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I have been a student at Anglia Ruskin University for one semester, and over the duration of my stay I have grown and learned more than I thought possible. I came to this course already knowing that I wanted to be a Journalist, I had taken media in college and through that I knew exactly what I was heading for. Going through this course has taught me so much more about Journalism; moreover it has taught me how to write and express myself, how to think like a Journalist and how to find the answers to the things that I don’t know.
Once I started at Anglia Ruskin, I thought I was going to spend all my time in a white van full of equipment that these Journalist uses and every day I will be running from one press conference to the next. But I was wrong! However this course has taught me the understanding of the practice of newswriting, not only that but the major theoretical text used and the ethical Issues involved. A question I asked myself was why I need to understand these important things; moreover these things will not apply to me anyway.
Then again, I quickly found out that as a Journalist you need to be able to recognize a good story when you see one. As Pamela shoemaker said: “if you ask a Journalist to define news, the journalist may reply: I know news when I see It. If pressed, the Journalist will probably list a set of conditions that makes people more newsworthy… lmpact, Interest”. (2005:7) this fascinated me totally because I had no idea that In newswriting you must make sure: when writing a story, the opening should be brief, sharp and traight to the point.
As a Journalist you need to be able to capture the reader’s attention with Just the Intro. Another Important rule I came to grips with, was that an Interesting Intro should be no longer than 25 words and It should sum up the whole story. The five W’S and one H Is a technique I thought was pointless but after carefully understanding: WHAT, WHO, WHEN, WHY, WHERE and HOW, gave me an Insight of how Important this technique Is to be honest.
For a Journalist to construct a tory they need to know this things In other words It should be their dally bread, knowing what the story Is gives you the platform to pick up on who the person Is. Not only that but It leads you to when the story happen, how It happened, why It happened and where It took place. To be honest my Insight of newswrltlng began to expand and by practicing this acronym I realise how use It was and how It was preparing me for the Industry. My Insight grew when I notice how to apply apostrophes correctly and when to apply punctuation I. eing able to spot the difference between: Its and It’s Helen Slssons said “In my experience as a teacher of Journalism, the most common error students commit Is to misplace the apostrophe. ” (2006:51). I never realise this until I start checking over my work and spotting these little mistakes. This Is grammatical text I have used several times but yet I knew recognise my mistakes, however I can now say I punctuate accurately with apostrophes. definitely expanded this semester. I have always struggled to put my thoughts on aper in a manner that coherent and accordingly to the assignment brief.
I can vividly remember being ask by my lectures numerous times “is English your first language” or provide more quotes and examples to back your story’. That is one of my weaknesses that I have or should I say I’m still working Just like one philosophy john Adams said “practise makes perfect”. Other weaknesses I recognized myself that I lack, was confidence and ability to approach my lecture and ask for help. I am scared to because I feel she/he will embarrass me in-front of the whole class.
But during my duration I have worked on my confidents and learned how to see every of my mates as equal and theyre all there for the same reason as me. Going far back to when I started the course, I wrote an essay which was bland, full of mistakes, very one sided and short on why I wanted to become a Journalist. Now I believe if the opportunity was to rise again I will write better, with better structuring and it wouldn’t be a one sided point. I feel very confident that I could write about anything, know where to get my source and how to quote properly.