Journalism

Spaghetti Junction (September 2010 - February 2012)

Before officially enrolling to the Media and Communication course, I made contact with Laura Townsend, the magazines Editor at the time, enquiring how I could get involved with Spaghetti Junction. Impressed by my enthusiasm and eagerness, Laura offered me a position with the magazine. In order to display my written work, and also improve upon my writing style I made sure I wrote at least three articles per issue. These articles ranged from entertainment reviews, events news and interviews. 

After being at the magazine for six months, I was elected by the magazine staff as News and Features Editor. The responsibility of being an editor gave me the opportunity to work closely with new writers, proofread and edit articles and ensure all pieces complied with the magazines brand and ethos before print. I worked closely with the other editors and also the student union staff in order to keep up-to-date with university events and current affairs that would be of interest to the magazine. 

I was also heavily involved with local events in Birmingham, as well as university events. I was given the opportunity to attend many local events and report on them for the magazine including The Gadget Show Live and The Clothes Show. This gave me the opportunity to interview people who attended the events, companies, take photographs and also receive and work with press releases. 

This placement was very beneficial to me as I was able to establish and develop my writing style, research article content and ideas, and also edit and proofread articles. I worked towards a brand identify and also worked well a large team environment including journalists, editors, bloggers, photographers and graphic designers. 

I really enjoyed my time at Spaghetti Junction, and it confirmed my passion and enthusiasm for journalism and publishing. Past issues of Spaghetti Junction can be found on the Birmingham City University Union website here. 

Closer Magazine (January 2011)

In january I completed a week work experience at Closer Magazine in London. I worked mainly with the fashion and beauty department, as this was the area I was most interested in. My main duties included liaising with PR companies, delivering beauty products to be photographed, transcribing interviews, and researching article content. 

During my time at Closer Magazine, I was constantly asking questions and requiring more responsibilities. This opportunity gave me the opportunity to gain an insight into a commercial magazine and also experience how it is structured. I was also introduced to other publications and magazines owned by Bauer Media Group. 

The National Student (October 2010 - November 2010)

In order to gain some writing experience during my first year of university, I worked freelance for The National Student. This role required me to be self motivated, work independently and work with briefs set out by my manager/editor. I was also given the opportunity to arrange phone interviews, write entertainment reviews and advice pieces to be published on the website. 

This was my first experience of getting my writing published and it was very beneficial to my own writing style as I was required to edit and proofread my content and to also comply with the websites brand. I was also given advice from the editor which was very beneficial to my professional development. My articles published on The National Student can be found here. I also wrote an informative piece for The National Students sister website The Big Choice, which outlined post graduate opportunities for graduates. This required me to adapt a more formal writing style, which was completely different to my usual style. 

Extra journalism credit: I've written a couple of fashion articles for Harlequin Magazine and music reviews for Electric Banana.