The guy sat in the car with me is my Dad, Roger Payne. He lives in Wales and I don't get to see him or the mountains nearly enough. We got together recently as my Brother Dan was off to live in Brazil. We saw him safely on his way and while sat in the car and I took out my recording gear. As far as I remember I've never sat down to record a conversation with my Dad. He is in his Continue Reading
An Afternoon in The Jungle
On the 9th of October I made a last minute decision to cross the channel and visit the migrant camp in Calais. Although only there for a few hours I was able to explore the living conditions and speak with a few of the Migrants and Refugees. The Storify embedded below is a summery of some of the captured conversations.The original plan was for me to head into Calais and follow a group delivering Continue Reading
People are not willing to trade privacy for security
I imagine the security agencies see PR challenges as the least of their worries. Especially after the courts ruled that GCHQ’s surveillance breached human rights laws. Recently Privacy International and Liberty made use of Edward Snowden's disclosures in a successful legal challenge. This showed that GCHQ was unlawfully obtaining data through the NSA's program PRISM. Some think the general Continue Reading
One Thousand Words on Audio
Sat in my shed, headphones on. My attention flitting between writing and podcasts. I can't do both. I find it hard enough to write as it is. Listening to podcasts or even songs with lyrics while writing triggers a tipping point where I can't do either. I considered starting a mailing list this week. Just text. This blog post may have been the first one. Not for any other reason other than to Continue Reading
Zoom H5 Handy Recorder Review
Founded in Japan in 1983, Zoom have been around for a little over 30 years now. They initially worked with manufacturers developing sound generators for musical hardware. I'm glad that in 1989 they shifted into making their own hardware as for the last 7 years I've been a fan of their audio recorders. In 2007 I shelved a naff digital dictaphone for the Zoom H2 Handy Recorder. It was my first Continue Reading
Interview Techniques
I'm currently preparing slide decks for both the Milton Keynes International Festival and the Digital Wine Communicators Conference. In both instances I've been asked if I can talk on Networked Storymaking with a focus on interview techniques. This is interesting as if I'm honest it's not something I've thought about in depth. Until now that is. I have over one and a half thousand Continue Reading
Revisiting Syria
I'm revisiting Syria. But only in this blog post. I made that trip in April, six months ago. I wouldn't be able to do it today. Blog post one (26th April 2013) Blog post two (28th April 2013) Blog post three (29th April 2013) Blog post four (30th April 2013) Blog post five (1st May 2013) There's really no more crossing the borders into northern Syria for foreign journalists or aid Continue Reading