BA (Hons) Multimedia Journalism - focus on employment

For final year BA (Hons) Multimedia Journalism students the focus is now on getting a job which will act as a springboard to a career in journalism. In the first four weeks of term students have been busy honing the skills needed to achieve this.

Over the past month students have attended numerous lectures and workshops designed to provide the skills, knowledge and experience that will help them secure a career in journalism.

Employability and Professional Development Workshops so far have included:

The Ideas Factory
In this session students were given a tutorial in how to come up with original story ideas, and most importantly how to pitch them to an editor and get them printed. Deborah Collcutt, Deputy Features Editor of the Evening Standard led the workshop, providing students with top quality industry advice for getting the most from their ideas.

Caters News Agency
News agencies can offer some of the most diverse and exciting work opportunities for a journalist, as was explained by David Burner – Co-owner and Director of Caters News Agency. Burner, along with a recent BA Multi-media Journalism graduate who now works for the agency described a working day at a news agency and offered valuable advice on how to get the most from agency work. During a seminar session exclusively for the third year journalism students, Burner was able to take individual questions on a diverse range of topics such as what life was like working for a news agency, and how best to break into the business.

The Art of the Interview
As a newly welcomed Practitioner in Residence with Bournemouth University’s Media School Adam Lee Potter, was able in this lecture to impart some of his knowledge and wide-spanning experience in conducting interviews. Spanning from celebrities such as Simon Cowell to families who have suffered tragic losses, Lee-Potter has interviewed them all allowing him to provide students with a unique take on the challenges, the ethical issues and the skills needed to master the art of the interview.

Interview Techniques
For this hands-on workshop students were asked to attend in full interview-smart dress, and be ready to answer some tough questions. During the session each student was given the opportunity both to interview and be interviewed, asking and answering some of the most common journalism interview questions as well as some of the trickiest. While there may have been some stuttering and red cheeks in this practice session, these students will definitely have thought long and hard about their answers long before all future interview interrogations.

Twitter
Social media is a vital tool for all journalists of the 21st Century, and so this crash course in how to get the most out of Twitter was invaluable for the journalism students. Even for avid “Tweeters”, there was still a lot to be taken from this session in how to utilise Twitter not only to publicise your work but also to find and develop story ideas.

A range of employability and professional development lectures, workshops and seminars will continue throughout the coming year, ensuring that by graduation all final year students will be well-equipped and well-practiced in how to apply for a secure a diverse range of jobs in journalism.

• BA (Hons) Multimedia Journalism