Top tips on how to prepare for your journalism course
It’s the summer and that means thousands of journalism students up and down the country are eagerly awaiting the start of their course this September.
Whether you will be starting afresh, or heading back for a second or third year, everyone needs to make sure they are ‘journalism ready’.
Below are tips on to how thrive as a budding reporter.
Practise shorthand — Yes, it can look scary and much like hieroglyphics but it’s the staple of being a journalist. Some people question the need for shorthand in this digital age.
But, as we tell prospective students, it is still a far quicker way to transcribe an interview as opposed to re-listening to audio.
It’s illegal to record in court, which means a pen, pad and 100wpm shorthand is the only way you are going to get everything down.
And most importantly, employers/editors still want journalists to have 100wpm shorthand.
In fact, Sky Sports News will not usually take on a journalist if they don’t have the gold standard shorthand speed.
So, if you haven’t started it, begin reading through the first five chapters of NCTJ Teeline Gold Standard for Journalists.
Write, write, and write some more — this seems obvious but writing for fun and enjoyment will help you enormously. This can be something simple such as a blog. Begin writing your opinions on something you enjoy such as sport, music, food or drink — basically anything you like. If you can get some work experience over the summer that would be extremely advantageous as it will give you a taste of life as a journalist.
Read, read and read some more — to be a journalist you obviously have to be a good writer, but you also need to keep up to date with the latest current affairs. This can be everything from Love Island to Brexit. A good journalist will know what the main headlines are every morning, afternoon and evening — they never switch off. By taking an active interest in the world, this will help with your studies and make you a more rounded reporter.
It doesn’t matter how you consume stories — it can be picking up a paper, clicking on news posts on social media, watching TV or downloading news apps, just as long as you are keeping up to date with current affairs, then this will serve you well.
Try to challenge your viewpoints by reading brands you wouldn’t normally look at.
Also, begin examining what makes a story, a story. This will play a major part of your training, but beginning to analyse news and features yourself is the first step to understanding reporting. Ask yourself, what made me click on that story? Why did they write that headline and first line (intro) like that? How did they get this story?
Use social media — a digital journalist needs to know their way round Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram etc.. You might be surprised but some prospective students we speak to either aren’t on all social media or use it very little. A journalist (and any communication professional) needs an understanding of social media as it’s a vital tool to reach old and new audiences. Make sure you are following local and national news brands on social media and watch how they write their posts.
English, punctuation and grammar — these are, obviously, vital skills to have as a journalist or communicator. As a trained reporter, you will be expected to publish stories directly to the web, which means they have to be right first time. So, if you struggle with your apostrophes (mixing up it’s and its is fairly common), or your spelling is poor, then this is something you will need to continuously work on. A fun book to read on this subject is Eat Shoots and Leaves.
Speaking on the phone — reporters need to be confident to pick up the phone and contact people for a quote. This can be daunting for students, particularly if they are in the same room as others, but it’s a necessary skill, as is approaching people — random strangers in the street — to get their viewpoint on an issue. Your tutors will give you guidance on this but thinking about it and preparing now will help you overcome any fears.
Embrace change — journalism can be exciting, challenging, and no two days are the same, so a trainee reporter needs to be adaptable to change and hard-working.
Above all, have fun and look forward to beginning your journey.
Should you have any questions, feel free to email lecturer Paul Foster paul.foster@port.ac.uk
