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.
Here, School of Journalism trainee Emma Butterworth shares how she used her bursary to make a documentary on The Troubles in Northern Ireland.
This summer, I used my bursary to create a documentary on the aftermath of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, specifically relating to the care for the victims and the impact of the 2023 Legacy Act on these people.
As part of this project, I produced a small documentary and a long-form piece of written material about this topic which allowed me to fully immerse myself in the journalistic process of research, interviewing, writing and editing.
You can also read more about Emma’s experience here.
This developed my skills as a multimedia journalist immensely and allowed me to fully grasp the experience of telling stories through these different mediums.
I started my project at the end of May, spending time in Belfast and Derry to get a true understanding of the issue I was researching.
During this time, I visited victims’ groups and conducted interviews with someone who had been injured in the conflict and people who were fighting for justice.
Behind-the-scenes: Emma interviewing Relatives for Justice CEO Mark Thompson
I also visited prominent areas that were affected by The Troubles to gain insight for my project and get B-roll my the documentary.
Receiving the summer bursary was vital for this project as without it I wouldn’t have been able to fund the trip or take time off from my part-time job to research, travel, film and edit the pieces.
After the trip, I was also able to interview BBC Northern Ireland’s former political editor which helped to ensure that my project has a mix of emotive and factual content allowing me to provide a holistic overview of the situation at hand.
Being able to spend a summer working on a project that aligned with my personal interests was so valuable for my development as a journalist.
As someone who would love to get into political journalism after I graduate, investigating such an important political topic gave me experience I would not have been able to achieve without the bursary.
From this project, I learnt how rigorous the editing process is for even a small documentary and was able to be truly independent in the decision-making process.
I was also able to adapt my writing style from traditional news writing to a more emotive, personal approach that comes with long form feature-type articles.
Being able to dip my toes into the world of political journalism meant that I could fully understand how complicated political issues affect people and provided me with experience I plan to use after my degree,
As well as this, I was kept busy over the summer!
Completing my project along with work experience placements and paid work in the field meant that I was kept on the ball throughout the long summer break.
This means when I return to my third year at The School of Journalism, I am more than ready to put what I’ve learnt to use with a clear focus on my future as a journalist.
The documentary is called Healing Horizons: Rebuilding Lives After The Troubles and you can watch it here:
You can read more summer bursary blogs here.
Click here to join our free taster events to experience what it’s like to be a journalist and study on our BA (Hons) Multimedia Journalism degree.