Journalism Reflection

In the two terms I‘ve had journalism with Mr. Cantwell as my teacher, I not only constructed a website that would be the home for my future blog and news stories, I developed many new skills through hands on work. This includes things like my confidence, interviewing skills, problem solving techniques, dedication to my work, and being more objective when it comes to my thinking and writing, these skills are what helped me realize that I want to pursue a career in journalism. My passion wasn’t in politics or the environment, but in crime. I‘ve written quite a few stories on different crimes ranging from simple carjacking to homicide. I have also gained a deeper understanding of how and why it’s important to always see a story from all sides especially when it‘s comes to serious crimes and peoples lives and humanity are at stake.

Of course I’ve learnt and memorized important aspects of journalism like the Journalistic Code of Ethics, Orwell’s rules of Journalism, how to edit and publish, how concisely and actively write stories and much more. I now know a lot more about not only the history of Journalism but the importance of it in modern day society.

Something that always makes a course more enjoyable and educational is hands on work. Hands on work gives you a broader and much more sophisticated understanding of what your learning. It helps develop and train skills that you can’t gain from the classroom. Listening and talking about things aren’t always the best ways of learning something. A lawyer needs to represent a real client, a surgeon needs to perform operations and a journalist has to go out into the world and watch what's happening instead of listening to it. Harder work would also definitely help make a student much better in their subject.

I have 3 personal highlights from this semester that I think have helped me grow as an individual, the first one is the time when I interviewed my dad for my first Assessment Task. I learnt alit about my father from that experience and I bonded with him on a level I haven’t before. My second favorite highlight is when I published 5 stories in one day.