WINOL is the online news channel run by the students studying Journalism at Winchester University. The most recent bulletin contained matters including the expected rise in student fees, problems foreign students have had with identification, the local sport news and the recent commendation the students themselves have had for their efforts.
The first thing that struck me about WINOL was the professionalism of the two presenters. If I had shut my eyes I could have easily been listening to the BBC or Sky News as both readers had the exact tone and consistency of voice that we expect from news presenters. As well as this highly polished competency the two presenters also finished with a personal touch, proudly showing off the recent BJTC award for Innovation in Journalism. I thought that this was a good idea to fit this story in as it gives physical proof to the viewer that the channel is of a high standard and this deters them from considering looking for other sites.
As I have a keen interest in Sport, and aspire to be a Sports Journalist myself, I was pleased that WINOL featured an in depth sports report. Featuring local sports ensures that the content is relevant to the viewer and I was impressed by the excellent highlights footage of the local football in particular. Having such footage showed a determination to fully report the stories rather than simply reeling off the results and also made the report more entertaining.
The bulletin did contain a couple of spelling errors in the report however and this is something that brought the production down slightly as that is something you very rarely (if ever) see on a BBC or Sky News report. The reporters lumbered with the more tedious roles of commenting on issues such as the housing development plans in Winchester could also perhaps have used a bit more expression in their voices to keep the viewer hooked on the story as had I been watching at home I would have probably flicked over at that point.
On the whole though I was really impressed with the WINOL channel and they clearly work very hard and deserve their recent accolades, I'm looking forward to getting involved with the channel myself in the next two years.http://www.winol.co.uk/
Good, fair comments, I think. You were right to pick up on the voice tracks - we definitely need to work harder to improve the overall quality. But as you pointed out too, the presenters provided excellent examples of confident, professional delivery.
ReplyDeleteThere could be more gusto in the voice over on football, I think students are a bit shy and also probably woried about going too far downmarket. But there needs to a bit more performance in the commentary perhaps. Life imitates art, so Alan Partridge is always worth listening to... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gHorOt6KKw
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