Week One:
Monday December 1
8.30am to 1pm: Created a newslist, assigned completed stories and images to pages, proof read/edited each page of The Satellite newspaper and typeset pages to be sent off to print.4pm to 5pm: Scheduled eight interviews for Wednesday, ultilised time management skills, planned following week's stories.
1pm-2pm: Interviewed book author who lost her 2-year-old in tragic farming accident, wrote story for Queensland Times 6/12/11 edition (see http://www.qt.com.au/news/charlee-inspires-mums-books/2476174/)
Tuesday December 2
8.30am to 5pm: Wrote stories, searched for talent/stories, updated The Satellite Facebook page, booked remaining two interviews for Wednesday, conducted phone interviews
Wednesday December 3
8.30am to 5pm: Spent all day with APN photographer conducting interviews and vox pops for Satellite newspaper driving to various locations around the south west Brisbane and Ipswich.
Thursday December 4
8.30am - 11.30am: Conducted (2) interviews, took photos
12.30pm to 5pm: Conducted (1) phone interview, transcribed interviews from previous days, wrote articles, collated letters to the editor, sourced weather information and other necessary extras for paper (ie community notices, briefs, weekly entertainment section)
Friday December 5
8.30am to 5pm: Planned news list, set out paper, wrote remaining articles, wrote captions and headlines, worked with designers to design paper.
2pm: Covered local event for the Queensland Times (http://www.qt.com.au/news/school-tastes-success/2478398/)
Monday December 8
8.30am to 1pm: Finalised headings, subheadings, proofed paper, worked with designer to finalise pages, sent pages off for publication.
1pm to 5pm: Planned the week's jobs, booked photograph and interview times for Tuesday December 9.
Tuesday December 9
8.30am to 5.30pm: Spent all day with APN photographer interviewing and collecting stories for that week's edition.
Wednesday December 10
8.30am to 5pm: Transcribed interviews, wrote stories, collated letters to the editor, weather information and other necessary extras for paper, proof read stories and edited as needed.
Thursday December 11
8.30am to 5pm: Wrote news articles, collated entertainment section for paper, sourced images, conducted (2) phone interviews
Friday December 12
8.30am to 5pm: Wrote remaining articles, planned news list, communicated with designer to set out paper, wrote captions and headlines, subbed articles to fit design where needed.
Reflective Essay:
My role required me to source stories, schedule interviews, write articles, update social media accounts and at certain times take news photographs.
I feel my previous interning experience helped me perform in this new role and allowed me to meet the challenges that were faced.
Many of the challenges I faced over the two weeks revolved around time management, as I was the only journalist on the paper finding time to schedule all the necessary photos and interviews in one week was difficult. I also had to help with the design and specify what would be on every page, as this experience was quite new to me I had to remember to include the little things (like front page pointers and page banners) in my news list.
Meeting deadline each week was another challenge as was dealing with sometimes difficult talent which forced me to work on my interviewing skills. I also found it quite difficult to interview talent about emotional/serious subject matter (for example in the QT story published on December 6).
Overall my experience was a very positive one and although I was thrown in the deep end to a certain extent I feel I have come out of the two weeks a better, more knowledgeable and more well-rounded journalist.
I feel as though my career aspirations to further my experience in print journalism are now achievable. I have also gained confidence in my interviewing skills and aim to step into broadcast journalism in the next five years.
Feel free to take a look at my LinkedIn profile, Twitter page or professional website to see more of my recent work.
