We offer each of our trainees a summer bursary of up to £1,000 every summer of their degree to spend on journalism work experience or a journalism project, giving them the unique opportunity to travel and explore the areas of journalism they are passionate about.
School of Journalism trainee Amy Collinson shared how she used her bursary creating a travel magazine about visiting Prague and Copenhagen.
Last year, I used my bursary to go to Milan and write a fashion and lifestyle blog based on all of my travels. The skills I gained from this experience were invaluable so I was keen to create a similar project this year.
I decided to create a women’s lifestyle magazine, which was filled with content based on my trips to both Copenhagen and Prague.
I chose these vastly different cities as a way to create great contrast within my magazine to ensure it was engaging to the reader.
My ModaTravel blog last year was primarily focused on fashion so I was keen to report on other topics, such as travel and history.
While I was in Prague, I absorbed as much of the culture and history as possible, by visiting all the main sights and museums.
Copenhagen was great as I got to explore the city which I had read and heard so much about.
Similar to last year, I chose both cities because I felt that in terms of European cities, they are rather overlooked despite their rich culture and history’s.
Before setting off, I made sure I had a clear plan of what I wanted to visit and the content I wanted to collect to ensure I was fully prepared.
After my visits to both Prague and Copenhagen, I began to write my articles which involved background research not only into the city itself, but the content that has been written about each place I was keen to write original content.
For me, I most enjoyed the process of creating my magazine.
While the editorial process of putting the magazine together seemed daunting to begin with, I planned each section out and where the article would fit best and this made the task much easier.
The bursary has allowed me to further enhance the skills I first developed last year on my trip to Milan, and I feel much more confident in both my writing style and editorial skills.
The articles I wrote on travel and architecture were out of my comfort zone to write, so I made sure I researched each topic thoroughly.
My research skills have further developed as a result of exploring the topics I discussed within the magazine in great detail.
I am pleased I chose to create a magazine as the storytelling and digital skills I picked up will no doubt help me in the magazine module next year.
The magazine was uploaded onto my ModaTravel blog, so I am left with an impressive piece of work to put on my journalism portfolio, which is thanks to The School of Journalism!
You can read more summer bursary blogs here.
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