Self Reflective Journalism Essay

This reflective essay will be detailing my personal experiences throughout the last year of my studies, paying particular attention to my journalism course as well as referencing any other experiences of note. The underlying theme of the essay is the importance of versatility in modern journalism and how my personal development during this period has seen me branch out into different aspects of the profession.

My final year has without doubt been the most productive period of my course and I really feel that my university lectures combined with my extra-curricular experiences have allowed me to develop as a journalist and become a lot more versatile.

I feel that I can now adapt my writing style with ease, depending on the publication, and this is down to the diversity of tasks that I have been set throughout my course. I had always been able to write well but I now feel a lot more confident approaching news and feature stories because of the skills I have acquired, a great example of this being the inverted pyramidal structure. My portfolio assignments enabled me to branch out and produce a variety of different stories, which in turn improved my versatility and prepared me better for post-university life. 

Another section of the course that allowed me to enhance my writing ability was the lectures we had about online journalism and social networking. By studying the technicalities of blogs and the transformation of newspapers to online content, my knowledge of the subject was bolstered and my writing improved as a result. I actually started my own football blog at the beginning of the year and started posting weekly articles to build up my portfolio and improve my writing and formatting.

I was able to successfully put this to practice during my course placement. I got to spend a week on the Guardian’s sports department and a few of the tasks involved writing features to a deadline. The skills I had learnt from my course were crucial in me meeting every deadline and getting the articles published on the Guardian’s website. By learning that my writing was good enough to appear on the site, I was given a great confidence boost for my career prospects. The week also involved a lot of research and the exercises we had been doing at university helped me greatly in producing the information for the Guardian. I had to thoroughly research information for my portfolio stories as well as for a variety of different tasks in the lectures so I felt this prepared me well for the placement.  Without the past three years of evolving my writing and learning more theory, I don’t think I would have coped as well as I did at the Guardian.

Other than writing, I feel my interview and pitching techniques have come on leaps and bounds in the past year. The first portfolio set us the challenge of live pitching to a real publication and seeing how a freelance journalist truly operates. The lectures we had provided us with the time to practice pitching and learn how to write a pitch that stands out.  Pitching was something I had never done before so I was glad to add it to my skills list and get some experience of sending a ‘live’ pitch.

The same portfolio also allowed me to build on the interviewing techniques I had already picked up from the first two years of my course. I wrote two features for the assignment and they were both interview pieces. I had to go to the musician’s houses and interview them one on one, which was nerve wracking at first, and then write an article. The features went really well and I was pleased with my mark, a mark that I couldn’t have achieved without the knowledge I have gained from the pitching and interviewing lectures. On Sue’s recommendation I regularly used the BBC’s College of Journalism website to help me improve my interviewing as there were several videos and articles on the topic. As well as this I felt that the group exercises in the lectures really boosted my technique, as we had to interview each other and this gave us practical experience. 

These tools are absolutely vital for any modern journalist and I am no doubt better prepared for my media career than I was this time last year. Writing ability is not enough on its own to succeed in the industry and now that I can confidently pitch and interview, I feel I’m a much better candidate for jobs. By working alongside sub-editors during my time at the Guardian and having in-class discussions, I also learnt a lot about the formatting side of journalism and how styles and structures differ over a range of writing. This goes back to what I previously mentioned about versatility and just how pertinent it is to be versatile in the journalism industry. The past two years have taught me, more than anything, just how much being a journalist involves and what hard work it really is.

But aside from the practical elements of journalism, I have really enjoyed the theoretical section of my course this year, as it is vital to know the industry and how it operates. Journalism has changed radically in the last decade and it was interesting to learn about the transition and more about the legal responsibilities that are involved. Obviously the past year has seen the Leveson inquiry and it has been fascinating as a journalism student to see how an industry I want to work in is evolving. Whilst at the Guardian I was fortunate enough to attend an editorial meeting where Robert Jay, the chief inquisitor at the Leveson inquiry, was guest speaking. Being able to hear Robert speak ‘off the record’ about his personal opinions on the inquiry and what it means for the industry was a truly memorable experience and one I was fortuitous to have.

Our two weeks studying press law and ethics with Margaret was another important theoretical section of the final year, with the information we learnt being invaluable for any journalist. We built on the law that we had learnt during the second year and although it was a difficult section, it was interesting and necessary knowledge. The ‘Stolen Innocence’ book that we had to read by John Batt was something I really enjoyed and to read Sally Clark’s tragic tale was harrowing as well as educational. It really made me realise just what a moral responsibility you have as a journalist and how careful you have to be to remain objective and not libel yourself. I certainly wouldn’t have a chance of getting a job without having the background knowledge of press law that my course has taught me.

Having always held an interest in creative side of journalism, one aspect of the year I thoroughly enjoyed was the ‘Professional Media Practice’ course. The course intertwined well with the online and social media aspect of the journalism course and allowed me to expand my arsenal of skills.  With a few months of learning about online journalism, how to format for the web and how to produce and edit multimedia pieces, I was already prepared going into my placement. As aforementioned, I completed a week with the Guardian’s sport desk as part of my placement, but the remainder of my time there was spent working with the multimedia department.

I was working alongside audio producer, Jason Phipps, and as part of the placement I had to edit, record and publish online material for the Tech and Science weekly podcasts. The foundations that allowed me to flourish during my placement all stemmed from my PMP in-class experiences and it was an experience that I couldn’t have enjoyed more. The PMP lectures combined with my time at the Guardian have now provided me with the skills to successfully set up a studio, record in the studio and the edit the audio without assistance. These core skills will be crucial as I look to find a career within the media industry.

Overall I couldn’t have been more pleased with the progress I feel I have made in the past 12 months. I have always been able to write well, but by adding tools such interviewing, pitching, recording and editing techniques just to mention a few, I am now a much more rounded journalist.  These abilities combined with the numerous credits and publications I achieved during my placement will only serve to enhance my portfolio and increase my job prospects. I also managed to network at the Guardian and gain several contacts who I can now send articles to or ask for advice, which is brilliant.

I think that over the past three years the course has struck the balance of theory and practical experience perfectly and we have been encouraged to seek work away from University to get the most out of the degree. These extra-curricular activities combined with my lectures have given me the confidence to go out and find the career I want and with my portfolio and versatility I feel that I can get to where I want to be.