Navigating the newsroom: How I spent my summer bursary at the MailOnline

A photo of the inside of Northcliffe House, headquarters and newsroomto the Daily Mail and General Trust plc

We offer each of our trainees a summer bursary of up to £1,000 every year 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, second year trainee Lily Jobson tells us about how she spent her summer doing work experience in the MailOnline national newsroom. 

Through The School of Journalism bursary I managed to gain two weeks of valuable experience at the MailOnline that has taught me a lot in my early journalism career.

My expectation was to just be the runaround, grab the coffees, and shadow the professionals but in fact, straight away I was sourcing stories, interviewing people, and writing up my own articles.

I was there during the Olympics in Tokyo. I can remember sitting in the newsroom and as soon as a British athlete won another gold, everyone would be contacting the winner’s family members straight away to get a comment.

I had the job of contacting Adam Peaty’s grandma but she didn’t want to talk – maybe she was a bit overwhelmed her grandson had just won!

One of my proudest bylines was one that made an ‘exclusive’. The story was about an NHS worker who experienced 10 days in a ‘prison-like’ quarantine hotel with ‘disgusting’ food. I was tasked to interview, write, and source the pictures for the article and upload to the CMS system ready to be published – another skill I learnt during this experience!

During my two weeks there I got to network with top journalists in their working environment, including Ian Walker, executive editor of the MailOnline. I never hesitated to ask him a question and took everything he said on board.

I got six bylines in total, including a Love Island story for Metro, and I was fortunate to experience different areas of journalism, reporting on stories in every area from TV and showbiz to Femail, news, and food and drink.

I felt very lucky to experience a fast-paced national newsroom, especially at the MailOnline, and I found out I particularly enjoy entertainment and lifestyle journalism.

And it wasn’t all just reporting – the first day I arrived I was asked have lunch at the Ivy in Kensington with the people I was sat on the same desk with. It’s not all work, work, work – you get to have nice lunches too!

The School of Journalism is the number one NCTJ-accredited journalism undergraduate degree in the UK, delivered in the heart of Manchester and London.

Read why should apply to join The School of Journalism in 2022.