Students get a masterclass in digital journalism

Student journalists were given a masterclass in how to find, research and report stories digitally by an award-winning reporter.
 
Paul Lynch, Johnston Press’s Weekly Journalist of the Year, visited De Montfort University Leicester (DMU)’s Leicester Centre for Journalism to run sessions for students.

 
He split the class in to groups to set them a challenge of finding stories from Leicester with one group looking at YouTube, another Twitter and the final group Facebook, before reporting back results.
 
Paul – himself a DMU graduate - covered the different ways in which journalists can use digital tools to report and add to their stories through interviews on Facebook Live, live blogs or live tweeting events.

Today’s journalists are expected to be able to produce podcasts, videos and organize live blogs as well as write and publish stories.

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Paul said that social media adds elements and angles to stories that journalists may not otherwise be able to access, as well as the wealth of information on public bodies available online.

He said: “In the old days, you’d have to wait for the auditor to come once a year and apply to look through council expenses to find out how public money is spent.

“Now there’s this wonderful pool of information which journalists can pick from and go through.  Councils and public bodies are there to be scrutinized, and that’s the message I hoped to get across.”

Students were challenged to come up with a topical question and do live vox pops using Facebook Live. The results were posted onto the Leicestershire Press site.