The finished product

Not especially happy with it.  I conducted my interview two days before the assignment was due, which wasn't very smart in hindsight.  Indeed, not much time, but all I really needed to do was a bit of editing and cutting and pasting. However, for the second time this week, I experienced equipment malfunction. This time it was the microphone, and I didn’t realise the problem until after the interview, which was mighty helpful.

I spent a good few hours playing around with Audacity, trying to bring up the sound through manipulating (ie amplifying) the recording. It’s not my best effort by a long shot, but it's done now.

Getting talent / the pressures of student journalism

Getting talent

I started my talent search earlier than I did for the first interview; however I am further behind now than I was last time at this point. A few weeks ago I emailed the ACT Police with a request for an interview on youth crime and the importance of the home environment . They returned my email saying they were not able to comment on the precursors of youth crime, but suggested I try youth justice organisations or the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC). I emailed the AIC and they told me they focus exclusively on national research, and the best people to talk to would be the ACT Police. And round and round we go.

The pressures of journalism

I am starting to understand why some journalists are heavy drinkers! One week to go until the last assessment of BJ1 is due and my interview fell through. The talent didn’t pull out, I didn’t pull out, the edirol pulled out!! Well, it didn’t work, at any rate. Whenever I pick up an edirol from the university, I always sit in my car and double check that it works. Just in case. Today I needed to rush back to work, so I figured it would be okay because it's always okay. Well, it wasn’t okay today! The side dial was not working. Half an hour before my interview I noticed this malfunction, and contacted the talent to rearrange another time, which fortunately he agreed to.

A POSTSCRIPT:

Have now figured out the side dial on the edirol is not vital in this instance because it is set up correctly by the previous student who borrowed it. Darn it! Now I have to return this edirol on Tuesday, go back to uni on Wednesday morning to get another one, do my interview on Wednesday night, then return the edirol on Thursday morning. Oh, this is very tedious trying to get away from work during the day.

Have I started yet? Have I started yet? No

So far, I am doing okay in BJ1. Which is remarkable, given my lack of confidence in broadcast journalism. I love the writing process of journalism, but not the interviewing part, and definitely not the "perform live" part. Just my personality I guess. But I digress.

In my time-honoured tradition, I have not started researching for assessment 3. In my first assessment, I spoke to the ACT Scouts Arts Convener, who told me a new Arts Centre is slated to open in the Tuggeranong Valley in the next few months. It is designed to encourage young people to learn new skills in a safe environment, presumably where they will stay out of trouble. The Scouts are a great organisation, but I can't help thinking it's nothing but a bandaid solution.

For me, the obvious other side of the debate is talking to the other people who are trying to stop the youth crime wave, like the police. Although I could speak to local community groups or businesses who have been victims and are powerless to stop the problem. Data from the Bureau of Statistics show that youth crime in Canberra is high. So ultimately, I need to talk to someone who admits there is a big problem, and they don't know what to do about it.