On Tuesday 19 January, five of our West Hatch Sixth Formers attended a Journalism Conference at the News Academy building London Bridge.  This event delivered workshops with top journalists from The Times, Sunday Times and The Sun.  In the workshops the journalists spoke about their careers and how they became journalists. Students were then able to put forward questions about the industry.  There was also Mock Press Conference resulting in a competition to produce the best Headline and to write a report of no more than 300 word, all this in under 10 mins. 

At the end, panellists talked about the future of the daily printed newspaper and students were invited to ask questions.  They were advised to be proactive in writing blogs and be willing to comment on day-to-day issues.  The journalists talked about how the social media has made it easier for everyone to become involved with the power of blogging and individual twitter accounts there is now direct access to journalists and editors.

This was an enjoyable afternoon and our students learnt that to gain a foothold in this sector it was necessary to gain some relevant work experience as well as to  write, write and write some more!