The Learning Curve

I learnt a lot following my experience at iCov. The experience has opened my eyes to what I could potentially do in my future professional life and the difficulties I could encounter along this path.

Firstly, iCov has given me the chance to put my editing skills into practise. I experienced what it was like to be the editor of a news site and how to manage the level of articles that were being uploaded. As several articles were being uploaded daily, I had a lot to work through and this provided a challenge. However, I felt that I was able to manage these effectively and I also learnt how to be more critical of the work in front of me. Even though I had to be critical of the blog posts from the first year students, I always ensured that I pointed out what they did well as I did not want them to become demoralised. Editing the posts for iCov also assisted me with my own journalism work; for a separate module, I had to write my own blog posts and so, as a result of my experience with iCov, I have become more aware of incorporating by-lines and featured images, as well as using these skills for my own personal Tumblr blog.

In addition to this, I feel that I have now developed my own style for writing articles. I believe that writing in the style of a magazine article, which is more informal than a newspaper article but just as informative, suits me very well. The features that I wrote for iCov were, at times, very analytical but I felt that my style was suitable for this sort of article. iCov has also taught me how to approach the more challenging articles, such as the one I wrote on the Budget, which has ultimately grown my confidence.

I have recognised that in the early stages of my professional life, I will possibly be writing on a freelance basis, potentially for a weekly magazine or news site. iCov has given me a taste of what this could entail and as a result, has prepared me for the beginning of my career. The articles that I wrote for iCov will also enhance my CV, and this will hopefully allow me to find an organisation that will suit me.

Finally, I have learnt how to cope when I start struggling to find stories to cover. This happened when I was writing the features for iCov and was a demoralising period of my placement. Despite losing confidence, I consulted Coventry City Council’s website and found a press release that I could use for a feature and also spoke to my mentor, who gave me some ideas. I also did some research on Coventry and whether there were any events coming up as I could do a preview of the event and possibly interview the people involved. Even when I was struggling on my placement, I persevered and still produced good quality articles.

My placement at iCov has taught me many skills that will be beneficial to me in both my professional career and my personal skills. I also feel more prepared for when I start my career as a journalist and author.

 

What Does the Future Hold?

201MC was a module that was designed to make me consider my future professional life. I chose a placement that would suit me both personally and academically and I felt that I enjoyed this module as well.

My ultimate goal is to become a professional author; I have always had a passion for writing and, as I explained in my video presentation for 201MC, I feel that this is the area that I excel in the most. I have already realised and accepted that my career path will be long and difficult in the early years so I need to prepare for this. The placement at iCov allowed me to improve my writing ability still further and also assist the first year students who were looking to develop on their course in the same way I have.

iCov has also allowed me to see how far I have come during my time at university. I discovered that, in educating the first years with their work, I was able to see that I have developed quite rapidly in terms of my ability. For instance, I now feel that I am at a standard where I can help others improve and develop as journalists and this is one of the main parts I enjoyed about 201MC. Having the first years come to me requesting my help and advice made me a lot more confident in my skill as a journalist and also made me feel a sense of pride.

The feature writing that I undertook also made me realise that I have a talent for writing. I believe a career in online journalism would suit me very well, as I feel I could post articles regularly and bring a dynamic writing style to an organisation. A career in this industry would also still allow me to concentrate on my author career too, as I can build up my writing whilst reporting.

In conclusion, 201MC has given me a much clearer insight into the career I could potentially have in journalism. This career ultimately will assist me in my ambition to be an author but will also allow me to put the skills I have learnt during my journalism assignments into practise in a professional organisation.