Interview with a Scott Trust Bursary student - Helia Phoenix

I mentioned earlier this week that I had been to a lunch that formed part of an 'Insight into Journalism Day' at The Guardian. Whilst I was there, as well as meeting some Guardian journalists and some of the visiting students, I met Helia Phoenix, one of the recipients of this year's Scott Trust Bursaries. I got to ask her some questions about why she wants to move into journalism, and her attitudes to news in print and online.

@currybet: Everybody in the news industry knows that economically it is a tough time - what made you still interested in a journalism and publishing career?

Helia: Journalism has never been a particularly easy industry to enter - I don't think the current crisis has made it worse. In fact, quite the opposite. From personal experience, trying to get into journalism a couple of years back I was given some very frank advice: if you don't know anyone working somewhere, then you've no chance of getting a job.

Now I see journalists being sacked from newspapers - but I also see media outlets employing new journalists with new skills, which means people who were previously excluded can now have a crack at the jobs. I can see how that's probably scary for someone who's had a job for 30 years and doesn't want to learn anything new. I just think if you're open minded about adapting and learning new skills that you'll be ok - because people who are adaptable to change are usually always ok.

Aside from that, I've always been a writer - I'm interested in current affairs and culture, but I'm also interested in the ways that information can be communicated. I guess that's what I'm most interested in - journalism is that process.

@currybet: As part of your time at The Guardian, you've written content that has been published in the paper. Was that important to you?

Helia: Definitely - the Guardian is the pinnacle of journalism in my opinion - I've been reading it since I was a teenager. To be published in it is brilliant! Although I must say I think my mum was more excited about it than I was.

@currybet: You can pick up free copies of The Guardian easily around the office at the moment - but before you were here were you someone who would regularly buy a newspaper?

Helia: I do regularly buy newspapers - I haven't so much since September as I've been a student with little spare cash - but I still buy the Guardian on a Monday for the media supplement and Thursday for the technology supplement. I rarely buy other papers - on our course we're encouraged to read a wide selection of papers.

I read a lot of news online though. It's where you go for breaking news. But I'd never read longer features online - you need newspapers and magazines for those. I struggle reading more than about 600 words on a screen, and some things you want to carry around and have time to digest.

I think that's where we'll see a real division in content between newspapers and the web soon - newspapers will have less and less breaking news, but more in-depth analysis and discussion. Pictures too are obviously better in print. The web will be primarily for breaking news (and obviously video and audio). I'd like to see newspapers do more to tease the content between their online and printed forms, so a reader gets a more enriched experience.

@currybet: What about regional or local papers? You are studying in Sheffield, do you read the local press there or visit their websites?

Helia: Local papers are held in high esteem at Sheffield. Our local - the Sheffield Star - takes a lot of students on work experience and has employed quite a few ex-Sheffield students. Our lecturers have taught us to have a lot of respect for local papers, as there's more you can learn on those when you're starting out than a national (as you'll have to do more, as they have less staff).

We've not done much on local news websites, as few are successful. From personal experience, I've only had negative encounters with local news websites. I emailed the editor of one asking if there were plans to introduce a search function, as I was doing research on a story. The editor personally emailed me back something quite rude which I shan't repeat, which just epitomises what is wrong with journalism: middle class white men on power trips.

If anything, the web has levelled the playing field, allowing and encouraging a mixture of voices. Local media has to embrace this, or it will disappear. Having said that, I think there'll always be a place for hyper-local - people will always want to know what's going on on their street, or in their neighbourhood. I think regional press - living in the middle ground between local and national - will suffer though.

@currybet: How much of the technical side of web publishing do you get taught on your course - do you learn any HTML or CSS or anything like that?

Helia: On the web journalism postgraduate diploma course at Sheffield, I've been taught to use Dreamweaver and also build websites through coding by hand (HTML and CSS) in notepad. I've also learned some XML, although I wouldn't say I was proficient in it!

We study a lot of the same core things as the other postgraduate courses (NCTJ law, writing news, structure of government, and so on), It's good to have a knowledge of all those things, and we've also had some basic training in recording and editing audio and video, which is useful.

@currybet: Outside of work or college, how much time do you spend on the Internet? Do you use the web much on a mobile device?

Helia: I'm a total web fiend. I love it. I almost definitely spend more time on the internet than I'd like to own up to... I have access on my phone, and use it to check my email and so on. I have also used it to search for words when I'm in the pub trying to finish the Guardian crossword....

For some other views from journalism students, Shane Richmond recently had a guest blog post from Hannah Waldram, and Michael Haddon wrote a piece for journalism.co.uk about his job prospects.