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 Mia Williams share how she spent her summer bursary on producing her own podcast series.

In the second year of my degree with The School of Journalism I decided to create my own podcast.

I think a podcast is something I thought about creating for a while, but I had a particular way I wanted it to look and be executed – which I never would have been able to fund by myself.

It’s thanks to the summer bursary that I could bring the idea in my head to fruition and I’m so happy how it turned out.

I was sure that I wanted all the episodes (five in total) to be filmed in person with all the guest in a studio.

I stumbled across Outset Studio in Manchester which had a really impressive set-up and decided that was going to where I was going to record.

Then I needed to come up with a name.

The concept of the show was to interview successful journalists, producers, presenters, and others who have built a career in the media to inspire the next generation.

When I started out in the industry I struggled to find relatable people who had embarked on brilliant journalism careers.

There isn’t a guidebook on ‘how to do it’, and sometimes there isn’t just one specific route.

So, I thought a podcast looking at a range of different experiences could be quite useful to somebody starting out.

After weeks of brainstorming I settled on ‘Media & Mi’, which is a play on my name but also refers to somebody’s personal experience and journey into the media.

Then came the most difficult part – booking guests.

It’s not easy to persuade successful, often very busy people to come onto a podcast that doesn’t even exist yet.

However, as with everything in this industry, networking needs to be a strong skill in your toolkit.

I wanted each episode to touch on something slightly different and I definitely think I achieved that.

Here’s a brief breakdown of what the episodes consisted of:

Media & Mi EP 1 – Radio 1 producer Mansi Vithlani

My first guest was Mansi who currently has an absolute dream of a job at production company Audio Always who make a plethora of radio shows and podcasts for the BBC.

In the episode, we touched on life as a journalism undergrad, moving to America to study at the Columbia Journalism School, imposter syndrome, and what her job at the BBC entails.

Media & Mi EP 2 – BBC podcast presenter Molly Smith

Molly brought a very different perspective to the show as she was a very similar age to myself and hadn’t taken a traditional route into the industry at all.

She studied Education at university and happened to apply for, and win, the Rachael Bland New Podcast Award.

Her podcast on her experience with recovering from an eating disorder piqued the BBC’s interest when they offered her a podcast with BBC Sounds called The Weigh Up.

Media & Mi EP 3 – Simran Johal, ITV Producer

Simran also didn’t study journalism at university but decided to do her NCTJ with News Associates as a post-grad.

On the completion of her NCTJ she was accepted onto the ITV News trainee scheme and is now a full-fledged producer.

It was interesting to learn about the complexities of her job and what the role of a producer really entails.

 

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Media & Mi EP 4 – Helen Rowe-Willcocks, head of content for Manchester United Women

Sport has never really been my thing, but I felt it was important to provide this aspect for the viewers as I realised how many people would be interested.

Helen had an astonishing career as a sports reporter before joining the Man United Women’s team as head of content.

We discussed what it will take for the women’s game to really flourish and if she had faced any sexism throughout her career.

Media & Mi EP 5 – Meghan Donoher, reporter at The Leader

This was a brilliant cross of paths because both Megan and I are from Wrexham, and after doing her NCTJ with News Associates she joined Wrexham’s local newspaper – The Leader.

I thought it was important to show the importance of regional journalism and that getting bylines in national titles isn’t the only route to a successful career.

Meghan, spoke about her experiences with the Royal Family, emphasising that working in regional media can be just as exciting as anywhere else.

 

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Takeaways

I also edited the podcast myself, which was time consuming but useful skill to develop.

I hope that the podcast helped others to create opportunities in the industries and I’m glad that it was also a great networking opportunity for myself.

The process was a huge learning curve which I thoroughly enjoyed.

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.