YOU’LL be pleased to know that I’m a graduate of Bournemouth’s “hopeless” journalism school.
So are several of my colleagues, as well as former classmates who now work for the BBC, Sky, Bloomberg, countless national magazine titles, news websites, radio stations and, dare I say it, public relations firms.
In the fiercely competitive world of journalism – which has become even harder to get into in the five years since I started out – I guess we must have got something right.
However, according to former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie, now a columnist for the newspaper, we’re all a waste of space.
In the red-top yesterday the outspoken writer – who once visited as a guest speaker during my time studying Multi-media Journalism at Bourne-mouth University – waffled on about the government’s plans to lift the cap on tuition fees.
Saying it would end up costing parents more in food and board as their offspring stayed home to study, he finished by stating: “The only good thing to come out of the Browne Report is that a number of universities will simply go to the wall.
“Hopefully it will be led by the hopeless journalism college at Bournemouth University.”
So, if the first course ever to be accredited by the three main journalism bodies and named the best performing in the country by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) is “hopeless”, where does that leave the others? Stephen Jukes, Dean of the Media School at Bournemouth, said: “We are one of the very best media schools in the country. We are proud of what we do and our record speaks for itself.”
Kimberly Middleton, who graduated in 2007 recently picked up two NCTJ awards.
She said: “The multimedia course was great. I learned every discipline a journalist could need, including writing for a newspaper, magazine and online as well as radio and TV skills.”
Drazen Jorgic, who graduated in 2008, works for financial website Citywire, writes a weekly column for the Evening Standard and has had numerous articles in the Telegraph.
He said: “The practical stuff, news and shorthand in particular, were very important. Moreover, being able to say I’ve done video and online journalism when going for an interview with a modern and technologically savvy company was very useful.”
All pretty hopeless stuff, I’m sure you’ll agree, Kelvin.
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