Home at last

Just arrived home as I stayed in Bristol for an extra few days to attend the 'Insight Into Media Course'.  The course has been extremely helpful concerning career opportunities in journalism, advertising and PR.  I was also happy to see that one of the speakers was a professional blogger called Zoe Griffin.  She has created an extremely successful career out of keeping a celebrity blog and website, which can be found at http://www.zoegriffin.co.uk/
The importance of blogging concerning a career in the media was emphasised by several of the speakers, including a representative for the Cardiff school of journalism who said that it was mandatory for all his students to keep a blog.  This demonstrates the fact that keeping a blog is essential for your career, but it also gives you the freedom to express opinions and feelings without the pressure and control of an editor.

Blogs enable you to hone your writing skills and practice the discipline of writing everyday.  A blog will also act as part of your portfolio to present to future employers.  In a question and answer session, I asked whether or not the future of professional journalism is under threat because of the democratisation of media and increasing number of blogs.  Michael Nutley, the Editor in Chief of the 'New Media Age' commented that the industry was changing and that journalists had to be flexible and learn to accommodate all the new forms of technology and social networking.  Blogs are now found alongside the formal features and new articles on websites such as the guardian.co.uk

Jenny