AJE Conference, Leicester: June 18, 2010

At Friday’s Association of Journalism Educators conference, held at Leicester’s De Montfort University, we talked, twittered and heard from a range of industry people telling us what they were looking for from the students we are teaching.

Chris Forst, Head of Journalism at Liverpool John Moores University spoke about work placements, saying that “three weeks is ideal” although they do four weeks. My idea upon hearing this was to wonder whether we might be better off delivering two three week placements for students in their second year at Leeds Trinity. This would mean less disruption, as students often find it difficult returning to uni after the extended Christmas/placement period. Many make up their six weeks with two or even three shorter placements. If the placements were separated by semester two sandwiched in between, they might be able to apply second semester learning to their second placement.

Francois Nel from UCLAN told us that as of 2008/9, there were over three thousand undergrad journalism students and 1650 post grads. Lots of students – yes, and in a declining marketplace, but we can’t deny that some students see journalism as a good all-round degree and would apply what they learn to non-journalism jobs.

Richard Bettsworth from the Leicester Mercury told us he still looked for core journalism skills like “accuracy, fairness, impartiality, avoiding cliches”, being able to find stories and develop them, and be able to deliver crisp writing. However, he also added to this list, the need for new journalists to be ‘truth-seekers’ (and here I’m conjuring up a visual image of Harry Potter as a seeker in Quidditch), and also being able to deconstruct the mass of information that’s now available. He pointed out that lots of people and groups have an agenda now, and journalists need to know where to look for information, be able to interpret statistics, understand jargon and deconstruct if for their readers. Journalists, he said, need to be credible in the eyes of their readers and need to be able to make contact with real people.

Kate Squire from BBC Leicester told us “journalism is at the heart of what the BBC does.” She says, local radio is a gateway for young people to get into the BBC where in many regions, the BBC is the only local voice. She says that journalists now need to be multi-skilled – with at least two, if not three skills, and be able to feed any BBC news outlet, whether it be radio, television or online. She urged 360 degree thinking so that if a journalist was covering a story for radio, they’d also get a photo for the website, or maybe bring back some video. She told us the reality now was that often radio reporters at the BBC are armed with small video cameras to do both themselves. She added that the BBC were also moving into social networking. Now that the news can’t be contained with people spreading the news themselves, journalists need to be able to tap into the new platforms. A ‘healthy curiosity’ was needed and she said that in job boards now, some candidates are told they have forty-five minutes to go out and come back with a story (warning for journalists seeking jobs – this goes beyond the ‘where do you see yourself in five years’ type of interview). Refreshingly, she also pointed to the things I’ve been harping on about to students, that you need to be a good story teller, be able to call to account those in authority, and be able to bring life experience to an employer whether that be voluntary work, travel or work on university newspapers, radio stations or television stations. She said journalism students should be “straining at the leash”, but added that there were no more jobs for life, and journalists should expect to have a “portfolio career” which may include short-term jobs. For that, she said, journalists need to be “nimble, critical thinkers”.

Jessany Marsden, the former training chief for IPC media said the magazine industry was very buoyant. Last year there were 3,000 consumer titles and 5,000 B2B titles. The UK, she says, sells 40 million magazines outside of the UK. She says they look for people with “passion, excitement” and can connect with the reader. She also used the word “portfolio” in terms of the abilities of journalists so that you can broadcast about a feature on radio or television and also use social networking sites. She says you “need to know your audience.” Critically, she said media law was very important as well as having an idea of business principals. Journalists working on magazines need to realise magazines have brands and they need to be able to think about revenue streams. For those on work experience, she advised not to be “too precious”, be puntual, and if you’ve got a specalist interest, then apply to the magazine that focuses on that. She says the magazine industry is looking for “passion, excitement and interest, a knowledge of the subject and relationship with the reader”.

Alan Geer from Northcliffe Newspapers in the southeast says he always asks work experience students and prospective employees what they have done, whether it’s writing on a website, a blog, or student publication. He advises to take samples with you to an interview. He cautions students on work experience not to go on facebook, not to ask to watch the world cup, not to turn up in trainers and jeans, being punctual and turning up with an idea.

Some interesting tips which may seem obvious, but are worth thinking about and preparing ahead of time.