Stuart Pinfold

Up All Night

Not because of insomnia or too much coffee; but working on 5Live's international news programme. On-air at 0100 and done and dusted at 0500, Up All Night contains news and information from the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australisia.

Not only is it a great programme to work on, researching news that's happening around the world which you might not be aware of (last night was Australia's horse flu problems which are starting to develop across the country), but it's also a chance to dig up different, quirky news which no-one else is covering (last night the news that Leona Helmsley had left $12bn to her dog broke on the programme).

The night shift starts at 1700, when the two night producers and the night editor arrive and start to look at the running orders which the 3-person day team have setup. At 1800 there is a handover meeting, where details of any prospects or items to be confirmed are discussed, and any ideas for stories to be covered are mulled over. After the meeting, control of the show hands over to the all-nighters and we work on filling up the four-hour show with content.

At around 2100 the presenter and studio manager arrive, and any pre-records are recorded and edited as necessary. At around midnight, the team have a final meeting to evaluate the entire programme and shift around any items to accommodate or compliment others. This involves more phone-bashing to contributors to check they are OK with our new plans.

When the programme goes to air at 0100, the editor, studio manager and presenter are in the studio putting together the programme. The night producers remain in the newsroom, monitoring incoming news wires and the telephones and liaising with the editor if anything needs to change. Between 0230 and 0400, for the phone-in segment of the show, we take incoming calls from members of the public who want to take part in the feature. One person takes the calls and enters details into the PhoneBOX system and the editor in the studio selects which calls to use, while the SM calls the listener back to get them on-air; a far cry from the world of local radio where one person would do all of this, look after any running order changes, and make tea for the presenter!

The shift finishes at 0500, and the last hour is spent writing a handover document to the new day team to let them know of anything to follow up on as a result of the broadcast, anything which perhaps didn't come off and needs chasing again, and any other important stuff they need to know for the following night's programme. Then it's off to Stage Door to get into a taxi to St Pancras and then the 0610 home...

Photos:
1. The main 5Live newsroom - at the back you see the rear of the News 24 studio.
2. The 5Live studio areas - to the camera's left is S4, where Up All Night is broadcast from.
3. The BBC Newsroom - a 24hour operation over three floors of Television Centre in West London. The bottom floor you see here is the main newsgathering area with desks for every domestic TV and radio outlet. You can see the N24 studio in the top-right, and radio studios for 5Live and Sports Extra, as well as workshops for R2 and R4 bulletins, are spread across both floors on the left.
4. The phone-in area for 5Live.
5. BBC Stage Door - This is where celebrities taking part in programmes enter the building and where news contibutors (including Guy Goma!) wait for collection.

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Iceland

Well, we did it. We're fully-paid up and going to Reykjavik in December.

The best bit? The price. The worst bit? The price. We managed to get a great deal on flights and hotels - £170 for both of us return on British Airways (yes - British Airways for less than £200!) and £35 a night for a hotel. However, Iceland is seemingly the single most expensive place I've ever read about - with a plate of spag bol retailing at around £20. Not that we'll be eating much of that - local specialities include rotten shark meat and pickled sheep's testicles. Scrumptious.

Looking forward to going and visiting the power station swimming pool (the Blue Lagoon), the famous Gulfoss waterfall and the geysers. Not looking forward to lots of shopping for cheap-ish warm clothes!

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Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog!

I am about to start (3rd September) my new job as 'Media Co-Ordinator' in the 'News Traffic Unit' in BBC Television Centre in West London. Despite the rather odd title, the job doesn't involve monitoring the M25 or flying in a helicopter over traffic jams. Rather, it's about connecting correspondents from all corners of the globe to network radio and television programmes for the corporation's domestic and international news output. Essentially, the correspondent filing a story for the 10 O'Clock News and the reporter live at the scene you hear on Radio 4's Today programme will have come through Traffic.

I also work on a freelance basis at BBC Three Counties Radio as a broadcast assistant, a freelance night producer at 5Live's Up All Night programme, and at Trafficlink, the main provider for traffic and travel news (that does involve the motorways!) for commercial and BBC local radio stations.

I hope you enjoy reading this blog and the work that goes into producing and delivering radio programmes and aspects of them.

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