When I first enrolled into NTU back in 2023 (gosh I’m old), I wish someone had given me an opportunity to build a professional, accredited portfolio of journalistic work. The journalism industry is very competitive, dog eat dog and often quite ruthless.
It is an industry where one needs to stand out in some way. Think of any famous journalist, let’s take Louis Theroux for example. Louis is known for his unique interviewing style, where he will often pause uncomfortably which puts pressure on the interviewee to say more than necessary. This is actually an interesting psychology trick you can use on your friends or family, though it is quite an uncomfortable moment to be in.
Sorry for the tangent, my point is that Louis has a sort of uniqueness about him. In business terms I guess you could say a USP or ‘unique selling point’. I think to be a successful journalist in today’s climate, you need to somewhat stand out in some way.
In terms of your humble author here, I have been making short documentaries on TikTok. I explore areas of Nottingham with higher crime rates and conduct interviews with locals aiming to get a general consensus of why the stats are this way.
I then condense this into an easily digestible two minute video, which I engineer to be as engaging as possible to keep your attention and get eyes on these often neglected areas.
The good news is, if you are reading this, is that it is a lot easier than you may think (especially as a uni student).
Standing out as a uni student studying journalism is purely about putting in the work now and getting the reps in. In other words, doing it. Doing the thing you are getting yourself into debt for.
It is daunting, but if you are in first year, you have an absurd amount of free time. Use this wisely. By writing articles for a publication such as Platform, you are unknowingly putting yourself ahead of 99% of your competitors. Yes, competitors. Like I said, this industry is killer.
Write about anything. Just start doing it. You will thank me later, trust me.
Thank you for reading.
You can join Platform here https://www.trentstudents.org/groups/platform