Web journalism MAs graduate!...

A huge well done to the journalism postgraduates at the University of Sheffield who graduated last week. I helped teach the web journalism students – a fantastic bunch who produced some brilliant websites for their dissertations. Find out more about journalism at the University of Sheffield. Good luck class of 2012! Iulia on graduation...

The importance of teaching journalism et...

With the closure of the News of the World after the phone hacking scandal and hundreds of staff losing their jobs (think of the damage to their CV) it’s time to look at the importance of teaching and learning the ethics of journalism. Learning ethics I’ve seen first-hand the range of what people feel is acceptable from working in several newsrooms to teaching at the University of Sheffield’s journalism department. Some don’t mind ‘tidying up’ a quote (maybe not quite to the scale of what Johann Hari did) while some feel that...

Student journalists get experience on a ...

The morning meeting One of the best ways to get experience as a journalist is to, well, act like a journalist. It helps to have equipment and trusted advisors on hand to make sure you don’t libel anyone or miss the best angle. In the Journalism department at Sheffield University we organise regular ‘newsdays’ for the postgraduate students. They have a meeting to discuss the stories they’ll cover then they’re off! This semester the broadcast students are sharing their newsdays with the print and web students on alternate weeks. They...

Three things a new online journalist sho...

Conference News re:wired brought news professionals together to look at success stories in niche markets. We heard from some great voices in the online journalism field – people who really understand how to cater for their market. I’ve picked out three points to look at in detail, they’re of particular relevance to new journalists: targeting your content to a niche market using technology to help you why being ‘good enough’ isn’t good enough. 1. Target your content to a niche market “Trust is central to it working” – Simon Perry, Ventnor Blog ...