TV students in election spotlight for Granada

By UK Journalism

UCLan broadcast students got a taste of political reporting when they were invited to join the election team at Granada ITV on May 1st.

Richard Frediani, Head of News at Granada, commissioned 10 teams of UCLan undergraduate and postgraduate students to cover election counts across the North West.

Students toiled into the early hours filming the counts and interviewing the winners and losers. Some counts produced high drama as the evening’s results swung in favour of the Conservatives, or produced the occasional shock win for Labour.

Craig Laycock and Jessica Cadwallader, undergraduates in their third year of the BA Journalism degree, showed real tenacity when it came to getting their man in the frame at the Salford count.

“The night in Salford was great”, said Craig, “We got stuck in and got as many shots as we could. It was a bit of a tussle with the returning officer and the communications officers at the start negotiating exactly what we could and couldn't shoot, but once we got underway we got some great stuff.

“I was reporter for the night, chasing down the stories and Jess was the expert camera person. She got some great shots of one of the losing candidates which were used on the news the next day.

Got the scoop

“The winning candidate snuck out of the back door when we were filming other results, so we grabbed his number off another journalist and chased him back to his house about half an hour away to make sure we got the scoop! We interviewed him in the street at about three the morning and it was all a bit surreal really.

“All in all it was a great night and it was fantastic to get hands-on TV experience.”

Material shot by other teams was also featured on both national and regional ITV news programmes. Postgraduate student Charlotte Atty and year three undergraduate Melanie Loughney covered the Bolton count.

“There was a lot of speculation that Bolton would swing to the Tories,” said Charlotte, “So some high profile people were at the count. We managed to interview Ruth Kelly, the Transport Minster, as Labour hung on to the Council leadership. It was really exciting working in a professional environment, though it was very hard work. We had a great time.”

Richard Frediani said he was delighted that the election night partnership, now in its third year, worked so well.

Vital extra coverage

“The link up with the students gives us vital extra coverage on a very exciting night. It ensured we were at more counts than any of our regional rivals, and indeed any other regional TV broadcaster anywhere in the UK. The students conducted themselves excellently and were a credit to the University.

"We have a fantastic relationship with the Department of Journalism in Preston and this gives the students real experience of what’s involved in covering local elections for regional and national news."

Steven Roberts, the Granada producer co-ordinating election coverage, said he was very impressed with the students’ professionalism;

“They all did a superb job, and we had more than enough material for the stories that developed the next day. I hope they found it useful”, said Steven.

Senior Lecturer in Broadcast Journalism Deborah Robinson commended Granada's commitment to supporting the training of tomorrow's TV journalists.

She said: "Richard Frediani and the Granada team provided a fantastic opportunity for our students to work as professional TV journalists, filming several important election counts, interviewing key political figures and working to tight deadlines.

"The students taking part really enjoyed the experience. It also gives them some valuable practical professional experience to put into their CVs. This will prove very helpful when they apply for jobs after they graduate."

More info
BA (Hons) Journalism
PGDip Broadcast Journalism
ITV Granada

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