Masters in Journalism

TerrorFirmer

Hi,

Strongly considering applying for the above, however an entry requirement is an article of Journalistic merit, published or unpublished - will have to be the latter, though to be honest, I'm quite confused about the format, and emailing NUIG and the person responsible for the programme has yielded little result in terms of what exactly I should be writing....has anyone any ideas or suggestions on how I should be structuring this exactly?

Batgurl

Structure it like an article that will be published. Pick up any newspaper or magazine and you will get tonnes of ways you can possibly lay it out.

And as for ideas or suggestions on what to write about, well if you can't come up with about 10 ideas in two minutes by yourself, you should really reconsider journalism as a career choice. That's kind of a large part of the job.

JustAThought

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Hi,

Strongly considering applying for the above, however an entry requirement is an article of Journalistic merit, published or unpublished - will have to be the latter, though to be honest, I'm quite confused about the format, and emailing NUIG and the person responsible for the programme has yielded little result in terms of what exactly I should be writing....has anyone any ideas or suggestions on how I should be structuring this exactly?

I doubt that many journalists working have a masters in journalism - lovely to have but probably time spent/invested working as one even on a local paper would prepare you better for a career in it.

Tbh if the course co-ordinator isn't much help or use before she has your e6,000 + fee, I wouldn't hold up much hope for their attentiveness or professionalism after you have paid and are locked into the course.

Agree with the first responder - nice do do & have, but if you can't think of an idea, have never written for a paper/publication & can't figure what to do are you sure it's a career for you ? But then I looked at your profile & you have over 18,000 posts -here-so maybe it is!!! Maybe your new medium will be online !

But if you've cash in the bank & just want to do a masters why not.

No doubt they want you to demonstrate research, sources, balance & ability to put together an interesting readable article. To be safe, Pick a traditional print publication -paper -& look at how they structure their news stories. choose a journalist so that in interview you can if needed say you used are familiar with their " work" - style of writing, themes, that you read /follow their work. See how they do it & use that as a structure. If they're getting published then they're following some euler/conventions/good practice.

Most paper articles seem to follow a ( dull) formula -headline , summary intro, theme expansion , references /balanced quote/stats, conc.

At least that will show some structure & ability to broadly follow traditional print convention. of course it's dull but safe!

Pick an issue that you can get a few statistics on. It's summer in Galway -when is your interview -summer? Winter? If summer try a summer themed article . Is tourism up or down? Has the water issue resolved -compare this years predicted figures to last years -will it have a positive/negative impact on projected figures for 2013? Is there a new public amenity or building opening/scheduled to open? Or cancelled/postponed? How much was spent in it, how long was it being built, how long has it been needed, what are the expected outcomes of having it /not having it ( serve local community needs for X, cater for Y number of ... Etc -nursing home, new multi denominational school, gaelscoil & Gaeltacht population etc).

You could follow up on an event held -Volvo Ocean being the obvious one - pick an angle & expand ; when is the next stop-over happening, is it confirmed (yet!), what preperations are underway in Galway ( civic & volunteer), why are you writing about it now ( what's the news -new committee forming of powerful local businessmen, /volvo seking onboard media expert to sail with teams -job of a lifetime opening etc) facts on the economic value to Galway of
the last one, risks in the sport ( sailor killed tragically in tri-hull accident recently) quote from sailing club/irganising committee /someone involved etc.

You could go higher risk & national & look at the new HIV statistics released " recently" -concern about new trends, who is affected in this demographic, what resources for this sector are available nationally/locally, quote from local support agency/NGO. Etc.

The key thing is the ability to put something interesting together -if you're really stuck you could email or ring a politician & say you are writing a paper for a job interview On the subject of Y, and would they mind giving you a statement/quote that you could use please! That way yiu've demonstrated sources, interviewing " skills", first hand journalistic skills, enthusiasm & incentive etc.

If your involved /know anyone on a local committee they could tell you if there are fresh issues - residents of new/old estate plan campaign to stop epidemic of vandalism/graffiti on new playground/junkies dealing in
playground etc. stats on crime, quote from local ( RC) member/chairperson/spokesperson; stats from council on thir budget spend in ( insert issue -cleaning graffiti/ building playgrounds/etc).

All dull & safe but if you're not confident doing something else may get you in where you can develop the skills & confidence & experience to shape your destiny.

Best of luck. Sorry for v long post & somewhat dull examples.