‘Local elections to City Watch’: My first year at The School of Journalism

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I’ve come to the end of my first year at the School of Journalism and it’s lived up to my expectations completely, writes first-year trainee Adam Wareing.

Opportunities have hit us all left, right and centre – and despite previously being told never to say no to anything, I’ve had to pick and choose to avoid burning out!

Writing for Mancunian Matters is a great advantage – giving me the chance to diversify my portfolio by covering everything from the 2018 local elections to reviewing theatre performances.

Covering Stockport’s local elections was a major highlight for me. I got to work alongside journalists from the BBC, ITV and the MEN to get the results and stories from each ward.

I got home at 4am and woke up at midday with my press wristband still on – both feeling and looking like I’d had a night on the town.

Our Albert Square office is the perfect environment to soak in as much knowledge as I can.

We have our own classroom and a communal area to relax and mingle with the NCTJ postgraduate trainees – meaning we are always making new contacts.

Andrew, Tom and Ed’s office door is always open so we don’t have to book a time slot if we have any questions or fancy a chat.

Just talking to Jordan from the postgraduate NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Sports Journalism course gave me an opportunity to write for City Watch, an online platform covering Manchester City.

Since then, I’ve appeared on talkSPORT 2 twice and featured on BT Sport, alongside TV channels in Denmark, China, Uganda.

It’s been great to learn media law and public affairs in our office rather than an oversized lecture hall.

The small group means questions are addressed quickly and nobody is left behind if they don’t understand, which is a massive help when taking in so much information.

I’ve earned a first in all my degree work so far, so I’m really pleased with my progress and the support I’ve received on that front.

Swapping between writing stories and academic pieces on contempt of court and mobile journalism is challenging, but a great test nonetheless.

I think my NCTJ Essential Media Law exam went smoothly and I’m confident I’ll have passed to gold standard, which is a testament to Gerry who is great.

Public affairs will be tested when we get back after summer and I’m really looking forward to learning shorthand with Ed too.

Until then, we have the small matter of our £1,000 bursary to use, so I’m hoping to head down to London for work placements before starting second year in September.

I’m looking forward to continuing my development as a journalist and preparing myself for a job at the end of my time at the School of Journalism.

If you want to study journalism in Manchester or London, click here for how to apply to The School of Journalism.

Got a question about our BA (Hons) Journalism degree plus NCTJ? Email [email protected]