Blog #1: The Beginning

Welcome to my ‘Y4 Diaries’ aka ‘Fourth Year Diaries’! As explained in the introduction to this section, this blog is in conjunction with the fourth year module JM4041, Limerick Voice which is part of the syllabus for fourth year journalism students at The University of Limerick. This blog is intended to follow my progress working within the 4th journalism students publication, Limerick Voice which launched this week, Monday October 19.

Unfortunately, this year fourth year journalism students face a new sort of challenge, never faced before by prior years which is a pandemic- the coronavirus pandemic to be precise. Already, I have found myself challenged by this issue. I had an interview scheduled today for a video package I intended to do on The Flying Boat Museum in Foynes, covering their 30th year in business and following Margaret, the manager around the building as she gives a tour of the museum whilst discussing it’s history, value and the impact of COVID on business. However, due to COVID-19 and the new Level 5 restrictions introduced by government last night, the interview had to be postponed to a later date. I suspect this is just the beginning of a long stream of cancellations and dry spell on events and interview! Considering I have been given the shared role of Deputy Photo and Video Editor, this is particularly unfortunate for me as it is going to create a great many barriers for face to face interviews and video worthy content.

Luckily, before this new lockdown hit, I managed to record one small video package for social media last week. The video was a collaboration with Lisa Diviney which we did on the ‘Top 3 Breakfast Spots in Limerick’. Although I love to eat food, I would not consider myself a “foodie” at all. However, in the midst of the first lockdown, I, like so many others, in a newfound “food frenzy”, perhaps a side effect of all the banana bread and boredom, stumbled on the “food side” of YouTube and instantly fell in love. You would be amazed at the amount of video editing possibilities that exist in the food world; so many transitioning opportunities- the perfect way to try out different editing techniques. I knew when Limerick Voice came around and we learned of all the different content options ie. story writing, video editing, podcasts, social media etc - that I wanted to try them all.

A little food video felt the perfect fit for a small social media piece. It also felt particularly fitting during COVID-19 as with the government restrictions on all outdoor dining, many people were at a loss for knowing where to go that serves outdoor- this video covered that. Unfortunately, the video didn’t get published in time, ahead of the new level 5 lockdown to be relevant in this sense, but it’s still relevant. These restaurants will still exist after lockdown and maybe this video will create something to look forward to for people and their dining?

In addition to this small video package, I also wrote 2 stories relating to Pieta House, a charity very close to my heart. Again, another mishap caused by COVID- I was meant to jump out of a plane last Saturday (skydive) in aid of Pieta House. The whole concept was to ‘take a leap out of a plane in a sign of solidarity to those who take a leap of faith when reaching out for help’. Despite the skydive being postponed, we raised over €6,000 for the charity which will get close to 7 people 20 counselling sessions each with a fully qualified top level counsellor. I decided to write a story on this and another one to promote Pieta House’s new free video counselling service which I think is an amazing innovative thing to come out of COVID. It is so important to look after one another in such isolating and scary times as now and the fact we can reach people from a screen is a huge benefit to us and one we need to take advantage of more.

I decided to branch out a little from the Limerick content and incorporate some of my own curiosities into my work and so I took a deeper look into how the blind experience social media and decided to make a story out of it for features. I wasn’t sure how Connor or the others on the editing team would take to it considering it’s not of particular Limerick interest but thankfully, they all seemed to like it.

I also got to play around with my iPad some more which I always love. I have been helping Ciara, the social media manager with some stuff like the icons for Instagram which she needed a hand with.

Overall, the team seems really great working together and I think the project will be a fun experience despite COVID-19.