Four top northern journalists and communications experts were at Lancaster University to provide students with the real ‘inside story’ of life in the media.
The impressive line-up included: Northern Editor of The Guardian Helen Pidd, the News Editor for BBC Radio Lancashire, Nigel Thompson, the editor of Lancashire Life and Group Editor of Archant Life North, Roger Borrell, and Media Relations Manager (North) for EDF Energy Martyn Butlin.
The idea behind the ‘Hot off the Press’ event was three-fold:
- To give a first-hand, ‘real taste’ of what it is like to be a journalist and to work with the media
- To showcase the different careers a journalism qualification can lead to
- To provide a forum for questions
Each speaker gave a 15-minute ‘snapshot’ of their career to date, the route they took, a flavour of their current job with highlights and top tips for success. This was followed by question and answer sessions.
The 20 students who attended the event were then able to chat informally to the speakers at the end of the session.
The event was organised by the FASS Enterprise Officer Joe Buglass and University Press Officer Anne Rothwell.
Joe Buglass said: “All the speakers are extremely talented journalists, great writers and first class communications experts and we are very grateful that they gave up their valuable time for the University. The students all gained so much from this.
“This is a brilliant example of two different parts of the university working together for the benefit of the students and I am sure this will be repeated in the near future.”