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Aims:

To give a realistic idea of the working life of a trainee journalist, including:

• researching and writing local stories
• working to deadlines
• interviewing a wide range of people
• working shifts
• the skills, interests and personality needed
• demanding and stressful aspects of the job
• the newsroom environment and the production process.

To raise issues of self-development and career development, including:

• managing time and the pressures of shift-work on personal life
• coping with stress, deadlines and expectations
• professional behaviour with the public and colleagues
• self-awareness and career ambition
• taking professional criticism
• rising to challenges and contemplating career advancement in the short and long term.

Synopsis:

00.00–00.51
Introduction.

00.52–06.05
Monday
Newsroom – Ayesha briefed for a story. Location interviews. Back to newsroom, writing story. Discussing deadlines.

06.06–07.45
Ayesha talks about training and the struggle to get into journalism.

07.46–09.45
Wednesday
Ayesha's boss challenges her to do a radio show. First she watches his live session.

09.46–11.30
Time off. Discussing the challenges of journalism and qualities required.

11.31–12.56
Thursday
Struggling with deadlines. Talks about pay, hours, stress.

12.57–14.17
Evening drinks with boyfriend, talking about this competitive field.

14.18–16.25
Friday
Weekend training course and some tough criticism from tutors about her writing.

16.2 –19.44
Monday
Ayesha covers a royal story.

19.45–24.05
Wednesday
The radio challenge – nervous Ayesha performs brilliantly.

Credits

Curriculum Relevance:

England & Wales
This programme is focused on Careers Education and Guidance, but could be used in aspects of PSHE and Citizenship curricula, for KS4 and post-16.

It is appropriate in terms of the national framework of CEG for 11–19 and the recent emphasis on learning through work, as a preparation for work experience and as a ‘TV experience’ of the working environment, with respect to specific learning outcomes of self-development, career exploration, and career management.

Northern Ireland
The series focuses on Careers Education and Guidance. It will also be useful for courses at KS3 and KS4 dealing with Learning for Life and Work, including Education for Employability, Local and Global Citizenship and Personal Development (including PSHE and Home Economics).

It is appropriate in terms of the national framework of CEG for 11–19 and the recent emphasis on learning through work, as a preparation for work experience and as a 'TV experience' of the working environment, with respect to specific learning outcome of self-development, career exploration and career management.

Scotland
This programme focuses on Careers Education and Guidance, and can be used in aspects of PSE and Citizenship curricula at National Qualifications and post-16 level.

It can be used to support learning through work, as a preparation for work experience and as a ‘TV experience’ of the working environment, with respect to specific learning outcomes of self-development, career exploration, and career management.

Background Information:

Background to the work
The British press goes back more than 300 years, when William Caxton introduced the first English printing press. By the early 16th century the first ‘newspapers’ began to emerge and the first regular English daily paper was launched in 1702.

Nowadays the press is part of a billion-pound, multi-national media industry, with thousands of publications and multiple opportunities across a range of media.

Journalists work in a variety of environments: newspapers, magazine and industrial publications, radio and television broadcasters, online publications and news agencies.

Suitability
The qualities a journalist needs include:

• being curious about the world and having a questioning mentality
• having an interest in current affairs, locally and internationally
• being a good communicator, a good listener and a diplomat
• being a stickler for detail and accuracy and meticulous about deadlines
• being responsible and trustworthy to your contacts
• being balanced and objective
• having good writing and oral skills.

Some useful skills:

• Computer skills: word processing, desktop publishing, especially QuarkXPress, internet and email.
• Shorthand: any system, but Teeline is especially popular. Speeds over 85wpm, but preferably about 100.
• Presentation: good telephone manner, presentable and organised person, confident.
• Good language skills: good spelling, grammar and punctuation, good use of English.
• Good written English: any evidence of journalistic, rather than just creative writing.
• Driving licence, other foreign languages, any specialist expertise.

Some things to be aware of!
The hours are often long and unsociable. Print journalists will often have to work shifts, which include nights and weekends.

Most working environments are open plan and noisy and you have to be able to conduct sensitive conversations in a public arena.

Pay scales vary enormously according to experience and specialisation. While top broadcast journalists and newspaper editors can earn high salaries (some over £100,000), the starting pay for newspaper trainees is low (£8,000–£12,000). Magazine and radio trainees may earn a bit more (£14,000 –£21,000)

There is a lot of legwork to chasing a story, from painstaking research to physically knocking on doors.

Conditions for some specialist journalists can include ‘hostile conditions’, for which you need special training and which can be extremely uncomfortable and very dangerous.

Almost 30 per cent of journalists work on a freelance basis. While it gives you some freedom and a range of opportunities, it is also very insecure and makes managing finances difficult.

A driving licence can be very important on some journalism jobs!

Training
Many excellent journalists do not have degrees, but more than 60 per cent do!

Requirements vary, but most editors will look for at least two A levels with one of them ideally English. Failing that, evidence that you can study, research and write a balanced, cohesive story in good, plain, easy-to-understand English will be needed. Work experience on student or other publications will be very helpful.

There are two ways into print journalism:

1. Direct entry is when you go straight from school (with at least 5 GCSEs including English) or university onto (usually) a local paper, where you’ll be trained with the basics and combine work with some studying towards a qualification recognised by the National Council for the Training of Journalists or an NVQ/SVQ. This is usually a two-year contract.
2. Pre-entry is when you have A levels or a degree and have followed a one-year full-time training course at a recognised college.

Activities:

Story-writing
Stories are the basics of all journalism. Get a local paper and analyse it. (Target audience? Range of articles / stories covered?)
Take one story and scrutinize it. (Style? Feature-length or short? Structure of the story – journalists often use a ‘triangle’ approach, starting at the top with the most dramatic/compelling information.)

Think of a similar local story. Research it, interview the main people, write it up as if for this paper.

Edit each other’s stories.

‘Apply’ for Ayesha’s job …
Ayesha sent off hundreds of letters to get experience.

Compose a letter to the editor of a local paper, requesting work experience. Remember the qualities Ayesha talks about to sell yourself. Use the facts that came out of the paper analysis to convince them you know their publication. Refer to the story you have written above and include it.

Ayesha’s radio challenge – have a try!
Ayesha’s radio challenge was two-fold – firstly for her to gather the relevant information, scanning the week’s papers for enough interesting stories to chat about for half an hour; and secondly to perform on a live radio broadcast.
Could you do it?

Over a week, gather the daily papers from one newspaper. In small groups, collect the most interesting stories, ensuring a variety of serious / light-hearted, local / national stories etc. Summarise them in a loose ‘script’.

Do a mock-radio show, with students taking the roles of DJ / chat-show host and Ayesha. It can be recorded on tape and analysed by the class.

Self-awareness / development at work
Ayesha’s difficult moments came very close together. After a bad day with difficult deadlines, she went on her course and got some tough criticism. Then she had to pluck up the courage to interview a member of the royal family.

Discuss the different stresses and hardships of these scenes and her work. Imagine dealing with it all in just a few days. Did Ayesha handle it all well – or not? How do you maintain professionalism even when you are down? What are the aspects of this job that are most personally demanding? Has Ayesha got the right attitude to succeed?

Research
Research and write a piece about the history of the press in Britain.

Links:

This web page contains links to other websites that are neither controlled nor maintained by Channel 4 Television. Channel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of these sites and does not necessarily endorse the material on them.

The National Council for the Training of Journalists offers basic journalism training through colleges and universities and by distance learning. Their website has lots of information about different routes into newspaper journalism and various training options.
http://www.nctj.com/

The Journalism Training Centre is useful for short course information and other aspects of training.
http://www.journalism-training-centre.co.uk/

Journalism UK is an online publication with news, information and a huge list of links to almost everything to do with journalism in the UK. It is aimed at print journalists but has much broader references.
http://www.journalismuk.co.uk/

The UK Press Gazette is an online publication featuring news and information about opportunities in journalism.
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/

The Journolist is a site run by a freelance journalist, with lots of tips on how to research stories online and find information efficiently. It is an annotated list of sites, aimed at helping reporters make good use of the internet.
http://www.journalismuk.co.uk/

Benn’s Journalism.co.uk is an online publication with lots of information about jobs, training, events and many other aspects of the industry.
http://www.journalism.co.uk/

Media Directory and The Guardian Media Guide are useful for broadcast and other media careers and jobs information.

Credits:

Hair Colour Technician
Camera (Bar) Mike Fox, Zoran Veljkovic
Sound (Bar) Mike Lax, Ewan Reynolds
Music Audio Network
Dubbing Mixer Jim Betteridge
Online editor Matt Scragg
Sound David Marks
Assistant Producer Roz Sinclair
DV Director Imogen Haigh
Production Manager: Pippa White
Executive Producer Andrew Bethell
Editor Sam Bennet
Series Director Nick Woodroffe
Series Producer Ingrid Falck

Produced by Double Exposure for 4Learning

Emergency Nurse
Camera (Bar) Mike Fox, Zoran Veljkovic
Sound (Bar) Mike Lax, Ewan Reynolds
Music Audio Network
Dubbing Mixer Jim Betteridge
Online editor Matt Scragg
Sound David Marks, Richard Nicholls
Assistant Producer Roz Sinclair
DV Director Imogen Haigh
Production Manager Pippa White
Executive Producer Andrew Bethell
Editor Sam Bennet
Series Director Nick Woodroffe
Series Producer Ingrid Falck

Produced by Double Exposure for 4Learning

Journalist
Camera (Bar) Zoran Veljkovic
Sound (Bar) Ewan Reynolds
Music Audio Network
Dubbing Mixer Jim Betteridge
Online editor Matt Scragg
Sound David Marks, Alice Ballentine-Dykes
Assistant Producer Roz Sinclair, Imogen Haigh
DV Director Sacha Mirxoeff
Production Manager: Pippa White
Executive Producer Andrew Bethell
Editor Jayesh Lathia
Series Director Nick Woodroffe
Series Producer Ingrid Falck

Produced by Double Exposure for 4Learning

Youth Worker and DJ Tutor
Camera (Bar) Mike Fox, Zoran Veljkovic
Sound (Bar) Mike Lax, Ewan Reynolds
Music Audio Network
Dubbing Mixer Jim Betteridge
Online editor Matt Scragg
Sound David Marks, Richard Nicholls
Assistant Producer Roz Sinclair, Imogen Haigh
Production Manager: Pippa White
Executive Producer Andrew Bethell
Editor Sam Bennet
Series Director Nick Woodroffe
Series Producer Ingrid Falck

Produced by Double Exposure for 4Learning

Businesswoman
Camera (Bar) Zoran Veljkovic
Sound (Bar) Ewan Reynolds
Music Audio Network
Dubbing Mixer Jim Betteridge
Online editor Matt Scragg
Sound David Marks,
Assistant Producer Roz Sinclair, Imogen Haigh
Production Manager: Pippa White
Executive Producer Andrew Bethell
Editor Jayesh Lathia
Series Director Nick Woodroffe
Series Producer Ingrid Falck

Produced by Double Exposure for 4Learning

Shop Display
Camera (Bar) Zoran Veljkovic
Sound (Bar) Ewan Reynolds
Music Audio Network
Dubbing Mixer Jim Betteridge
Online editor Matt Scragg
Researcher Richard Nicholls
Sound David Marks, Alice Ballentine Dykes
Assistant Producer Roz Sinclair Imogen Haigh
Production Manager: Pippa White
Executive Producer Andrew Bethell
DV Director Sacha Mirzoeff
Editor Sam Bennet
Series Director Nick Woodroffe
Series Producer Ingrid Falck

Double Exposure for 4 Ventures