NEWS INTERVIEW
- 160 candidates;
- 118 passed - 74 per cent

The examiners' report:

The September 2007 NCE news interview was a cracking breaking news story.

But the exam itself also made headlines.

For the first time candidates were asked to write a story for a website rather than 'tomorrow's paper'.

Candidates are already submitting stories from websites for their NCE logbooks and the NCTJ is always keen to move with the times and reflect current newsroom practice – in this case the growing number of 'web-first' publishing strategies at newspapers across the country.

The interview was about a small boy who had been abducted an hour before.

The candidate had the opportunity to speak to a senior policeman and write a 400-word story to appear on the website of the fictional Houghley Mercury.

Although the medium of publication was different, the exam was still designed to test the reporter's core skills of interviewing, notetaking and news writing.

In fact candidates were told the Mercury's style of writing for the web was the same as its print approach.

Candidates appeared in general to have no problems grasping this innovation, a fact borne out by the positive pass rate.

The brief provided basic information from a police press statement – which had already been uploaded onto the Mercury website – and background details about Child Rescue Alert.

Candidates were reminded that radio and TV would be covering the story but this was not to affect the angle of their copy. Further updates and sorting out appropriate web links were to be carried out by the newsdesk.

Candidates were required to interview Detective Chief Superintendent John Barber (if a woman, Jane) and get enough information to write a vigorous and well balanced story.

Clearly the core angle had to be the abduction of six-year-old Zach Carpenter from the promenade of this busy seaside town. However, there were several other lines that could be added to the intro. Some candidates focused on the size of the police search and others opened on the part the public could play in the finding the little boy.

Whatever approach was taken, it was important for some early reference to be made of the man suspected of abducting Zach and the car they were believed to be travelling in.

To ensure a level playing field, interviewees at centres across the country adjusted the timings throughout the afternoon so the time lapse was the same for all candidates. The markers would like to thank the interviewees and assessors for taking on that extra responsibility so accurately.

There was a timing issue in writing the story. Some candidates used phrases like 'the boy was abducted several hours ago' and did not give the exact time of the incident. Markers preferred stories that were more precise but did not penalise the less exact approach.

Markers were conscious that some newspaper websites display the date and time that stories are uploaded and so less precise stories were given the benefit of the doubt.

Good stories captured not only the tension of the situation but the level of detail required.

Clearly it was important to have detailed and accurate descriptions of the missing boy, the abductor and the car. Most candidates achieved this but those who did not were penalised accordingly.

It was important to include a high level of detail about the boy's family, in particular his mother. Again, most candidates included this, but it was surprising how many did not even name her. Almost half the candidates made no mention of the father, who died of cancer four years earlier.

Markers were looking for at least three strong quotes and rewarded those candidates who used them to add pace and rhythm to their stories. A good shorthand note is required to be a good interviewer but minor variations in quotes were not penalised.

To be a good reporter requires many core skills whether writing for a weekly, a daily or hourly on the web. But it is good interview technique on which the foundation of all stories are built.

That is the test in this exam. Although the interview itself is not assessed, a good technique will invariably result in a better story and there were many examples of this around the country.

As usual, markers were looking for stories that had a strongly worded opening with good use of dynamic verbs and adjectives, a key quote used early followed by an organised, logical approach with a mix of accurate quotes and reported speech. The markers would like to applaud the candidates, and their trainers and editors, who have done well to raise the bar in this exam. There were a lot of good stories to read.

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