NEWS INTERVIEW
– 213 candidates; 134 passed
- (63 per cent)

The autumn 2004 interview was about an attack on a Trading Standards officer during a raid to seize counterfeit brandy at an Oxdown car boot sale.

Trading Standards also warned the public the fake brandy was contaminated and potentially lethal. Markers were looking for reports to combine both of these angles in the introduction.

Candidates could also lead with either the attack or contaminated brandy. However, it was expected both angles should be mentioned high in the story. Despite a minority of uninspiring starts such as 'Police are hunting...', the majority of candidates wrote imaginative, newsy intros.

The story was straightforward but demanded attention to detail. Overall, reports were well constructed, followed a logical sequence of events with some good quotes used. The best stories were written in a fast flowing news style that really kept readers engaged with a good balance of drama and detailed facts. Encouragingly, there were fewer outright fails this time.

Most made good use of information contained in the reporter's brief. However, road names clearly written on the Oxdown map provided were mis-spelt. There was also quite a strong quote from the bric-a-brac trader who could have died if Trading Standards had not taken away the contaminated brandy he had bought. Some candidates did not use it.

Most trainees managed to write to length although two candidates submitted a story of 300 instead of 400 words - perhaps confusing the requirements of the speech and interview exams.

Candidates need to be mindful of when events happen and when stories are published. For example, the report was for Saturday's Oxdown Gazette, but some accounts said the raid happened 'yesterday' (Friday), when it should have said Thursday.

Some reports said the brandy was lethal when it was 'potentially' lethal. Many of these reports then failed to alert the public to what they should do i.e. don't drink it, visit the GP/hospital if it had been consumed, and take the brandy to Trading Standards for disposal. A few candidates inaccurately told readers to tip the brandy down the sink - not a good idea to pollute Oxdown's water system.

The attacker's description and details of his stolen van were required. Many candidates failed to provide full accounts of these. Also missing were contact numbers for Trading Standards and Oxdown police.

Constructive comments from NCE interview assessors included: don't ask closed questions that just facilitate a yes or no answer and don't rapid-fire questions at the interviewee, listen to the answers. One assessor wrote: "The reporter was occupied with note-taking rather than taking note."

By far the biggest error by a majority of candidates was the misuse of the word 'blond'. Too many used 'blonde' indicating the attacker was female, which was not the case. For reference, 'blond' is masculine, and 'blonde' is feminine. Some candidates went a step further and described the attacker as having 'died blonde' hair - dyed, please! The word 'diarrhoea' was mis-spelt many different ways. Candidates are permitted to use dictionaries during the exam. A fair number have spell checks on their computers. Please use either method to avoid losing marks. We also had 'ruff' local accent, 'un-kept' hair instead of 'unkempt', 'cheep' brandy and 'scare' instead of 'scar'.

Sadly, mis-spelt names were evident, particularly Beattie and Alland. One reporter even wrote (CORR) after she incorrectly spelt Beattie. Candidates would be wise to check and double check name spellings.

Lack of visualisation and an inappropriate use of phrases made some reports nonsense. Examples included the use of 'counterfeit dealer', 'forensic observations', and 'Mr Bell wrapped his jacket around his head and called 999'.

Several candidates used lower case on roads. One marker wrote: "This is a newspaper, for Pete's sake, not a txt msg." In contrast, a sentence included: 'the consequences of drinking the substance' - the marker said: "A verbosity that would have done credit to a Victorian penny-a-line hack."

Style for feet and inches appeared in many forms showing a lack of understanding of what is required. Although markers are willing to accept different styles, it was obvious some candidates didn't know what was acceptable. Examples included: 5ft 8, five feet 8 in, 5ft8, and 5'8inches - pity the poor sub-editor!

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