fermanagh.tv - the countdown has begun

Published 16 Apr 2009 09:00 0 Comments

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Niall McCracken of fermanagh.tv interviewing Catherine Scott at Enniskillen Castle.

The deadline is nearing here at Fermanagh.tv and tension is mounting.

It"s just five or six weeks now until we go live. Which means, that by May 18, you"ll be able to click onto Fermanagh.tv and watch video content, reflecting a whole range of people and activities, right across the county - updated all the time.

It"s a first, which is always something to get excited about. It"s about new technology married to something that people here have valued for years - local news.

And that allows for something very exciting to happen. Essentially local television on your computer.

And that"s become possible because of huge advances in both computers and the way that information flows to and from them - the broadband pipe. It"s getting bigger and can take more information.

In just the last few weeks and months the Government has announced some projects specific to Fermanagh, a county on the western most reaches of Europe, which will improve broadband access here. And as time goes on access will continue to get better.

But for now better quality video content can be streamed to your computer. And that makes Fermanagh.tv possible.

Our video journalists have already spent a lot of time out and about across the county filming people, clubs, activities and events and we hope you"ll enjoy looking at them when they come on-line in May. In fact you can get a glimpse of some of them by going to Fermanagh.tv now where we have set up what is called a holding page (above). A taster if you like of what we are doing. If you are an individual or group which is interested in being kept up to date on what we are doing then just leave your e-mail on that site.

But the work does not stop there. To make it attractive for you video content will be updated all the time.

The final site will have news as well as features which will be professionally provided.

But there are a whole range of other channels to interest you, like people, community, sport, tourism, going out. Short video packages on all of those subjects will appear regularly.

We"re hoping too that as well as liking what you see, some of you will feel inspired to do your own filming and upload it onto our site. Do you want to be a presenter or a broadcaster? In the new digital age its only really a click before you are broadcasting yourself.

We think this will particularly appeal to community groups and sports organisations.

Part of our ethos is providing a platform for people to talk about themselves, to themselves and to each other. Fermanagh.tv …of the community, reflecting and informing.

So if your organisation is doing something that you want to celebrate then don"t hesitate to get in touch. Perhaps you have already filmed something that shows what you do to others? Maybe you have an upcoming event that you think deserves coverage?

We know that particularly young people use the internet all the time for talking to each other and we"re hoping that this will attract you. Are you involved in a school project, play, event, or sport that you would like to upload? Well now you can and for a local audience to view. Now your relatives can see how well you are performing. Maybe you fancy a media career in the future? Well why not start filming now? All your work becomes automatically archived and you can show it to a future employer.

But it"s not just about young people. The community here is made up of young and old and often older people feel excluded from the new digital age. We"re hoping that the new information that we provide can be a valuable service for all types of people in the community.

And of course as a picture of life in Fermanagh in 2009 begins to emerge then it becomes a living breathing site which visitors and tourists from outside the county can look in on and hopefully it will encourage them to visit.

The South West College has already seen the opportunities that the new internet age is offering and wants to progress to being a centre of excellence for video production. So both young and old on full time and part time courses could soon lift the standard.

Its head of business development Malachy McAleer believes there are real opportunities.

He says that part of the South West College"s recent focus has been adapting and expanding their curriculum to reflect new emerging industries. In fact they have put in place new foundation degree courses which reflect interest in new media.

'We have been particularly interested in the Fermanagh.tv project and believe the are real opportunities to help our new students get a professional focus on their studies, highlighting our courses in a very public way and at the same time providing a new internet platform for our students work,' he said.

The team at Fermanagh.tv see all this as truly exciting and what we are doing would not be happening where it not for the help of Fermanagh District Council which sees the opportunity to reflect life and activity in the county as a real community benefit. So it is helping us lead the way.

The Impartial Reporter is helping too. We are striking up a relationship with the paper so that stories that it covers can also be reflected in video. You can get an added experience being able to see and hear the people that are making news locally.

Managing Editor at the Impartial Reporter Denzil McDaniel says he"s delighted with the new partnership adding that it allows for a new layer of story telling to be available to the people of Fermanagh. The in-depth story can be read in the Impartial and people can then get a real feel for the area, the people and the story through it being told in video format.

'These are exciting times,' said Denzil. 'And we are particularly pleased that this partnership is leading the way in internet news and features provision.'

Fermanagh.tv is particularly interested in hearing from individuals and groups throughout the county who want to have their activities publicised. Leading up to launch a holding page website is on display at the Fermanagh.tv web address www.fermanagh.tv where you can leave your email details and get a little taste of what the project is all about.

The project will ultimately allow for groups to publicise their own activities and the overall project can go on to form an archive of life in Fermanagh for future generations to look back on.

Together with Trevor Birney, another former Impartial Reporter journalist who also went onto further his career in radio and television, we are behind the project and delighted to bringing back to our journalistic roots some of the skills we have learned elsewhere..

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 16 Apr 09

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