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Journalism Students Pictured with Kevin Bakhurst
BBC News Channel Controller Presents College Journalism Course Awards
6th April 2010
Students at Hereford Sixth Form College were rewarded for their creative efforts when they were presented with their Media and Journalism course certificates by the Controller of the BBC News Channel and News at One, Kevin Bakhurst.
In 2008, as part of both its Careers and Enrichment programme, the College initiated the course with the aim of giving students the practical skills that would help in their career ambitions in print and broadcast journalism.
Participating students have benefited from valuable insights into the industry from a broad range of producers, reporters, and editors from both national and local media, including BBC Radio 1 and BBC 5 Live.
The short course consisted of an invaluable and broad range of seminars on aspects such as: article writing, interviewing techniques, ethics and news gathering - to name but a few.
When asked about the best preparation for a career in journalism, Kevin Bakhurst said: “I think a great combination is to study the subjects you’re interested in and complement them with a practical course such as this which gives an insight into the industry.”
During the course students have had to use their inspiration and initiative to build their personal portfolios. This has led to some remarkably high-level contacts being made by participating students, such as an interview with the PR guru Max Clifford conducted by Tom Kennedy.
Talking about the value of the programme, Tom commented that it had helped the group “gain a valuable insight into a world which would not be accessible via a textbook”.
In a coup for the College, Mr Bakhurst gave the students a valuable insight into the world of the BBC. He began by telling them about his own personal background and career, stressing the modern meritocratic nature of the BBC and how it was a mixture of people from very different backgrounds. Then he moved onto career guidance, giving practical tips on how to enter the profession, stressing the difference between local and national levels of journalism. He outlined the level of personal commitment and initiative needed to make it in a competitive industry. Finally, he talked about the challenges for the industry. It was clear that tough times were ahead, with newspapers experiencing declining circulations and the BBC itself facing commercial challenges from the media conglomerates.
Work Experience Co-ordinator Anthony Osborne stated, “The in-house programme has helped provide the students with information and skills that will act as an excellent foundation on which to build and the professional inputs have given it added credibility and currency.”
Marco Martinelli, Tutor of Government & Politics and Enrichment Co-ordinator