Careers Case Study

I was recently asked by the University of Sheffield to be a case study for the Careers Service website. This involved writing a summary of what I do in my job and how I've got there. If you're interested in being a journalist it may be a useful read:

Case study: Broadcast Journalist

Personal details Name Mark Department Sociological Studies Academic status Undergraduate Course title Social Policy and Sociology Nationality UK Year of graduation 2006 Employment details Type of job Media, publishing and writing Name of organisation BBC Radio Sheffield What does my organisation do? BBC local radio Main responsibilities I produce news and sport programmes and report live and make packages for our audience in South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire. Typical day It depends on whether I'm reporting or producing. On a day when I'm producing I will be assessing all the different stories on offer and selecting the stories which I think are the most important and will resonate with the listener. I'll then work out the best way of us telling those stories - this could be with an interview with an expert who can explain the significance of the story or a case study, or it could be a live interview with our reporter at the scene of the story. In the programme I'm keen to include both serious hard news and more light-hearted items to provide variety for the listener. When I'm reporting I will go out and record or report live on stories across South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire. This can be anything from a live at the scene of a house fire, an interview at a press conference at one of the six football teams we cover to vox popping people in the street about their pension. What do I enjoy about my job? I love working with a team of people who are all passionate about making great radio on the area we cover. Every day we work together to put on a performance (i.e. a programme) and then breathe a sigh of relief when it's all gone well! Challenging aspects I work shifts and can be in the newsroom early in the morning or late at night which means you have to fit your social and family life around work. Why did this area of work appeal to me? The job is incredibly varied. Every day is different whether I’m reporting or producing. It keeps you on your toes as you never quite know when the next big story is going to break. The range of people you meet as a journalist is amazing. It's all about telling strong stories and I get to speak to people at the heart of those stories. I'm in the privileged position of being allowed to ask questions no one else could and to challenge people on why they believe what they do. Skills/qualifications I use in my job? As well as an undergraduate degree in Social Policy and Sociology at the University of Sheffield, I have a post graduate diploma in Broadcast Journalism at Cardiff University. The media law training I was given in Cardiff helps me make important editorial decisions. Training I receive as part of my job Quite a lot including social media, live reporter and Freedom of Information Act training. Other information Brief history since leaving University June 2006 – July 2007. Education Sabbatical Officer. University of Sheffield Students’ Union 2007 – 2008 Cardiff University. BJTC Postgraduate Diploma, Broadcast Journalism October 2008 – July 2009. Journalism Trainee in Southampton. ITV News Group July 2009 – July 2010. Journalist. ITV Yorkshire, Leeds, Calendar programme July 2010 – Nov 2011. Broadcast Journalist. BBC Radio Derby Nov 2011 – Present. Broadcast Journalist, News & Sport. BBC Radio Sheffield My piece of advice to students Spend time working with the careers service to look at your options. Invest time in work experience to see which areas suit you before having to commit.

Mobile Journalism

Here's a good example of how journalists can use their mobile phone to help tell stories. It involves my work iPhone and a huge fire in Sheffield.

As I was about to cycle home from work in Sheffield city centre on Sunday 14th July I got a message from a friend with a photo of a big fire in Sheffield. I turned my back and saw behind me a huge thick black smoke cloud coming from the East of the city so (being a journalist!) I cycled towards it. After calling the newsroom to let them know, I took some photos on my phone and tweeted them and before long I was broadcasting live on my phone, describing the huge smoke cloud which was continuing to grow. I used the Google Maps app to find out which road I was on and then looked for updates on Twitter. South Yorkshire Fire Service were tweeting that the fire was at a plastic recycling centre in Attercliffe and that people nearby should stay indoors – this allowed me to update our audience live with the latest news. When I got closer to the scene I saw one of my old colleagues at ITV Calendar filming the fire and decided to do the same with my iPhone and I then uploaded the video to the BBC Look North system. Next, I recorded vox pops on my phone and sent them back to BBC Radio Sheffield to be used on air.

So in summary I used my work iPhone to call the newsroom to let them know about the story, broadcast live, record studio quality vox pops, take photos which I tweeted, find out the name of the road I was broadcasting from, check Twitter for updates from South Yorkshire Fire Service and record video for Look North.

In order to do our job as well as possible, journalists need to become really comfortable with using our phones to help us tell stories. 

You can listen to my first update below...

listen to ‘Sheffield Fire’ on Audioboo

Radio 4 in 4 Minutes

If like me you're a fan of Radio 4, you should watch this! Very amusing...