Regional ITV News... A Race To The Bottom.

My heart feels heavy for the future of the regional ITV News Networks. Time was, not so very long ago, i would turn up to a breaking news story to film some court case / Death / Accident / Corporate shenanigans and such like, and would be shoulder to shoulder with my opposite number from ITV Regional news, filming the same thing and generally getting in each others way. Basically we would compete for the best angles, best sequences, and race for the prize of being there first, and telling the story better than the other side.

The other side... complete with natty hat and sharp elbows.

That said, i became firm frienemies with many of my fellow cameramen and journalists who stalked my patch in search of kicking our ass with a better story. It was their job, and they did it well. Competition thrived, and local stories were told from all over our part of the UK. However, ITV's heart was never really in the regional news game, but had to deliver it as part of their regional TV Broadcasting licence, with a budget that only just does the job. This licence expires in the next few years, and having read many articles on the subject i now believe regional news broadcasting, from ITV anyway, will never be the same again.

I have already witnessed the demise of regional ITV news offices here in the south, with many people either losing their jobs or having to re apply for their own job, with radically altered terms and conditions. Starved of cash, they just couldn't go on as they were.

The result of this, for me anyway, is that i rarely get to see any of the cameramen and reporters that i used to see on a daily basis. I can sometimes go for months without seeing a guy i used to see 2 or 3 times a week. I know they are out there, they just don't cover as much as they once did, because they don't have the resources or the money to do so anymore.

It would seem that our current Government has a plan. Deregulate the market, slash the funding to wafer thin and see what the market comes up with. Let the people decide who broadcasts the local news and let market forces decide it's fate. Yep, that'll sort it.

Deregulation of local news broadcasting, in my opinion, will not safeguard the future of quality regional news. People need to be informed of what is happening in their local areas by independent, unbiased journalism and the best quality pictures from good quality camera operators. Unfortunately, i think that market forces will drive local ITV regional news into the arms of someone with an eye on the bottom line and to hell with the quality and independence. They will make as much as they can for as little money as possible and as few people as they think they can get away with. You may say that this is what is happening now, and i would agree. But wait until deregulation kicks in, the money gets slashed and your local station is taken over by a corporation with a padlocked wallet and their own idea of what you should be watching, what politics you should be thinking and just how independently informed you should be.

Think about that for a while.....

Happy Christmas.... Now Pay Up.

You know it's coming. The dates are correct and the Government doesn't like to be kept waiting. Only this year the dates have been changed to make you pay the Corporation Tax by the 1 January. That's right, the miserable shithouses at the Inland Revenue make us poor schlubs pay large bills just when Christmas time has ended, and at a time of year that is traditionally quiet for us freelancers in the already crumbling industry of freelance news camera operators.

Christ on a bike.......!!

Don't worry though, i'm a sensible sort who squirrels away his hard earned money for such days as these. I resisted blowing it all on a new flat screen HD, 1080i super duper tellybox, so i could watch the news now filmed by wobbly VJ's. No. I diligently put some aside to pay the pinstriped suits of Her Majesties Inland Revenue, (God bless 'em) for i would not like the banks to go under, MP's to be deprived of a good Port at Westminster, or the public sector to go without.

I know that my Taxes need to be paid, it's just a shame that some of the larger corporations that trade on these shores are not so forthcoming. I'm sure that my couple of grand will find it's way to fixing a pothole in the road, renovating the school bike shed or paying for the biscuits and coffee at the next state visit of some overbearing autocrat from a country i wouldn't want to visit, unless there was a coup.

My piss poor contribution to the wellness of this great nation may not amount to a large hill of beans, but i pay my way and i do my bit. Should the man from the revenue be reading, or even the Chancellor of the Exchequer himself, Mr George Osborne, (Hey, you never know) please get to grips with the Billionaires and large corporations who actively avoid paying their dues by having an office or a wife in Monaco, thereby missing out on a chance for their money to be used in the filling of a rather large national pothole.

I thank you.

http://www.media-attention.co.uk

Rule Britannia... No money returned.

It's not every day that you get to witness another small part of your country's military decline. But that is what i did yesterday as i filmed the homecoming of HMS Ark Royal, the only ship capable of carrying and launching fixed wing aircraft from the UK's once mighty fleet. In a short sighted and swift decision the UK Government decided to scrap our only aircraft carrier due to our nations straightened circumstances. Basically we can no longer afford it.

As the ship slipped quietly into Portsmouth Naval Base for the last time, it seemed fitting that she was shrouded in fog and sea mist, lest the rest of the world see what, in my opinion, is a very short sighted error, which in today's world of small wars, localised conflict and occasional disasters, may come to haunt our current governments decision.

As i filmed for Channel 4 News and the ITV Networks, i couldn't help feel a sense of sorrow for those aboard such a great warship that could have served for many more years to come. I myself served aboard HMS Ark Royal during my time in the Army and have great memories and photo's of my time serving alongside the Royal Navy. So the day had a double meaning for me personally.

Me aboard HMS Ark Royal. 1991. (Rear row, centre)

I know, good looking, rugged chap wasn't i ...? Those were the days though, single and travelling the world, meeting interesting new people and places... and nicking their country. Ah, back when the British had an empire and Britannia ruled the waves.

But those days are long gone, along with my hairline, and sleek muscled, toned body. Still, at least our government hasn't decommissioned me.... Yet.


So here is the film that Channel 4 fashioned from my days labour. A fine effort, even if i do say so myself, but i can't help thinking that i may have been a witness to just a little less of Great Britain than when i woke up that morning.

Rule Britannia... and God save the Queen in full chorus.






http://www.media-attention.co.uk

A Sunny Autumn Day.... Brings Tears To The Eyes.

Standing at the Thames riverside with the Autumn sun shining is a great way to start the working day. The ripples of the Thames reflect the dappled light to the Autumn leaves and moored pleasure boats along the pathway. Together with the sound of rushing water over the nearby lock, it evokes a pleasant and idyllic scene.

I soon spot the men in a boat, drifting lazily across the river, staring intently over the gentle scene. Walkers who have stopped to take in the sights and stand in the warm sun. I can see a man and a woman sitting on the grass next to the river, arm in arm, giving each other a gentle hug as they watch the passing boat in the water....

So you think i am trying my hand at writing a romantic novel? Describing the scene as two lovers sit in an idyllic landscape, as i write the words to a resounding romantic crescendo? Maybe i am here to film the beautiful surroundings for a soft news item about the pleasures of living by the river in outer London...?

Well, No. As the scene unfolded in front of me, i can see that the men in the boat are wearing Police and rescue services uniforms, and that the boat has a blue flashing light. They are staring into the water, not across it. The walkers taking in the sun are concerned passers by, the usual crowd who stop to see what is going on. The rushing waters of the lock contain Police divers on a search for the body of a man whose Mother and Father sit on the riverbank, arm in arm, giving each other gentle hugs, as tears stream from their faces as they wait for the inevitable, tragic outcome of the searching that is taking place directly in front of them.... Listening for the shout out that the Police finally have their man.

So i stand there, with my camera on my tripod as i roll on yet another story that on the face of it, looks like a normal Autumn day by the river Thames. But as is all too often in the news cameraman's life, i roll tape on another family's tragedy, on the working lives of those who look for the dead and take notes for the coroner. I roll tape on a Mother and Fathers worst day which is taking shape not 20 yards away in front of me, and i roll tape on the grim faces of the men and women who stand and stare....

This, by the way, is the end of the story which started the day before. Two men, walking their dog beside the river, stopped as the dog jumped in and couldn't get out. One man went in after the dog, but he himself soon became trapped by the swirling river currents. His friend went in after him and he too, soon got into difficulties. The bodies of both men have now been recovered, into the care of the families who now have funerals to plan.

The dog got out on it's own.

How A Freelancer Really Gets The Work.

The picture below is of my business card drawer. I guess all freelancers have one, a place to put all the little fernickity pieces of contact information that people thrust at you from time to time. My drawer is now pretty much full and anyway, really important contacts are in my big book of contacts and on my computer. Triple logged and stored in case something nasty happens.

Contacts... never discarded.

So why do i tell you this? Well lately, things have been a little slow on the freelance news cameraman work front. Broadcasters are hoarding their money for the tough times yet to come and us freelancers are the first to get it in the neck.

So it was a ray of sunshine when a cameraman friend of mine called to see if i could cover a documentary shoot for a crewing company working for a major production company. He couldn't do it and they were pretty desperate to get a man on the ground as time was critical.

You see, this is what the freelance camera world is all about. one bloke who knows another, who passes on the details to someone else, in order that they can work for another company. Three, sometimes four levels of contact hot swapping saw the job come my way, resulting in three or more gladly received days of work for a major outfit, on a filming job that turned out to be a pleasure to work on. So not only do i now have four more work contacts in my book, i am known to two more people in a position to hire cameramen for their services. All thanks to a mate of mine who i am normally competing with on the ground to get the best pictures for our respective news outlets.

So next time i'm on the road and we meet, i shall be a little gentler with my sharpened elbows in the press pack, and try to avoid setting up shop in front of his tripod, just for the hell of it. Hell, i might even buy him a coffee.