Lions Arrive

I recently reported on the arrival of lions in Yorkshire. My package was broadcast on the late news which goes out after the ITV News At Ten. Our reporter on the ground filmed the opening shot of the report after her package on the story went out on the 6pm Calendar programme. So I changed the package for the late news bulletin. I was producing the late news that night so it was hard work finishing it in time - you may notice that the shots of the lions roaring right near the end of the package doesn't quite fit with what the interviewee says in his last soundbite.

Car Crash Reconstruction

As a TV journalist you are told to use the most dramatic pictures at the start of any report and I almost always do. But for this package on the car crash reconstruction I decided to use shots of the emergency services arriving to build up the tension before the viewer sees the wreckage of the car crash. It also allowed me to make the most of the dramatic natural sound that everyone associates with the emergency services on blue lights.

"Big Hitters"

ELECTION BLOG 3

In the two months before polling day, I worked full time on the general election. I interviewed a few 'big hitters' as they're known in the newsroom. Boris Johnson, Vince Cable (at 3 mins 36), David Willetts (at 6 mins 42), Chris Beverley from the BNP (at 9 mins 02) and John Denham (at 12 mins 28).



And here are a few election quirks I came across...




It's election delivering time in Sheffield and someone's been cheating!









Leeds unconvinced by new Tory billboard campaign.






And finally, in the build up to polling day I put together lots of research on all the (74) constituencies in ITV Calendar's patch. This included finding out the names and contact details of the candidates. When I called the press team at the Labour Party they tried to sell me the info! Why do we want to pay to publicise their candidates? You won't be surprised to know they gave in without payment.