University News Last updated 15 March 2011
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Budding young journalists have been given a taste of working in the media at a ‘bootcamp’ run by the BBC and Birmingham City University.
The University’s New Technology Institute (NTI) hosted the BBC Broadcast Bootcamp which was attended by 36 pupils in Year 9 and 10 from 14 schools across the West Midlands.
The course, which ran between Monday 21 February and Friday 25 February, taught journalistic and broadcasting skills to demonstrate to pupils the techniques and knowledge needed for a journalism career. The students gained valuable hands on experience with the use of industry standard equipment whilst working with specialists at Birmingham City University. Students adopted the roles of reporters, producers, researchers and editor/technical operators. Then they got the opportunity to showcase their talents as a team in a five minute slideshow.
The pupils created their own news and current affairs radio packages and gained hands on experience in; identifying stories for a particular target audience, news-writing and production, interviewing and presentation techniques, editing and other technical skills required to create news worthy programmes and entertaining features.
They put their new-found skills to use by making features about issues such as the effects of the media on young women’s body-image, and social networks and young people.
Bradley Beckett from George Salter Collegiate Academy is one of the pupils who attended the bootcamp which was funded by West Midlands Excellence Hub. He said: ‘It has made me look at all the different areas of media; radio and journalism and it has given me a better insight in to what I am going to do in the future. It has really given me a good outlook of journalism and radio overall’.
Senior lecturers from the University’s Birmingham School of Media, Bob Calver and Sam Coley, taught the school pupils media techniques and an audio slideshow about their experience which demonstrates the skills they learnt was produced by Sam Coley. The Bootcamp was also documented by a photographer, Ellie Gibbons, whose new photography venture has been supported by the bseen programme that helps Birmingham graduates set up their own businesses.
Director of NTI, Sara Middleton said: “This a great opportunity for young people to gain some of the competences needed for a career in the media.
“Events like BBC Broadcast Bootcamp provided young people with an insight into a profession that they may not otherwise have gained.”
Following the success of the Bootcamp, NTI will be holding another event called Gamer Camp Pico in May which is a five day course aimed at giving talented school pupils in Years 9 & 10 an insight into the games industry. Taking a highly practical approach, young people will look at the fundamentals of games design, user interface design, games mechanics, play testing and iterative development to create games – all useful skills for those looking to learn more about how games are developed.