My Time in Print Journalism

 As part of my degree at Bournemouth University I was required to undergo a professional placement before returning for my final year of study. With an interest in journalism, I organised some time at my local newspaper the Maidenhead Advertiser.

 With previous jobs in retail and some voluntary work teaching, I had never really experienced an office setup or a serious role in journalism before. It was comforting to be working alongside a friendly workforce and it was exciting to be assigned my own desk. With my thoughts directed to leaving university and what career path I would be following in a year’s time, I knew it was time to get serious about what I wanted to do.
 

 Overall the work was far more independent than I had imagined. With a near silent environment, it was easy to concentrate and I found myself writing more than I would’ve expected to in a short space of time. However, this was beneficial as I was continuously sent press releases and emails and was consequently given deadlines to meet. Having spent the last 20 years of my life in and around the borough, I was already familiar with the layout and content of the newspaper and was eager to get involved.

 Throughout my work experience, I was keen to show I had the skills it takes to be a successful writer. Through looking at a variety of journalists' articles and researching tips for journalistic writing, I feel I gained a deeper insight into the techniques I needed to apply to my writing. The Guardian highlighted that "the overriding message in journalistic writing is: Keep It Simple." Sometimes it was easy for me to forget this and some of my articles appeared too bulky. I find it's easy to include every piece of information from a press release when, in reality, not everything is needed. As I was assigned word limits for every written piece, it was essential for me to cut my work down and to keep it simple.

 With my role as a reporter, it was also part of my job to directly contact appropriate sources to add more depth to my articles.On one occasion; I followed up a medal auction that was being held in the nearby town Marlow. Captain Tom O’Malley, an Apache pilot who performed one of the most daring rescues of the Afghanistan war, was selling his gallantry medals and was hoping to raise a large sum of money. Unfortunately I couldn’t get in contact with O’Malley himself but I did speak to the auctioneer who educated me on military medals and the amount they are worth. This interested me as I had no previous knowledge on the topic and was grateful to the auctioneer’s communication as it helped me construct an informative piece of writing.
 

 This was not case with a smaller piece I was assigned on housing prices. I’ll admit to having little knowledge on inflation, mortgages and anything generally associated with finance and the housing industry. This meant I was required to do a lot of background research before writing and, even once it was written, I was still unsure about what I had said. I suppose this is what intimidates me when entering the world of journalism as there are areas I have little knowledge on and it’s easy to stay in your comfort zone.

 Nonetheless, I had a great experience and was elated to see a piece of my work in print.

My first feature to be published in the Maidenhead Advertiser, 2014.