I think you knew this from the moment I promised to keep a blog— at some point I would forget about it. There is no excuse for my forgetfulness. A lot has happened since I signed off in...December. (I didn't realise it was THAT long ago.) I'll quickly catch you up.
1. I re-designed and re-named my blog, as you can see. I learned since writing my previous post that "Hack" is a derogatory term for journalsits over here. My professor always referred to us as Hacks, so I assumed it meant the equivalent of journalists. But that was before I learned to understand British humour. So, as a result, I'm starting afresh with "In Media Res". I hope the pun is obvious, and that those of you who know spelling isn't my greatest strength don't think that I write in medias res without the 's'. (Or think that it is the British spelling, because it isn't, I assure you.)
2. My parents and sisters celebrated Christmas and New Year's with me in London. It was absolutely amazing. We went on a couple Harry Potter walking tours, we took a trip to Stonehenge and Bath and we saw Chicago, which starred America Ferrera as Roxy (and we stayed after to get a picture with our favourite Ugly Betty star!)
Bastien moved back to Paris and came to London while my family was still here in time for New Year's Eve. Maycie and Cristina also came from home to celebrate New Year's Eve in London with Lena and I. For New Year's we all went to Lena's house to celebrate and watch the fireworks at midnight.
My parents left on January 2, and it was really hard to say goodbye knowing I won't see them until September. Bastien stayed with me and helped me film my first short video, which I'll try to upload later.
3. Bastien and I went to Scotland for Fulbright's mid-year conference. We went to Glasgow and Edinburgh. It was perfect timing to be in the capital city because we toured Parliament just days after the Scottish Parliament announced an independence referendum. Essentially, they don't want to be a part of the UK anymore. It was very interesting to hear from the Scottish National Party members, the party currently in power who wants independence. The consensus seemed to be that independence wasn't likely, but it was interesting.
We also went to Oxford in February, a very belated Christmas present to Bastien. It was so beautiful. You just feel smarter walking through the campus. Unfortunately, students were eating in the main dining hall and I wasn't able to peek in and see where they filmed the Harry Potter dining hall scene.
4. I've been to Paris three times to visit Bastien once each month. And this summer I will live in Paris from June-September! I just need to get a lot done between now and then.
5. I took a trip to Manchester with some people from my course. It was a much quieter city than London, but hardly as beautiful.
6. Sydney moved home in December, but came back to collect all of her clothes and move out of her flat. So I got to see her and her family in March. :) Unfortunately, it was also our busiest week of classes, but we managed to make time for shopping on Brick Lane and drinks at Electricity Showroom.
7. I finished my classes at the end of March. Now I have work experiences, then time off to film my final documentary, and finally three months to write my dissertation, which I am planning to write in Paris...
Anyway, I have three work experiences. The first one was at the BBC's current affairs programme Panorama. This was absolutely amazing. I was helping out on one of their programmes that will air in May. I can't give anymore details away until then!
For two weeks I am working at The Daily Telegraph's foreign desk. It's funny to write stories on the US as foreign news. I'm sure my mom will be spamming you with my stories, if she hasn't already. My biggest fan.
And then I will spend two weeks at The Observer, the The Guardian's Sunday paper.
8. The sun came out the other day. It was really amazing. I used to love rainy days because they were so rare. Now I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see the sun. Never again will I under-appreciate Arizona's sunshine! I've never been so pale in my life!
I guess that more or less catches you up on the big things that have happened in the past four months.
I'll do my best to keep my blog more up-to-date, meaning I will try to post more often.
xx
Lauren
07 April 2012
13 December 2011
My Day At the Beeb
On Friday I spent the morning at the BBC to watch the News at One go out. This was an amazing opportunity and I couldn't believe my luck to be there.
At 8:52 I was collected from the BBC Television Centre lobby in White City, London. I was then shuffled into the morning meeting which takes place everyday promptly at 9:00a.m. The producers and the heads of every department attend this meeting to discuss what news will be delivered and how it will be delivered.
The undisputed news of the day on Friday was that Prime Minister David Cameron had refused to sign a treaty at the European Union summit in Brussels. Essentially, Cameron said the treaty did not include provisions to safeguard The City, the UK's financial sector, and therefore it was "not in the national interest." By refusing to sign this deal the UK has isolated itself from future Eurozone talks, and many feel this was too drastic a step. The implications of this refusal are yet to be determined, but undeniably it marks a change in UK-Euro relations. French President Nicholas Sarkozy said: "There are now clearly two Europes."
In the newsroom that day they asked: What is the story? Is it that Cameron did not sign the treaty, or is it that all (most) other EU members supported the draft treaty? Depending on the audience, national or international, the different departements chose to go with different angles. In the various discussions that took place in this meeting I was surprised how much the debate centred around the public. What does the public need to know? What questions do we need to have answered so that the public understands? Who will the public want to hear from? What is the best way to present this to the public?
I know this is what a news organisation is supposed to do, but to be honest, I think the public can feel quite isolated at times— especially when reporters use industry jargon and PR-speak. Sometimes you have to wonder, is the reporter simply repeating verbatim what someone has told him/her or does he/she actually have a full understanding of the issue.
In this meeting it was clear that the producers were careful to not overstate what their reporters knew about the treaty deal. They didn't know exactly what provisions were so bad in the treaty that the UK was better off being isolated from the rest of Europe than approving the treating. This became the point that they would try to pin down in the rest of the day's broadcasts.
The meeting broke and the producers went back to their teams to start working on the day's stories. The team I followed, Team One, produced the 13:00 news. By 15:00 the BBC had this exclusive interview with Cameron that sought to answer those very questions.
At 8:52 I was collected from the BBC Television Centre lobby in White City, London. I was then shuffled into the morning meeting which takes place everyday promptly at 9:00a.m. The producers and the heads of every department attend this meeting to discuss what news will be delivered and how it will be delivered.
The undisputed news of the day on Friday was that Prime Minister David Cameron had refused to sign a treaty at the European Union summit in Brussels. Essentially, Cameron said the treaty did not include provisions to safeguard The City, the UK's financial sector, and therefore it was "not in the national interest." By refusing to sign this deal the UK has isolated itself from future Eurozone talks, and many feel this was too drastic a step. The implications of this refusal are yet to be determined, but undeniably it marks a change in UK-Euro relations. French President Nicholas Sarkozy said: "There are now clearly two Europes."
In the newsroom that day they asked: What is the story? Is it that Cameron did not sign the treaty, or is it that all (most) other EU members supported the draft treaty? Depending on the audience, national or international, the different departements chose to go with different angles. In the various discussions that took place in this meeting I was surprised how much the debate centred around the public. What does the public need to know? What questions do we need to have answered so that the public understands? Who will the public want to hear from? What is the best way to present this to the public?
I know this is what a news organisation is supposed to do, but to be honest, I think the public can feel quite isolated at times— especially when reporters use industry jargon and PR-speak. Sometimes you have to wonder, is the reporter simply repeating verbatim what someone has told him/her or does he/she actually have a full understanding of the issue.
In this meeting it was clear that the producers were careful to not overstate what their reporters knew about the treaty deal. They didn't know exactly what provisions were so bad in the treaty that the UK was better off being isolated from the rest of Europe than approving the treating. This became the point that they would try to pin down in the rest of the day's broadcasts.
The meeting broke and the producers went back to their teams to start working on the day's stories. The team I followed, Team One, produced the 13:00 news. By 15:00 the BBC had this exclusive interview with Cameron that sought to answer those very questions.
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