My role for the investigative journalism module is reporter/ring-arounds. This means I will contact people through emails and phone calls and conduct interviews. We are going to investigate Nottingham's current state and future. This will be a diary of my journey through this module and all the skills I gain during the experience. A reporter researches, writes and reports on information. Often they conduct interviews and produce content alongside it.
Is Nottingham in decline or on the up?
Signs of decline:
Crime, Poverty, Unemployment, Business, Perspective of young people,Gentrification of Nottingham? Homelessness, Corruption?, Stabbings/violent crime, Drugs,
Signs of improvement (good things):
Christmas market, Nottingham forest, Theatre and entertainment, Transport, University, International students and diversity,
How Nottingham is viewed:
Robin Hood, University, The history of crime here
Sources:
The council, University, Charities, Public,
These signs and sources are the starting idea for the project, we will have an editorial meeting on Monday and start researching next week, to create the foundation of our piece.
20/11/2023-27/11/2023
20/11- Also working as part of the Vox pop team to research what the people of Nottingham think about the question.
We start research this week, trying to create the foundations of the piece and trying to create an opinion, scope and angle.
21/11-Started researching, looked at different sources, and made notes about them, also noting if they were biased or not, and if they created leads and were usable for our task. We also chose leads to follow and which sources of research are useful and which sources aren't.
23/11-Sorted out in our group who is to interview/get quotes from whom. I am to get a quote from a library as well as have an interview with a local MP. I started e-mailing libraries in Nottingham and local MP Nadia Whittome.
27/11/2023-03/12/2023
27/11-I e-mailed other local MPs and focused my efforts on getting a quote from Bromley House Library, to which I got a response saying that my e-mail had been forwarded to the senior management team. I also got an e-mail back from the MP of Nottingham North, Alex Norris, that there is no availability at this time for an interview. I am planning to call Nadia Whittome's constituency office to ask for an interview, whether in person or by call.
28/11-We researched libraries in Nottingham, and went to the new Nottingham Central Library. This is an example of a positive development for Nottingham as after 3 years Nottingham finally has a central library again, and the plans went ahead, it also looks good, that Nottingham is looking to the present as well as the future, suggesting they do have the budget to improve facilities. I got an e-mail reply from Nadia that she was also unavailable, still waiting on a reply. Nottingham declared effective bankruptcy.
30/11-Emailed Lilian Greenwood MP again to prompt a quicker reply and also e-mailed Bromley House Library again, checking up on the quote as I have not yet received one from the senior management team. Received an e-mail reply from Bromley House Library, they are unable to provide a quote, so contacted Nottingham Central Library for a quote. Also e-mailed 2 more Nottingham MPs. I started posting on social media about Nottingham, posing the question 'Is Nottingham on the decline or on the up?', in order to get a response from people. I used TikTok and X.
People I've contacted so far:
Nadia Whittome MP for Nottingham East (unavailable)
Lilian Greenwood MP for Nottingham South (phone call interview)
Alex Norris MP for Nottingham North (unavailable)
Darren Henry MP for Broxtowe
Ruth Edwards MP for Rushcliffe (can't do as outside constituency)
Bromley House Library (unavailable)
Nottingham Central Library (Interview/quote with Mary Dansie)
1/12- Got a response to my social media posts. Tiktok has 13 likes, and one comment, that says Rock City and Winter Wonderland is what someone thinks about when Nottingham is mentioned.
2/12- Got an e-mail reply from Nottingham Central Library about the quote. Talk with Boss Mary Dansie scheduled for Tuesday 5th November at 11 am.
4/12/2023-10/12/2023-
5/12- Conducted the interview with Mary Dansie. She spoke very positively about the library and very optimistic and hopeful of the future. I wrote a paragraph about the interview and what she told me. E-mailed the three MPs I have not yet had a response from: Lilian Greenwood, Ruth Edwards, and Darren Henry, asking them for an e-mail quote this time.
Got a call from Lilian Greenwood, gave me a date for a phone call interview, Thursday 7th November 10 am.
who
Paragraph from interview:
The new Central Library of Nottingham opened on the 28th of November 2023 and saw people of all ages visit it in the first week. The reception of the new library in the community was ‘overwhelmingly positive’ according to the manager of the central library, Mary Dansie. When speaking to her on the ground floor of the new library, it was obvious that the library seemed like an incredibly positive thing for the city, 'a real win for the city' in the words of Dansie. An immersive room, exhibition spaces, a vast stock of books, and events run by the library are what this new library has to offer in the coming years, so the future seems hopeful. The day after the opening of the Central Library, Nottingham city council issued section 114 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, declaring themselves effectively bankrupt, set for an overspend of £23m. Dansie answered, in response to the bankruptcy of the city council, that it was business as usual, because a city central library is statutory, required by law, so the library is set to be a stable hub for the community in Nottingham for some time.
6/12- Got E-mail response from Ruth Edwards, can't do as not in her constituency, and she can't talk to people outside her constituency.
7/12- Prepared questions for the interview with Lilian Greenwood. Conducted the interview with Lilian Greenwood MP. Asked her 5 questions, Wrote up notes from the audio recording of the phone call, and then wrote up a short paragraph.
Paragraph from interview:
When talking with Lilian Greenwood MP on the phone, I asked her the main question ‘Is Nottingham on the up or on the down?’ to which she said she tries to stay optimistic and that there are a lot of positives, from the newly opened Central Library to ‘world-leading research’ in the universities of Nottingham. However, the main problem she made clear was that the central conservative government doesn’t sufficiently support Nottingham, which is why the city council declared effective bankruptcy, issuing a section 114 notice on 29th November 2023. Greenwood relayed that ‘£100 million every year taken away from Nottingham city council over the last 10 years’, referring to the government adopting the austerity policy in 2010. She also made a startling note that ‘Nottingham is not the first council to issue a 114 (section) and certainly won’t be the last’, adding that 1 in 5 councils may have to issue section 114 as well this year, which rises significantly to half of councils close to declaring effective bankruptcy next year.
11/12-17/12-
11/12- Helped out on social media a bit. Prepared a few photos for an Instagram post.
Evaluation of the project:
What I did well was securing interviews. I emailed many different people, MPs, and libraries in order to get an interview, as people are busy so it can be hard to get a response. I was persistent so in the end got an interview with Mary Dansie from the Central Library and MP Lilian Greenwood. I also conducted good research and worked on my parts of the project well.
An issue I faced was getting responses from the people I emailed for an interview, so I overcame this by emailing more people, to give me more chance of securing an interview.
If I were to do the project again I would start emailing possible interviewees quicker and email more people than needed, just to make sure I have backups. I would also prepare better questions for my interviews, because whilst I did conduct good interviews and get good information, there may have been a chance to get even better answers.
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