Journalism At City University: From Day One

October 25, 2011
By: Carolina Are

Finding the right university is without doubt one of the most difficult and important things you’ll ever do in your life. I can proudly say I found mine on my own, without anyone’s help, and I think I have made the right choice.

My name is Carolina Are and I started my Journalism BA at City University this September. It’s been more than a month now and I am actually enjoying EVERY minute of it.

I am Italian, so I am “running away” from a country that despite being beautiful, can’t offer much to us students, especially for journalism. Being able to attend such a course and use all my university’s facilities is new and motivating for me.

I remember how excited I was every time I looked at City’s website last year, picturing my life here. Well, the real thing is even better. City University’s website provides a good deal of information about my course and the Journalism department. However, trust me, only when you will start here you will realise how amazing it is to be part of such a course.

City’s Journalism BA has a practical emphasis. This means that, alongside theoretic subjects (the ones you’ll have to write essays for), you will be doing a lot of practical journalism as well.

Anna McKane, Undergraduate Course Director for Journalism, said: “The courses at City have always been very practically focused, we do not teach media studies, so our first years are expected to work like professional journalists from day one.” An example of this is our Introduction to Journalism module, meant to teach us writing and reporting skills. As a part of this module, we also focus on radio and broadcast.

While we will have a Radio Day only at the end of this term, we have already started practicing and recording our own version of Question Time at City University, filmed in our very own Journalism department.

McKane added: “We have in the past recorded Question Time sessions with our second years, but we decided this year to do it right at the beginning of the course. We did this because we thought it would be fun, but the exercise it also a very serious one, with many useful learning outcomes. It got all the students researching, thinking and debating current Uk and world affairs, encouraging them to read, listen and view all types of media critically and thoughtfully from day one. It also helped with the students’ personal presentational skills – it is vital for would-be journalists to be able to present themselves and their ideas, both to audiences and to news and features editors.”

I’m so excited about this! The final recording will take place in two weeks and I will be my group’s chair.

Even though essay deadlines are approaching, I have to say I’m enjoying my theoretical modules as well. My tutors are so well prepared and passionate about their jobs that it’s almost impossible not to listen to them, even on our very long Mondays. Politics and Current affairs is simply fascinating, while Introduction to British Media is constantly in touch with change in Journalism. History of journalism is very interesting too, even though the reading list scared us all at first!

Oh, and did I mention that my timetable is just perfect? I have pretty harsh Mondays, usually from nine to five, but then I have a Tuesday that runs from 11 to three and a Wednesday that starts at ten and finishes at one and… well, this is my week! I have a wonderful four-day weekend!

No, I’m not going out partying every night. It’s just that from induction day we have been given assignments or things to read, so having such a long weekend just helps me calm down and do everything properly. And if you end up going to a party… well, there’s nothing to complain about!

When I say that we’ve been given assignment from Induction day I’m not lying at all. As a first assignment that week, we had to go around the area (the vibrant Islington) and find out about things, interview people and discover places. I just loved it. It was a wonderful way to meet people and to know the area in which I’m living.

McKane said: “We aim to make our course at City as much fun as professional journalism.”

This can’t be more true: our tutors also make sure that we don’t miss any journalism-related event. On our first day of university, they took us to King’s Place (where newspapers such as The Guardian and The Observer are based) to see an exhibition by Sean Smith, war photographer for The Guardian.

Good start, isn’t it?

We had the chance to ask a few questions and to get in touch with a reality we weren’t aware of, the life on the front line. Also, we had the chance to attend lectures by world famous journalists such as Heather Brooke and to receive advice from those who made it into the profession: Dominic Ponsford, editor of the Press Gazette, John Kay from the Sun and many others.

I must admit this looks a bit overwhelming to the Italian me, used to a lot of theory and no practice. At City we have to write a lot, we have deadlines for articles and assignments and we have to stick to a certain style: I still have to learn how to do it properly.

Despite the fact that English is not my first language, I’m not losing hope. I feel that my English, just like my life, is getting better day after day.

As for now, I’m having the time of my life. For the future, I will keep you updated.

Image sources: author’s own, http://www.issues.cc