I am a 17 year old student studying level 3 media at Newbury College. I decided to accept a work placement opurtinity with Penny Post as I was interested into what goes into the production of journalism, and how they obtain their infomation.
I will be writing about the various affects of speeding in the Compton area, and how it affects the people living there.
Monday 19 May – Day 1
On the first day of our work experience, we were introduced to the world of journalism and shown what goes into covering local news.
The first thing we were tasked with was to decide what we wanted to write about this week. The first thought that came to mind was speeding in Compton. I chose this subject due the the dangers it causes: this is something that not only affects you, but the people around you.
We then created our Penny Post WordPress accounts to allow us to blog our experience, in addition to writing an article on a subject I had decided on.
After creating our accounts, Penny showed us how to use WordPress and how to create our own news article, using widgets such as text editor, images, and much more.
Next, I discussed with Brian and Penny how I was going to gather infomation for my article. We decided to use a primary research method by calling several people who were knowledgable about the speeding issue. These people included Carolyne Culver, the district counciler for the Compton area; and David Aldix, the Chair of Compton Parish Council. I was also able to contact Linda Moss, a Parish Councillor who’s involved in the local Speechwatch programme.
I then scheduled my calls and meetings for for the next day.
After my interviews were scheduled, i then got challenged with the task of fact checking the infomation on a post, and validating whether or not the infomation is still correct. The websites varied from joining a local football club, to a bus service you could hire. Overall, today i learnt how to proffesionally schedule interviews, and how to efficiently and effectively validate infomation.
We then met their chickens and said hello to their three cats, who wanted our attention.
Tuesday 20 May – Day 2
Day 2 was the day that I will be conducting my interviews, and completing various other tasks such as a Zoom meeting with their social media manager.
At 10:30, Brian and I called Carolyne and asked hwe several questions about speeding. Speaking to her helped me understand more about how laws that are related to speeding are put into place, and the amount of time that it can take to implement a solution.
I then researched additional infomation on the speed laws in the UK, to add onto the infomation I will gather from my primary research.
When I had finished my interview, we then moved onto a Zoom call with their social media manager, Sarah. We listened to their discussion about how to draw in a larger audience, and gave our own ideas such, such as using a short, roughtly 15-second, video. My initial idea was to have two cameras, each facing at one person, but soon realised that this is very time consuming – if you’re on a tight schedule, having to put extra time into editing isn’t ideal. They eventually decided to record side by side.
After the call, Truman and I then created a test short-form video, to see how the idea would work. We then recorded the video, reviewed it. We came to the decision that this form of content may work: their social media manager agreed.
We then moved onto our news articles, developing ideas and deciding on a structure we will use.
I next interviewed Dave Aldis. With the experience I had gained from the call with Carolyne, I was able to be more fluent with my questions, and overall made the interview better for both of us.
Later that afternoon I talked to my third interviewee, this time in person. She explained about how the Speed Indicator Device (SID) is used in Compton and showed me examples of the reports that get produced as a result.
Wednesday 21 May – Day 3
On day three, we went to Educafe in Newbury Library,
First of all, we worked more on our articles, whilst doing some research on what Educafe is, learning things like who they are, who do they help.
Then we sat in on a meeting at which the organisers and volunteers were discussing aspects of Educafe’s future.
We then interviewed, firstly a volunteer, and then members of the knit and natter group, to get a range of opinions on Educafe.
Then, to finish off the day, I made some more progress on my article.
Overall, today I learnt more communication skills, and further developed my interviewing technique.
Thursday 22 May – Day 4
We were working at home, and most of the day was spent on my speeding article, getting it ready for last-minute editing on Friday.
We also had a Zoom meeting with one of Penny Post’s Website editor Ginette, who taught us how to create an event on their website. This helped us understand the steps that go into adding events.
Friday 23 May – Day 5
We started off our day by going to studio of 4LEGS, a local community radio, to join Penny and Brian on their show.
Brian and Penny discussed news items that they’d covered in Penny Post.
Then, we moved onto our section which we called “The Truman and Tyler show” (listen here). This was us discussing what we’ve done this week, and what we have learnt. The experience made me realise what goes into making a radio show.
We then went back to their house, Brian told us that our video suggestion seemed to have been successful.
We then finished off our articles and went through them with Penny and Brian to make some tweaks.
My experience at Penny Post has allowed me to learn a range of skills including writing, research, scheduling, interviewing and talking on the radio.
Overall, I’m very glad I took this opportunity, and would recomend everyone who is lucky enough to get the chance to do a work experience at Penny Post to take it.
