My first piece as editor of This Festival Feeling

My first article as editor

Check it out guys! Here is a snapshot of my first published article as editor of This Festival Feeling – not only did I conduct the interview, come up with the questions and write up the final piece, but I also had the opportunity to edit the piece, format it and deal with pictures for the site. It was great to see both sides to the job and I was really pleased with the interview. If you would like to read the piece in full, click the picture above.

I am now officially the editor of the website and will oversee all writings and work, edit pieces and upload them to the website. I will still have the opportunity to write but will have the power to come up with strong editorial ideas and to lead the team. It is a great opportunity and I am really looking forward to the year ahead of leading a team on this project. It will help to give me the experience of an editor position with the focus on something I love – festivals. It is also an opportunity to have access to festivals in a way that I haven’t previously. I have a feeling 2014 is going to be a good year.

We are looking for other members of the editorial team – if you love to write and are looking for some extra work experience and a way of getting your writing published in exchange for free tickets to festivals – drop me a line below and I’ll point you in the right direction.

I’d also love any feedback on my article, again, leave any comments below – I look forward to reading them.

 

Life of a journalist and its varied tales…

This week has been a particularly extreme example of how very varied a career in journalism can be. Of course, for those who choose a speciality such as sport, law or feature work, the writing can seem repetitive over time, but the bonus of being thrown in the deep end without formal training and working in a short-staffed office is that you really get a chance to experience as many different writing styles as there are out there.

I am a great example of such a case and despite working on a paper that covers a relatively small part of Norfolk, there is a remarkable amount of very exciting news that needs covering! This week alone I have interviewed the star of West End musical – Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story ahead of its showing at the local theatre as part of the 25th anniversary tour and was given a backstage tour by Glen Joseph himself. I then wrote a piece about drug and alcohol abuse figures which involved me talking to action teams, the hospital, police, support groups and Norfolk County Council. I also interviewed a woman about her father’s Jobseeker’s Allowance being cut off and spoke to the Department of Work and Pensions and spoke to a woman who was celebrating her 103rd birthday.

I interviewed a published writer about his book, the tale of his father’s travels and the secret life he led during World War II followed by his work spying on the Russians during the Cold War.I also wrote about Bus Awards, flood alerts, power cuts, schools, charity work and local bands and theatre productions.

All that and more is what I have been working on in the space of one week – just think of all the amazing stories you could be working on at a national paper! If that doesn’t interest more people in journalism then perhaps the fact that in my second job, as editor of This Festival Feeling, I had the opportunity to interview Charlie Hedges, the youngest breakfast DJ in the UK, from KISS FM will interest people in the potential for a writing career and where it might take you.