Category Archives: Brighton Journalist Works

Brighton Journalist Works: Weeks 2 and 3

23 Sunday Sep 2012

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Time has flown by! We’re already three weeks into the course and so much has happened it would be impossible to write it all down, so here’s a bit about what I’ve been doing in each subject.

Media Law

On Mondays we have an entire day of media law! Pretty tough going but it’s been really interesting learning about the various crimes including the difference between theft, burglary and robbery. We’ve also learnt about the Contempt of Court act – what you can and can’t say about people when they’ve been arrested, the Sexual Offences Act – what you can and can’t say about the victims, as well as a bit about Copyright. We’ve also had a go at a few NCTJ exam questions to get used to the type of questions we would be asked.

Shorthand

We’re now nine units into Marie Cartwright’s wonderful Teeline textbook – almost halfway through the theory! Since the first week we’ve learnt how to write several hundred words, along with countless special outlines and word groupings. We can read and write some simple (yet stilted) sentences – my favourites from the book are ‘I do like to make homemade cake’, ‘I will be able to go to the club with you today’ and ‘The old lady looked odd in her orange overcoat’. I can see those being useful…!

Reporting

Last week we had an inspiring lecture from John Jenkins who told us about his experience in the industry and gave us some helpful tips for tight writing. He said “You need to make each word count” – which I try to remember every time I write a news story.

I’ve also written my first community story, interviewed someone for another story and attended my first community meeting in Portslade. Here I met Sue Bowes who used to teach at Brighton Journalist Works! She’s now part of the Drugs and Alcohol Action Team at Brighton and Hove City Council and told me about a ‘Recovery Walk’ happening next week. This gave me an idea for the PA feature we have to write for our portfolios. I plan to talk about the drugs and alcohol situation in Brighton and even though the numbers are quite shocking, there are people who recover. So I’m going to go on this walk and find out their stories, as well as interview Sue. Exciting!

This week we also had a go at phone interviews – it wasn’t too scary as I’ve done it countless times at my local newspaper, but there’s still room for improvement. We’ve also been going through some NCTJ exam papers, practicing our news writing, headlines and news tweets.

Essential PA

I love being able to understand politics now. We’ve covered Parliament, and both Central and Local Government. In summary, the Queen has no power, people like to hold the Government to account a lot, and local government finance is worse than pulling your own teeth out with pliers.

Enjoying some down-time with the journos at The White Rabbit pub

On a different but related matter I also found out that I’ve been selected to be a staff writer for the online publication ‘This Festival Feeling’ which I’m very excited about! So a busy couple of weeks, and it’s only going to get busier!

My first week at Brighton Journalist Works

09 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by in Brighton Journalist Works, Reflections

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I’ve survived week 1 as a student journalist! It’s been a whirlwind of information, shorthand and sleep deprivation, but at the same time it’s been great fun.

It’s been quite a shock going from my lazy student lifestyle to a structured week of learning. I knew it would be intense as it’s a fast track course, but the regular breaks make it easier to digest – and we can help ourselves to free tea and coffee!

I’m definitely getting into the swing of things now and I feel like I’m constantly learning new and exciting things. And I’ve met so many interesting people, who I’ll be sharing the next 3 months with, so that’s a bonus too.

Monday

We got stuck in straight away by interviewing each other and presenting our partner to the rest of the class. During reporting we learnt what makes a good news story and where to go in search of news. We then had to do a vox pop – I chose to do it about the new squatting legislation – so I asked people in the street about their opinion on the issue.

In the afternoon we had shorthand – now I’d already had a look at the Teeline textbook, so I thought I’d be in the know, but apparently I’d been doing it all wrong! My shorthand was far too big and I was pressing down too hand. Apparently it needs to flow…

Tuesday

The second day brought more shorthand and reporting. In shorthand we went over the alphabet, vowels and common words, and learnt how to join letters up – it’s like being at primary school again! In reporting we learnt about the structure of news stories and had a crack at writing some short stories and intros.

Teeline, teeline, teeline

Wednesday

We started off with essential PA (Public Affairs) aka politics! I assumed it was just general news, but no, we were learning about the constitution and the monarchy. I actually found it quite interesting!

In the afternoon we had our first lesson of Media Law, which involved discussing the Editors’ Code of Practice, along with Prince Harry’s naked snaps. Basically, if a story is in the ‘public interest’, you’re allowed to break some of the rules e.g. privacy!

Thursday

Another session of essential PA involved organising the class to represent the House of Commons – I was a cabinet minister! We then learnt the ins and outs of Parliament and watched the Prime Minister’s Questions (which I find really bizarre).

Later on we had an introduction to production journalism – several hours of spelling, punctuation and grammar woo! Glad I already had a head start at it from university, and from learning the conventions at my local newspaper.

Then we learnt how to write a good headline and had go at writing our own. Afterwards we printed them out and stuck them on the wall to compare them. It was hilarious seeing what each other had come up with – my personal favourites were ‘Fried teenager dead’ and ‘Midget reunion’ – not the most politically correct or sympathetic of headlines!

Friday

Fridays are half days! We had just 3 hours of shorthand – I really feel like it’s starting to click. I’m enjoying shorthand the most, just because you can easily see the progress you’re making which is very satisfying! The rest of the day was filled with a chance to get to know our coursemates with a few games of alcohol induced bowling at Brighton Marina!

Brighton Journalist Works crew at Brighton Marina Bowlplex

(Saturday)

As part of our reporting course, we have to complete a portfolio of 10 different articles. Some of these can be community stories from our ‘patch’ (we’ve all been allocated an area of Brighton to cover for the Argus newspaper). My patch is Hove Park & Goldstone Valley, Aldrington, Hangleton & Knoll and Portslade.

So I took a trip to my patch and just drove around to get to know the area. I checked notice boards, churches, communtiy centres – and I actually stumbled across Hangleton Park Community Festival! I had a chat with the Friends of Hangleton Park and the chairman/organiser, Dave. My first story!

I also visited St Helen’s Church and found that it is under threat of closure so I could do a piece on that, and someone from the area is doing a sponsored 10K Marines Commando Challenge – another potential story! After a visit to Portslade Town Hall, I now know when all the community meetings are. My diary is already filling up!

Hove Park notice board

So overall a jam packed week of learning, exploration and socialising. Can’t wait to do it all again next week!