After personally handing my CV and persistently calling and emailing, The Hampshire Chronicle took the risk of accepting me for a week's work experience. And I must thank them very much for all of the insight they have given me!
I rocked up at the big, green front door on Monday morning having no idea of what to expect from the very brief instructions I recieved by email:
We have a slot from Jan 9-13; 9-5pm at 5 Upper Brook Street.
Dress code: smart – you may go to court or an inquest; nothing else springs to mind. We should have notebooks, pens, computers, etc.
See you then!
I didn't have to wait long to find out though, as at approx. 9:35 I was asked to come up with story ideas for the education supplement Learning Curve. Luckily my usual difficulty thinking of articles seems to have been overcome, as I came up with several ideas all of which were met with a good reception. I have been working on three of the stories throughout the week, doing my own research, interviews and speaking to students, as well as getting photographs. Two of the stories have now been sent to subeditors and will be appearing in the next edition of Learning Curve. However, I still have one more picture to get. Any volunteers to hold a china cup up with your pinky sticking out in the canteen??
I have pretty much mastered the art of turning a press release into a story, doing two yesterday and 6 today. I have also followed the reporters in some day-to-day tasks, spending my first morning with Joe visiting a Junior school in Alresford which the Chronicle was doing a feature on. That afternoon, I went with Emma to the Crown Court (thankfully in the press box, not the as the defendant). On Tuesday morning I went with Warwick to Penyards Estate Agent to find out about their business expansion plans.
I have also gone with Emma to coroner's inquests, which were rather morbid and emotional and quite alarming when the wife of one of the deceased said that it was 'disgusting' that reporters should be allowed to report on it. Little did she know that although reporters hear the whole case, they only publish what needs to be in the public domain and do not go spilling families' deep dark secrets unless it is in the public interest. This did, however, provide an interesting talking point with everyone in the office and encouraged me to think about the ethics of journalism.
One of the least glamorous and fun sides of the job was introduced to me quite early on, but it still hasn't put me off! On tuesday lunchtime I helped Joe with the weekly 'vox pop' where we had to ask people the question of the week: Did you make a new year's resolution and have you stuck to it? Luckily people were quite willing to speak to us about this subject, however obtaining all their details and a photograph were not so straight forward. Not that I blame them!
The vox pop task and my solo interviewing of Vannessa Parrett and John Mann, Director of Estates at Winchester University have done a great deal to boost my confidence, as has the sheer number of stories that have been sent to subs under my name. I have definitely learnt some valuable lessons. Despite the fact that I now have one day at my day job to earn some badly needed cash, and one day of frantic FYP work, before the busiest semester of my university life starts, I am over the moon that I had the chance to have this experience!
So a big thank you to all the reporters at the Hamphsire Chronicle, and my interviewees, who definitely made the week more enjoyable!
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