Becoming a Journalist

The last week included visits to an army barracks near York, a trip to Bradford Magistrates court and Bradford Crown Court.

We travelled to York via coach, thus re-living my school days by singing football songs on the backseat! The day was geared towards interviewing soldiers who needed media training. It wasn’t that interesting to be honest, interviews lasted 5 minutes and then we stood around in the cold!

The highlights of the trip, except the singing, was that we were allowed to go on the assault course. Granted I am not the most athletic, but I really enjoyed climbing, ducking, crawling, swinging and jumping! I even enjoyed the heights!

We were also given a go shooting some guns in a training exercise. Think of a video game, shooting at a screen. It was pretty clever stuff but I felt aggrieved after not being given proper advice in our 30 second training!

Watching the footage of the group’s effort it was clear my sight was wonky! I was left with egg all over my face having shot into the air for the majority of the time. I still claim I saw UFO’s in the sky though.

The next morning we were off to Bradford to sit on the press bench. Fortunately we were there to see two Great British rugby league players plead guilty to assault and forced entry. Brilliant. A boring court visit made interesting by sport! Returning back to college it was good to see the story being headlined on Sky Sports News and the local media. A journalist is very lucky to have such an opportunity. A time to say: “We were there!”

The next day we were at the Crown court. Not as interesting unfortunately. Three men being linked to class A drugs and a firearm. It was good to see how a court works.

The week ahead is our final one of our block. We still have to produce our second newspaper and, hand in our second media law essay. We are also going to Bradford (again) to visit a coroner’s court, the national media museum and a curry house!

Week nine was designed to get our first edition of the North Leeds News out. There were no trips out this week. I really enjoyed doing it. I loved gathering stories and seeing my byline in the paper. It was also brilliant to be part of a team. The final hour before the Thursday lunch deadline everyone was mucking in together, checking copy and making sure there were no mistakes. The end result I am quite proud of.

Last weekend I travelled to Tadcaster (near York) to cover the Leeds Carnegie Ladies match for North Leeds News. I find reporting on women’s games really interesting. I guess it’s the appeal of lower league grounds and being close to the pitch. I was invited to sit in the press box, basically sitting behind the window, which was perfect. I wasn’t cold and whilst there was a stoppage in play I could watch England thrash France in the Six Nations. Brilliant.

Sadly Leeds lost, despite dominating most of the second half. It was however more entertaining than watching Notts County in the last few seasons!

The rest of the week so the usual lectures on shorthand, media law and ethics. We also had two guest speakers who were quite interesting.

Only two weeks to go to Easter and there is still so much to fit in.

The week ahead sees the start of gathering stories for the second edition of the North Leeds News , a Army day at Catterick ( I still have no idea what we will be doing there) and a couple of court visits on Thursday and Friday.

 The final week before Easter will also be packed with our second Media Law essays due in. A Bradford Day has also been organised. All students will be going to the corners court, a curry house and to the media museum in the afternoon. The second edition of the North Leeds News will also be published before the holiday.

The week wasn’t as jam-packed as last week thank god , but it was still hard work.

The first edition of our newspaper the North Leeds News is published on Friday so therefore stress levels are already high ! The deadline of this Thursday lunch is going to be challenging but I believe the group is pulling in the same direction.

My copy has been mostly about art/sport. I have written a art review on the Asta Groting exhibition and a CD review on the new U2 album. I actually found it quite interesting to write a subject which I new nothing. I enjoyed researching and using my own language to describe something.  I am actually quite proud of the Groting review particularly. I am already looking forward to adding it to my portfolio.

I also wrote a article about the young Leeds Met student Richard Buck grabbing a silver medal at the European Indoor Championships held in Italy. I have interviewed Rich before and he is extremely focused. I was chuffed to watch him win on TV in the men’s relay race. Two days later I rang him up and he was so happy. Hopefully he can now go on from this and reach the London 2012.

I have also written a piece on Leeds Carnegie Rugby Union and this afternoon (Sunday) I’m travelling to Tadcaster (near York) to cover the Leeds Carnegie Ladies match against Birmingham. Women’s football gets a lot of stick these days. The matches I have covered over the last four years have been enjoyable and a joy to watch. Obviously the players aren’t as quick or skillful as the Premiership , but in my view are well worth a look. They certainly couldn’t be any worse at defending than my team Notts County (the less said about that the better !)

Midweek I witnessed a farce. A whole day was completely wasted. It was typical TASC. On Wednesday it was time to get our media law results back… actually no … not our marks , as they had not been finalised yet… just whether we had passed or not ?!? Surely the tutor should have just waited a week and given the papers back with the mark ?! Anyway… the print/magazine group went to the meeting and the tutor said out 14 people , one of us had failed. Why would he say such a thing ?!? It become a game of Cluedo with everyone looking around the room looking for the ‘murderer’, BUT the tutor didn’t want to tell everyone together , he tried to pull someone to one side…. but after strolling around the room and not doing so  we all got bored and went to the pub !

It become ridiculous. I was already worrying about my mark. In the end I had to go see another tutor to see if I had indeed failed. Thank god I passed , no idea what mark yet , but I had passed. I was chuffed.

The next day we had our second lesson in Quark. It is a very tricky software program used to design a newspapers layout. After 6 hours I am still finding it hard. I am pleased I am not the North Leeds News editor this week !  Hopefully I will get the hang of it by the time my turn comes around !

So next week should be very stressful and may include a few late nights, but come Thursday evening hopefully the newspaper will be complete and we will have a celebatory drink !

This week has again been tough. By Friday afternoon I was completely drained. The week was jam-packed with activities.

The opening day of the week was dedicated to finding stories for our newspaper The North Leeds News. I found it really interesting. It was if we were in a real news room with everyone working their socks off phoning, e-mailing or doing a bit of leg work and finding stories in Horsforth.

I also had two pieces (well one as it turned out) of good news that week. After phoning and e-mailing Countdown (Channel Four) I had managed to secure an interview with Mr Jeff Stelling. I was so psyched. This was brilliant. Stelling is an absolute legend and would be fantastic to talk too. All I had to do was wait for an email to confirm the date.

Unfortunately the following e-mail response was bad news – Stelling was busy and couldn’t fit in an interview – gutted.

I did however secure my first weeks work placement in October (we have to arrange at least four weeks). At national magazine Zoo no less. Okay okay, it might be a bit seedy lads mag (to some people), but I think this experience will be valuable. In the past I have worked on local rags and websites and I felt like change. I just felt the experience of working in London at a well-known magazine would be interesting and something completely different.

In midweek the Print and Magazine trainees went on a trip to the West Yorkshire Police training base Bishopgarth in Wakefield. Basically we were asked to form the reporter rabble in a press conference. We had to make it as challenging as possible for the training police. I was given the task of ringing my colleague and cause a disturbance. All in all it was good fun and a free lunch was pretty damn good!

This week we had to meet our first tutorial deadline in Media law. The exercise comprising of four questions was very tricky. We had plenty of discussions in our press room about it. By the time Thursday came I was sick and tired of it. Hopefully I can scrape a pass again.

We were given our first results back from our first exam (the press conference). With a 50% pass mark being the target I scraped in with a mark of 52. I was happy enough to pass as some others were harshly awarded marks of 48 and 49 and therefore have to re-sit. Very harsh in my eyes.

On Thursday we started our training with the software Quark. It is the sottware that many newspaper use , and we will be using it when we are the editors for a week. I found it quite tricky to layout a page but we do extra lessons which hopefully I can take it in more easily.

Probably the highlight of my week was the Royal Television Society Sports Debate on Thursday evening. After an invitation from my tutor I didn’t really know what to expect. I certainly didn’t predict such a fantastic panel.

Brian Barwick (former chief executive of the Football Association) , Richard Caborn (sports minister) , Martin Kelner (Five Live) , Paul Dufen (Hull City FC Chairman) , Damien Johnson (Football Focus) and Tania Arnold (Look North) were brilliant. It was right up my street. Imagine Question Time but about sport – perfect.

The debate was mostly about the future of sport on TV. It was interesting to hear about the media scrum at World Cups and how different Premiership teams give access to journalists. The night was a success and it was completely free !

The guest speaker on Friday was Calendar’s (for non-Yorkshire folk that is the ITV Regional news presenter at 6pm) Duncan Wood. He was a very good speaker and ultra confident but I just felt that he just came to showcase his work and show off that he worked for GMTV. Fair play he’s experienced and trying to pass on his knowledge, but surely he didn’t have to use his own reports for most of the examples?!

The week ended with a bit of culture for me. I woke up early on Saturday morning (thus ensuring I returned home to watch the FA Cup football) and headed to the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds. Now I am not an art fan, ask any of my family who have dragged me around some truly boring galleries. My god, you name one, I’ve probably been bored in it!

This exhibition was different however. I found a small nugget of information last week and suggested to my tutor that we could use this as a NIB (News in Brief) for our newspaper. She had other ideas… “How about reviewing the exhibition?” So there I was at Asta Groting’s exhibition. It was really quite interesting and relaxing. I won’t say too much, you can read my review in the paper (hopefully).

The week ahead again promises to be a busy one. We continue to work on our North Leeds News stories and the climax of the weekly quizzes.

This week has been the hardest of the course so far.  The work has seemed to slightly increase and it has been quite challenging.

The week started with councillors interviews. We split into groups of two and had limited time to research and interview random councillors. I personally found this interesting but quite hard. We tackled issues such as the new Leeds arena , new link roads and the economy. It was interesting to research and meet these people but politics doesn’t really interest me.  Give me sport and human interest stories any time of the week !

The following day saw my Grandpa reaching the brilliant age of 85. As previous readers will know … he is learning shorthand. He is a remarkable chap. I enjoy our conversations to see how we’re getting on. I find it amazing how he is still willing to expand his mind. I am sure at that age shorthand will be the last thing on my mind ! He is like having a personal shorthand tutor. He gives me a real reason to try my best at probably one of the hardest things I have ever had to learn.  He even gave me a list of words to try and learn. I see him before  the next Notts County home match so hopefully I won’t disappoint !

Wednesday saw the whole course go to the Leeds City Council Budget Meeting. It was quite good to see how it works and what actually happens in these meetings but I hope to god I never have to go back. Think of an awful Jeremy Kyle show combined with the Parliament channel. I found very stupid how councillors would use snide and personal comments to try and get ahead of each other. I found the whole thing a bit immature. These people have a lot of serious issues to deal with and yet they were busy cursing each other. Pathetic. Highlight of the day : Beer and a burger at Weatherspoons !

Thursday saw the return of the dreaded vox-pop. After last weeks success on the issue of the Yorkshire Ripper , this time we decided to go with a more general issue – recycling. Hopefully we would be able to use them in the newspaper we are going to produce in a couple of weeks. Unfortantely this week people in Horsforth didn’t really want to stop for a chat ! You could forget trying to get a photograph ! It was tough. I managed to get quite a few people eventually but only one who would allow me to take a snap of her on a windswept day.

So finally the end of the week after Media Law and Shorthand … the weekend was here. More importantly football was here. If I ever needed my team Notts County to put a good performance in this was it. Unfortantely for me it was against my rivals – Bradford City. Ever since the 1996 Wembley Playoff Final where Notts lost 2-0 and I cried whilst leaving the stadium with Status Quo – Rocking all over the world on in the background , I have hated City. I dont think I have ever seen Notts claim a point.

Notts started well and took the game to City. Young winger Myles Weston was immense. Skining Zesh Rehman countless times before setting up Jonathan Forte. Minutes later Weston’s  brilliant cross was controlled expertly by Forte and he slotted the ball past Evans in the Bradford goal. Better was to come before half time as my favourite player got on the score sheet. Delroy Facey couldn’t miss (well maybe he could … he has in the past) from two yards out. Half time 3-0. Brilliant. A fantastic way to end a difficult week.

Next week : The news quiz finale , Media Law deadline and a sports debate.

Everyone hates Monday mornings – fact – and it was made more apparent when we all had our first exam of the course.

As previously stated we were set in a Press Conference situation as a Policeman and Press Officer entered the room. We were given a vague press release about details of a missing boy. It was now up to us to put the questions to discover more about the situation. Unfortunately with it being a Monday the group, including me, seemed to be very quiet and people seemed shy to ask questions. I had never been in a press conference situation. It was a quite tense atmosphere with everyone concentrating on writing the facts and ensuring the quotes were accurate.

However after quite a short press conference we had (just) enough information to write a story with the correct quotes. It is hard to decide how I did. I tried to keep within the rule of the Print room Style Book. Hopefully my spelling and grammar won’t let me down. We will get the results in two-three weeks.

We also had two shorthand tests this week. Our tutor tested us on random words and word groupings. I managed to get a creditable 47 out of 50 which I was quite pleased with. I will get my other mark back next week, which I’m not as hopeful about.

On Thursday we were sent out in two’s to vox-pop the general public about a topical issue. A colleague and I decided to ask the people of Headingley about Gordon Brown’s comments on the Yorkshire Ripper. The Prime Minister said it was “unlikely” (he didn’t deny it) that Peter Sutcliffe would be downgraded from Broadmoor which brought a huge outcry in the local media.

I have done vox-pops in the past on work placements and they are a lot more difficult than you think. Basically you have to pick your target , try to get them to stop , ask them a couple of questions , get details about name , age , etc and then the dreaded photograph. This is probably the hardest part. I talked to numerous people about Sutcliffe but they didn’t want a photograph taken. We did however get a handful of people and got some interesting views. A very interesting exercise.

This week we all picked “wish lists” for our placements in the Autumn. I went with a real mix bag of local and national media. Hopefully I can get a few of my desired places as it is vital to gain contacts and to secure a job after the course.

Next Week : Another stressful Monday morning is on the horizon as a group of councillors are coming into the Uni and we are being assessed on interviewing them (face to face) and then writing up a story. I confess I am not a politics fan so I will find this really hard. I researched the group on the web on Friday and was surprised to see not too much information. This exercise will be very difficult.

I also believe we are going to a Leeds City Council Budget Meeting in midweek.

Finally the snow was melting this week. It seems like it has been on the ground for ages. Unfortantely for me , where there is no snow - there is ice – and after two weeks of staying on my feet on the way to the train station each morning/evening I finally fell on the dreaded Friday the 13th. Some might point to the alchol or even my smart shoes which have no grip , I firmly blame the non-gritted streets of Horsforth !

The week saw the second of our presentations. This time a group project and no prizes ( surely this would have made it a lot more entertaining). Team Emma’s presentation on Wakefield went really well. After a couple of run throughs and plenty of cutting of information as we were dangerously exceeding the 15minute max time limit. We added a quiz into our project and it went surprisingly well. Obviously the bribe of Rhubarb as a prize was a winner. As previously stated I hate presentations but going first and getting it out the way certainly helped. We got good feedback and we were all pretty chuffed with it.

I was also really impressed with some of the other groups. Everyones was entertaining and people had obviously put a lot of work into it. I have no idea how people added pictures to match vox-pop interviews. Very clever stuff.

On Wednesday we had our first mock exam. Our PJP module is all about learning about print skills and we were tested to ask questions at a fake press conference. It was all very formal and we seemed to get all the information off our interviewees (our tutors). We then rushed back to the press room to endulge the answers. We had a couple of hours to write up a 330 word story.

It was quite hard to start as there was so many different angles to go with. The feedback I received was constructive and hopefully I will learn from it quickly with the exam first thing Monday morning.

Team Emma’s fine effort on the weekly News Quiz last week was justified when we were announced early leaders. We could also have consolidated our position with a fantastic performance this week. The catchphrase : ’GO ON DAVE’  is becoming a bigger hit than Tim Henman legendary : ‘Come on Tim’ ! Other members of the course may point to the fact that we have a TV and newspapers in our press room , but they are more than welcome to come in and read them.

My week finished with a fantastic Notts County victory( a clean sheet too I must add) … okay maybe it wasn’t vintage … but I don’t see many Notts wins so I’m allowed to use the word ‘fantastic’ !

This week : EXAM (Mon morning )

Week Three of my postgraduate print journalism course nearly didn’t begin at all. Snow blizzards swept accross the country earlier this week and caused mayhem for students and tutors to get to Uni.

I was quite fortunate with my commuting from Huddersfield. I already planned to get earlier trains to ensure I got to TASC on time and I was lucky that only one train was cancelled throughout the week. My other colleagues were not so lucky. A large amount enjoyed their “snow day” as driving wasn’t an option.

My shorthand tutor missed her first day in 13 years due to the conditions. Thankfully she returned to the end of the week. I feel that I learn a lot more when discussing in a large group. I must keep plugging at shorthand as my memory is pretty poor. I am planning to listen to my shorthand tape on the walkman a lot more this week.

Probably the highlight of the week was the News Quiz which each group sets each other on Thursday afternoons. Special mention for my group – Team Emma – who stormed to victory this week with first, second and equal third positions ! Hopefully we can continue to climb the league table and claim the prize money for a messy night out on the tiles !

Another personal high was the media law sessions which I normally struggle to understand. This week we were given information about a fake bank robbery and had to write short news stories. Obviously looking for the pitfalls of the Contempt of Court Act and whether the case is active or not. I think Im slowly getting the hang of it !

Probably my favourite module is PJP which is very much related to print journalism. Basically we are taught how to re-write press released and create stories worthy of being published. My past homeworks I have noticed similiar trends. I tend to repeat certain words for some reason. I must aim to read and re-read my copy before submitting.

The week ahead sees the much anticipated group presentations. We were handed the city of Wakefield. Hopefully it will all go according to plan on Tuesday. Unfortantely no warm Champagne as a prize this time !

Two weeks gone and I am certainly back in the routine. Early mornings , homework and shorthand revision have become the norm. To be honest it feels like a hell of a lot longer than ten working days at TASC.

I also received a huge confidence boost this week. On Tuesday all of the postgrads had to present an individual portrait infront of tutors and peers (which was wierdly filmed ?!) . The portrait was to portray your personality/feelings about the course. 

My idea was to create a photoshopped picture of me interviewing new Notts County signing David Beckham. I also created a magazine front page to suggest that I landed my dream job in a years time (following Notts for the Nottingham Evening Post). I didn’t manage to stumble over too many words as I nervously presented.

Incredibly I managed to secure eight votes (out of 30ish) and first place to win a warm bottle of champagne. Others may think its not such a big deal , but to me - not being a gifted presenter - it was a huge bonus. Hopefully it will do me a world of good. I can already compare my two presentations and see a mark improvement. The first I was shaking and stuttering my words.

Our next presentation is a group one about Wakefield. We travelled to the city at the start of the week with the video camera to collect a vox-pop of public reactions to various questions. I’ve done these excercises before on work placement and found it really hard to get people infront of the camera. I was shocked to see my colleagues gather people round for a casual chat. Much respect to Team Emma !

The week also included a tough news quiz , a shorthand test (which I did okay in) and a Freelance journalist coming into talk to the group.

Next week will be more of the same , aswell as hard task of editing our Wakefield footage. Judging by past experiences this could be very tough.

“Your student days are over !” Said one of my tutors on the first morning of my first day of the Print Journalism Postgrad course. That is fair enough I thought… except that I still go to lectures , take exams  and read plenty of books !

My first week has been really enjoyable , albeit knackering ! I am slowly getting used to waking up ridiculously early and still mastering some tough skills. It obviously has been a help that I know the college really well and the tutors having done my undergraduate sports journalism degree at TASC.

One of my nerve-racking experiences of the week was to interview the person next to you and then stand up infront of my course mates and introduce them to everyone. I hate talking infront of stranges and I was really nervous about it , as Im sure it showed ! The next few weeks I will hopefully be able to build on my confidence with  a few more presentations. Including one about a photograph taken myself about my feelings on the course and a group presentation on Wakefield !

I actually quite enjoy learning shorthand ! I never thought I would say that five days into the course ! Probably the main reason is that we have a really nice tutor. She is really sweet and has lent everyone a walkman to get going ! Legend !  The Print Journalism Practices module has also been brilliant. A lot of helpful tips from two professional reporters.

However Law has met my expectations. I never really enjoyed it in my undergraduate and so far I haven’t been gripped by it. Obviously I know the importance to it to become a journalist so this is where I must concentrate on and swot up. Especially when you consider I’ve got a 3 hour exam in it !

Overall a brilliant first week and a lot more exciting things to come over the next few weeks including presentations , guest speakers , court visits and of course more shorthand !