Press Journalism.
Press Journalism is easily the most enjoyable part of journalism in my opinion. It consists of constantly running around trying to arrange interviews with pupils, members of staff and members of different organisations. Since I started the JMAC course, my confidence, persistence and organisation has greatly improved because of having to interview people, on occasions numerous times, about a huge variety of different things from the girl’s football team to mental health awareness. In addition, my technical skills have greatly improved. The use of emails, recording equipment and cameras during the press projects was compulsory. The work that was completed in press journalism could not have been done without the help from my fellow peer Christopher Quigley. If there was one thing I could change about press journalism it would be how the Wishaw Press reacted to the submitting of our articles. Some weeks the Wishaw Press would not publish our articles. This caused problems for my peers and I as we put a lot of work into creating these articles.
Blogging.
Even though blogging is pretty boring at times, it’s a chance to just talk about anything at all. Writing 200ish words on how snow has effected school work and lists about what clothing items that you particularly like. Blogging is not that challenging, however trying to make sure that the events/things you are writing about will appeal to all ages, and to people in a completely different continent. Blogging allowed me to develop a sense of autonomy as the articles that Christopher and I collaborated on were being published on our own terms, in our own time. My fellow peer Lauryn Omeike added a hit counter to the blog, which took a lot of time and effort to find the right. If there was one thing I could change about blogging it would be my time management. Spending too much time on the interviewing and writing process results in posting late on the blog.
Victoria Park Movie.
Creating the movie was great. Seeing all the faces of the students from, both Saint Aidan’s High and Victoria Park Primary from the day of the party. Technical work was important as we all had to record a voice over for all the pictures we added to the movie. We also had to cut clips of music to make it fit into the movie. The end result was amazing and inspiring to watch. I and fellow peer Rebecca Simpson were the voices used in the voice over for the film. Working on the film has improved my communication skills and editing skills. If I could change one thing about the creation of the Victoria Park Film is how my peers and I were always working on the same things. We should have separated and done different things to develop the film faster. The organisation and management of a film is what makes it so difficult to complete.
Mental Health Movie.
I was more involved in the creation of the Chris’ house mental health awareness film. The preparation for this film was huge and a lot of thought went into all of the different parts of the film from all of my peers. I was part of the interviewing and presentation process, which took hours of work to perfect. I worked alongside Rebecca Simpson and Nicolle Muir in the interview process. If there is one thing I could change about the Chris’ house film would be the preparation before the interview. The interviews were retaken lots of times to get that perfect one, so that wasted time that could be going into the editing process.
By Reece Larkins.
