40
|
the
channel
In the last two decades the newsroom environment has changed
beyond recognition. As recently as the early 1980s, wire stories still
spewed out of a Teletype machine, leaving journalists to fight over a
single paper copy. The introduction of terminal-based newsrooms
allowed access to stories from individual monitors and the new video
format meant that film no longer had to be physically cut and edited.
The 1990s witnessed the rise of more fully functional newsroom
systems, which were user-friendly and Windows-based. Now
images as well as copy could be stored digitally. By the end of the
millennium, multimedia workstations were up and running,
allowing journalists to browse and edit pictures and video alongside
text. The 21
st
century has already welcomed Internet publishing
and videophone systems that allow live two-way broadcasts from
the most isolated places on earth.
Coinciding with these technological developments, the last 20 years
has also seen competition for broadcast journalism jobs escalate.
A huge discrepancy exists between the number of posts and the
thousands of aspiring journalists graduating annually from ever
more media courses. And it’s not limited to journalists, with the
advent of this new technology, qualified engineers, technicians
and technology professionals are becoming essential members of
the newsroom. Relevant experience is increasingly valuable – and
often indispensable - when applying for jobs, prompting universities
worldwide to ensure students are exposed to the most up-to-date
and advanced real-world technology.
It is with this in mind that pioneering Liverpool John Moores
University (JMU) in Britain has installed Associated Press’
Electronic News Production System (ENPS) in their state-of-the-
art newsroom. JMU is the first UK University to use the cutting-
edge, industry-standard, broadcast software.
“JMU’s journalism students will be the first in the UK to learn
how professional newsrooms, such as those in the BBC and ITN,
use ENPS to put modern news bulletins together,” says Chris
Frost, Head of
Journalism at JMU
and Chair of the
UK’s
National
Union of Journalist’s
Ethics
Council.
“This puts us at the cutting edge of broadcast news technology,
allowing students to learn about journalism in a world that
demands 24/7 news, transmitted as it is happening.”
Launched in 1997, ENPS is recognised as the industry leader in
broadcast news production. Originally designed for the BBC, it is
now used by over 500 newsrooms in 42 countries. ENPS is already
used by numerous journalism colleges and universities throughout
the world, including 17 in the US, and others in Canada, Australia,
Mexico, Sweden and Norway.
“We’re delighted to be working with JMU on this ground-breaking
project – a first for the UK. With ENPS, JMU will be working
with a production tool that’s now such an important part of the
modern network of broadcast newsrooms around the world.
Because ENPS is so widely used, the experience will give the
students a huge advantage in the world of work.” says Eric
Bowman, AP’s Director of International Business Development.
ENPS was designed to meet the changing needs of modern
television, radio and network newsrooms, with ease of use allowing
journalists and production staff to focus on making the programme
in increasingly complex technical environments. Powerful features
include scripting, running orders, planning, contacts, messaging,
archiving, third-party device control, external publishing, news
wire management, remote access capabilities for field staff, and
the broadcast news industry’s only fully-integrated search engine.
ENPS uses standard desktop and server hardware and includes its
own tightly-integrated resilience capabilities, guaranteeing full-
time, live backup of mission-critical systems.
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) installed ENPS on
the recommendation of several Australian commercial networks
Schools for news
PhilWhitacre
,Director of Sales and Marketing of AP Broadcast
Technology, reveals how real production systems are making a
difference to media and journalism students around the world
A student gets to grips with ENPS at Sweden’s Luleå University of
Technology
Above: ENPS in action in the studios of ITN in London
Top right: JMU’s Senior Journalism Lecturer, Richard Rudin, helps
final year students produce radio broadcasts using ENPS
