Author Archives: georgechapman

Nigel Howle – Howle Communications

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Nigel Howle who owns Howle communications and is a former lecturer of Sports journalism at Staffordshire University commented on being part of the future journalism awards 2024 on being a special guest at these years event. 

Nigel Howel said “I’m delighted to be a special guest for the Staffordshire University Future Journalism Awards. The awards are a positive initiative, offering a practical, hands-on introduction to the world of news and media for young people. That’s vital in a world where there’s lots of noise from social media. As someone who has always worked in and around the media, I’m passionate about developing trained, professional storytellers.”  

With over twenty-years of experience in the journalism industry Howel communications was set up in mid-2007 helping companies with their communications strategy. 

Nigel’s’ PR company provides media training to companies both in the public and private sector offering a variety of different services including press releases, event management, crisis management, internal communications as well media training. 

You can find out more about the work Howel communications do click on the link https://public-relations-consultants.co.uk/

Introducing our third judge: Ian Bayley

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Ian Bayley has been confirmed as a judge for the 2024 future journalist awards. Ian has lots of experience in the sports journalism industry, covering football clubs around the country and having worked at The Sentinel newspaper covering Stoke City.

 

Ian is Award Leader for the, `BA Hons Professional Sports Writing and Broadcasting along. with also being a Senior Lecturer in Sports Journalism at Staffordshire University.

Talking about taking part in the future journalist awards 2024 judging event Ian Bailey said:

“I’ve been involved with the future journalist awards since its inception it’s a great initiative for our students as a learning tool and as a career preparation tool, but I think for youngsters in schools it’s a great way to engage them in the idea of journalism and possibly the idea of a career in journalism.” 

“It’s always good to see the content youngsters are producing and how that content changes each year. In the earlier days of the future journalism awards it was all about celebrity, sport, and entertainment whereas in the last two or three years we’ve seen greater concerns about matters linked to the environment, and climate change for example.” 

The closing date for entries for this year’s competition is Friday, March 1, 2024. If you have any questions about how to enter the FJA’s please email futurejournalist@staffs.ac.uk. 

Keep a look out for further judges’ announcements coming soon via the Future Journalist Awards blog https://blogs.staffs.ac.uk/futurejournalist/enter/blog/ and our social media channels on X,  TikTok and LinkedIn.

Introducing our second judge: Ian Whittell

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Ian Whittell has been confirmed as a judge for the 2024 future journalist awards. Ian has lots of experience in the sports journalism industry covering Manchester City, Manchester United, Sunderland and Newcastle United football clubs.

Alongside being a freelance journalist and owner of Whittell & Winrow, Ian also lectures on the BA and MA sports journalism course at Staffordshire University. 

Commenting on being part of the judging panel for this year’s awards Ian said:

“The future journalist awards is something I’m really pleased and proud to because I believe in helping to develop future journalists, the quality of the work is so high I enjoy seeing the work that the pupils produce there is a tremendous amount of talent, I really look forward to seeing what they produce.”

“My advice to anyone entering the competition would be choose something your most interested in, make sure that your work is fair, accurate and balanced, communicate with people to get the newest news out of a story to ensure the accuracy of your work. If you’re writing a story, be creative use your imagination paint the picture to the reader.”

“Look at examples of work in industry to get an idea of what you want your work to look like whether that be a newspaper, radio, or TV coverage.”  

The closing date for entries in this year’s competition is Friday, March 1, 2024. If you have any questions about how to enter the FJA’s please email futurejournalist@staffs.ac.uk. 

Keep a look out for further judges’ announcements coming soon via the Future Journalist Awards blog https://blogs.staffs.ac.uk/futurejournalist/enter/blog/ and our social media channels on X,  TikTok and LinkedIn.

Introducing our first judge: Nigel Howle

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Nigel Howle, who owns Howle Communications and has lectured in Sports Journalism and Sport Public Relations at Staffordshire University, commented on being part of the Future Journalist awards 2024 judging panel. 

Judging this year’s written entries, Nigel said: “I’m delighted to be asked. The awards are a positive initiative, offering a practical, hands-on introduction to the world of news and media for young people. 

“That’s vital in a world where there’s lots of noise from social media. As someone who has always worked in and around the media, I’m passionate about developing trained, professional storytellers. 

“My advice is to be yourself and tell a story your passionate about. Read journalism online and in newspapers, listen to the radio, and watch TV. 

“The best journalists will always explain things simply, making any topic easy to understand. Put yourself in the position of the reader or listener, what do they need to know from you?”

With over twenty years of experience in the journalism industry, Howle Communications was set up in mid-2007 to assist companies with their public relations and communication strategies. 

Nigel provides media training to companies both in the public and private sector, offering a variety of different services including press releases, event management, crisis management, and internal communications as well as media training. 

You can find out more about the work Howle Communications do here:  https://public-relations-consultants.co.uk/

The closing date for entries in this year’s competition is Friday, March 1, 2024. If you have any questions about how to enter the FJA’s please email futurejournalist@staffs.ac.uk. 

Keep a look out for further judges’ announcements coming soon via the Future Journalist Awards blog https://blogs.staffs.ac.uk/futurejournalist/enter/blog/ and our social media channels on X,  TikTok and LinkedIn.

The Basic Tips of Written Journalism in Industry

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Do you have big dreams and ambitious goals about becoming a written journalist? The FJA could help you kick start your learning and unlock doors to many adventures and opportunities.

Your secret weapon is knowing how to write an excellent application for the Future Journalist Awards. This is your opportunity to showcase your abilities, interests, and character in a few strong sentences.

It can be daunting to write something down. You don’t need to worry, though, because this article is your sidekick and is filled with tips on how to write a fantastic entry.

What do you want to write about? whether that be a match report on a sports event, a review or preview of an event.

When writing remember the three W’s 

  • When did the event happen?
  • Where did the event happen?
  • What happened in the event.? 

How to stick to the topic of writing? 

  • When writing it’s always good to mind map what you want to say. Therefore, this will help your workflow and stay on topic as a result the finished article will be easier for the reader to read. 
  • Write a list of what you want to cover in your work. This method will enable you to write in the most effective way by ticking off all the pointes as you go along. 

How long should entries be? 

  • In industry, entries can be from 500 words to 1000 words depending on the type of writing your doing. 
  • When writing a report on an event you often want to tell the reader about the key points that happened. For example, in a football match report you would talk about who scored the goal, how the goal was scored, what minute did the goal happen. 
  • Reports generally are 500 words in length. 
  • Features are 1000 words in length as you would be writing about the event you’ve been to, your thoughts and feelings on the event, people you’ve talked to, what did you find interesting about the individual. 
  • A participation feature is where you partake in an event and then write about your experiences.
  • When writing think about sights, smells, sounds of the places you’re writing from or what you would think in that situation.
  • Before submitting make sure to read your work to check for grammar and punctuation. 
  • Proof reading will allow you to identify any errors. 

Finally, from us all on the FJA team, we hope you have an incredible Christmas.

Staffordshire University Newsday: Behind the Scenes

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Have you ever wondered what it’s like to work on a newsday?  This article will offer you a taste of what happens at the STAFFS LIVE Newsroom behind the scenes. 

What is Newsday?

  • Every Friday, level six and master’s level sports journalism students at Staffordshire University participate in a newsday, serving as editors, presenters, and reporters.
  • The newsday broadcast consists of two bulletins: a 12pm bulletin that provides listeners with news in a concise format, and a 2pm bulletin that is lengthier and gives listeners an in-depth understanding of the topics that were previewed in the earlier bulletin. 
  • In the first semester, running from September to December, students cover radio, and in the second semester, which runs from January to May, they cover TV packages.    

The planning process for Newsday

  • The level six and masters students studying sports journalism gather on Wednesday to decide which stories will be featured in the Friday newsday show.
  • The editor may allocate stories to each member of the team during the editorial meeting.

Newsday Roles and responsibilities

  • Editor: chooses who covers which stories and how long each package will be. The length of the package varies according to the number of stories in the programme; the more stories there are, the shorter the package; alternatively, the longer the package.
  • The order in which the stories are presented in the programme is also decided by the editor; typically, the most recent news is shown first.
  • Presenter: The presenter’s job is to give the viewers a live presentation of the programme.
  • Reporters: their job is to investigate the stories editors give them. ensuring that they get B-Roll and interviews for their segment before editing the package in advance of Friday’s broadcast.

Radio and TV packages

  • Reporters need to consider the sounds and potential disturbances in the area where they wish to carry out the interview when creating audio packages. For TV Packages, the reporter must think about the background also when interviewing and filming pieces to camera.
  • It’s important to give sufficient information so that those listening may visualise what has happened or is happening when working on an audio piece.
  • Reporters need to be creative while producing a TV package and identify the best alternative to visually represent the story if there isn’t a suitable area that captures the scene.