raise money for my trip down under sometime next year.

To something a little more like the below. Still my personal views and opinions but not on my personal life.

Anyways, beginning this new era I am going to voice my discontent at the change of style of my local radio station. This is the blurb on the website and it is bluntly honest:

The ‘New' Revolution. Previously the station was targeting aficionados of new bands and ‘cutting-edge' music. Going forward we will be a broad-based classic and contemporary hits station for Oldham, Rochdale, Ashton-Under-Lyne and surrounding areas. We are unashamedly ‘mainstream', targeting adults aged 25-54.

Personally, I was a big fan of the "old" revolution, something which helped when I had my three placements there on the news team but now I tune in and tune out right away. I remember a piece in the paper about Mr Steve Penk who said something along the lines of instead of targeting a niche listenership they were going for the more mainstram audience - like, say, Key 103 ... but here is the story from Jemima Kiss @ MediaGuardian.

The radio station used to be more like an XFM Manchester which is something I tuned in for but now it has gone all classic and contemporary hits it is not something I go for. I will be interested to know what other listeners have thought, obviously the station will have lost some of its 1.4% local audience share but will others have come back/discovered this new-themed radio station?

I may not like the change but I remember Steve Penk on Key 1o3 and the prank phone-calls = times of laughter. So after the guy put money into this I hope he gets the rewards out of it. And they say you can't please everyone but if it grows on the 1.4% local audience share it did have then I will take my hat off and say, well done Mr Penk.