Date: 02/03/2012 Posted by: Kary Stewart
Photos: Arnau Oriol Sanchez

The graduation event topped off a 12 week journey for the Mapping the Change students. Not without its share of dramas including lost recordings, broken equipment and problems with contributors, I think everyone would agree that the final results were an excellent cause for celebration.

The graduation was attended by Councillor Jonathan McShane - Hackney Council’s Cabinet Member for Health Social Care and Culture, the Principal of Hackney Community College Ian Ashman and producers from Radio 1 and Shoreditch Radio, as well as the students accompanied by some very proud guests.

A selection of the podcasts was made available for the visitors to listen to on laptops in the venue. The college Principal spoke about the opportunities for young people throughout the Olympics, whilst I was asked to chat about the project and some of the highlights. Then it was over to Matt who showcased some of the insightful podcasts and who together with Councillor Jonathan McShane, handed out certificates to the students, who all posed for pictures.Sainthave then said a few words on behalf of the students admitting that she was a very shy person before she started the course but grew in confidence once she got going with her assignment. Matt and I also got a card and some flowers – thanks guys!

As well as industry guests from the Beeb and Shoreditch Radio (who have already offered the students placements) we also had guests from the local Olympic bodies and teachers and representatives from the college. Lee, Yuli and Junior collected vox pops and interviews from the guest which may the first recordings to air on the currently-formulating college internet radio station! Watch this space…

Thank you to the college’s Open Kitchen for amazing food and Sam and Monica from the college for their help in putting on the event. It was an amazing ending to an epic journey!

The podcasts will now be showcased in a special exhibition at Hackney Museum which will launch towards the end of March. Meanwhile check out all the photos.

Date: 22/02/2012 Posted by: Matt Hill

After a half-term intensive and a final practical session, the final mixes are now polished and ready for the big launch next Friday (2nd March). There are some genuinely heartbreaking tales from Hackney residents finding the recession difficult to cope with, together with inspiring tales of young people who have achived greatness despite personal battles.

But of course, you’ll want to hear them. And you can: they’ll be available very soon courtesy of Hackney Museum. Come back to find out more soon!

Date:08/02/2012 Posted by: Matt Hill

Half term approaches, but our team of producers are not stopping. On Monday they’ll be in college, uploading the last of their interviews for editing.

Today, though, has been about listening to what’s been built so far. I’ve heard interviewees moved to tears and one contributor giving an amazing account of being attacked, in the place that it happened. Some chilling stuff.

There are more light-hearted ones. But to hear them, you’ll need to keep checking back. Watch this space.

Date:01/02/2012 Posted by: Matt Hill

The first interviews are in the can! Students have been out this week recording family, teachers and neighbours in a bid to document Hackney in 2012. What brought people here? What memories of the borough have they shared?

After uploading, participants have been listening back to check they have the best possible material. Some will be sent back to get better stories and one student (who I won’t name here) lost a whole evening’s work by not playing it back before leaving. Lesson learned!

Half term approaches and we’ve got less a month to finish the programmes. We’re on target – just – but these next few sessions are crucial. Time to jump in the deep end…

Date:30/11/2011 Posted by: Matt Hill

It’s tough getting up for the breakfast show on Kiss FM. That’s what half of the participants of Mapping the Change groups found out this morning, when they had to get up nice and early to have a look round the studio and meet the team… Vicky from Ignite went with them..

“We met at the very early hour of 8am to get the bus to Oxford Circus, where Kiss is based – so well done to everyone who made it on time, especially those who got up at 5.30am to travel in! Kiss have a space..with sofas and drinks where we chatted to Verity Geere, who is the co-host with Neil Fox on Magic FM’s Breakfast show (Magic and Kiss share a floor and are owned by the same company)..” Read more about their experience at Kiss.

The rest of the group will be heading over next week. In the meantime, they’re working hard on their documentary features. I’ve been bowled over by the creativity of the class; each student has stretched themselves in proposing ambitious (and achievable) stories, including: 

• The early life of Leona Lewis
• Profile of the local football team
• A near-death experience that turned a boy’s life around
• What is Hackney’s ‘national anthem’?
• The story of a squat in Hackney Wick.

Intrigued? So you should be. More next week.

Date: 11/01/2012
Posted by: Matt Hill

And it’s with a biiiiiiiig stretch that we return to a new year and a new project. After completing the news packages, Mapping the Change students are delivered their assignment proper: to each create a five-minute documentary ‘feature’ on someone – or somewhere – to do with Hackney. Someone with a story to tell, somewhere that is important to them in this important year for the borough.

To help guide them in the thoughts, we invited documentary maker Izzy Fairburn from BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra. She took the two groups through some of her past work, listening to programmes on homeless people and top music producers plus passing on advice from her career so far. Listent to a clip of her documentary ‘Bored, Broke & Bedless’ produced for 1Xtra.

With these top tips, our budding reporters are ready to research and pitch their own ideas. In the next two weeks, we’ll find out what programmes we’ll be hearing in the Spring. I can’t wait!

Date: 16/12/2011
Posted by: Matt Hill

Ah, the last day of term. A time for fun and festivities, yes?

Well… not quite. Because today students had to hand in their first
assignment: a news package each participant has been working on over the last few weeks; learning to record an interview, cut a vox pop and write links to go inbetween.

But today has been the most challenging task – making the deadline of 11.15am. Will they make it? Will they be happy with the final mix?

Spoiler alert: yes, they did make it. But not all of them are happy with the final product. This is the way of things in news, where deadlines must be met and stories reduced down to the space available. And after all, this was a rehearsal for the main event in the spring…

Fortunately, when we return in the new year the classes will be able to take more time over their work, refining their styles and researching their subjects with greater depth. I for one can’t wait.

Date: 07/12/2011
Posted by: Matt Hill

So this week students have been continuing to work on their news packages. Having cut together their vox pops and interviews, now comes the tricky business of gluing them together with their own words – as they record the links.

Scripting for radio can be hard enough, but the challenge was set that they must go out on location to record – meaning they had to stand in a public place and talk to themselves, confidently, as people walked by and stared.

As I say: tricky. So well done to the first out of the traps,Yusuf, who showed everyone how it should be done. Standing outside the college canteen, he read his script without stumbling and in one take. Warren Nettleford had better watch out.

Date:30/11/2011
Posted by: Matt Hill

Whilst the teachers protested outside, our intrepid journalists began writing up their news stories in the classroom. They had their vox pops from week one and their ‘expert’ interviews from week two. Now it was time to put them together to form a news package.

Why is unemployment so high in Hackney? Should there be more space provided for students between classes? And just who will win this year’s X Factor? Recordings were sifted for the most interesting/entertaining responses using editing software. The results you’ll hear in a couple of weeks.