We (the staff) often characterise our postgrad journalism students as ruthlessly careerist, tending to reject any aspect of the course that doesn't obviously relate to their immediate career goals.
Iain Dale might have fallen foul of that. He didn't, and I think the reason he didn't is because he was so obviously 'one of us' - Iain comes over as a journalist first and a politician second. He is, of course, one of the new breed of 'citizen journalists' that so troubles students like ours.
And well it might - they are adding mightily to their debts to pay to become professional journalists - and here we are saying 'anyone can do it'.
Of course we're not. For one thing, Iain Dale isn't anyone. More importantly, this is the world they're going to have to cope with - a world I believe will have an even greater need for professionals with the skill to pull it together, context it and reflect it back.
I've looked throught many, but by no means all, of the student blogs about Iain's talk. This is the one that's struck me as the most pertinent I've seen so far (it comes from the modest Ollie Hawkins).
Iain Dale might have fallen foul of that. He didn't, and I think the reason he didn't is because he was so obviously 'one of us' - Iain comes over as a journalist first and a politician second. He is, of course, one of the new breed of 'citizen journalists' that so troubles students like ours.And well it might - they are adding mightily to their debts to pay to become professional journalists - and here we are saying 'anyone can do it'.
Of course we're not. For one thing, Iain Dale isn't anyone. More importantly, this is the world they're going to have to cope with - a world I believe will have an even greater need for professionals with the skill to pull it together, context it and reflect it back.
I've looked throught many, but by no means all, of the student blogs about Iain's talk. This is the one that's struck me as the most pertinent I've seen so far (it comes from the modest Ollie Hawkins).
