My Showreel

Confessional Interview - Magazine Module

Confessional Interview

To look at me and Abi, laughing and chatting, anyone would think we were mother and daughter, however you would be mistaken. Despite my closeness to this bright and beautiful young woman, we are not related. Our relationship only began 5 years ago through the death of my 26-year-old-son Russell. I lost my son but have gained a daughter. 

A parent can never prepare themselves for the moment they are told their child has passed away. I’ll never forget the day I was told about Russell’s accident. I had just arrived home from work when my daughter phoned to tell me he had collapsed whilst helping a friend move house and that he had been taken to hospital. We all didn’t realise the extent of what had happened to him, just thinking he had fainted and that the hospital would simply check him over. My first thoughts were that if he had had a black out, they would stop him from driving. Russell’s life was driving and all I could think about was how mad he would get if he couldn’t drive. We sat outside the room, waiting to hear how he was doing and when he could come home. Never expecting the news that followed. 

Later on that evening, the doctor came through the door to tell me there was nothing more they could do for my son. I stood in shock. I kept repeating ‘you can’t be talking about my son, not my boy’. That feeling is something you can never imagine, from thinking your son has had a small accident to hearing those words that this was the end. In the midst of our grief and shock the doctor asked us: ‘Would you consider donating Russell’s organs?’ Within the space of 2 minutes, my world had been turned upside down. The last thing on my mind was giving away anything related to my precious son. 

The doctor told us to take some time to think about it. I’ve always been a blood donor and also have a friend who’s daughter was looking for a heart and lung transplant. Those thoughts flashed through my mind at that time, and I thought, we can’t waste his life. The question arose ‘If an organ could save Russell’s life, would we take it?’ The answer was undeniably yes, and we as a family decided that it was the right thing to do. I knew deep in my heart it would be what Russell would have wanted. 

Once we notified the doctors on our decision, we got to say our final goodbyes to Russell. As I gave my son a hug and kiss for the last time, all I could think was this isn’t the way it should be. It shouldn’t be your child who goes before you, it’s not right. In the weeks that followed we were all in some sort of limbo. The world is passing you by and your in this capsule of grief, not remembering what normal feels like. You spend hours, days, weeks, doing whatever possible to escape from that terrible reality that is now your life. The grief was simply overwhelming. 
Russell had the most wonderful sense of humour, his smile could light up a room. Now his future had been taken and a giant hole had been left in all our lives. 

The only glimmer of happiness lay in the idea that 4 people had survived, due to Russell. I sent a sunflower card at Christmas to each of the organ recipients, telling them some information about Russell. I often wondered who they were but it wasn’t until a few months had passed that I got a call from a transplant co-ordinator to say that had a letter for me. The letter was from a man who had received a part of Russell’s liver. At first I was angry to hear that this man was an alcoholic. I thought of my son who had been taken through no fault of his own, then this man who had damaged himself due to drinking. However when I read on, he told me that he would never waste Russell’s life and he can’t thank me enough for this blessing. Since then, he sends me a card every mothers day. It’s a strange feeling. In some ways you feel happy, that you have people reaching out and thanking you. Yet at the same time, all I wanted was my son back. 

A few months later I received another letter from a young girl who had another part of Russell’s liver. They wrote to me to say that she had had the operation and that she was doing fine. The letter carried on, stating how they couldn’t thank me enough for this incredible gift and that she would like to meet me. Weeks later the date was set and my apprehension was sky high. But Abi and her family immediately put me at ease. Abi put her arms around me and thanked me for everything we had done and we all started to cry. When our tears were falling I noticed she had blue eyes, the exact same colour as Russell’s and I felt like I had part of my son back with me. 

Abi, who was only 13 years old when she received part of Russell’s liver, was born with chronic liver disease and had been waiting 2 years for a transplant. It was an incredible feeling to know that despite the torment and grief our family went through, we helped another family not have the same fate. As we said goodbye, it could have ended there but Abi wanted to stay in touch. During the following months, our relationship flourished. In May last year Abi was bridesmaid at my daughter Claire’s wedding. As I watched my daughter and Abi standing together smiling, they both looked so beautiful and if you didn’t know, you would think they were sisters. The night before the wedding Abi stayed at our house. I asked her ‘how do you feel staying in Russell’s home?’ She replied ‘it feels so natural, like It’s my home’. Some may think that strange, but to me, it was comforting. To this day it still gives me that bittersweet feeling, this beautiful young lady got a second chance - thanks to Russell. 

The transplant has allowed her to live a normal teenage life, one which she deserves. Abi’s parents have since had a baby and my daughter and I are godparents to the little girl. You really couldn’t write this story and when I think back to that dark time, I never thought I’d see a tiny light at the end of the tunnel. Yet, thanks to Abi, I have hope. The bond we have is unbelievable and through her, part of Russell is living on. My hope is that one day she will go on to have a family of her own and the chain will keep going. 

We both feel passionately about organ donation and because of this journey, I have since given talks, raised money and am an ambassador for organ donation. On Abi’s 18th birthday I received a picture of her, as I looked at her I smiled fondly. It was incredible to see the change from the extremely poorly girl 4 years ago to the healthy and stunning girl I saw before me. While each day my heart aches for my son, I know that thanks to him, 4 people have been given another chance at life. 

A message from Abi
‘The whole experience for me has been a pleasant one, I never had any major worries about having a transplant, I was just excited to get my life back! I always wanted to thank my donors family and to be as close as I am with them now is amazing! I'm so glad that I have Pauline and her family in my life. I  just wish it was under better circumstances. Organ donation is so important. Not enough people no about it and the amazing transformation it can have on someone's life. I've been shocked myself how much it helps when my friends have received there transplants. I think anyone considering signing up for organ donation should go for it as it's an amazing thing to do and can dramatically change someone’s life.’

Organ donation in the UK
 Every year 1,000 people die waiting for a transplant. However, only 4% of people regularly give blood, and only 31% of us have joined the Organ Donor Register.
Registering to become a donor is a personal decision. You can join at any age, but until you are 18 (16 in Scotland) you need consent from a guardian. 
Roughly 18 people die each day waiting for transplants. 

visit organdonation.nhs.uk for more information

By Pauline Holmes

As told to Georgia Spears

Confessional Interview - Article in Large

Editor Interview - Magazine Module

Laurence Mozafari - Digital Editor of Heatworld
By Georgia Spears

Innovation Essay - Magazine Module

Fashion Magazine's Journey from Print to Digital

Throughout the past 10 years, the use and need for technology in today’s society has rapidly increased. Many of us not only have a smart phone but also use a laptop or a tablet on a day to day basis. With new ways of accessing information and having answers at the touch of our fingertips, it has become a problem for the world of print journalism. 

In recent years, magazines and newspapers have had to adapt to the way technology and innovation is changing. Many people don’t want to have to go out to buy a hard copy of their favourite magazine/newspaper, they want it through their phone or tablet like they get the rest of their information. This is done by most of us subconsciously, so used to the high-techno driven world we now live in. When looking into fashion magazines, publications have had to adapt the way they give their content to consumers.  

Digital editions and TV have become the norm for many fashion magazines. Publications such as Vogue began to create digital editions for online, apps and even on sites like YouTube so viewers can get Vogue on the go. Many other publications such as Cosmopolitan and Elle have followed suit. 

An internet phenomenon which has only grown in strength is YouTube. People of all ages use the site and can now get it as an app on their tablet or smartphone. Publications like Vogue and Cosmopolitan have their own channel where you can view all of their interviews, how-to videos and information that you may have not received from their magazine. All in all, it’s another way of accessing their information which attracts the growing audiences that crave instantaneous information.   

A large innovation incline in the past years is the use of tablets. With the rise of the internet and social media, some magazine readerships could be seen to be declining as people could find fashion and gossip on websites online for free. Unfortunately, magazines simply had to adjust to this change. To do this, high fashion magazines created their own apps and digital sections on their website. A prime example of this, is one of the most well known high fashion magazines around the world, Vogue. At the top of their site, you can go onto Digital Editions, Vogue TV or Miss Vogue. The digital editions take you straight to each digital monthly editions of the magazine. However it must be acknowledged that you can only see a few pictures and it then asks you to pay £2.99 to download it. With Vogue magazine having a hard-copy price of £3.99 per issue, it brings up the question; is that £1 less really worth it? That question is obviously debatable, all depending on the way people as consumers like to get their information. 

On the other hand, Vogue TV allows you to watch a variety of video’s from interviews with celebrities, models and professional fashionistas on everything and anything fashion. This gives readers the chance to catch up on their favourite fashion site without having to pay or flick over the pages they aren't interested in. An going issue with magazines such as Vogue is the advert to content ratio in their copies. In 2007, Vogue ran 2,020 pages of advertising within that year, at an average of £16,000 a page. In total that made them over £30 million. Despite many of the images being outstanding quality and very visually pleasing to readers, many buy magazines to actually read the articles. This raises the question of whether many of the readers who bought Vogue to simply look at the images, now use Vogue’s website for free, to do the same thing? As mentioned previously, Vogue TV can also be found on Vogue’s own YouTube channel. Yet, for fans, having not only images, but interviews and digital content as well as articles all in one website is very convenient. With all of these being able to be accessed for free through any laptop, tablet or phone it can be see as a positive for both consumer and creator. 

Handbag size versions of magazines were first introduced in the UK by Glamour magazine in 2001. With it’s new size and style, it knocked Cosmopolitan off their number one top spot for Glamour to become the biggest selling women’s monthly style magazine in Europe. After which nearly all of the main women’s fashion magazines such as Vogue, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Company and Marie Claire have all followed suit in having a handbag size version. Ultimately, this brings up how consumers want to have things in the easiest way possible. The A4 size magazines often weren’t the easiest to carry around or fit in a handbag. With the release of A5 handbag sizes, it portrays societies needs to get their information in the easiest format. 

Over the years, the fashion world have adapted well to the change from print to digital. Fashion has been able to come alive to readers screens rather than just on paper. Large events such as New York/Paris/London fashion week has only been viewed in person by a handful of lucky celebrities or people in the industry. However with the rise of the internet, for many fashion lovers, their dreams have become reality. You now don’t need to buy an expensive ticket to watch these shows, you can tune in online and watch them live for free. Many fashion magazine websites upload video’s, interviews and clips from specific fashion shows onto their websites on the day for viewers to see. Ultimately, this brings it back to consumers having instant information. Maybe watching online isn’t the same as seeing it in person, but this choice wasn’t even possible many years ago. 

Social media has had an enormous impact in the way fashion magazines work as a whole. Interaction is a key aspect for many magazine companies. When they interact with their readers, it creates an essential connection which always keeps the readers coming back. Social media is, in many ways, a blessing for magazines and similar companies as they can now deal with consumers on a much more personal level. Not only this but they can update their social media pages with updates on new issues, specific information and spoilers of what may be coming. Instagram, a picture sharing app for smart phone and tablets allows anyone to have their own account and upload whatever images they like. Similar to Facebook, people/things you follow then come up on your timeline. All major high fashion magazines such as Vogue, Elle, Company, Cosmo, Marie-Claire etc all have accounts on these sites. It simply lets readers see what the team have been doing i.e. behind the scene photo shoots and you can like the picture or comment and ask questions. 

Marie-ClaireUK Twitter Page

Twitter, which is currently one the biggest social media sites used, has become an essential for fashion magazines and the writers/editors themselves. As consumers, you can receive live updates on events, fashion shows and instant fashion news on the go. It is used a lot for finding freelance writers and advertising jobs in the fashion community. A lot of the time, if a fashion magazine needs a freelance writer they put the job on Twitter, allowing you to follow the link and apply from their website. Once again, it is that instantaneous information and connection with consumers that makes the progress towards digital very rewarding. 

Conde Nast is a mass media company which head some of the biggest fashion magazines in the country such as Vogue, Glamour, Tatler and Vanity Fair. The company began to release their content at different times of the day to get the most traffic. They believe that people use a PC/Laptop mostly in the day time and a tablet is more of a ‘second screen’ in the evening. The smart phone is used throughout the day but mostly in the mornings, lunch times and evenings. In 2007 the company’s website was getting roughly 860,000 views a day and the traffic increase jumped to 8.3 million last year. Not only this but their number of social media followers rose from 753,000 in 2011 to 4 million in 2013. This can prove that the rise of the internet and social media has made a drastic change to fashion magazines over the years. The world is constantly changing and whilst many fashion magazines have adapted well, many magazines which may have a lower readership and income may struggle to keep up. 

For many consumers, hard copy magazines will always be something they want. However, technology is developing every day and the changes we have seen in the last 10 years is only the beginning. Whichever way both fashion magazines and journalism are moving as a whole, it is essential that outlets are going to have to be innovative to stay afloat in this ever changing world.

By Georgia Spears

Law Lecture #4

FOI (Freedom of information act)

Journalists thrive off information and it is often a large part of their character that they are nosy and love finding out new information. 


FOI Law - Freedom of Information Act 2000

Instead of saying we are going to protect information, the whole point is to release it. The government may want to do this, as they want to be seen to be open.
The government can not make you do things, i.e. have a police officer in every room to make you do things. They want to control you without looking. 
They get legitimacy through democracy (who we vote for) and accountability (if we are angry about the government, we want a way to voice our anger). 

We have a right to this information, as we pay for this stuff. We pay tax etc so we have the right to this information. It relates to us. 

Any person can request (and receive) information from a public body (approx. 130,000 e.g. police, NHS etc) , subject to certain exemptions.
It doesn’t only apply to paper files either, it also includes any information of video, tape or anything electronically.

You can be anybody to get this information as you pay tax and deserve the right to this information.

There are 100,000 requests a year and it costs £34 million to give this information out.
Only 12% of these people are Journalists. 

FOI was a New Labour policy objective (2005)

“Unnecessary secrecy in government leads to arrogance in government and defective policy decisions” - Tony Blair

• Promoting accountability and transparency
• Furthering the understanding of and participation in public debate of issues of the day
• Allowing individuals and companies to understand decisions made by public authorities affecting their lives
• Bringing to light information affecting public health and public safety. 

The last three bullet points are a good example of public interest. 

What does it cover?

EVERYTHING

The basic principle of FOI is: “Any person making a request for information to a public authority is entitled ... to have that information communicated to him.”

EXCEPT

FOI gives you the legal right of access to any piece of information held by most public authorities, unless theres a valid reason. 

How do you make an FOI request?
An FOI request should be in writing. Email is fine. It’s free.

They can say no because it’s too expensive. If it costs more than £600 (or £460 for smaller authorities). But you do not have to accept this decision.

There are two kinds of exemptions:

1. Absolute (eg security services, court records) They have no duty to confirm or deny that any information exists.
2. Qualified (eg ministerial communications, commercial confidentiality

Where the information is covered by a qualified exemption, you should still be given it if the balance of the ‘public interest’ favours disclosure. (Public Interest Test)

Public Interest - in the public interest - not merely interesting to the public.

For example:
How many NHS nurses have criminal convictions? (public interest)
How many NHS nurses are divorced? (merely of interest)

Qualified Exemptions (23 possible exemptions)
Under a qualified exemption, information can be witheld where ‘the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.’ 

• Likely to jeopardise national security
• Likely to prejudice defence or international relations
• Information intended for future publication
• Which prejudice the economic interests of the UK
• Which might prejudice law enforcement
• Communications with the royal family
  

How long does it take?
The public authority must respond ‘promptly’, which means 20 working days. Then 40 days if they need to consider the public interest. Remember there is no need to explain what the information is for - there is no distinction between the media and ordinary people.
What if they say no?

• Ask them why they haven’t responded - they’ll have an internal review
• You go to the information commissioner - they investigate
• You go to the information tribunal
• Then to the high court

A good example of this is Heather Brooke - expenses scandal. 

Update
Government is considering adding more limits to the FOI Act
Essentially the government wants to:

• Limit groups or individuals making too many requests where they become too ‘burdensome’. i.e. journalists
• Lower the limits on costs, leading to many more requests being refused
• Include other factors - such as the time taken to release information or not - into the cost calculations

Needless to say press organisations and freedom of speech campaigners have been very critical of plans. 

Law aspects to do with information
Data Protection is about keeping information from the public domain.
It is normally a barrier to information. There is on instance that you can get this information that we wouldn’t normally be able to get, you can get information about yourself. 
If people hold information on you, you are within your rights to ask for this information. 

Data Protection is about the world we are living in now. It’s about people who have information about you, i.e the Uni who have your details, you hand them over but the deal is they have to keep this private and only use it for the purposes that they hold it. 

Official Secrets Act - plans or anything particularly important. MOD sites. Protection for things which are crucial to the defense of this country.

Confidentiality - protection of information that is handed over. Discussion about a medical condition, there is an aspect of confidentiality within this. Recently in the news the story about medical researchers who want to analyse peoples medical data, and take samples from people who have some conditions and try and cure some diseases. 

Law Lecture #8

Reporting Elections

Reporting elections is a very important time for journalists. The public heavily rely on us to relay information about the elections has a whole and also the party campaigns. 
It is important to remember that not all polls are the same. 

Broadcasters must remain impartial when covering the elections. All of the major parties must be given equal coverage time. Consequently, newspapers can either swing towards left or right wing. 

The hard truths about elections

• Citizens base choices on your reporting
• Accuracy and impartiality even more vital
• Politicians love to shoot the messenger
• Campaign language is often ‘heated’

We, as journalists, are often the 'messengers' to the people. 

Maintaining Impartiality

• Absolute requirement for broadcasters
• Major and minor parties are different
• Keep an accurate log of party coverage

Opinion polls and exit polls

• Criminal offense to publish before polls have closed
• No exit poll speculation
• Minimal reporting on polling day

An exit poll is a survey taken when people are leaving the polling station to find out which party they voted for. Before a poll has closed, it is a criminal offence to publish any statement about how people have voted or any hint or idea of the election results. 

Achieving balance

• Aim to achieve daily balance between parties
• Don’t be overly influenced by party 

As a summary it is essential to get to know election procedures. To report in the best way possible it will help to understand procedures inside out. Also the ability to judge the difference between election 'banter' and 'false statements' is a very important topic. As a reporter, we are the eyes and ears to the public and we must (as always) be certain about what we say, and the way we portray others. Not only this but we must remain impartial, especially when reporting in broadcast journalism. Without always meaning to, we as journalists have a lot of input in to what the public think about topics and this can sometimes mean voters base their choices on our reporting and the way we portray specific parties. By remaining impartial, it ensures we are always in the clear. 

On polling day, it is common that you will see minimal coverage from both campaigners and journalists.