Media students hone their skills with politicians and journalists

Students from the University of Brighton Multimedia Broadcast Journalism BA(Hons) course are getting opportunities to hone their skills interviewing high profile politicians and getting advice from current media professionals.

Student Jordan Hogan interviewed the Work and Pensions secretary about welfare reform as part of his internship with a local newspaper. Jordan, who is in the second year of his degree at Hastings campus, got his chance to put some tough questions to Iain Duncan Smith while filming the cabinet minister during a visit to Sussex Downs College in Eastbourne.

The former Conservative Party leader was there to ask college students what skills they needed in order to do the jobs they hoped to secure once qualified.

Jordan, whose home is in Eastbourne, said: “I found the prospect of interviewing someone like Iain Duncan Smith a bit nerve racking at first but when I got into the interview itself I found it easier to ask my questions.”

The 19-year-old has completed more than 50 pieces of video-journalism in the short space of time that he’s been working for the Eastbourne Herald, which with its sister paper, the Hastings Observer, created two video-journalism paid internships for students on the Multimedia Broadcast Journalism BA(Hons) degree as a way of increasing multi-platform news output.

Interviewing Nigel Farage 

It took a Brighton University student Mark Henderson 14 phone calls, 23 emails and the ability to dodge a good deal of cigarette smoke to finally interview one of the country’s leading politicians. Mark, a first year journalism undergraduate, was determined to interview UKIP leader Nigel Farage. He said: “When I phoned the UKIP office in Brighton, the man on the other end just chuckled and said, "you can’t just speak to Nigel Farage" but I was determined. I wanted to interview him about UKIP’s rise in the polls and when I first told my tutor, Jackie Errigo, she responded by asking me what my plan B was.”

Mark spoke to no fewer than 11 UKIP officials before his patience was finally rewarded. He was told to meet Farage at the BBC studios in Millbank where he’d be given a few minutes with the party leader.

Mark continued: “He must have smoked three cigarettes during the four minutes we were together and I was desperately trying to take notes while the smoke dispersed around my face and made my eyes water,” recalled Mark. But he was very friendly and accommodating and really opened up about why he felt so passionately about his party and its growing success in various elections. I’m not a massive fan of UKIP myself but the piece got me a great mark, so thank you Nigel!”

Visit by BBC presenter 

Regional newsreader Juliette Parkin has been giving Broadcast Journalism students in Hastings a real taste of what it's like to work in a multimedia newsroom.

Juliette, who regularly presents BBC South East’s daily news programme, spent a week with third year undergraduates as guest editor for Brighton Broadcaster News, the students’ radio and television programmes and online website.

"The students impressed me from day one with their professionalism and enthusiasm,” said Juliette. “They approached the news days with all the commitment and creativity required to produce quality television, radio and online news output.”

The students on the Multimedia Broadcast Journalism degree have their own fully equipped television studio and gallery, along with two industry standard radio studios at the University’s Hastings campus.

News days are a regular part of the course and students source their own stories, read hourly bulletins and produce a twenty minute television programme at the end of the day. The news is regularly updated on their on-line site.

Journalist Juliette, who has been working at BBC South East Today since the launch in 2001, says she believes the course is clearly preparing them well for the convergent world.

“These multi-skilled journalists are ready to take on the competitive world of broadcasting," she said. The course has just won a coveted three year accreditation from the industry body, the Broadcast Journalism Training Council.

Find out more about the media courses offered at Hastings campus.

TV Anchorman runs workshop for students 

TV reporter and presenter John Young shared his expertise with a group of third year Multimedia Broadcast Journalism students at their Hastings campus.

Two days a week John works for BBC South East Today but when he’s not on air, he now runs his own business (John Young Media Bootcamp) visiting schools and colleges, explaining how television news works and encouraging young people to consider jobs in the industry.

He gave up his free time to run a news workshop with the undergraduates studying at the University of Brighton’s Hastings campus – an experience he said he enjoyed very much.

Course tutor Adrienne Rosen, herself a BBC veteran, said: “John gave the students a real insight into the roles of journalists and presenters and the tricks of the trade he revealed were invaluable”.

Student Jen McGee thoroughly enjoyed the experience: “The newsroom Bootcamp was brilliant, she said. It got me thinking about what working as a journalist may actually be like. John's class taught me how to think practically and methodically with regards to writing a story and choosing relevant quotes and information for that particular story.

“The class showed just how quickly you need to put a story together in the 'real world' and how to go about it. I don't find the prospect of being a journalist out in the field as daunting as I did before.”