Media School Practitioners in Residence
27 September 2011
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BU welcomes the 2011-12 Practitioners in Residence. |
A Senior Features Writer, a social media guru and a radio professional are the latest Practitioners in Residence to join the team in the Media School at Bournemouth University (BU).
Adam Lee-Potter, Jemma Watkins and Maria Williams each bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the School and will share this with students and staff over the coming academic year.
"A good newspaper is one of life's simple luxuries and should be cherished," said Adam, who's worked for the Sun, the Daily Mail and Sunday Mirror, as well as freelancing with most of the UK dailies. His tales of being punched by Ian Botham and thrown out of the House of Commons, will no doubt entertain the School's Journalism and Communications students, as well as offering invaluable industry insight and practical know-how.
Jemma is currently the Social Media and Online PR manager for Yucca - a digital agency based in Bristol - where she has clients such as Silverstone and Hoburne Holidays to her name. Speaking about social media Jemma said: "There's a skills shortage and lack of confidence to implement these tools. If we can educate the students here they can educate the people they're working with once they graduate."
Maria has worked on some of the most prestigious programmes on UK radio, including Woman's Hour for Radio 4, where she covered topics ranging from "kitten heels to rape laws in Pakistan" and Saturday Live, which she helped set up in September 2006. Now she freelances as an executive producer as well as fronting Sound Women; a group of women in radio, helping to make the industry fairer and more representative place to work. "I hope to help some of the women coming out of BU's doors into a better industry," she said.
The Practitioners in Residence scheme is intrisnisc to the Media School's continuing aim to put professional practice at the heart of the student experience. The practitioners will deliver 100 days of practice-focussed teaching and learning between them, exposing students to real life questions and scenarios.
The successful intiiative is funded by the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice (CEMP) and is now in its sixth year.
