Max Raymond, a recent journalism graduate from the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, gives a full and frank post-mortem of his journalism course. Practical over theoretical was positive, says Raymond, but a lack of communication about awards and relevant events for the students less so.
It’s an interesting read if you’ve just been through a journalism training course or degree – what were your experiences? Let us know the highs and lows of your course in the comments below.
This time last year I was set to embark upon the biggest obstacle of my young adult life, the daunting but exciting prospect of trying to start a career in a already overflowing industry with thousands of competitors jostling just to ‘get in’. Yet I’m proof that it can be done, and all it takes is a little self belief and application.
Back in October 2009, only a few months after finishing my course at Coventry University, I was fortunate enough to have been offered a role within the UK’s number one sporting channel, Sky Sports News. This was a dream environment for me to work, as a large amount of student life was lost watching this potentially degree destroying channel.
I was later informed by my boss that over 250 applicants had applied for my Ingest Operator role, a junior position which means I am responsible for live and tape feeds being recorded onto a server to then be played on air, usually as soon as possible, meaning communication with producers, editors and reporters is an essential part of the job. I’m a small but indispensable cog in the wheel of TV News.
My advice for those looking to work in any form of media, whether that be broadcast, online or print, is that enthusiasm is king! Guest speakers at the university’s Coventry Conversation series would often say tell us if we wanted it bad enough, we would get it. That statement could not be any truer.
With the ever increasing number of new media platforms, opportunities for entrepreneurial students are many and varied. There are so many new ways to build a unique portfolio to impress potential employers.
My journey started by charming the producer of a local radio station to give me some work experience. This was a long haul placement which turned into a paid part time job from June until October, when I joined Sky Sports News. The radio station placement gave me valuable basic editing and production experience. Being multi-skilled is vital in today’s newsroom. You can expect to be competing with far too many multi-skilled candidates not to take this seriously.
I undertook other work experience writing for a non-league football website, which gave me a niche to build a portfolio around. Soon I found my work on the BBC local sport web pages.
I also took it upon myself to take a voluntary position as a press secretary for a non league football club, Corinthian-Casuals. This gave me real life match reporting experience, which also got my name in both national and local newspapers.
Finding a niche is an excellent way of standing out from the crowd, and can give you an expertise others may find useful in their companies or websites.
As a journalism or media student, not having a blog to hone your writing skills is unforgivable, and not using applications such as Twitter and Audio Boo to promote your work is a missed opportunity.
Creating opportunities is essential. A few weeks ago I got in contact with Julian March, producer of SkyNews.com, via Twitter and asked if there was any way I could get involved with the election night coverage. He responded within minutes by emailing me internally. He put me in contact with the right people and I ended up on the Sky 100 team on election night, collecting results from the key 100 marginals and getting them on air and on screen as soon as possible.
Enthusiasm is really the key; you can be brilliant at something in this industry but you won’t get anywhere if you aren’t prepared to put in the time and effort. There are just too many other people out there who are.
The Guardian is hosting an online discussion of “new jobs” in journalism today, taking a look at the new job titles and career paths that have emerged for journalists as a result of new media developments and ongoing changes in the industry and workplace:
Journalism … it used to be so simple. You joined your local newspaper, passed your NCTJ exams and picked one of three paths: reporter, sub-editor or production editor. But these days, it’s a murkier media world. Newly-trained journalists face the leanest job market in years, with more people competing for fewer jobs than ever before. The very future of journalism is threatened. Or so the headlines would have us believe.
Journalism.co.uk will be chipping in on the forum which runs from 1pm-4pm (GMT) today – you can post your questions at this link.
Executive editor, digital, at Liverpool’s Daily Post and Echo titles, Alison Gow, covers all the bases for journalism students looking to make the most of work experience placements at newspapers. What’s particularly good about these tips is their frankness – Alison has experience of working with those on placements, so this advice is first-hand and covers everything from how you can prepare beforehand to who to approach when you turn up.
Her advice on pitching stories is well worth a read:
The phrase to avoid is: “Is there anything for me to do?” Find out from the reporters what time the morning madness subsides on the newsdesk and, if you’ve been left to your own devices till then, make your move. Saying “I’ve got some ideas for stories but before I start those is there anything you want me to help out with?” sounds confident and bright. If you want to spend one of your five days working with a journalist or department you’re particularly interested in – like the health reporter, or the business desk – then ask. Also ask if you can attend at least one news conference, to see how the paper is planned.
Have some story suggestions, but craft them around what you know is making the local news agenda. So, if the previous week the issue of, say, residents complaining the local council was giving them different bins (like this) then consider how you could move that issue on. Lateral thinking is good; you don’t need to go down the vox pop route. You may aspire to the WSJ but if you’ve got a work placement on your local paper, about the important local issues. Also think about asking the picture or digital desk if they’d like you to do a video report or soundslide, or whether local environment/recycling statistics could make some nice cross-platform infographics – the multimedia skills journalism students learn as part of their studies give them an edge in many newsrooms, and abilities are remembered.
To mark the launch of a new internship scheme, Channel 4 is taking part in a live Q&A session on the Guardian’s Careers website today from 12-3pm.
Jo Taylor, head of learning and 4talent; Alison George, learning and organisational development specialist at Channel 4; and representatives from several independent production companies will be on hand to answer your questions about breaking into the TV industry.
To take part visit the forum at this link.
US university Columbia has created a new masters’ degree combining computer science and journalism.
The Columbia programme, which will accept its first 15 students (tops) in the fall of 2011, seeks to attack the barrier between journalists and the increasingly important IT professionals whose web and digital savvy are crucial to any form of newsgathering, reporting and delivery. The problem: users really don’t know what to ask developers for (or how), and developers have no real idea what their software will need to do in the hands of the users.
The cross-disciplinary programme will equip journalists with vital data mining skills, technology to make their work more efficient and ideas for “new storytelling media using 3D photography and other methods”.
It’s your last chance to book on Journalism.co.uk and Guy Clapperton’s ‘Introduction to online marketing for freelance journalists’ course, to be held at Journalism.co.uk’s central Brighton offices on Monday 12 October 2009.
For the low price of £85 + VAT, we’re offering attendees a place on this course as well as a year’s subscription to our online database of freelance journalists. This is normally £50 per year, so depending how you look at it you’re either getting yourself exposure to our 120,000 plus monthly unique users for free, as well as learning how to get the best possible exposure for yourself, or you’re making a great saving on a course that’s been described as ‘really useful’ and an ‘enjoyable evening’ by previous delegates with an ‘excellent’ tutor.
Guy Clapperton, who will be teaching the course, is a veteran freelance journalist, media trainer, and social media expert, and the author of ‘This is Social Media: Tweet, Blog, Link and Post Your Way to Business Success’. Guy will be taking you through all the steps you need to take in order to ensure you’re getting your name out there online, in the right avenues and in the best way. With the current economic climate, increasing numbers of journalists are looking at turning freelance, so it’s advisable to take advantage of any opportunity to make yourself stand out from the crowd that you can.
Your listing will include the following:
* a profile page in Journalism.co.uk’s database of freelance journalists
* a subscription to our freelance newsletter
* access to our members-only freelance forums, where you can find exclusive job leads sourced by us for you
* get your name out there to our unique community of visitors from all sectors of journalism and publishing.
For more information on the course and to book, please visit the course page.
As reported by HoldTheFrontPage last week, two students from the Journalist Works fast-track course based in Brighton, were recently awarded top marks in the NCTJ Public Affairs examinations, scooping them £250 prizes.
Journalism.co.uk is keeping an eye on the type of jobs newly trained journalists are going onto: Nicky Newson, who came top in the central government exam, is about to start work as a researcher at the House of Lords.
“One of the topics I was asked about at my interview was reform of the House of Lords, which we had covered as part of the syllabus, so studying at Journalist Works definitely helped me to land a great new job, even though I haven’t gone down the route of becoming a news reporter,” Newson said.
If you’ve just finished your NCTJ examinations, drop us a line and let us know what you’re going on to do. Is it a traditional journalism job, or something a little different? What benefit was the journalism training? You can email judith or laura [at] journalism.co.uk, or send us a tweet via @journalismnews.
The presentation, from left: Nicola Newson, Paula O’Shea, Nicola Corfield
Mindy McAdams’ comprehensive guide to multimedia proficiency is now available to download in PDF from her website.
The 42-page document is fully linked and usable online in most web browsers, Adobe Reader, or in Preview on the Mac OS, so there’s no need to waste trees in order to read it.
McAdams has licenced the entire document under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License so users are free to share, distribute, reuse and even remix it, in line with the CC conditions.
The booklet comes straight from a series of 15 blog posts, written as guidance to those who want to transform themselves into multimedia journalists. Her succinct guide includes tips on blogging, audio interviews, podcasts, photography, and video.
Journalism.co.uk has spotted, and been directed to, some interesting and innovative examples of student journalism projects in recent days. Do you want to plug your own efforts? We’d like to see examples of blogs and news sites used for your final, or ongoing, projects – we’ll link to, and showcase them on this blog. Also, you can join in the conversation with other young journalists on the TNTJ blog, at this link. Spread the word!
Here’s one for starters: LondonFile, created by students on the International Journalism postgraduate course at City University.