Into the deep end: our first WINOL

This week has been a big drop. The semester's started again, and we've been thrown into the deep end. I didn't exactly know what to expect of WINOL and came into the news room somewhat unsure, but our first dummy run went far better than I could've expected.

I'm starting off as Transport & Environment Correspondent for WINOL, and this week has been all about figuring out what that entails more than anything else. A chat with Brian helped me figure out some leads, while Chris threw some features ideas at me I'd like to get the ball rolling on in time (though I might not be able to commandeer a TARDIS, unfortunately).

Maybe it's because this week's was a dummy run that no one (except perhaps the freshers) will see, and so there was less pressure, but I was very calm throughout the three days. Even after my plan for a voxpop fell through and my phonecalls and emails turned up nothing, I never came close to panicking. My package had to be an OOV - and our news editor Becky straight up told me that she'd have spiked my story on a normal week with more stories to choose from - but I got it done, and that's something. If I can go the rest of the year as clear headed as I was these last three days, I'll consider it a great thing.

That's the good stuff. The bad is that my package was low quality. Just on the news team, Flick's, Tom's, Lee's and Lou's packages had their fair share of problems - such as all starting with a piece to camera, something I was very aware the BBC journalists didn't do when I watched the news this morning. But they all got their interviews, a mix of shots, statements, and all that jazzy stuff that makes a package worth watching, rough around the edges as they were. Mine was easily the worst of the lot; even the written piece was lacklustre. So though I think I started on the right foot where attitude is involved, I don't think I can say the same about my work and product. I'm going to have to get it together and one-up myself next week.

Saying all that, it's been an exciting week back in uni and WINOL. Now I'm trying to learn how to balance the required WINOL work with the side-projects I've been researching and a social life. I'd also like to get to know some of the freshers in our course soon - maybe to the point that I can put my hand on one's shoulder and say, "You: you will be me next year." He (or she) will turn around and frown, ask me, "Is that a good thing?" I'll shrug my shoulders and walk away, and they'll be left more confused than me.

A Word About Salafis

Islamism is, at its most basic, political Islam. It is the application of Islam in public life as well as private life. Salafism is the literal-minded, fundamentalist subsect of Sunni Islam, of which Wahhabism is a subsect of again. Wahhabism, for those unaware is the ideology of the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Al-Qaeda. A hole in the philosophy recently struck me, and this article is a reaction against Salafist Islamism.

A Six-Point Plan

Inactivity is pretty boring, isn't it? It's time to get myself in gear - something I'm somewhat hesitant to say as that's the topic of my last post. I have an ideal image in my head of posting something noteworthy every single day, but the chances of that happening are slim. So to inspire myself to work, I'm going to make public my list of blogging ideas, and invite any reader to help with the list.