Another side to my industry...

Photograph by Richard Aird

Last night I went to a talk at Newcastle City Library by Simon Donald and Geoff Laws and heard about a side of the journalism industry that I had never considered before - that of cartoons.

When I was younger, the first and only thing I used to do was look at the cartoon page - they are what attracted me to newspapers.

Photograph by Eleventh Earl of Mar

Simon Donald talked about setting up Viz magazine and what it meant to him. It was interesting to hear about how the magazine that has become a North East institution was running at a loss at first.

Geoff Laws discussed how he got into the cartoon industry and how hard it was to work on page layouts in comparison to the use of computer programmes which are used in industry today. He also mentioned the tight deadlines which he had to meet on a daily basis while working for the Journal.

I didn't know what to expect from this event as I had never been to anything like it before. The talk, which was part of Local History Month, was conducted in the style of a chat show with the pair asking each other questions, answering questions and telling funny stories about life in Newcastle during the 1970's and 1980's along the way.

Despite the talk of dreaded deadlines, the event made me more excited that I will be going into such an interesting and demanding industry which is so unpredictable.

Time flies...

Then...

This is my last Friday as a teenager. Monday is my last day as a second year journalism student. I realise this post will make me sound really old but I remember being in Reception class - my dad (pictured above with me as a baby) stood at the back as I settled in to my first day. Here I am about to sit my NCTJ Essential Law and Court Reporting papers.

People have asked me so many times why I want to be a journalist. I always say that I have just always wanted to do it. Seeing my name in Print at the age of thirteen as a Young Reviewer for the Newcastle Evening Chronicle (the paper in the photograph above) made me determined to reach my dream.

On Monday I will be sitting my NCTJ Essential Law and Court Reporting exam papers so will be spending my birthday learning about contempt, defamation and the ethical considerations of the Journalist!For my third year at UCLan, I have picked to do the Magazine Route and I am very excited to say that I have two 2 week work placements arranged for either side of Christmas. My first two weeks will be at North East Lifestyle Magazine and the second two weeks I will be working at Accent Magazine.

I better get back to the revision and hope that the world doesn't end tomorrow as some are speculating so that all my revision doesn't go to waste!

...and now!