After being accepted for a work placement back in November, on Monday 25th June the time had finally arrived to get the train to Victoria for the start of my placement at Press Association. I was to work in the Features department, which covers everything from food to health to travel.
I arrived early for my placement on the first day, where I met Ella Walker, the Acting Features Editor. After a quick tour of the office, I immediately got started on the first commission of my placement, an article for BT Lifestyle on fears of dog flu becoming a pandemic, with a deadline set for before lunchtime. I used multiple sources to research and verify the medical information behind dog flu, and gave the topic context by giving a brief summary of the impact of swine flu. As I researched using specialist websites, I took extra care to make sure that I explained the disease in a clear yet informative way.
Once the article was submitted, I headed off to lunch and found the Cardinal Place rooftop garden, where many office workers were sat having their lunch. A large outdoor screen was constructed in time for the Wimbledon Championships, ideal for those wanting to catch up on the tennis.
As I sat down for a sandwich on the terrace, I got an email from Ella saying that later that day I was to interview food stylist Frankie Unsworth, who was to bring out her debut cookery book.
Excited at the prospect of carrying out the interview, I quickly hurried my lunch, jotted down some possible questions and headed back to PA to do some research. Frankie’s book was left at my desk so I went through it, noting unique features of the book to potentially ask her about. I researched Frankie online and looked through her social media to get current updates on what she was up to. At 4pm, I went to the interview room to call Frankie and had a 30 minute chat about clean eating, her favourite foodie jaunts and top tips for styling food for the camera. Thank you to Frankie for being such a pleasure to interview!
Over the duration of my placement, I transcribed multiple interviews. On the second day of my PA experience, I transcribed my interview with Frankie Unsworth that I had recorded using a dictaphone, and later that week I listened to other journalists’ interviews with crime writer Peter Robinson and Netflix documentary journalist Raphael Rowe. I was introduced to oTranscribe, which made the task of transcribing so much more efficient - I will definitely be using this handy tool again!
Over the two weeks I was there, I had the opportunity to write a number of features. These features were mainly published on the BT lifestyle and TV3 Xposé websites. I wrote a piece about the top spots for wild swimming in the UK and Ireland, which was really fun to write, and about places to go in Manchester, a city that I have come to love since living in the North. The most complex piece to write was about handling a baby on a plane and the best methods to make the journey as smooth as possible. To produce a helpful piece, I contacted a number of people who have expertise in childcare and put out requests on ResponseSource and Twitter for people to come forward if they would like to contribute with tips. In the end, I received a press release from a major airline with fascinating statistics that were relevant to the story and applied this to the tips I received. I am pleased with the outcome of the story and hope it serves its duty of helping parents going on their first family holiday well. Other articles included concentrating at work through the heatwave, keeping your dog cool in hot weather and diet changes for better sleeping.
After an exciting and rewarding two weeks, I have come away with more diverse writing abilities and bylines at media outlets like The Independent, MSN and the Irish Examiner. Thank you to Press Association Features for welcoming me into your department and I will hopefully see you all again at some point in the future!
I arrived early for my placement on the first day, where I met Ella Walker, the Acting Features Editor. After a quick tour of the office, I immediately got started on the first commission of my placement, an article for BT Lifestyle on fears of dog flu becoming a pandemic, with a deadline set for before lunchtime. I used multiple sources to research and verify the medical information behind dog flu, and gave the topic context by giving a brief summary of the impact of swine flu. As I researched using specialist websites, I took extra care to make sure that I explained the disease in a clear yet informative way.
Once the article was submitted, I headed off to lunch and found the Cardinal Place rooftop garden, where many office workers were sat having their lunch. A large outdoor screen was constructed in time for the Wimbledon Championships, ideal for those wanting to catch up on the tennis.
As I sat down for a sandwich on the terrace, I got an email from Ella saying that later that day I was to interview food stylist Frankie Unsworth, who was to bring out her debut cookery book.
Excited at the prospect of carrying out the interview, I quickly hurried my lunch, jotted down some possible questions and headed back to PA to do some research. Frankie’s book was left at my desk so I went through it, noting unique features of the book to potentially ask her about. I researched Frankie online and looked through her social media to get current updates on what she was up to. At 4pm, I went to the interview room to call Frankie and had a 30 minute chat about clean eating, her favourite foodie jaunts and top tips for styling food for the camera. Thank you to Frankie for being such a pleasure to interview!
Over the duration of my placement, I transcribed multiple interviews. On the second day of my PA experience, I transcribed my interview with Frankie Unsworth that I had recorded using a dictaphone, and later that week I listened to other journalists’ interviews with crime writer Peter Robinson and Netflix documentary journalist Raphael Rowe. I was introduced to oTranscribe, which made the task of transcribing so much more efficient - I will definitely be using this handy tool again!
Over the two weeks I was there, I had the opportunity to write a number of features. These features were mainly published on the BT lifestyle and TV3 Xposé websites. I wrote a piece about the top spots for wild swimming in the UK and Ireland, which was really fun to write, and about places to go in Manchester, a city that I have come to love since living in the North. The most complex piece to write was about handling a baby on a plane and the best methods to make the journey as smooth as possible. To produce a helpful piece, I contacted a number of people who have expertise in childcare and put out requests on ResponseSource and Twitter for people to come forward if they would like to contribute with tips. In the end, I received a press release from a major airline with fascinating statistics that were relevant to the story and applied this to the tips I received. I am pleased with the outcome of the story and hope it serves its duty of helping parents going on their first family holiday well. Other articles included concentrating at work through the heatwave, keeping your dog cool in hot weather and diet changes for better sleeping.
After an exciting and rewarding two weeks, I have come away with more diverse writing abilities and bylines at media outlets like The Independent, MSN and the Irish Examiner. Thank you to Press Association Features for welcoming me into your department and I will hopefully see you all again at some point in the future!
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