Postmortem.

Notes for the future

Looking at your (handsome) homepage, some specific pointers to carry forward...

Reconsider image. It works okay at the story level, but there's a text-on-text clash on homepage.

Also, consider if there is a less obvious way of capturing eco-anxiety than with the label 'eco-anxiety'. Note, also, how the excerpt cuts off, which is not a good look for your cover story.

That apart, I understand that this was an 'additional' feature. So well done on taking the initiative and turning this into a publishable piece!

To take it to the next level, work on deepening your research. Reports such as this (and many more) are a couple of clicks away (I note it was made use of in the podcast), and will not only give you substance for your story, but good sources as well. More sources, yes, deeply interviewed, please. For instance, reading Hickman's report before you speak to her will allow you to ask better questions. Ensure your feature offers readers info beyond what's Google-able.

A few other thoughts:

• avoid 'I' and 'we' in a feature like this, and watch your punctuations;
• avoid editorialising (see the last para);
• ensure that images are of better quality and captioned appropriately (for instance, better cropped, without negative space, and captioned as per The Breaker Style Guide);
• and aim for a more creative lead.

It was good to see you offer multiple video stories in this edition. Outputs evidence a growing familiarity with video storytelling and Premiere (suggest you make friends with Rush, too). Below, some magical guidance from Mike, who beams to you all the way from a capacity-building workshop that he's doing in Dar es Salaam.

Here are his thoughts on the shortform video on Highmoor Farm.

And his observations on the social video on the protest:

This headline works on its own, though you might not want two 'eco-anxiety' headlines close together on the homepage. And attention to details: story category should be 'podcast' (not 'national'), headline should be sentence case (not initial caps), and please pay attention to the excerpt! :-)

The podcast was a good team effort and over the news days, you have improved significantly in your journalism, knowledge of what's required of a 'audio feature', and technical abilities. Good to see the range of interviews. It was also smart of you to have Aimee and Yui check out their carbon footprints (though it would have been useful for the audiences to be talked through how to do that).

Some other observations and suggestions, in no particular order:

• Connect the two angles more clearly to the region.
• Consider a more engaging beginning (eg: you could enter the story through an interesting soundbite, like in this podcast from last year; or something more creative).
• Ensure more depth to your interviews, especially encouraging ‘expert’ sources to go beyond basic explanations.
• Good interview with the eco-anxiety sufferer and would have loved to hear more of such voices (tackling the story from this perspective would have produced interesting results, I dare say).
• Ensure the host introduces herself at the beginning
• Record on the same day, same recording environment where possible.
• Tighter editing to keep interviews on point (avoid sacrificing extended stretches to an interviewee unless they are that interesting); and more precise fades.
• Consider underlaying music (subtle usage, though) to punctuate delivery (for instance, this would have helped avoid the awkward jump from carbon footprint to eco-anxiety).
• And rehearse, retake, rehearse, retake, retake, retake with your delivery for a more assured, consistent and natural flow.

Here's a podcast that illustrates how some of the feedback above can be applied. I hope it inspires you as well. Note the 'hook', the presenter's pace and delivery, and how music is used (including to indicate end of a segment).

PS: Good to note that you have now shifted more to a feature-style scripting and delivery from the previous news approaches. Well done!

Rising Tides was a good effort, which presented a detailed backgrounder on the impact of climate change on low-lying areas. Reasonably good familiarity shown with Chat GPT, Dall-e, etc.

One critical revision point for the lead: the connection to Dorset is buried in the 11th para.

Another point, writing is antiseptic, very AI. A human touch from you could have breathed some life into the piece. Consider also bringing in some original reporting to add value to such stories.

PS: Our style is per cent, not %!

First, two nitpicky production issues: single categories (just photo essay), please, as we have discussed; and shouldn't this have an excerpt?

Having got that off my chest, this is a strong visual story, which showcases professional-quality photographs, good interview skills, and some quality storytelling. Good call to tackle this much-written-about story from a visual and peoples perspective. I commend you also for the effort that has gone into this story, not just in the newsgathering, but also the hours of production that it would have required.

A few observations:

• The headline could be reconsidered (doesn't quite match the creativity I see in the rest of the piece).
• Is this the best cover image for a people-centric piece? We get to the people only many scrolls in.
• Revise to energise introductory text on scrollmation screen (screen 2).
• Consider if you have more emotive pics to lead Daniel's section; he looks way too happy.
• The 'quote' ending shows potential, but needs more thought. Also, visually a bit flat perhaps (compared to the richness earlier).

Good job on getting this interview with the councillor. Good headline, nicely produced overall (though intro needs expansion, as this is someone who most people will not know of).

Would like to see less of newsthinking, more of an exploratory approach overall as well. Suggest shifting the focus of the interview from the arrest, to what's happening in the region. Aim for better-researched and open-ended questions to get the subject speaking (some of the Qs are phrased in a manner that will get you a 'soundbite' but not much more; rethink).

Given that this is your sole Q&A, I would have liked to see either (much more) depth in this interview (and a decent photograph of the interview), or, failing that, a Q&A with another candidate. There were other (fairly easy) possibilities, including scholars, who could have been explored for this key feature.

• For instance, this gent, who has researched self-repairing cities (wouldn't it have been interesting to check with him what Bournemouth and Poole can learn from his work around Leeds?) and is currently looking into enhancing urban habitats to reduce carbon footprints (ditto!).
• And please remember that BU does some world-leading research in conservation. Here is a link, and another, and another that would have paid rich dividends.
• For better depth to Q&As, see also this post on Breaker Academy.

Interesting story, nice headline. Well done on finding a regional angle, though that gets a bit lost in the writing up. But all in all, this shows good reporting skills, and potential. Particularly pleased to see the extra effort that has gone into the audio embed (I linked below), which is really interesting!

Essential correction needed is in terms of the narrative. Aim to restructure into a more engaging story, which doesn't rely so heavily on extended quotes.

Quick pointers:

• 'Quote leads' work best with a short and succinct quote.
• Check how you punctuate a quote that spreads across paras (it's not how you've done in the copy -- browse, please find out!).
• Research, add context, to go beyond (and factcheck) what the interviewees tell you.

Good attempt at a news feature, and telling the behind-the-scenes story of how the Portland incinerator proposal was rejected. Pleased to see you seize the opportunity and do some boots-on-the-ground coverage.

A few pointers:

• Headline might need a slight realignment to suit the angle (current one suggests a 'response from the community' piece rather than a behind-the-scene story);
• Aim to provide more of the 'how' it happened than you have in here currently;
• A standfirst would have helped peg the story nicely;
• Consider also moving the nut graf higher (right now buried in para 7, and reader is navigating blind);
• Awkward comma in your lead sentence, which also needs a bit more strength;
• and crop and align photographs so that you avoid negative spaces and make better use of screen space.

PS: Also, note, the best speech tag is 'said' or 'says'. Avoid stated, unless it is a statement. Why? Here's a post to read.

Good potential here, a range of voices, multiple original photographs as well. Once again, well done on seizing the opportunity to cover this story.

To take this to the next level, consider how you can turn this from a 'spot' feature into an issue-based exploration. It would make sense to have a news feature such as this immediately on the day after; but for a 'magazine' approach, you would need to tell the story differently, less focussed on the event, more on what the event represents. For that, you need additional reporting.

Another way of thinking about it: ensure that the story goes beyond quotes — that is, you provide context and analysis to tell the reader what all this means.

PS: Excerpt cuts off!

Nicely done. Empowering story on community groups, well reported and decently narrated. Good to see you attempting a 'staccato' lead. I would have liked to see the 'energy' of a staccato carry through, though — narrative kind of slows down in the following paras, and we get a bit bogged down with context.

An alternative way to approach this story: tell it through character(s). Or: consider spending time with these folks, and writing a 'scene' as they go about their activism.

PS: I won't mention the excerpt getting cut off again. :-)

The group reflection feature, presented in multimedia on Shorthand, provided a good idea of how you approached the topic and situated the edition. This was produced competently, with some strong visuals. Pleased also to see the two videos and the audio. Overall, this production shows marked improvement in terms of your reflection.

I particularly liked this audio insert, where the two reporters acquired some nice depth to their learnings from the exercise. Nicely edited, too. Well done.

A few pointers for future:

• Good to see you use the Breaker logo at the top. You need a white logo with a transparent background in this case, though. Daniela can help, I am sure.
• On Screen 3, the big, bulky Breaker logo kind of knocks the reader out. For productions such as these, walk away from 'Netflix' / broadcast style of branding. Instead, let the story roll. You can brand, very quietly, in one of the corners. The trick is to integrate your multimedia seamlessly. In other words, nothing should stick out or scream for attention. Below, more feedback on the editors' video introducing climate change:

• The reflections presented as text could do with a bit more unpacking. Some interesting beginning there (including Simran's conversations with the cows), but don't stop with just describing what you did. Hope this piece in the Breaker Academy will give you an idea of how to add more depth.
• Really pleased to see you go for a second video, on climate protest. Here're some observations from Mike:

• And hyperlinks. How about hyperlinking, where you mention individual stories (podcast, photo essay, etc) so that the reader is able to click through?