Meet Andrew Fletcher

Posted January 09, 2020

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I am a broadcast journalist and lecturer based in Salford in North West England. I report and present as a freelancer for Granada Reports, the regional ITV News programme.

Usually on reporting assignments I’m out with a cameraman and I edit my packages from someone else’s shots. Recently I’ve begun self-shooting stories on my iPhone 7, which I find to be a great way of working. I like the flexibility that shooting with the phone gives me, getting into tight corners for close-ups or moving quickly to follow a subject. My background is in radio reporting (20 years at the BBC) so I’m used to being self-sufficient and mobile journalism brings this to TV reporting.

The stories I’ve done so far have been character-based with a focus on people doing great work in the community. I find that interviewees respond well to the phone. It’s much less intimidating than the big TV camera, and it means I can spend longer with the subject and get a more natural and intimate film.

In my day job as a journalism lecturer at Salford University I’ve brought mobile journalism into the curriculum and students have really taken to it.

I do think it’s the future for TV News and the only surprise is that there are still relatively few TV journalists working in this way. It’s good to see the VJ.com championing those who are, and I’ve been particularly impressed with the work of some of the Spectrum VJs that you’ve highlighted.

Here are links to the other three mojo stories I’ve done so far for Granada Reports -

https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2019-12-24/is-this-the-north-west-s-most-festive-street/

https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2019-12-30/international-recognition-for-rochdale-based-volunteer-driver-scheme/

https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2019-10-23/high-school-in-cheshire-gets-new-furry-friend/

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