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14. September, 2011 Comment, Student media
This article has 12 comments

The industry isn’t doing enough to support student journalists

by Jonathan Frost

With the release of the Guardian Student Media Awards shortlist on Monday, I was reminded of an open letter to the Guardian which circulated last July. Written by the editorial of the Glasgow University Guardian, and signed by numerous student journalists, the letter argues that the Guardian has “diluted the substance of their awards to an unacceptable degree.”

The letter claims that the cost of submitting work is too high for most cash-strapped students, and that the quality of prizes has diminished year on year: “Seven weeks of placement with expenses paid (offered 2003-2006) is a good way to spend the summer. Two weeks of self-funded work experience is an insult to supposedly the best student journalists in Britain.”

So, are the Guardian Awards worth our time and money?

The buzz on Twitter last Friday as students received emails notifying them of their nominations seemed to confirm that the awards still hold weight and worth. They are still largely applied to and held in high esteem. And so they should be; they are a stamp of recognition and approval from one of the UK’s most well-respected media outlets.

The judging panel consisted of every aspiring journo’s dream-team, featuring the likes of Jon Snow and Caitlin Moran. Their comments and criticism, praise and encouragement should undoubtedly be taken to heart. They are of value.

Furthermore, having your work pushed across a desk to the right people can be all it takes to land a job in journalism. The Student Journalist of the Year 2009 award was given to Patrick Kingsley, who is now a feature writer at the Guardian, boasting six G2 covers. The 2008 winner of the same category, Hannah Küchler, now writes full-time for the Financial Times.

However, I think it is too easy to get all doe-eyed and forget about the lack of a solid cash prize, paid internships, and other previous prizes that seem to have disappeared. While winners still get something for their CV and a work experience placement (not things to be sniffed at), it feels to me that student journalists are becoming less valued by the industry we are striving to break into, and this is the overarching problem.

The Guardian, while it does offer the Awards and should be commended for doing so, has repeatedly scaled back their prizes, and also cut their Student Media conference last year.  It makes me wonder whether the industry is doing enough to support and student journalists. I know it’s a tired phrase, but we are the future of journalism. If we are to ultimately replace the Jon Snows and the Caitlin Morans, then the industry has a vested interest in nurturing us, and helping us to improve. But, rather than doing so, it seems to be withdrawing from us, and leaving student journalists to make up the ground alone.

Independence and a lack of external support are not what bothers me. I think independence offers us the opportunity to show what we can achieve by ourselves, and, looking over some of the work shortlisted for the Guardian Awards, the results are impressive. But if we’re impressive without help, then what could we be achieving with greater support, more funding, and paid internships?

It is unfair to target the Guardian Awards as the Glasgow University Guardian does; they exist for a start, and are undeniably of value. However, the industry’s withdrawal from student journalists is clearly visible in the changing nature of the Awards and the disappearance of the Student Media Conference over the last few years. This is a concern; the industry should be investing in us rather than abandoning us. Cutbacks are being made in many areas of journalism, but they shouldn’t be made here.

Despite the pleas of the Glasgow University Guardian letter, I doubt anything will change. Do you agree that we need more support and funding from the industry? Know of any schemes that demonstrate the industry helping aspiring journalists out? Comment below or tweet @wannabehacks with your thoughts…

Featured image courtesy of thatnugget

 

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alexrichman
alexrichman 5 pts

That GUG letter was pathetic. Get experience, get stories, get cuttings. That's what student journalism should be about.

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nicki_
nicki_ 5 pts

alexrichman definitely, I think those expecting to just randomly be given work experience because they are doing journalism courses are pathetic but the Guardian should be more open to student journalists considering their online presence and how young their audience has become. As I see it, the Guardian is a fortress of journalism I have no hope of invading and I've been getting as many stories and cuttings as I can, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this feeling of hopelessness.

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Zoah_HS
Zoah_HS 6 pts

I think the Guardian Student Meida awards have made a mistake by opening the awards to people already on journalism courses. Traditionally, the GSMA recognised those who pursued student media alongside their studies, rather than AS their degree. A GSMA was a great accolade to put on your application to a NCTJ course, and get your foot in the door to 'real' journalism.

Now people who are workign hard to get a degree and run the student papers are finding themselves competing against those who have whole terms to work on their papers, and for whom their investigations and articles actually form part of their coursework. In other words, people who already have their foot in that door.

Student journalists of all kinds deserve recognition, but by opening the awards up in this way, the GSMA are sidelining the people on non-journalism courses who have supported the awards for years.

This is like judging someone who plays in their weekend five-a-side league against someone who plays for a premiership team, with all the support and time to train that comes with it.

Many universities don't offer journalism courses, and people at such universities put a lot of effort in to create a thriving media scene and get their degrees. If you're editing a student paper at one of these places, it is basically as if you are doing two degrees at the same time. It isn't fair to be judged on the same level as someone who is already in training.

Why not have seperate categories for those already on those already on journalism courses? That way, everyone can compete for recognition, but on a fairer basis.

At the moment, The GSMA just aren't a level playing field any more, and this is a shame.

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JMChadd
JMChadd 13 pts

Zoah_HS I agree with all this one hundred percent.

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nicki_
nicki_ 5 pts

you said it, the industry just doesn't care about young journalists or giving them chances, unless we are annoyingly persistent.

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Jonathan Frost
Jonathan Frost 12 pts

nicki_ I'm not convinced it just doesn't care. I just feel that, for better or worse, the industry appears to be withdrawing the support that it did once offer more readily...

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nicki_
nicki_ 5 pts

The Entrepreneur sure, I probably used a harsh word there, but opportunities are scarce for all of us :/

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lucyathackray@gmail.com
lucyathackray@gmail.com 5 pts

This is a tough one; I think when things financially rosier (especially in consumer journalism) people wanted to look out for budding journos, offer internships, mentor people, reward brilliance etc, but now everyone's working so hard trying to keep their own job and publication/organisation afloat that it has slipped down the priority list. Even from doing early work experience three years ago to now I can see a difference. People now want skills and savvy that will make interns etc worth their time (if not money) - if you can revamp their website or get them going on social media, they'll consider nurturing you. If you're just an enthusiastic arts grad, forget it. Basically, no the industry largely doesn't care that much anymore, but in the big media picture you can see why.

I do think the kudos of having your work selected by Moran and Snow, plus the accolade itself on your CV would give you an edge, and it's all about the edge right now.

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JMChadd
JMChadd 13 pts

I don't think any industry has the right to nurture it's future while they're still at, say, the university level. Sure some businesses offer graduate schemes, and they'll sponsor some students through university right through into a job, but these people are usually in the top 2/3% of their class or are well networked-up already (ie. the privileged miniority).

With journalism in flux as it is - and being a relatively timeless industry due to the very nature of the job - I can easily see why the professional industry doesn't spend as much time as some would like with it's future. So the responsibility is thrust upon ourselves to ensure that, when we approach the industry for work, we have the skills, knowledge and enthusiasm to compete. It's tough enough to get into the industry as it is - aparently - than without another sheltered few winning placements and interships, in turn leaving more of us out of a job that we could have been paid for.

What we need more of from the industry (I say we as all student and aspiring young journalists) is a dialogue that discusses the skills needed for the job and the systems used at the industry level (of newsgathering and production, plus all the new fancy stuff like the Guardian's data journalism). Indeed the NSJSN (http://nsjsn.wordpress.com/) if it becomes more establish, or something similar, with a yearly conference and frequent regional workshops, would help support us from the 15-16 year old aspiring journalist through to the 24 year old postgrad journalism student. Yes, the NUS and the Guardian do young journalism conferences (I've not attended either) but really we as a body of students should be independant of both organisations.

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JMChadd
JMChadd 13 pts

Realistically, the industry I see supporting young journalists more in the future is not the journalism industry itself - rather, the technology industry, with it's many journalisk-facing start-ups always looking for beds of talent to test out their products. SUSUtv for instance - nominated for best website at the Guardian Student Media awards, someting that came out of the blue for all of us involved - is built around the work of a technology company who are playing with some really cool stuff. Our live broadcast of our student union elections included live interactive polls and gender-specific advertising, all built into the flashplayer. Working closely with other start-ups - witness how Storify is slowly evolving thanks to feedback from its users - shold also be a key aim. Check out how student media has used Cover it Live or the other live-text software. Getting close with these companies if possble is a great advantage to student journalists, and is something different we can offer when we do apply for jobs.

I don't see more support and funding from the industry as making our lifes any sweeter. If anything, this will go to a select few unless we band together nationally. Any money that does trickle down should be pooled together so we can create some national resources rather than pay the rent on a B&B in London for a single person doing 6 weeks unpaid internship at the Guardian. With the right sponsorship and backing, we should be able to take the initiative and instead of waiting passively for the industry to recognise us as individuals, it should see us as a strong, multi-skilled collective whole, and thus much more so the next generation of professionals.

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Trackbacks

  1. Fun with UK work visas: A sort of how-to guide | Wannabe Hacks says:
    September 14, 2011 at 1:03 PM

    [...] content without relying on advertisments. Or watching the entire series of LOST. Or entering the Guardian Student Media Awards (International students cannot [...]

  2. Daily mail student media awards? | andydickinson.net says:
    September 15, 2011 at 10:44 AM

    [...] always interesting Wannabehacks posted yesterday stating that The industry isn’t doing enough to support student journalists. The post really should have been titled The Guardian isn’t doing enough to support student [...]




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