In the thick of it – MA student reports on MP fracas

There’s nothing better as a journalism student that finding yourself in the middle of a breaking news story.

One of our MA students Nick Chowdrey was studying in class on the University of Sussex campus this week when Hove MP Mike Weatherly got into a spot of bother.

Here’s his blog post….

Today I had the chance to engage in some real life reporting!

At approximately 13:50 the fire alarm sounded during my Journalism in Transition lecture in the Silverstone Building on the University of Sussex campus. We quietly filed out to the front of the building, where we noticed a riot van had parked outside on the road.

Nothing seemed to be happening, so I went across the courtyard to get a coffee. Suddenly, a huge amount of shouting and banging erupted from the entrance to Silverstone. I looked over and saw a group of 20-30 people swarming the police van as it tried to pull away.

Officers were battering people off the sides of the van. I left my coffee behind and ran outside, taking video footage.

I spoke to two young girls shortly after I stopped filming who told me that they were squatters protesting about the recent criminalisation of squatting in the UK. They had chased Mike Weatherley, MP for Hove – who was due to give a lecture on the subject at the university that day – into the building. Police were called in to rescue him.

Daisy Stevens – one of the young squatters, who can be seen in the above video wearing a red jumper and black scarf – told me that they were angry at the dawn evictions taking place across Brighton. Daisy’s friend, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “we want him to be as frightened as we are.”

Putting into practice my two months of journalistic training, I immediately tweeted on the issue and my video was posted up on The Argus website: http://tinyurl.com/a2tcxss

Apparently, the BBC now has the video and it may be used tonight on South East today. Although I’m not sure how they’ll get round the amount of swearing… Either way, exciting times for the aspiring video journalist that I am!

The experience was incredibly thrilling. The wobble from the video is so bad because my hands were shaking with adrenaline. It reminded of being on stage – so many bits of information were flooding back to me at once and I was ready for anything.

I can only imagine what it must be like, for instance, for journalists embedded in areas of conflict.  I’ve always wondered what could possibly attract people to do that job – now I think I understand a little better.

Former BJW student lands celebrity writing role for Huff Post site

Former BJW student Ellen Stewart has been celebrating after landing her dream job writing about celebs for the Huffington Post’s gossip and style site MyDaily.co.uk – and credits Brighton Journalist Works for opening the door for her through work experience.

But, as she explains, it didn’t just fall into her lap and she had to knuckle down and get on with interning for a year before she bagged the job.

Said Ellen: “I always wanted to work in women’s lifestyle media, and although a notoriously hard sector to crack I kept at it and finally all my work (and tea-making) landed me my dream job.

“The past year has been tough at times, but completely worth it. I got my foot through the door at Hearst magazines when BJW set me up on work experience on the subs desk at Esquire, and it all kicked off from there.

“Luckily my parents live at the heart of it all in London and I’ve been living rent-free. The majority of my internships were expenses-only, however, a few stints of paid work and setting myself up as a freelance sub meant I could make ends meet.

“Employers have been impressed with the amount of work I’ve managed to squeeze into a year so my advice to others trying to break into this industry is to keep at it, stay positive, and say yes – no task is ever too big or too small!”

Congratulations Ellen, we are utterly delighted with your news.

The burning issue of the Lewes bonfire

Studying in Brighton is fun, there’s no two ways about it. There’s always something going on, whether it’s naked bike rides along the seafront, vintage car rallies or superhero marathons. This week, the talk is all of the bonfire celebrations at Lewes, a gorgeous historic market town just a few miles from Brighton.

Two of Brighton Journalist Works’ MA students Robert Henry and Diego Zurita were fascinated by the annual  Guy Fawkes celebrations in Lewes.   Billed the biggest bonfire in Britain, if not the world, Lewes’ annual celebration rarely passes without a note of controversy.

Here’s what they wrote about it:

Last year as upwards of 60,000 people took to its Saxon streets, emergency services had to deal with 127 incidents of potential harm and twenty three arrests were made for drunken or anti-social behaviour.

In recent memory there has also been the fall-out from the burning of the Osama Bin Laden effigy as well as the race hate investigation that stemmed from the burning of a model gypsy caravan in Firle, in the build up to the Lewes event.

Though, perhaps all such incidents pale in comparison to the infamy associated with the more traditional aspects of the Bonfire. To some, an event at which anti-papal banners and chants are brandished in the build up to the burning of a dummy Pope Paul V can be viewed as nothing other than flagrantly anti-Catholic. To others, such occurrences form part of a pageant which aims to celebrate England’s dark past in the manner of a Horrible Histories narrative.

Taking the issue to the heart of the town, we asked people on the streets of Lewes how they feel about this historic event.

How do you feel about Lewes bonfire?

“It’s great. We need to keep our traditions. It gets people together. They didn’t like it much when they burned the traveller’s caravans but people need to lighten up, don’t they?” Marilyn Gould, 64, Lewes

“It brings the community together. It’s a really special night for everyone.” Brett, 24, Lewes

“It’s a big community thing and a lot of the money goes to charity. To an extent it’s a great thing but I think they have to behave themselves, the bonfire society people. They’re not the police.” Steve Jacques, 50, Lewes

How do the people of Lewes feel about the bonfire and its history, generally?

“I think some people do take it very seriously and it does really mean something to them. I don’t quite get it. A lot of people go into it and they don’t really know why they’re doing it, they know somebody else that does it, friends of friends.” Jayne Zaloumis, 31, Lewes

“Some people feel threatened by it but it’s a part of history. If you lived here all your life you understand it but some people that move into the town aren’t quite sure how it works but once you talk to them they understand.” Paul Kinch, 41, Lewes

“All the people’s families have been doing it for generations. I think if they tried to stop it happening there would be quite a lot of protests.” Grace Harwood, 14, Lewes

“It’s mostly just a pageant. I’m sure there are pockets of anti-Catholic feelings but that’s their problem. I think most people take it on that superficial level.” Steve Jacques, 50, Lewes

 

 

Brutally honest inspiration from Fleet Street Fox

Fleet Street Fox is not afraid of brutal honesty, whether it’s written on her blog or Mirror Column.

When she talks to journalism students, Foxy encourages them to consider a career at the tabloids because it is there they learn the skills that will take them on into any job.

Her visit to Brighton Journalist Works left Melita Keily excited at the prospect of her future career as she shares on her blog post Fleet Street Fox:

“A talk  I had been looking forward to for quite some time was the anonymous Fleet Street Fox. Hard hitting and brutally honest, it was a talk that inspired me no end, while at the same time scared the bejesus out of me.

“To be told that you will be called a liar several times a day, have countless doors slammed in your face, be the victim of the odd punch or strangulation, witness suicide, see corpses and become very accustomed to phrases involving the word ‘fuck’ and ‘aunts’ (as autocorect loves to put it) is a lot of information to absorb in 60 minutes.

“Oh, and did you know that when you’re hit by a train at 70mph you’re pretty much vaporised and all that’s left are little fat droplets the size of skittles? Yeah, you might witness that too.

“It was at this point I realised she was not joking when she said some people’s human-inhuman ratio tips over into mental illness. I think it’s clear why.

“But I also heard how writing can take you all over the world. How a 3pm phone call could see you on the next train to Edinburgh, or grabbing your passport and heading for the airport, or being on the front line of ground breaking stories, watching and telling history in the making.

“How you can bring down a government, have the press office for the House of Commons or the spokesperson for the Queen on the phone in a flash.

“How you will know information that you may never be able to publish due to ethical and legal reasons but you will know and more often than not you will have the power to tell. And let’s not forget experimenting with Jaegermeister which seems to be a fundamental journalistic skill.

“People will read your stories, your words, take in the facts that you sourced. And that’s why I’m more excited than ever about the career path laid out before me.

“Now I think I’ll go get some fresh air like Foxy told me.”

 

Rising to the Google maps challenge

Today’s journalists need to understand how to use online tools to enhance news stories.

Tweeting and posting to Facebook is just part of the story that starts with a good web-friendly headline to entice reader involvement.

Students at Brighton Journalist Works had a vast amount of information to process during their interactivity and online journalism class with The Argus web editor Sarah Booker Lewis.

They started out learning about search engine friendly headlines and encouraging reader involvement.

Then the fun began with a masterclass on Twitter use and an introduction to building bespoke Google maps.

Maps can enhance a story to give readers a geographical concept.

Examples included a basic map showing the trail of destruction along major roads after a lorry leaked fuel along five A roads in Sussex and maps showing flashpoints during the London riots of August 2011.

MediaUK.com managing director James Cridland created his riots map after verifying incidents, rather than relying on rumour.

Students learned how to set up a map, add pins, draw shapes and lines and add notes, pictures or video to information post.

Once armed with this knowledge students had a week to create maps on a theme of their choice.

Rebecca Creed writes a Formula One blog and chose the same theme for her map.

She marked the location of every race in this year’s season with a bespoke marker.

Google maps offer users a wide selection of markers from Google pins to themed icons. However, Rebecca’s efforts proved she went the extra mile to resize and upload an image before adding it to Google.

Readers taking a look at her map see race highlight videos as well as details of who was in poll position and the eventual winner.

In choosing a map to support her blog Rebecca has the opportunity to enhance her readers’ experience.

Three students used their travel expertise when building maps.

Sarah Jessica Morgan’s (Jess) used knowledge gathered during her life growing up  in Africa, when creating a guide showing places to stay and visit.

Puja Tirwari also shared her experiences of international travel.

With encouragement it is hoped Puja and Jess can expand their maps into a useful resource for travellers.

Puja grew up in Dubai and has lived in Bahrain for 12 years giving her insider knowledge to advise visitors in an informal way. The same applies to Jess with her South African and Kenyan background.

Travel and music journalism are popular future career choices for young journalists, so providing and applying an extra layer of information can only enhance their stories.

Samantha Graham added a personal flavour to her Brighton gigs map by including her own pictures in the pop up windows.

A music venues map linking to blog posts about future concerts and reviews is relatively simple to set up.

Sarah was particularly pleased with the group, saying their maps were the best she has received since she started teaching the class three years ago.

The ability to build a Google map is an extra string to the student journalists’ bow. Employers are looking for individuals with a multitude of skills and the ability to think beyond the story.

Brighton Journalist Works students are certainly heading in the right direction.

What a difference work experience makes

One of the advantages of studying for NCTJ qualifications at Brighton Journalist Works is that we organise three weeks of work experience for our students. It takes the stress out of the search.

When students make sure they stand out from the crowd they regularly find themselves at the head of the pack while job–hunting.

We hear from three students whose performance while on work experience has paid dividends and helped them land the job of their dreams.

Ben Leo graduated in July, achieving the gold standard in all his NCTJ exams including 100wpm shorthand.

Now he is working at The Argus.

“Aside from being in the right place at the right time, I think I was offered a job at The Argus due to my pro-active attitude.

“When I was studying for my NCTJ exams at Brighton Journalist Works, I would try to regularly send the news editor as many news-worthy stories as possible.

“Some he liked, which were published. Some he didn’t. But the point was I had worked to make myself known to him and the other reporters in the office before I started my work experience.

“I spent  four days in the Argus offices and have been working there ever since. In my short time there, I’ve noticed that some of the other guys or girls who come in for work experience tend to wait to be spoken to or given something to do.

“In all honesty, I think the newsroom of a daily paper is busy enough without the staff having to care for and look after work experience people (as harsh as it sounds).

“My advice, whist not necessarily right or wrong, would be to come prepared with story ideas, get on with something worthwhile and try to bring something to the table.

“You only have a few days to make an impression and first impressions as they say, are key.

“Finally – it might sound weird but it also helps to be able to talk to people. And when I say that I mean looking people in the eye and showcasing some degree of social skills.

“It doesn’t mean you have to turn up at 8am acting like a big brother wannabe, just be you and just be genuine.  No employer wants to hire someone who stares at the ground all day and who doesn’t try to make an effort to fit in.

“I recognise I am very lucky in being able to work at The Argus despite my experience, or rather inexperience. For that I am extremely grateful to the relevant people for giving me the opportunity to prove myself – which I hope I am doing.”

Sarah Morgan impressed her colleagues during a work experience placement at Esquire. They encouraged her to apply for a job and now she works as  a sub-editor at Elle Decoration.

Here she explains how work experience placements helped her recognise the type of journalism she wanted to pursue.

“I did work experience at Esquire, The Argus and askamum.co.uk. They were my top three preferences and I’m so glad I got to experience three such different work environments.

“My placements helped me decide I wanted to go into magazine journalism and I learnt the differences between working for print and for online.

“I watched how the professionals worked and learnt about the dynamics in each editorial team, from who was responsible for what to how much everyone communicated.

“However well you do in reporting or production journalism, and however regularly you blog and tweet, the only way to judge if you want to (and are going to be able to) do it for a living is to give it a try for a couple of weeks.

“My work experience was invaluable because it gave me first-hand experiences to draw on in interviews and subbing tests, and it was a chance to practise and get feedback from the people you really want it from.

“A final point – no matter how much you hear it, a content management system (or CMS) for a monthly magazine or daily newspaper is NOT as easy to use as Wordpress or blogspot sites; the askamum one in particular was incredibly tricky to get my head round.

“You’re only going to get practice at using one by doing this kind of work experience, and it really does help.”

Becky Barnes is a reporter at the Bracknell Forest Standard. During her weeks work experience at The Argus Becky wrote numerous  stories and features.

One of the keys to her future success was making herself useful to the web editor by managing a live blog and Storify of a council meeting.

These skills learnt in class at Brighton Journalist Works put Becky ahead of the game.

She offers her tips on how to stand out.

” Although work experience is unpaid – I found it invaluable to get as much of it as possible and I am glad I had the chance to go to different places and see the way things work differently in each place.

“For my BJW work experience I spent three weeks at The Argus and found it useful that I had already built up a relationship with the team by submitting work during my time at BJW.

“I also arranged my own work experience so that I could use the Christmas break to get straight on it – take every opportunity!

“Work experience is a great way to see things from different points of view and you get out as much as you put in.

“Without work experience I wouldn’t have been able to get a job as it gave the opportunity to have work published and build a quality portfolio that set me in good stead for tough interview questions. I defy anyone to get a job without it!

“Also it’s the ideal opportunity to check journalism is definitely for you.

“Here are my top tips for work experience on a local paper:

1) Go in there with at least three story ideas a day, minimum.  Otherwise you’ll be stuck re-writing press releases and hardly get anything for your portfolio.

2) Be creative with where you look for stories, think outside the box. Ask your friends.  Follow up every potential lead.  Utilise Facebook and Twitter to search for stories and ask questions.

3) Be confident.  You might feel as though you’re in the way but you have to get through that and make yourself known.  If you have your own story ideas, ask the news editor or another reporter whether they think your ideas would make a good story.  Ask to sit in on conference.  Introduce yourself to everyone.  Remember their names.

4) If you don’t know ask.  Ask questions and listen to the answer so you don’t have to ask again.  Write it down so you don’t forget.

5) Take opportunities.  If another reporter is going to court, ask if you can go with them.  Listen out for news editors looking for someone to take a story and you may end up going to court on your own and getting a cracking piece for your portfolio.  Always answer the phone at every opportunity.  Smile when you talk and be confident and get the details right.

6) Get a copy of the style guide and use it before you ask silly questions.  If in doubt, look for an example in a recent copy of the paper.  For example: do they say Maureen Fisher, aged 50 or Maureen Fisher, 50, it’s quick and easy to find a story that will give you the answer.

7) It may sound obvious, but read the publication.  Get a feel for what stories they are doing at the moment and how you could develop those stories.  Even if the reporters are following something up, you can always ask the news editor if you can check your news nose is working by running past them what you think are the important follow ups.

8) Look at national press every day and think how a national figure or story can be localised.  The news team will be able to help you with advice on who to contact for local figures and statistics.

9) Ask for feedback.  Look at how your stories are tweaked and learn from it.  Write down everything you learn and take note of how they make any changes for house style.  If in doubt, ask for an explanation.

10) Smile, be polite and make tea.  It’s important to get your face known so make sure it’s for the right reasons.

Musings on being halfway through the course…

Brighton Journalist Works student Chris Cox is in thoughtful mood in his most recent blog post about the transition that takes place here at BJW from wannabe journo to nascent newshound!

He writes:

“So there it is. Halfway. This week marks not only the midpoint of the course but also the start of the transition into the exam period. Chocolate rain heralded the end of the Teeline theory (and the beginning of two hours of speed building lessons a day), we’ve reached the end of the public affairs syllabus and very nearly the end of the media law material. Mocks are looming and soon we’ll be starting production and subbing.

I realised a couple of weeks ago that, in spite of my best efforts to choose a phrase that I was confident I could write in Teeline properly at the time, the banner at the top of this blog isn’t quite correct. We hadn’t done the w-n blend by that point.

I’m leaving it as it is though because the whole point of this blog is that it’s a chronicle of learning. There’s no better illustration of that than close-but-no-cigar shorthand.

With the end (sort of) in sight, thoughts are naturally beginning to turn towards the future. They’ve been focused for so long on the build-up to and actually being on and getting through the course that it feels a little bit odd to be considering life after once again.

We’ve been talking about work experience, putting a journalism CV together and actually starting to secure placements. This has prompted me, for the first time, to contemplate properly what kind of journalism I’m really interested in and what I’ll need to do in order to pursue it.

In truth, I’m still working on that and I don’t really have an answer just yet.

I do feel energised though. It might all come crashing down around me at some point but, right now, the prospect of getting out there, getting a job and starting a career is actually starting to look achievable and that is a very refreshing feeling. After all, the prospect of finding something fulfilling was really the ultimate motivation for me doing the course in the first place.

For the first time in my life that I can remember, I actually find myself looking forward to the future. If nothing else (and there’s plenty else) it’s been worth it so far just for that.”

You’re doing great, Chris, keep it up!

Journalism – a profession in flux

We’re not sure if there could be a more fascinating time to enter the world of journalism. The dust has only just settled on the Leveson Inquiry and now we are witnessing the Jimmy Savile/Newsnight row explode over at the BBC, with executives scurrying for cover as questions are asked about who put the kibosh on a simply huge and wide-reaching expose that  ITV must now be feeling rightly proud about airing.

Then there’s the ethical debate raised inadvertently by Sky News’ Kay Burley, who shocked views across Britain during the April Jones abduction case when she told locals, fresh from the search for the five-year-old,  live on air that the case had turned into a murder enquiry, prompting entirely understandable tears and shocked silences while the camera continued rolling.

And just look at the vast array of opportunities in journalism that online editorial offers – who knew that the internet, instead of spelling the end for job opportunities offline, would actually open up a whole new vista of vacancies for writers.

The job just got more interesting too – when I was a journalist starting out in 1992 I could never have dreamt of the likes of Twitter and Facebook, now such a fertile spot for the sourcing of interviewees and stories.

There are few industries that come under the spotlight so frequently and are scrutinised by so many. Why? Because what journalists say and do during their careers can have such a huge impact on so many lives. That’s a big responsibility.

Here at Journalist Works, we watch our students arrive fresh and eager to learn the many skills that will equip them with the ability to work effectively in newsrooms and magazine offices up and down the country and internationally. They’re keen and a bit green. By the time they leave, we think our tutors and guest lecturers have opened their eyes just a little bit to what they can do with their careers, whether it’s about breaking the big stories or reporting on the runways at Paris Fashion Week.

From day one of the course, BJW staff love watching students immerse themselves in areas they might have known nothing of before. One day they’ll be sitting listening intently as a murder trial unfolds at crown court, the next vox-popping the locals on their thoughts about The Seagulls’ latest performance on the pitch. Tomorrow a national journalist might regale them with tales of the newsroom followed by a session to sharpen up their shorthand and then off to an art gallery to learn reviewing skills.

Tell anyone you’re a journalist and whether they claim to hate the profession or love it, they’ll always want to know more. And who can blame them?

 

Nobody said it was easy…

Listen, we never said it was going to be a ride in the park training to be a journalist, Tom!

Here’s an extract from student Tom Harper’s blog, telling it like it is at Brighton Journalist Works….

“It seems as though I’m starting to get into the habit of doing a blog every other week now. My intention was to do one at the end of each week, but the large workload I have had has stopped that from being the case unfortunately.

The last two weeks have once again given a whole new meaning to the word busy, although it has been very enjoyable at the same time.

I had my first patch story published on The Argus website, which was good to see. Even though I’ve had quite a few articles published in various different places in the past, it’s still good to see your name on a published article!

Shorthand has continued to be a challenge, but I feel as though I’m getting the hang of it after reaching a point last week where parts of it just stopped making sense. This time in two weeks, we will have finished the theory part of shorthand, leaving us with a few weeks of speed-building before the 60wpm exam in November.

Media Law remains my favourite aspect of the course at the moment. I wasn’t sure what to expect before the course started, but it has been really good so far and being able to apply certain laws to cases which are in the news at the moment has definitely helped with understanding certain parts of it.

The last couple of weeks have seen us leave The Argus building and go out to report on events in Brighton for the first time (not including patch stories).

A trip to the museum at Brighton Pavilion for the Biba exhibition wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, but it was good to go out and do some proper reporting as we will have to do when we hopefully all get jobs after the course!

A trip to Brighton Magistrates Court was more interesting, even though we didn’t actually view any proper cases. It has made me look forward to visiting Crown Court later in the course, where we should get the opportunity to see one or two proper cases and report on them.

We also had a talk from Fleet Street Fox, who uses her anonymity to express her opinion on Twitter and her blog which she would not be able to do if she revealed her name.

Whilst I found some aspects of her talk interesting, there were other parts of it which I didn’t enjoy as much and she seemed to be almost too cynical for quite a lot of it.

This weekend shall be spent catching up on sleep and doing work for all aspects of the course, with one or two patch stories to come out of it hopefully.”

Keep going Tom, it’s worth it!

 

 

Another success story…

Here at Brighton Journalist Works there’s nothing we like more than hearing about our former students landing jobs (we take a short pause from typing away at our keyboards and eating Hob Nobs to cheer) so we were delighted to get the following message from recent BJWer Caroline Wilson!

“After my work experience at The Argus I was certain that I wanted to be a junior reporter so I applied for all possible jobs on Hold The Front Page.

One was in Retford (Nottinghamshire), one in Basildon, one in Truro and one in Plymouth – my career is more important to me than anything right now so I was willing to relocate anywhere.

For my application letter I laid it all out in the design of a newspaper front page using Quark Xpress which took quite a bit of time and effort and though I thought it was perhaps a bit risky doing this I wanted to do something to stand out as I knew there would be a lot of applications. The headline read ‘The fight is on – newspaper bosses battle it out to win top new junior reporter’ (cheesy I know!)

I got a call from the Retford Times inviting me for an interview so I spent a whole week researching everything there was to know about the place and went in full of enthusiasm with feature ideas and my portfolio full of work.

They called me a week later to say that unfortunately they had offered the job to someone who had just that bit more experience than me. As the team there was very small they were concerned about me taking on too much responsibility for my first role. They did however say that they loved my application letter and that it definitely stood out from the other candidates. They said they had passed my details on to The Boston Target (Lincolnshire) where they knew there was a vacancy coming up.

After feeling truly gutted about not getting the Retford job and thinking I wouldn’t hear anything from Boston I was amazed to get a call from them THE NEXT DAY telling me how much I’d impressed the Retford Times and that, after a quick chat with them, they offered me a job as a junior reporter to start asap!

So as soon as I’ve sorted out somewhere to live I’ll be moving up and I can’t wait to get stuck in.

My advice would be that if you truly want something then do everything and anything you can to get it and don’t give up!”

Well done, Caroline. Another BJW success story.