Journalism. That's the name of the game...

I've had a rather good couple of days (albeit for the silent but near-hysterical stressing out about my impending exams). I discovered that as a channel for finding stories, the power of the Facebook is not to be underestimated. It was, I admit, a rather lazy way of finding a story... but it made me appreciate how professional, articulate and incredibly clued-up some of my friends are (and they get extra brownie points for reading my updates).

The great thing about the last two days is that an interview that I did then wrote up for The Sunday Times is today pending publication, on the page mock-up at the last check... with a byline (how exciting!) So watch this space... it's not much, of course, but its a definite start.

ANOTHER great thing about this week is that I met Nick Davies today, the author of Flat Earth News (well, he did a speech at our college anyway). If you're thinking of getting into journalism and you ever get the chance to hear this guy talk about propaganda, distortion, falsehood, PR spin and the way that the commercial media operates... its a real eye-opener. I didn't know just how bad a struggle it was out there for fledgling journos like myself (not that I'm letting it dent my job-hunting determination). For example, Nick mentioned that compared to about 20 years ago, one journalist now does the work of three, and are expected to be even more efficient. I wonder how you're supposed to be accurate and creative if you're churning out eight or more stories a day? From the point of view of an obsessive perfectionist, like me, this is a terrifying prospect. Yet another aspect of my personality I'm clearly going to have to work on conquering unless something drastic changes... (along with my hypersensitivity to nasty people. Of course, I'm all for constructive criticism, but personal attack from people who don't even know me? That's something I have yet to get used to... fun times ahead).

So, all in all, it's a nerve-wracking time to be embarking on a journalism career, because nobody is quite sure where the industry is headed, but it's also an exciting time because...well...nobody is quite sure where the industry is headed!

Oh, and maybe I'll get started on my novel this year. Finally. That's my New Year's resolution. I've decided on that a week into 2009... about two minutes ago.

So apart from the stress of impending exams (and a never-ending residual cold). I'm feeling pretty much okay about things. I wonder how long it'll last. At least for the duration of this glass of wine... lovely. Ooh look! Celeb BB... Brilliant.

2009: The Year of the Job

Hello. I am still alive. Just about. Miraculously I haven't yet drowned in a sea of law and politics revision notes, or had my right arm suddenly fall off due to excess of shorthand practice, or died of boredom due to sample news writing exam papers...

Although I have on several occasions been perilously close to all of the above.

Yes, that time is upon me again. The exam season. I just thank God it's too cold to go outside at the moment, so I'm staying in working. Usually, exams are in the summer, so I have the grueling decision of whether to stay in and revise or drink chilled white wine spritzers in the sunshine at the local pub. Right now, being curled up in my new fluffy slippers, wearing a thick blanket in addition to several layers of clothing and reading lots is the most appealing thing that my life has on offer. Sad, yes. But I'm hoping it will be key to passing my exams and becoming - ta da! - a certified, bona fide journalist.

I recently had the scariest week of my life (honestly, that really isn't much of an exaggeration) - I actually worked on a NATIONAL newspaper for a week! It is totally different from working on a local paper, as I quickly realised when my course-taught style of all news no flair didn't go down too well... But now I'm having to get BACK into the non-creative, straight-down-the-middle mindset required to pass my NCTJ exam. Phew. It's quite exhausting actually. I'm starting to feel a little bit like a swingball (real world - college - real world - college, back and forth and back and forth). I wanna break the bloody string, shout at the people hitting me and fly into the real world. Yes, crap and corny metaphor, I know. The point is, I'm longing for some definite direction, so I can get on with it all.

Anyway, Alice's national newspaper experience: I had some teeny-tiny bits of news copy in the newspaper in question... (Oh, okay, it was The Sunday Times, shhhh!) They may have been teeny-tiny bits of news, but they were MY teeny-tiny bits of news. And I was happy. Also, watch this space, but I MIGHT have (shock-horror) an actual BYLINE in next weekend's edition. But I have to wait until Sunday to find out. If there's one thing I've learned from work experience, its not to take anything as given. You can put loads of effort into something, and it could all be for nothing. You just have to take it on the chin and move onto the next thing, then give that your best shot. Even though you're probably feeling incredibly discouraged, you absolutely can't let it get to you. Just a little pearl of wisdom there. Nice of me, eh?

The Big G, alas, never got back to me. But I'm over that now - I pitched the feature to someone else. So once again, fingers crossed. I think I might be getting the hang of this whole journalism malarkey - slowly, but surely. I'm definitely learning pretty quickly to cope with rejection after rejection which, given my well-known emotional-breakdown-response to these kind of situations, is no bad thing. Maybe I'm changing. Maybe I'm becoming a journalist.

So yes, my course, my final stint inside the bubble of the students, comes to an official end on 6th February when I have my third and final attempt at writing 100 squiggles a minute in shorthand. Then... well... I guess the world is my oyster.

But where the hell do I start?