Police Media Training Day at LTU
With every year at Leeds Trinity University comes the opportunity for students to dive into the media training of Senior Investigating Officers (SIOs) in the police force. Police SIOs are invited into Leeds Trinity University to go through a series of interviews by our students regarding a case that develops as the day goes on.
The day begins with a press conference where one SIO at a time takes a seat while our students are tasked with hurling as many questions as they can at them with the intent of creating a story from their words.
Distractions are in place to provide challenges for the SIOs, such as the ringing of phones, or loud
noises from the audience, all in an attempt to knock the SIO’s concentration, a challenge the SIO must
overcome to succeed.
As the day goes on, more information about the case is revealed and the SIOs are
further questioned by our students in front of waiting cameras and microphones, ready to pick up a story.
Senior lecturer, Lindsay Eastwood said: “The students get to think about a proper story, so they’re thinking about the questions that they’re going to ask and how to build up the details of the story.
“Usually, we repeat the press conference several times for the benefit of the police officers, but that also really benefits the students, so they might be shy in the first press conference because they’ve never done one before, and by the second or third they grow more confident. We’ve got tutors as well pretending to be members of the press.
“We tend to ask really hard hitting questions and we’re a bit more rude about it, so the students then feed off that and start emulating that, and then by the second and third, their confidence just increases. It’s just a real delight to observe the students as they increase in confidence and get used to that environment.”
Celebration time for our NCTJ Awards winner
Twickenham Stadium, the home of English rugby, was taken over by hundreds of student journalists, their families and academics to celebrate the annual NCTJ Awards For Excellence.
And former LTU alumni Charley Bergman, who studied MA Journalism last year, was awarded the top student title. She breezed through her NCTJ exams with 7 As and 100wpm shorthand. Charley, who was at the March 2 event with her proud Dad, now works as a Production Journalist with ITV Calendar in Leeds.
She said: “I was absolutely shocked to win the Student of the Year award – I really did not expect it at all and felt so excited and grateful to have won! I absolutely loved every part of the Journalism MA and the NCTJ diploma and I think the reason I achieved such high grades is because I genuinely really enjoyed learning and revising the topics.
“As well as this, I couldn’t have done it without my Leeds Trinity lecturers – they supported me so much and still do to this day.”
Leeds Trinity Students visit Media City
Leeds Trinity University’s journalism students had a trip to the BBC building in Media City, Salford, to experience the headquarters of the BBC in Manchester for themselves.
From BBC Sport to BBC Five Live, there were a range of BBC properties in operation on the day of visitation, but the most exciting aspect of the visit was certainly the people that keep the BBC machine churning. From social media, to presenters, the students had the chance to get insight from employees all over the building into their roles at the BBC as well as how our favourite content is produced.
The most exciting part of that was certainly learning how they use their editing software to produce their content. Similarly to Leeds Trinity, the BBC primarily use Adobe Premier Pro to produce their content, a platform familiar to Leeds Trinity students. In a talk before the tour, BBC employers encouraged students to gain experience wherever they can because that is what they look for above all else.
Foundation course take over BBC Leeds
It was fast fast-forward for Foundation level learners on a recent trip to BBC Leeds.
The group enjoyed an exclusive tour of the facilities in Leeds City centre led by iconic news editor Michael Henderson and enjoyed a bespoke Q & A session with senior radio presenter Andrew Edwards and BBC News Correspondent Danny Savage.
And the group enthused about their experience with many revealing it helped them visualise their future working environment.
“The trip allayed some of my fears about how sterile the working environment might be and I now feel that I could fit in at a place like that,” Emmanuel Menon said. Gabbie Buivydaite added: “That is the place where I want to be working in the future, so it allowed me to imagine myself there later in life.”
Journalism Foundation Course lecturer Beth Argent added that the experience had been ‘a brilliant opportunity’ for students to see real real-industry facilities and meet the staff. Journalism Course Leader Leigh Purves added: “BBC Leeds are a natural extension of our own news provision here at Leeds Trinity University and we look forward to regular dates with them.”
Staff News
Associate Professor and Broadcast Journalism Programme Leader Katherine Blair presented a conference paper “Going Global: How International Collaborations increase student engagement” at the Global Media Education Summit in Vancouver March 2-4. She also launched the Globalizer app which has been in development for a year and a half which serves as a platform for educators to collaborate with students internationally.
Journalism Course Leader Leigh Purves consulted with Johnston Press and Guardian Media Group over coverage for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest which takes place in Liverpool this May, meanwhile Sports Journalism Course Leader Darren Harper has produced a new podcast with Dr Anne Marie Mealey focusing on her Beyond The Dark Clouds lecture series at LTU.
The Guardian Foundation is expanding its industry-leading Scott Trust Bursary scheme to Leeds
The scheme offers fully funded tuition fees, living expenses, mentoring and work placements at the Guardian, with the opportunity for a fixed term contract at the Guardian starting after graduation.
The Scott Trust Bursary is a key part of The Guardian Foundation’s work to facilitate voice and agency with those who face barriers entering careers in journalism and aligns to the University’s commitment to advance and promote equity and social justice.
Andrew Glover, Programme Leader for MA Journalism at Leeds Trinity, said: “This new partnership with The Guardian Foundation and Scott Trust Bursary Scheme is terrific news for Leeds Trinity University.”