Journalism & Communication

Final edition of the year: the front page of the The Bournemouth Rock

The Bournemouth Rock has covered a new initiative to help tackle antisocial behaviour caused by students.

In the final edition of the year, The Rock reveals Bournemouth Borough Council plans to have a dedicated officer for areas where trouble is caused.

It is hoped Bournemouth University will be included as part of the plans, ensuring all parties work together to help resolve disturbances.

Tazz Gault, news editor, explained the reasoning behind leading on this particular story.

“We wanted the front page to show – in detail – the way in which the university is working hard to integrate itself with the community.

“As this was the last edition of the year, we wanted it to have a great, diverse range of stories from the university and the wider community.”

Vikki Hutton, features editor, described this edition as “huge”, ready to provide a number of talking points.

Reflecting on World AIDS Day, which took place on 1 December, the newspaper aims to educate readers about the final stage of the HIV disease.

Vikki said, “With around 100,000 people in the UK suffering from the disease – and 25,000 of those not aware they have it – it was important to use this opportunity to raise awareness.”

Vikki also caught up with Paralympian Ben Rushgrove to discuss his path to athletic acclaim, how he lives with cerebral palsy, and his hopes for Rio 2016.

Rushgrove, who won a bronze medal in the T36 Men’s 200m at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, is visiting Bournemouth University on Friday.

This edition’s sport section will also have a special look at the nominees for this year’s hotly contested Sports Personality of the Year.

The paper is now available to pick up free on any Bournemouth University campus and at Asda in Lansdowne.

Bournemouth University’s Karen Fowler-Watt features as part of The Independent’s discussion on new generation of media students

Bournemouth University’s associate dean of journalism and communication, Karen Fowler-Watt, has taken part in a discussion about the new generation of media students.

Karen was mentioned in today’s copy of The Independent, as well as its sister publication, The i Paper.

Ian Burrell’s Media on Monday column discusses the concept of entrepreneurial journalism being welcomed and taught at a number of universities across the UK, including Bournemouth University.

Speaking to The Independent, she said, “We have almost got to a point where [students] don’t know what their predecessors’ lives were like.”

Karen added that the pre-Leveson and post-Entwistle atmosphere had not affected the optimism of incoming students, remarking many of them are “quite fired up by the prospect of having a freelance life.”

Blogger and author Fleet Street Fox has visited the university in the past to offer advice to students about building social media profiles.

The Media School also has a Practitioner in Residence to advise students on entrepreneurial journalism, such as pitching for features.

This position is currently undertaken by Sandra Laville, The Guardian’s crime correspondent, who recently shared a joint byline for a front page splash on BBC chairman Lord Patten defending the corporation in wake of George Entwistle’s appearance in the House of Commons.

Victoria Sheppard, editor of Chartwell Magazine and first-year BA Communication and Media student

A BA Communication and Media student has been named in Media Week’s 30 under 30, an annual search for the most talented young people in the media industry.

First-year student Victoria Sheppard is editor of Chartwell Magazine – a magazine sent to CEOs, entrepreneurs, company directors and people with an interest in property around the world.

The competition is supported by the Mail on Sunday and is judged by a team of industry experts, including the Mail on Sunday’s managing director Marcus Rich and broadcast sales director for Bauer Media, Karen Stacey.

Whilst working with Chartwell Magazine, Victoria has worked with a number of high-profile brands, including guiding Land Rover and Jaguar’s armoured vehicle divisions’ first ever luxury marketing campaign.

Whilst working with clients overseas, Victoria was asked to join to the mentorship panel at the International University of Monaco for one of their masters degrees.

The mature student has now returned to UK higher education – at the age of 23 – to develop her skills further after being inspired by the students she mentored.

“I grew up in Bournemouth and have my home here. When I started reading up about the Media School, it seemed like I was in the best place for my field of study.”

The magazine editor started in media accidentally, after three-and-a-half years of working in specialist mortgages.

Victoria will continue to work alongside her degree, squeezing her work in London into one or two days a week.

“I want to be the best writer that I can possibly be. I have children and I want to inspire them to go to university.”

The front page of the latest edition of The Bournemouth Rock

The Bournemouth Rock has returned for another academic year, available in print and online.

The first issue of the new academic term was released today, despite the editorial team going through a transitional phase.

This edition of the free newspaper discusses a rise in the number of drinks being spiked in Bournemouth clubs, and features a new regular column from AFC Bournemouth midfielder Richard Hughes.

Julia Denni, editor-in-chief, explained why the fortnightly paper decided to lead on the increased number of spiked drinks in Bournemouth.

“More than 200 students declared they had their drinks spiked in Bournemouth and so we have decided to look at the consequences and how this could have happened in this first place.”

Vikki Hutton, features editor, added this edition will have a double-page spread marking Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“It’s looking at the gaps in the awareness market. Instead of the traditional “Think Pink” campaign which is targeted quite rightly at middle-aged women because they’re the biggest sufferers of breast cancer, we’re looking at people who least expect themselves to be affected by it: men and young people.

The newspaper is produced by a variety of Media School students, including those studying BA Multimedia Journalism, BA Communication and Media and BA English.

Print editions will be available to collect from around campus and Asda in Lansdowne.

Two BA Multi-Media Journalism students have been awarded £1000 bursaries from One World Media to each produce features in developing countries.

Owen Evans and Lottie Gross, both second year BAMMJ students pitched their stories to One World Media who provide support to student projects every year.

The money will go towards food, accommodation and transport, as well as insurance for the kit that will be rented from the university.

Lottie Gross plans to use the bursary in her project named ‘Dating in the Desert’. The project compares how relationships are formed in the UK, to those in tribal communities in North Kenya.

“Dating in the Desert is a short film about how tribes in Northern Kenya develop intimate relationships,” said Lottie. “The UK, it seems, has a rather relaxed take on what love is, what relationships mean and how we should build (or dissolve) them. We are less traditional in our methods and I wonder if we are losing sight of what’s important by using mediums such as internet dating. My film will explore what we can learn from African love.”

Owen Evans will travel to film his work in Somaliland.

During her trip Lottie will be blogging and tweeting. Her progress can be followed at www.lottiegross.wordpress.com or follow her on twitter at @lortusfleur.

Ian Murray and Michelle Lewis cut the ribbon to the BAMMJ Hall of Fame

A hall of fame, celebrating the success of BU Multi-media Journalism graduates was opened this week.

Ian Murray, Editor-in-chief of the Southern Daily Echo and Michelle Lewis Head of Accreditation from the NCTJ cut the ribbon to the wall which marks 20 years of the renowned BAMMJ course.

Featuring in the Media building of Bournemouth University’s Talbot Campus, the wall hosts a huge range of big names in the journalism industry who began their careers in the very building.

Mark Russell of GQ, Steven Corbett of The Sun, Sarah Farmer of the BBC, Ryan Lovejoy of Sky and Andy Jones, a highly successful freelancer all feature.

Senior Journalism lecturer Dan Hogan gave a short speech to mark the event.

“It’s not just about what happens when students are here.  We want to celebrate the fact that our guys go on to greater things.”

He described a feeling of ‘great pride’ towards the graduates from the course, talking animatedly about each of the individuals pictured on the wall.  The BAMMJ course has produced successful journalists who have gone on to work on a range of titles, including Nuts Magazine, GQ, Reuters and BBC.  Hogan called the new installation “a permanent reminder of what we are about”.

Vin Ray, renowned journalist, past BBC foreign editor and first Director of the BBC College of Journalism gave a guest lecture this week entitled ‘The Art of Original Storytelling’.

Speaking to BA Multi-media Journalism students at Bournemouth University, Ray, who is now a Visiting Professor at BU asked the question: “What is original journalism?”

In the interactive session, he then provided students with many helpful tips and advice on how to be original and creative.

“Ask the disruptive questions”, said Ray for example. “Ask questions which go against the default narrative and against the media herd – What’s wrong with whaling? Do bankers deserve more pay? From looking in the opposite direction you might find a completely different angle to the story.”

“A good journalist is not just a journalist when they sit down at their desk in the morning” he also advised. Instead he encouraged all to remain constantly vigilant for stories – what annoys or amuses you on the way to work, what are people talking about at the pub? “There’s a good chance that what interests you and your friends will also be interesting to a large audience.”

Fundamentally Ray urged the final year journalism students to think outside the box, to be creative, to be different and to be bold.

Vin Ray provided the final guest lecture of the BA Multi-media Journalism course’s Professional Perspectives unit. Throughout the term, this has seen a huge variety of working journalists impart their knowledge, advice and experience on the final year students, about to enter the industry.

Tabloids and Truth

Adam Lee-Potter, Bournemouth University Practitioner in Residence spoke to final year BA Multi-media Journalism students this week on truth, ethics and the challenges facing journalists today.

Having written for almost all of the national newspapers in England over his long career as a news and features writer Lee-Potter gave an insight into the many ethical challenges he has faced.

He recited stories and experiences from awkward celebrity interviews, unconventional investigative research, articles he is now proud of and those which he’s glad he turned down.

Lee-Potter told the students, just months away from the end of their degree the importance of deciding what kind of journalist and what kind of person you want to be early on. “The pressure to get results and perhaps cross the line is so much greater when you’re first starting out – you don’t want to get fired, you want to prove yourself…but if you no longer care about people – you have no business being a journalist”

Following his lecture, students turned the tables on the renowned interviewer, quizzing him on the issues of phone hacking, press regulation, subterfuge and at what point the justification of ‘public interest’ ends.

Part of the professional perspectives unit designed to give final year students a true insight into the industry they are soon to join, this term will see a series of weekly guest speakers allowing debate and discussion with industry professional on the issues and challenges facing journalists today.

Next week’s guest lecture is: ‘Always say yes – the life of a freelance’ By Mary Evans, freelance journalist and scriptwriter.

Roman Gerodimos, Senior lecturer in Global Current Affairs at Bournemouth University was interviewed live on BBC News on Sunday.

As Founder and Convenor of the Greek Politics Specialist Group – a network of Greek political experts, he provided commentary on the Greek debt crisis talks.

Gerodimos suggested that despite difficulties so far in the talks, an agreement will soon be reached by the Greek coalition government in order to secure the second bailout.

Watch the full interview: