Wednesday, December 2, 2009...12:06 pm

C4's Keme Nzerem: is it a good time to become a journalist?

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[vimeo width=”500″ height=”280″]http://vimeo.com/7937150[/vimeo]
Channel 4 news reporter and More 4 news presenter Keme Nzerem speaks to UCA Farnham journalism students on why now is a good time to enter journalism. Really.
The video was shot by first year UCA TV journalism students and edited (quickly but with consummate professionalism) by TV lecturer Sean Walsh.
Much like Reed’s Karl Schneider, Keme Nzerem believes it really is a great time to be starting out in journalism – if you make the fullest use of its digital tools and opportunities.
Topics in brief:
Is it a good time to become a journalist?

  • Google News and Twitter create the same number of news page requests as each other
  • It’s really important for new journalists develop a relationship with the social media world
  • In the social media world your personal brand and your relationship with your audience becomes crucial

Ways to get into journalism

  • Do your research
  • Don’t send out generic applications for work experience or jobs
  • Include idea suggestions
  • Offer constructive criticism that highlights your skills
  • Know your market and be interested
  • Have a very thick skin – be prepared to contact a lot of people and face rejection or be ignored

Foreign assignments

  • Who makes up the team?
  • How do you operate?
  • What sort of assignments are you sent on?
  • What are the implications of multi-skilling for the news team?
    (less money means less resources – is this fair? What is the impact on quality?

Should a journalist have an agenda?
Keme’s core agendas are:

  • Social justice
  • To entertain the public
  • To enjoy his work

“Any journalist who claims that they don’t have one is deluded or lying”

We could and should try to be objective, but we are never objective.

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