Journalism student Sophie Dishman was able to complete two placements at national level with help from the Futures Fund.
Sophie, now in her third year at the University of Sunderland, was given the opportunity to complete a placement with the Daily Mirror as part of their politics team based in Westminster at the Houses of Parliament. She was also given the opportunity to attend a week-long placement with The Guardian newspaper in their offices in Manchester.
Sophie, who had already been highly commended for Best Reporter in the national Student Publications Association (SPA) awards across the UK and Republic of Ireland, thanks to her work at SRNews, wanted to use these placements to keep developing her skills.
“Ultimately I wanted to use these placements to expand the skills I have learnt on my journalism degree as well as develop new skills that I could take forward into the third year of my degree and beyond,” she said. “These newspaper placements were my first real insight into the world of national news and allowed me to gain first-hand experience of life as a journalist at the top level of the industry.”
With the funds she was awarded from the Futures Fund Student Opportunity Scholarship Sophie was able to travel to both of these assignments.
She explained: “The Daily Mirror placement complemented the second year of my journalism studies as it allowed me to put into practice the public affairs, media law and shorthand knowledge that I have gained, in a real world environment for a national newspaper.
“It also allowed me to gain experience in a field I am thoroughly keen on going into. The placement definitely solidified my career goals and thus I am still deeply interested in becoming a political reporter.
“During the placement I was able to meet a variety of politicians including Vince Cable, Tom Watson and Jeremy Corbyn, while shadowing the associate editor of the paper, Kevin Maguire. I was also able to experience life as a political journalist in Westminster meaning I was able to attend the morning meetings with the prime minister’s spokesperson as well as watch and report on Prime Ministers Questions. As well as this I was able to gain both newspaper and online bylines with the Daily Mirror, including a front page splash with the political editor which I was very happy with.”
Talking about her experience at The Guardian newspaper in Manchester, the 23-year-old said: “I managed to get three bylines online as well as one in the newspaper. On one of the days I was trusted to travel to Blackburn to do an on the ground investigative piece, which I was able to travel to and complete as a result of the funds. The story I wrote was published online.
“From this, I was asked to assist on other stories and was able to shadow the Northern Editor of the paper when reporting on Saffie Rousso’s funeral in Manchester. I was able to put my shorthand and other practical skills into practice, but also got to experience a very sensitive event and was able to develop my resilience - it was a tough event to report, but it was a valuable experience and one I have used again since completing the placement.”
She continued: “As a result of both of these placements, I have been able to develop contacts at both organisations that will assist me in my final year of study for assignments and will also help me in the future in my career.
“These placements have solidified my interest in political journalism, but have also solidified the fact that I would like to be a journalist. They have ultimately made me more appealing to potential employers in my opinion as I have been trusted by both national newspapers to produce work for them. I had a lot of responsibility bestowed on me within these organisations so I hope that it will show that I am a competent journalist within my chosen fields.”
The student concluded: “I would like to thank the donors for funding these two opportunities as they have proved to be valuable for my career and my course.”