Hello! I know, I know, another excuse-laden post about the fact I’ve gone AWOL. I’ve been very busy with all sorts of things recently, so blogging has very much fallen by the wayside! I’ve had some interesting extra little projects going on recently to keep the writing ticking over, and admittedly a lot of non-writing…
Category: NCTJ course
Happy birthday journalism career!
Hello! A quick one today as I’m snowed under, but a year ago today, on 16th April 2012, I started the NCTJ at Journalist Works. My decision to train as a journalist was the best I ever made and despite the cost, I have no regrets. Everyone agrees that I was right to do it…
Soupe de l’année: A year on
Hello and welcome to post #100 of Soup du Journalism! Incidentally, the weekend just passed saw the first birthday of this blog. Aww! So, to commemorate these two excellent events colliding at once, I’m going to run you through a year in the life of Soup du Journalism and its owner (me). OK, so I…
The Soup du Journalism 2012 roundup!
Hello and welcome to this very special post where I summarise this soupy, soupy year with a rip-roaring ride through this very blog and the most popular entries since its conception in March! An interview with Sophia Danielsson-Waters: Around the world in not-80 days Let us start with my interview with my friend Sia about…
A quick blast of Teeline
Hello! Just a quick Friday treat today – a lot of people find this blog by Googling ‘how to write ___ in Teeline’, so I thought I’d post the responses to some of the most recent searches. Top row: light, baby, animal Middle row: hello, I love you, dog Bottom row: Teeline shorthand, question, this…
Portfolios and a major life change
Hello! Once again, I’m sorry for my absence, but I have the most legitimate reason of them all this time! About a week and a half ago, I was rushed into hospital, suffering from a severe form of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), which led to a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes. It’s the ‘unlucky’ type rather…
I’m a golden girl!
Hello! Before you condemn what could be perceived as raging arrogance in the title, there is a legitimate reason for it… and glory hallelujah, I’ve reached the gold standard in the NCTJ (apart from the portfolio which isn’t in until December, but that should be a breeze)! For those of you who don’t know, the…
A journalist set free
Hello, Not much to report on the journalism front this week. I got the coveted C in my Reporting exam, so assuming nothing has gone disastrously in the Production exam, I should have my gold standard. Hooray! Sorry I’ve fallen off the radar a bit recently – I’m sad to have to report that my beloved rabbit,…
A reflection: The end of an NCTJ era
Hello! So, it’s my first day of ‘freedom’ so to speak. Last night we had our end of course meal and drinks which was LOVELY. I was a bit giddy with excitement beforehand, and it was a really fun night. John proposed a toast along the lines of “It’s been an absolute privilege” (Media Law…
They think it’s all over… because it is
Hello! IT IS THE END. We had our final subbing exam today, which went OK I suppose. I really can’t believe it’s over! I COULD be at the pub right now, but instead I’m trying to collate documents for my future landlord, which is JUST want I want to be doing. Tonight is our final…
The point where I’m in denial about the end of my course
Hello! It’s the penultimate day of my beloved, darling NCTJ course, and I’m revving up to go out… on a SCHOOL NIGHT. I have an exam tomorrow morning. Good god. Today we received our PA results and I managed to slip in with a cool 84%. Hooray! Clearly offloading all knowledge on a matter, relevant…
It’s the final humpday
Hello, I’m afraid you’ll have to bear with me a bit today as I’ve had a hideous few days, mainly due to the fact that I’ve been looking at jobs and it’s made me realise that the last thing I want to do is go back to uni to complete the degree I despise and…
PA-nic at the disco
Hello! I’m afraid anyone who assumed the title meant this post was about the band will be sorely disappointed. Soz about that. However, I really am PA-nicking now. Il y a beaucoup a faire. I’ve now revised everything in a huge revision blitz today, but I need to relearn lots of it, especially Europe, the…
Andrew Lansley, GREEDY, Andrew Lansley, TOSSER
http://youtu.be/Dl1jPqqTdNo Hello! I begin today with THE song of our course: Andrew Lansley Rap. It’s particularly topical right now, when we’re all feverishly revising PA for our exam next week. This week is a weird one. Tomorrow we have PA revision, followed by another session with feature writer John Jenkins on Thursday, and more PA…
The end is nigh
Hello! I’m feeling a bit odd at the moment, as the end of this course is hurtling ever-closer, and I feel quite sad about that. I’m really enjoying Production Journalism, and it’ll be really weird not spending every day with my coursemates. We’re currently planning an end of course meal, which seems to have come…
The momentous occasion where I passed 100wpm
Hello! In case you’re one of the 2% of the population I haven’t told, I passed my 100wpm shorthand exam (along with 100% in my 80wpm, but obviously that’s less interesting and relevant). I’m SO relieved and happy! Readers of this blog will know how many times I doubted that I’d be able to get…
Legal eagles, and other journalism exam matters
Hello! Today has been a very exciting day at Brighton Journalist Works. We’ve received our provisional Media Law and Court Reporting results, and I got an A in Media Law and a B in Court Reporting (a true Christmas miracle, given how hideous that paper was). In fact, I don’t want to say this myself, so…
Examination station
Hello! Today, we sat our Reporting NCTJ exam. I think it went alright, but there is quite literally NO way of telling how we did. It’s almost entirely down to luck as to whether we’ll pass or not. It didn’t feel disastrous, so we’ll see how that went in a month, I guess. We got our…
English Summer Rain
Hello! Any Placebo fans might recognise today’s title. It is, of course, a reference to the glorious weather we’ve had of late. (any non-English readers: it’s been torrential downpours and galeforce winds and flooding all the way, hahaha) You’re reading the blog of a very chilled journalist today. Yesterday, we had our shorthand exam. I…
Prints Charming
Hello! The news today is that my first print story (hence the title) has made it into my local paper! (page 19 of The Argus in Brighton, in case you were wondering). I have a byline and everything! Also, inexplicably, my story is now on both the community page AND the normal news page of…
Exams ahoy
Hello! Here’s some exciting (shocking) news for you – I passed my 60wpm shorthand exam! Hooray! This means that as long as I pass everything else (at whatever level), I’ll have passed my NCTJ. Again, hooray! Alas, I have to sit an 80wpm on Friday. I don’t feel ready at all! I keep getting most…
Tips for writing Teeline shorthand left-handed
Hello! Today’s post, unfortunately, will only benefit around 10% of the Teeline-writing community, but it might provide some interesting insight into the affliction that is left-handedness for all you lucky right-handers. At risk of sounding like I’m making excuses, I do think it’s trickier to write shorthand when you’re left-handed. I spoke to my shorthand…
When I get that feeling, I want… Friday feeling
Hello! Apologies for rhyming ‘feeling’ with ‘feeling’ in the title; it’s just one of those frivolous days (a Friday, in fact). So, at this time in a week, I will have taken an 80wpm shorthand exam, assuming I’ve passed the 60wpm (less assuming, more PRAYING). The thought makes me feel physically sick to be honest,…
Happy Humpday!
Hello! Now before you ask what the title is about, it was inspired by this hilarious blog post. I’d only ever heard the term on Mean Girls before, but never understood what ‘Humpday’ meant… but I now know that it refers to Wednesday, i.e. the ‘hump’ in the middle of the week! Seeing as it’s a…
Flashes of inspiration aplenty
Hello! I’m sure you’ll all be thrilled to hear that after a couple of weeks utterly devoid of inspiration, I have, at long last, broken through the wall that is writer’s block, and I now have ideas! I’ve set about chasing up people for a grilling, and I have some ideas for more features to…
Testing times in Teeline
Hello hello! Happy news – my laptop has returned, and I now have a working left-click button (it’s only taken two years to get it fixed) and the ‘1’ key has been reattached (well, they replaced the entire keyboard actually), so I’m now fully connected to the internet again! Obviously I had the desktop computer…
Jubilee-tions
Hello hello! Sorry I’ve been such a slacker on the blogging front lately – my laptop has been taken off to be repaired (and my god it needed it) so I’ve been left to do battle with the painfully slow desktop computer! This week at Journalist Works, we went off to Lewes Crown Court. Crown…
Summer Sun(day)
Hello! WHAT is going on with this weather? My body simply cannot compute this temperature. After the wettest April on record, we’ve been thrust into this searing heat day after day! Insanity! I spent this afternoon on the beach with Shopping Saviour’s Rachel and some frozen yogurt, tutting over the ridiculous amount of people slathering on…
How to learn shorthand in six weeks
Hello! Here it is, the shorthand post I’ve been promising! As you may recall, I’ve already posted about shorthand, ten days after starting the course. Now here we are, six short weeks into the course, and we’re finishing the theory of Teeline this week. Yes, that’s right, by Friday we’ll know all there is to…
Off-duty journalists
Hello! Sometimes, we trainee journalists need to chill out and put the brakes on the constant bombardment of work work work. So, yesterday, a group of us went to see The Ladyboys of Bangkok! It was so much fun, and absolutely hilarious. We got right into it (you can’t not really), and we were sat…
A variety pack of thoughts
Hello! Some fun news today is that my studentbeans.com article is now live! It’s all about some new ideas for toast-toppers. I’m doing a fair bit for the student web world at the moment, what with being a studentbeans contributor, and I’m also signed up to write for Kettle, and I am also in the process of…
Tanner’s Top Tips for Telling Tales
Hello! Today’s entry combines information I’ve learnt on my NCTJ course so far, particularly the Reporting module, and little nuggets I’ve picked up from books and the internet, about how to write a good news article. I don’t profess at all to be any kind of expert on the matter – I am merely acting…
Burnout
HELLO Sorry about the shouty greeting, but I need a way to release my stress. The past couple of days have been a bit mental. I’ve had a ‘take-home exam’ to do for uni (Syntax, the worst subject ever…), so I’ve been stressed up to my eyeballs. If you’re unfamiliar with the term ‘take-home exam’…
Bank Holiday Bunday
Hello! Today, I am sporting my Bank Holiday Bunday bun. It’s something I put in when I know I won’t have to see anyone. Or sometimes when I will have to, because I like to embarrass the people I’m with. Sometimes, it is branded ‘Partybun’, when I am going to a party and want a bun. Today,…
Minor Success Saturday
Hello! Just a quick one to report a couple of minor journalism-related successes that have popped up today! Firstly, Underground Magazine, a London-based satire magazine, has invited me to join its writers’ article discussion group, so I’ll get the chance to possibly have my own satirical pieces published if they like them enough. SECONDLY, a travel…
Freaky Friday
Hello! I must be honest: there’s nothing freaky about this Friday at all. It’s Normal Friday if anything. I just wanted an alliterative title. Soz. SO, we’ve just finished week 3 of the NCTJ. My mind is just slush at the moment, after a particularly intense couple of days of shorthand. This week, we’ve been…
Time’s a-tickin’
Hello! Here’s a shocker for you: I’M REALLY REALLY BUSY. I’m trying to finish off my Sociolinguistics coursework (should’ve done it weeks ago, but my excuse is that I’m a student), write my studentbeans.com piece, finish off the feature I want to send to a magazine and also keep on top of life in general….
Time for Teeline
Hello! The shorthand post has arrived! Shorthand is terrifying, at first. Even once you’ve mastered the alphabet, and the commonly used words, the second you’re given a passage to write in shorthand, it’s heart-stoppingly freaky. ‘I… will… be- WAIT SLOW DOWN OH GOD WHAT IS THIS TORRENT OF LANGUAGE COMING MY WAY OH MAY THE…
Weekend workhorse
Hello! I’ve had a pretty busy weekend. I’ve been chasing stats and stories, and I’ve managed to conduct two phone interviews. I think we actually have training for phone interviews coming up soon, but they went fine anyway, haha. I’m really feeling the pressure now, from trying to finish my uni work (one essay down,…
Vox pop, pop, pop music
Hello! I’m now at the end of my first week of training. I can’t believe how fast it went actually… Today we did some vox pops in town. Lots of people see the notepad and cross the road or speed up their walk to avoid you. My piece of advice for vox pops would be…
Learnin’ and… journin’…
Hello! I’m almost at the end of my first week of being a trainee journalist and I love it! I’ve finished lectures for the week, and yesterday we started our modules in Public Affairs (all about central and local government, the monarchy, how things are funded, how the country functions…) and Media Law. Media Law…
A learning curve
Hello! I am now officially a trainee journalist! I started the course yesterday, and I met my coursemates and we did some general admin. Then we had a reporting lecture, where we had to come up with potential sources for our allocated patches of Brighton, and then practice writing a short news story. Then we…
T’was the night before Coursemas
Hello! WELL, it’s the evening before I start the course. I’ve been slowly trying to work through the essays I’ve been putting off over Easter through the day, and to be honest I still have a hell of a lot to do. This week is going to be pretty intense, as I still have three…
Back to school
Hello! So, this is the last weekend of my ‘summer holidays’. My uni course, bar a couple of last essays, finished at the end of March, so effectively the last few weeks have been my summer. I’m intrigued to find out how I’ll adapt to 9-5 days, but I think it’ll be good for me…
Hello Hygge 