Dispatches

Fearless or thankless? The state of investigative journalism

Investigative journalism has been having a tough time of it lately. In the broadcast space, Vice, once feted for its original and irreverent reporting, this year announced it would stop publishing new content. BBC Two current affairs flagship Newsnight was also cut by 10 minutes and deprived of top reporters such as its Diplomatic Editor, Mark Urban. Hundreds of jobs were lost at Vice, while more than 30 staff have been laid off at Newsnight.

Factual commissioners share what they're looking for

It’s quite a shopping list, but it’s a flavour of what broadcasters are looking for in factual programming, a panel of commissioners told an audience at an RTS East event in Cambridge last month. 

Louisa Compton’s investigations unit at Channel 4 needed no more introduction than a brief clip of her recent Dispatches film on Russell Brand, but she stressed that, as well as seeking high-level, impactful investigations, she is looking for subjects to get people talking, such as Rebekah Vardy: Jehovah’s Witnesses and Me. 

RTS London hear how to make the most out of music

Alex Jones and Matt Baker in The One Show (Credit: BBC/Ray Burmiston)
Currently, he argued, this doesn’t always happen – with composers and programme-makers often failing to sing from the same song sheet.
 
Hexel recalled a quote from Rachel Portman, who won an Oscar for her score for the 1996 movie version of Jane Austen’s Emma. “Many good directors are bad at giving good direction to composers,” she said.
 

Dorothy Byrne’s TV Diary

Dorothy Byrne at the 2018 Television Journalism Awards (Credit: RTS/Richard Kendal)

TV current affairs and documentaries are obsessed with the new. That means we can ignore problems which continue over decades. My month begins with watching Channel 5’s Raped: My Story for a panel I’m on.

It’s a really daring programme precisely because there is nothing new in it; it is a devastating document of the way rape ruins lives and survivors are denied justice. And that’s a story we need to tell again and again.

Story first: how to edit for television

Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II (Credit: Netflix)

For scripted projects such as dramas and comedies, an editor will have a script to work to, choosing the best combination of shots to tell the story.

“The script is like a blueprint,” explains The Crown editor Una Ni Dhonghaile,

A documentary is a rather different beast. “You may be faced with 400 hours of footage shot across many years in a sprawling way. The people making the film don't know what's going to happen next,” says editor Ben Stark whose credits include Dispatches, Baby P: The Untold Story and 9/11: The Falling Man.

Channel 4 explores the World According to President Trump

The World According to President Trump will see RTS award-winner Matt Frei talking to those in the know in an attempt to get to the bottom of what a Trump presidency means.

Will Trump really seek to ban all Muslims from entering the United States? Will he actually build The Wall? What will the US-Russia relationship look like?