CJSF News Reporting Values

Like other campus and community radio stations, CJSF has special obligations for the way we report. CHRY (York, Ont.) has developed very helpful guidelines, here adapted for CJSF:

Alternative News Reporting Values

* Public Service-oriented. One of the main differences between community news and mainstream news is that a story must serve the public interest to be considered for community radio. Stories should enlighten and educate audiences, and sometimes even move them to positive action.

* Locally focused: Our community is our broadcasting zone, so we want to cover issues affecting the Vancouver Metro Area and its surrounding communities. Even international stories have a BC face to them.

* Alternative: We focus on giving a voice to the voiceless, so we try to represent those stories and those communities that are not represented in the mainstream, or that are misrepresented. When we cover stories already told in the mainstream, we do so from an alternative perspective: catching what other stations have missed. There is no need to duplicate what is being aired elsewhere: People love us because we are different.

What does “alternative news” mean?

It is inclusive -- not exclusive. Alternative news means the stories that are not being told by the big guys. It is the voice in the story that mainstream media excluded. Alternative news seeks to inform, not dumb-down and can provoke debate among listeners, but also inspire them to action.

What makes a good story?

Look for three elements to focus your stories: People doing something for a reason. Newsworthy stories should have a local element and be timely and relevant to your audience.

A good story is:

1. Balanced – There are many sides and viewpoints to cover in most stories. Its not just “the other side” of the story, its “the different side”. There are always multiple, overlooked perspectives. We do not talk about people without inviting their perspective to the table - that means calling for an interview or a statement to be read on air. Balance also means conflict. A story needs duality to be interesting and alive. Things to think about: When is one source/voice okay? Do I have to invite an NDP for every Liberal? How to write-in conflict?

2. Fair and Accurate - Stories must be whole to be truly accurate. Stories can have the facts right, and still be misleading. Researching without preconceived impressions helps. Never, ever rely on just one source. Always check facts against alternative sources and the opposition. We do not report hearsay, gossip and rumour. Always attribute your source (I read it in the paper is not good enough)

3. Honest - Once you have covered all perspectives and voices relevant to the story, ask yourself: “ How would I feel about that?” Do you have a vested interest in the story and are you acknowledging this bias? Your own opinion is not journalism. Many subjective subjects can be covered more objectively with honesty. If you have a bias, acknowledge it and compensate with alternative voices.

4. Never assume – Never assume your audience knows all the background details of the story. Do all you can to help a listener understand the story. If you don’t understand it, there is no way your audience will.

****Above all: The Spoken Word Department is not a personal soapbox. If you want an opinion to air, invite a relevant guest on to express it. You are the conduit for ideas not the source.

NCRA Radio Awards Winners 2011

The list of awards is posted on this site. Shelley Robinson, the NCRA Executive Director, says soon the site will include clips you can listen to for inspiration:

http://www.ncra.ca/projects-and-services/community-radio-awards

Exercises to Exorcise Your Stereotypes

Checking in on your own stereotypes – An exercise

Full post at CJSR's Adamant Eve radio show blog: http://adamantevecjsr.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/checking-in-on-your-own-stereotypes-an-exercise/

...Think of a woman you know and who you identify as a woman, maybe an acquaintance. Someone like a coworker, a friend of a friend, or the next woman you pass on the street. What changes when you ‘realize’ she is a transwoman (that is someone born with male sex organs who now presents and identifies as a woman)? In your head how is a transwoman different from a cis-woman (cis-gendered means people whose sex organs ‘match’ their gender presentation. So a woman who was born with a vagina)?

For me, this is a good one not just for showing that we often think of trans people differently from cis-gendered people, but also for showing that we often think of men as fundamentally different from women. If you’re having a hard time trying to imagine this scenario try watching a movie like Transamerica and switch back and forth from thinking about the main character as a cis-woman and then as a transwoman.

Here is another one. Next time you’re watching a show with men and women on it imagine their genders are switched but they are saying the same things and acting in the same way. For example, turn on a home renovation show with a hetero couple and imagine in your head that the husband is a woman and the wife is a man. When the wife giggles or when the husband makes an assertive decision think about how you would understand those actions differently if they were made by someone of another gender.

You can try variations of either of these experiments with other categories as well like race, age, attractiveness, size, ability, or sexuality. Try it out! You might learn a thing or two that will help you out as you work to change the world!

Free Software for FTP (i.e., uploading files)

FTP = File Transfer Protocol. You can use this kind of software to transfer your programs to the CJSF upload site. However, software can be uncooperative - keeps changing and then you lose the ability to use it the way you did before.

Lately, I have been using and recommending FireFTP - a plug-in to the Mozilla/Firefox web browser. However, Firefox updated itself in my computer and became incompatible with Fireftp.

Luckily, I was able to locate a free program called FileZilla, which can be downloaded from Sourceforge.net. It is not terribly different from FireFTP, and it does work. Here's a page where it can be downloaded - (or, you can just google sourceforge filezilla) http://sourceforge.net/projects/filezilla/

Here's a page that tells you how to use it: http://wiki.filezilla-project.org/Using#Transferring_files

Collective-based community news - notes from other stations

These are notes from a meeting that just took place the first week of June at the NATIONAL CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY RADIO CONFERENCE 2011 in Halifax NS.

NEWS DEPARTMENT CAUCUS MEETING MINUTES

Partcipants were interested in:
- Developing a functional community news department
- How to get more reporters and more student participation in news

NEWS DEPT STRUCTURE

Based off of the community news departments at CKUT Montreal and CHRY Toronto, here is one model for a collective-based, community news department:

1) Mandate or Mission Statement.

The mandate is a short, series of statements that affirms the priorities of your news department. At the end of the day, what do you want to communicate and how do you want your department to impact the community? For example, this is the CHRY News and Spoken Word Department mandate:

"CHRY's News & Spoken Word Department is here foster a strong community-led movement for more critical, accountable and representative media. Our goal is to prioritize and promote the voices/sounds of local events and groups who challenge and carefully examine the intersecting forms of oppression among our communities and dominant structures of society.

CHRY is a community-based campus station at York University in Toronto. Our mandate is to provide alternative programming, including in-depth spoken word content targetted to specifically underserviced groups within our listening community. Although students play an important role in programming, we also provide access to members of the community at large. CHRY also provides training in radio production to volunteers. CHRY 105.5 FM is an anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-homophobic organization."

2) Trainings

Offering trainings on an ongoing basis (monthly, weekly, etc.) on basic skills volunteers need to contribute are key to sustaining a news department. Some skills include: voicing for radio, writing scripts for radio, audio editing with audacity, introduction to community news values, interviewing techniques, how to use a portable recorder, microphone technique, and research skills among others.

CKUT holds twice a year Training Days - a weekend where volunteers hold workshops on extra skills they want to share with other volunteers.

CHRY has a style guide they use for training. Vols get a copy and use it as a manual. It is attached with this email.

3) Regular News Dept Meetings

Another key component is holding regular news department meetings.
Meetings can include:
- editorial / story assignment meeting
- press packet - passing around the press releases/event listings your station has received. vols can sign up to cover stories
- team up - vols can pair up or work in teams on a story. new volunteers can shadow current volunteers to learn
- CKUT plans the content line up for the following week's Off the Hour community news show (mon-fri, 5-6pm)
- regular production/studio time every week to edit audio or work on pieces
- provide snacks, tea/juice, etc. = this brings people together!

4) Volunteer Roles

Collective member
Producer
Correspondent
Coordinator
Researcher
Engineer
Host
Trainers
Special project participant

5) Archiving Audio and Outreach

You can use your station's website for archiving, or make your own blog for free with wordpress.com.
Check these out for ideas: ckutnews.wordpress.com and chrynews.wordpress.com.

Also check out fsrn.org for reporter guidelines/manual.

--
Anabel Khoo
News & Spoken Word Coordinator
CHRY 105.5 FM Community Radio, Toronto
416-736-2100 ext. 33908
chrynews@yorku.ca
www.chry.fm