Journalism: What’s it really all about?

“It is one of the professional tasks of newspapers to unmask the fraudulent and the scandalous. It is in the public interest to do it. It is a job which newspapers have done time and time again in their long history.”

Lord Justice Lawton

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.

 

Making my plans to run away with the circus – then realising I can’t juggle

Growing up, I was a bookworm. The sort of child who took a book down to the dinner table and who lay on the floor in the supermarket reading all the magazines while my mum did the food shopping each week.

This love of books stemmed particularly from my mother introducing me to the  imaginative children’s stories by Enid Blyton, which were packed full of pixies and adventures. I used to save up my pocket money and go to a book stall on the local market to buy second hand books – usually Famous Fives, Secret Sevens, The Adventures of…, The Magic Faraway Tree collection, Mrs Pepperpot, Malory Towers etc – all the classics.

I would then plough through the books at lightning speed and be forced to read them over and over again until I could save enough for some more!

So imagine my delight when, after writing a story about a circus coming to King’s Lynn, I was offered free tickets to go along. I went along on Friday night, and despite my previous unease around clowns and the like, I was very excited to watch what I had been told was a “traditional circus designed to reignite childhood memories”.

Mr Fip’s Wonder Circus certainly delivered – from the moment I entered the big top, I was transported back into the pages of my Famous Five and The Adventures of… books where circuses were packed with magic, amazing acrobats and feats of contortion – of freak shows and hypnotising dancing girls. It was a fantastic night out and, for the official price of the tickets, very good value for money.

Despite the tent being packed out with families with young children, I think myself, my boyfriend and our two friends we took along, were having even more fun watching the acts. I can honestly say I didn’t stop laughing from the moment I entered the big top to the moment I left – it was hilarious and awe-inspiring throughout.

My favourite acts were the chap on the unicycle who impressed with his superb cycling skills as he bounced the contraption up and down flights of stairs and dribbled inbetween cones. He then switched to a smaller version of his cycle which was just a wheel with pedals, before challenging himself with a unicycle that was double the height. Amazing talents.

My second favourite act was the beautiful Arabian Nights performance by a young woman dressed in her stunning costume (similar to Jasmine’s in the Disney film, Aladdin). She was a hula-hooping extraordinaire who showed the audience all kinds of tricks which saw her hooping with around 30 huge hoops at the same time and then upping her game by setting them on fire. Her movements were hypnotic and I couldn’t tear my eyes away – especially later when she returned to the ring for her other act, which saw her dangling from a ball that was hung from the ceiling and performing acrobatic moves.

Finally, an act which deserves a fantastic mention for leaving me in pain for laughing so hard – my ribs still ached the next day from such hysterics! Mr Fips and his father performed their double act, The Brenner Clowns, which saw the comedic duo throwing water, soap and other messy liquids all over each other – and the audience! It was hilarious and through the art of mime they managed to tell a story while doing it. The piece was incredibly well scripted and practised until perfected – yet still retained the feeling of complete spontaneity. It was a wonderful break from the main show and the pair should be applauded (as they were, and very heartily from the audience) for their amazing chemistry in the ring.

A fantastic night out and totally changed my opinion of both clowns and circuses. Before now I had not been to the circus for several years and had based my opinion of them on what I saw in the news and heard from others – mainly relating to animal cruelty and creepy clowns. I am happy to admit that all of those beliefs were wrong and instead I found an amazing show that brings some incredible talents together. These dedicated individuals put their all into performing the very best possible show for you and they have an amazing time doing it. I would heartily recommend visiting this circus as it makes it’s way to Downham Market and beyond.

A day of vintage shopping and exploring off the beaten track in my favourite city

After a week of stressing about lots of little things, it was time to unwind over the weekend by spending a little time with my loved ones and trying something different. Saturday was spent in Norwich with my boyfriend, after waking up first thing, we decided to head to the city for a day of browsing the lanes – neither of us needing to buy anything just fancying a look around the city in the sunshine.

First of all we went to the Patisserie for a drink and some gateaux – I indulged in the double chocolate, while Mark went for the chocolate mousse combined with fruit smoothies and chocolate milkshakes. Absolutely delicious – I can never resist this place because all of the cakes look so gorgeous.

After, we headed into the lanes where we wandered among the cobbled streets for hours, popping into little boutique and vintage shops, found adorable cafes and delis that we had never seen before, including one that was selling a type of venison salami. The sun came out in force and it was a beautiful day, which only added to the feeling of being on holiday – I love when you rediscovered a place so familiar to yourself just by wandering off the beaten track.

After a few hours, we suddenly came across this huge vintage and antiques shop, Looses Emporium, which looked incredible. We were instantly sucked in and began to explore the enormous warehouse and its contents. We found some amazing items – mainly furniture that made me wish I were moving out so I could fill my home with these unique pieces – but also books, clothes, ornaments and much, much more. Here are some of my favourites:

A vintage Lotto machine..

A throne!

Obviously need one of these for above the mantlepiece!

Still in perfect working condition – such a beautiful tone to the music that you just don’t get from iPods etc…

As suggested by my friend – a sex gong! Haha

And my favourite item of the day – a classic novel..

Then, after two and a half hours of exploring (which included a flea market we found upstairs where Mark bought the purple 50’s bowling bomber as pictured above and an original 1960’s kimono), we moved on to Aladdin’s Cave, which was just down the street where I had to persuade Mark not to buy a life-size statue of Jesus for his new living room.

Both stored were amazing for one-off pieces and for finding something a little different, something we both love to do. Mark is moving into a new house, that his mum and step-dad are renovating in order to rent out, with one of his mates at the start of November and he is really excited to furniture shop for his own home. The place he shares now with two friends is filled with furniture and items that don’t belong to Mark, either to the others or they were given to the boys. He is definitely getting to that point where he wan’t to have a home to call his own and to have all his own things, rather than just a room in a house.

It was an amazing day and nicely rounded off with a meal in a Tapas restaurant we discovered which had the most amazing food. We shared a selection of dishes including Patatas Bravas, prawns in garlic and oil, mozzarella sticks in breadcrumbs with garlic mayonnaise, meatballs in a tomato sauce with peas, and a phenomenally tasty chorizo, bacon, and pea stew in a smoky tomato sauce that fired up my taste buds.

It was so nice to spend a day with Mark, just the two of us, exploring somewhere we both love. We haven’t had enough couple time lately and haven’t appreciated each other as much as we should so it was nice to be together away from everything and everyone at home.

A clean page and a fresh start

Hello, and welcome to my new project.

My name is Lucy, and this is what I look like…

I’m 23 years old and come from King’s Lynn, in Norfolk, where I am living after completing my degree. I work as a trainee reporter at the local paper (read more about this in my About section) and this blog will serve as both a log for the work I do, a diary for my training to help me monitor my progress. And of course, as a lifestyle blog and diary for the many fun things that I do such as going to festivals and gigs, theatre, restaurants and all the other wonderful things there are to do in Norfolk and beyond.

I don’t want to pin down the just one thing that this blog will focus on because that would be boring, I prefer to write about everything that happens to me, my friends and family as it happens.

I hope that you will enjoy reading and following my blog, if you would like to see some of my entertainment and newswriting for The Lynn News, visit the Journalism page or for my festival reviews and articles, visit the Festivals page.