How to pitch to editors- Jacqui Thornton’s Golden Rules

·         You need to persuade the editor that you can deliver all that you are promising within your pitch. For example, explain in detail evidence that a particular interview has taken/ will take place.

·         Focuses on accuracy, no mistakes are allowed.

·         Ensure that the style of you pitch matches the magazine/ newspaper that you are pitching to.

·         Gather as much information as possible to ensure that all areas and angles of your idea are covered.

·         Important to look at formats and decide what section of a publication your feature would go into.

·         You need a killer first paragraph to prove that you are capable of writing in a compelling way. Try and summarise your entire work into this first paragraph.

·         ‘The nut grab’ or the ‘say what factor’ needs to be described in your second paragraph. Discuss why this story affects people. Why would people want to read this?

·         Your third paragraph should include plans that you have for interviews.

·         At the end of your pitch, write one sentence about yourself (biographical) and give references. This is a good way of getting back up support from other reporters.

·         Always send the pitch in the body of an email; editors don’t want to waste time opening attachments.

·         Use 7 words max in the subject field of an email.

·         Get someone else to read through you pitch besides yourself as they will have more chance of spotting any errors.

·         You should follow up your email the next day for newspapers and 1-2 weeks for magazines.

·         There is a fine line between being keen to write for a particular publication and appearing desperate. Show gratitude but don’t appear desperate.

Law lecture #2 Reporting Crime

Risks when reporting Crime

·         Prejudice

·         Contempt

When a case becomes legally active this is when journalists have to be most aware of the potential legal risks that could occur whilst reporting on the case. A case becomes legally active when an arrest is made with the issue of an arrest warrant, magistrates then issue a summons and the person is charged.

In a criminal case such as the murder of Michel Kular, the jury are asked by the judge to come to their verdict ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. This is why it is so important that no articles are published which are contempt/ have prejudicial content as a member of the jury reading an article could be influenced and believe the ‘bad character’ that is reported. The mail has been highlighted for doing so this week by Guardian journalist Roy Greenslade on his blog. This article branded Michel’s mother as a ‘drinker’ and a ‘social butterfly’. As I previously mentioned, this portrays her in a negative light, breaching her right to a fair trial. The mail claimed that the article isn’t able to be seen in Scotland, where the trial is taking place.

Another possible defence for this article being written is ‘Fade Factor’. The trial could be in say 6 months time by which the article will have been forgotten about.

 Another story that has been in the press this week is Lord Rennard who has been suspended from the Liberal Democrat party unless he apologises over sexual harassment claims. Although all his criminal charges have been dropped, a victim could now dispute this in a civil court and he would be judged on the ‘balance of probabilities’.

The rules of detention without charge:

·         Police have 24 hours to question

·         A senior officer can extend this by 12 hours

·         Magistrates can extend by 36 hours

·         Can’t exceed 96 hours

·         Terror suspect limit is 28 days

Pre-trial essential pieces of information to include in court reports (7 POINTS)

·         Names of defendants, ages, addresses and occupation

·         Charges faced/ close summary

·         Name of court and magistrate’s names

·         Names of solicitors/ barristers present

·         Date/ place to where case is adjourned

·         Any arrangements as to bail

·         Whether legal aid granted.

There are three categories of offence:

1.      Indictable only - sentencing in the Crown Court for serious offences, prison 5yrs+

2.      Either way offences - this can be heard in a magistrates or crown court.

3.      Summary offences - stays with magistrates court

The Key stages of a trial are:

·         Prosecution opening

·         Key prosecution witnesses

·         Defence opening

·         Key Defence witnesses

·         Judges summing up

·         Jury sent out, deliberation and verdict

Court Reporting Rules

·         Fair

·         Accurate

·         Contemporaneous (fast)

·         No recording

·         Children under 18 are legally juvenile and so can’t be named

Magistrate’s powers

·         6 month jail sentences/ fines up to £3,000

·         Suspended sentences

·         Conditional discharge

·         Community orders

·         ASBOs

Generic Magazine Formats

There is no such thing as saying ‘I’m going to produce a feature’. No magazines are impressed/ respect this term. Work that you produce for a magazine or newspaper must be in a particular format such as:

·         Confessional Interview

·         Consumer Reviews

·         Pictures/fashion

·         Comment

·         Feature Interview

·         Documentaries

·         News Features

·         Profiles ( CV style layout) Facts about someone, usually starts with an anecdote

·         Art Reviews

·         Investigations

·         Observational (Gonzo Journalism) e.g. Tom Wolfe & Louis Theroux

·         Response

The definition of the above mentioned formats differ from editor to editor. Considered more of an art than a science. In many ways subject matter is secondary to the format. Need to separate out generic forms of features.  Don’t create a mix of the various formats.

Differences between News and Features

NEWS                                                  FEATURES/ DOCUMENTARIES

Telling                                                    Seeing (inc "word pictures" on radio)

Brief/Summary                                     Lengthy/ detailed

Aimed at whole audience                    Aimed a "niche" sections of the readership

Length varies (importance)                 Length fixed by editorial structure/TV radio /news agenda

Defined styles                                       Many styles/ generic types

Pictures useful                                      Pictures essential/ graphics

Published instantly                               Published according to schedule

Done by staff reporters                        Done by production staff/ freelancers

Event-led("the news agenda")             Production-led (fitting schedule/structure of mag/newspaper)

·         News tries to appeal to everyone. It varies, nothing stays the same. Features are planned in advance and very much production led.

·         With features / news story online all text stories should have a picture. The text is written to compliment the photograph.

·         Broadsheet newspapers now run feature ‘puffs’ (adverts for articles) above the title. This means that when newspapers are folded and placed onto the shelves in a newsagents these ‘puffs’ in the ‘flannel panel’ are on display for potential buyers.

·         Barkers are like ‘hooks’ to keep people on a website. Bulk it out and make the website ‘sticky’. Come for the news, stay for the features.

Introduction lecture to Media Law

This semester our Media Law lectures will be taken by Ian Anderson, ex Senior Producer BBC News.
                  
The first piece of valuable information Ian emphasised that we need to know, and be always aware of as Journalists is recognise the risk in everything that we do. 'If in doubt, leave it out'. It is so important for every Journalist to be aware of the law and the latest OFCOM/ Press Complaints Commission regulations.

With the 'Leveson Inquiry' in full swing, there is currently a row going on as people say that the PCC has failed in relation to phone hacking. The huge debate is should the press have their own regulator or should it be private? Who polices the press? Newspapers are still fighting to hold onto regulation that doesn't involve legal statute. Broadcasting regulations are settled in comparison, things are generally agreed on the given regulations.

Topics that will be covered this semester:

• Outline of the legal system of England and Wales.
• Crime reporting and the Courts.
• Libel and Defamation.
• Investigative journalism and Privilege.
• Confidentiality and Privacy.
• Freedom of Information.
• Copyright and Codes of Conduct.
• Reporting Elections.

 

The laws corresponding to the above mentioned topics, are always changing at the moment. A good example of this is the changes to the rules on Libel. Basically, a person can only plead Libel if they can prove that there was tangible harm brought to the person's reputation. E.g. 'McLibel'

 

The battle was between McDonald's and Steel and Morris who were distributing leaflets which was outlining critical issues about the company. This leaflet was called: ‘What’s wrong with McDonald’s: Everything they don’t want you to know.' The original case lasting 10 years, awarded MacDonald's £40k but they announced that they did not plan to collect this money from the Courts. Following this decision the European court of Human Rights ruled that the original trial denied the two a fair trial, breaching Article 6 (right to a fair trial) and Article 10 (right to freedom of expression) ordering the UK government to pay Steel and Morris £57k in compensation.

If this new law was applied to the 'McLibel' case then it would not be brought to Court since Mcdonald's is a global brand and the amount of leaflets distributed by Steel and Morris would not be enough to cause tangible harm to the Mcdonald's brand.

 

This week has been a good example of  how Qualified Privilege can provide Journalists with stories, gives Journalists the right to accurately report from Court. For example, three celebrities are currently in court for charges of sexual assault on minors (Operation Yewtree): Dave Lee Travis (DJ and 'Top of the Pops' presenter), Rolf Harris (TV personality) and William Roache (Coronation Street's Ken Barlow), have pleaded innocent.

 

Another example of finding news worthy stories form Court is when 'Nigella Lawson's former assistants were on trial for fraud. The source of which came form Court and took the media by storm. Nigella was there as a witness to the case but people debated whether or not Nigella should have been protected( eg had a lawyer present). This is because Nigella was put through a lot of scrutiny about her private life (drug use). The press then reported the accusations being made about her lifestyle (eg taking drugs). Therefore, one might argue that a witness in court should be allowed a lawyer in this circumstance, since Nigella is a celebrity these kind of revelations  are more damaging to her than the average person.

 

The hierarchy of the UK courts:

•  Supreme Court
• Court of Appeal which is spilt into: Criminal Division Civil Division
• High Court of Justice split into: Queens Bench Division, Family Division, Chancery Division.
• Crown Court (Criminal Division)
• Magistrates Court ( Trials of summary offences)
 

Magazine Journalism

Here it is, my final semester studying Journalism. I am excited to start our new module Magazine Journalism due to the fact that I have a keen interest in Print Journalism. We are lucky enough to be taught by Jacqui Thornton who has over 20 years worth of experience working on various magazines and newspapers.

Lecture 1 Notes

History of magazines

·         First magazine was 'Gentleman's Magazine' which was first printed in 1731 in London.

·         ‘Vogue UK’ (USA created first) started in 1916 during WW1 this was due to the war shipping of the USA magazine was limited so they decided to publish it in England instead.

·         1986 saw the launch of the ‘Independent’ was amazing Journalism at the time (pictures/layout).

·         ‘Marie Clare’ launched in 1988.

·         ‘First’ magazine closed in 2008

·         ‘Maxim’ and ‘Arena’ closed 2009

·         ‘More!’ closed in 2013

You would believe that the move to digital copies of magazines being available could be a contributing factor to the closing down of the magazines mentioned above but these figures show otherwise:

‘Mare Clare’s print sales have dropped by 14% since early 2009 and now sell 230,973 copies. Only 1,764 digital copies were sold in the first half on 2013.

Need to think broadly, the ‘Tesco Magazine’ has a much larger readership than the ‘sun’ newspaper.

The magazine industry is worth 2.5 billion.

Advertisements featuring in high end fashion magazines such as ‘Vogue’ are worth a fortune. In 2007 ‘Vogue’ included 2,020 pages of advertising in their magazines earning 32 million. This works out to be an average of 16,000 per advert.

Differences between magazines and newspapers

·         Subscriptions- some magazines are subscription only

·         Some are free

·         Lead times

·         Importance of advertising

The future of magazines

·         Ipad editions

·         Make your own magazine

·         Flipboard

·         New launches- ‘Guardian Technology’

·         Online- ‘Radio Times’ triples website traffic

·         Conde Nast - release things at different times of the day to get the most traffic