Third year JMU Journalism students ventured to London this weekend for a visit to the Guardian and Sky News, as well as an overnight stay in the capital.
Text students walked through central London to the offices of the Guardian and The Observer, where they were given industry tips by seasoned reporters.
Student Ryan Jones said: “The Guardian visit was really eye-opening for me. It was good to get advice from and ask questions to some real working journalists. It was a real insight into the industry that I am studying to go into.”
JMU Journalism Programme Leader Jackie Newton said of the trip: “Third year can be really stressful, so we wanted to give students time to enjoy themselves while finding out more about how the big media companies work. The Guardian and Sky did us proud and I think the students got a lot out of the visits.
“I should also say that the staff were proud of the students who were great ambassadors for JMU Journalism; professional, respectful and knowledgeable in all dealings with the journalists. They gave a great impression of themselves and of the university.”
Radio and TV students got the coach down on Friday morning and visited Sky News headquarters.
Jessica Jones, a third year TV student, said: “It was really interesting to see how a 24-hour news channel worked. They read the news from the middle of a massive news room, and I never expected that.
“We also got valuable advice from the speakers about how to make yourself stand out when applying for jobs in broadcast media.”