Saturday 27 December 2008

Life after being a Sabb

Two years ago I was a sabbatical officer at Sheffield University Students' Union. The Union has just published a list of what past officers are now up to, proving that there is life after being a sabbatical officer!:

http://www.shef.ac.uk/union/student-voice/elections09/life-after.php

Sunday 21 December 2008

A Week In (Relative!) Silence

I recently went to Taize, a Christian community in Burgundy, for a week in silence! I kept a video diary (ironic I know : ) ...



Tuesday 16 December 2008

Jeremy Irons Graduates!

This was not only the first Hollywood star I've interviewed, but also the first interviewee to roll a cigarette during the interview! He has some interesting things to say about graduation ceremonies...


I covered the story for ITV Local.

Wednesday 3 December 2008

Science Comes to Life!

I've just finished my second report for ITV about a lively academic at Brighton University who's got a novel way of engaging young people in science:





And here's my latest ITV blog:


INSIDE THE ITV NEWS BUREAUX
Although Meridian Tonight is based in Whiteley near Southampton and Maidstone and Thames Valley Tonight is based in Abingdon, a vital part of our operation is in the bureaux.
We have bureaux in Salisbury, Bournemouth, and Brighton. Over the past two months I’ve visited them all and have really understood their value.

In Brighton, there’s a team which provide stories for the Meridian programmes. The bureau is made up of two reporters, two cameramen, and a producer. One of the main reasons we have bureaux is that we have to be near the news so that we don’t miss out on stories. The Brighton office allows us to have a presence in the city and all of the towns nearby. It means we know people in the area and can respond quickly to breaking stories. If a story breaks in Lewes, we can be there in minutes thanks to this office. Without it, we’d have to rely on a reporter and cameraman travelling all the way from the Whiteley office near Southampton to cover the news item.

The stories we cover from the bureaux are incredibly varied. Last week while I was at the Brighton bureau we reported on a number of stories including: a school that was badly vandalised, a procession supporting the victims of domestic violence, a house fire that killed an elderly woman and I had the opportunity to cover a story about a science lecturer at Brighton University who’s putting on a big chemical experiments show in Brighton. The aim of the show was to entertain children by showing that science is fun and exciting.

Without the bureau, I doubt that we would have been able to cover even half of these stories. This shows how vital bureaux are to our operation.