The Promise of MediaCity
posted Jun 16, 2009 - 03:21 PM | 5 comments
This is a guest post from journalism student Rose Brooke.
If you cast your eyes away from the cash, celebrity and pomposity of Fleet Street for a moment, there is another hotbed of media activity brewing in the North.
The reason I chose to train to be a journalist in Manchester rather than London in these times of recession and employment drought is because the media in the UK is changing. The internet has exploded the field of conventional print and broadcast and everyman journalism is rife in blogs, on YouTube and is being incorporated into news websites across the world.
London’s streets are no longer paved with gold and the modern day Dick Whittington digs out his Young Person’s Railcard and hops on a Virgin Cross Country to find his fortunes elsewhere in the UK. Manchester, the birthplace of the Guardian and home to Granada TV seems a worthy spawning ground for young journalists.
Being a native of Glasgow I am much more inclined to find a job in the North of England, where the lashings of horizontal rain remind me of the motherland, than in London where I have seen many friends brainwashed into thinking the real world extends no further North than Luton.
And so this time last year I was gearing myself up to begin my postgraduate degree in journalism at Salford University where the promise of MediaCity – a veritable Emerald City to young hacks such as myself – was the key to getting ahead of my London counterparts.
Salford University runs a very good journalism program. Unlike many journalism courses in the UK, the course at Salford is NCTJ accredited, which means you are a qualified (but still very junior) journalist once you have jumped the relevant NCTJ hurdles. These are pretty essential skills in the business including Public Affairs, Media Law, Newswriting and Shorthand, and students must have gathered an impressive portfolio in order to complete the qualification.
Salford also has a very impressive staff made up of Manchester Evening News reporters and columnists, broadcast professionals, reporters from national newspapers and NUJ board members. As well as this the University is embarking on a large-scale project to build a campus in the Salford Quays in close proximity to MediaCity to encourage students to aspire to work at MediaCity and to inspire MediaCity Human Resources to look to their local youths to circulate around their newly carpeted hallways.
However, after completing my degree, passing all of my NCTJ modules, working unpaid for newspapers and magazines in my spare time and running my overdraft into the ground, I am still unemployed but hopeful the job vacancies will soon start to appear on the internet – or at least when they appear I will be experienced enough to apply without fear to jobs I know I won’t be papersifted out of.
My year in Salford has been punctuated with visits from representatives from the BBC and associations affiliated with MediaCity promising they are looking for local talent and that not all the London set will wish to move up to Salford (no need to remind them we do have Starbucks and Wi-Fi here – still working on flushing toilets though).
The scaffolding is still encasing the bare bones of the structure which is to be this figurehead of media in the North, but it will be young people of Salford who will be at an advantage when the vacancies start to trickle in. Local knowledge, local people, kids without pretensions and a fresh face spearheading the trend that Manchester is the Second City.
Where better to embark on a media career as a young person? You can find decent digs and have a social life without cutting out regular mealtimes, the city is easy to explore and changing every day, the news that Manchester generates is extraordinary (football, politics, celebrity gossip and entertainment) and with a media figurehead like MediaCity it can only get better. Similarly, if its good enough for Parky, its good enough for us.
And on that note – gizza’ job!
You can visit Rose Brooke at Thoughts of a Media Impostor, or follow her on twitter.com/Rosebiscuit.
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I've just fixed the commenting system on the blog, which appears to have been malfunctioning for the past month or so. Apologies to anyone who has posted recently without any success, please do post again if you can be bothered! Jun 08, 2009 - 10:16 PM
CBBC are looking for new drama writers - if you fancy a future job at MediaCityUK check it out - http://bit.ly/10wvA0 May 20, 2009 - 07:14 PM
Not a lot of MediaCityUK news to report since the ITV bombshell, except perhaps this article from the FT about the positive impact MediaCityUK is likely to have on Salford and the surrounding areas. The article also provides a quick introduction to the local housing market - useful if you're looking at relocating to Salford. Mar 26, 2009 - 06:04 PM
Debate about the BBC's staff relocation packages continues to rumble on and on - Liz Hunt at the Telegraph says, "I can't be the only taxpayer with northern credentials who feels insulted by the implication that having to up sticks from the South East is akin to an enforced relocation to Mogadishu or Harare." (full article here). Meanwhile, Andy Spinoza at How-Do offers some relocation advice to BBC staff - "Some media people will find the value, community, and friendliness on offer in the likes of Monton and Eccles more appealing than the fancy nick-nack shops of Didsbury..." (full article here). Mar 12, 2009 - 07:22 PM
The Manyoo apartment towers in Salford Quays will be built, despite one of the developers behind it going into administration, reports the MEN. Manyoo will have 1,036 apartments over four towers that will `quite literally change the skyline of Salford Quays'. Mar 04, 2009 - 01:04 AM
« SideBlog Archive
1. Michael
I particularly like the idea of "kids without pretensions and a fresh face".
Hopefully the BBC/MediaCity will bend over backwards to encourage a new breed of Media types,- instead of trying to hang on to the traditional ways of doing things.
posted June 16, 2009 at 11:31 PM
2. Rachel Cummins
Advice to Rose: keep blogging! It's a great way to get your name out there and develop your own style. And who knows, also a great way to get spotted too?
Rachel x
posted June 17, 2009 at 02:49 PM
3. jeremy
Regards
Jeremy
posted June 19, 2009 at 02:33 PM
4. George Dearsley
George Dearsley
posted June 21, 2009 at 05:58 PM
5. Rose
Rose Emma Brooke x
p.s. DAMN those American spellings! Its my iBook, it reverts to type when it thinks I'm not looking.
posted July 10, 2009 at 02:57 PM