6:30am wake up, get ready feed my cat
Nala (very important otherwise she will 'meow' the house down),
procrastinate a little bit, and drink coffee as if I don't have to be
anywhere anytime soon. Now it's 7:30am, … f**ck I better leave! An
ecstasy of fumbling and gathering of things: bag, lunch, phone, I
pod, purse, OYSTER CARD (can't forget that), and I'm out the house.
Get to the office for 8:00am (always try to beat Paddy, but it never
happens) Then it's time to try and cram and read as much of the
newspapers as possible (just incase there is a sneaky news test
around the corner.) And the days are filled with listening to
Roberta's words of wisdom, news writing, interviewing, press
conferences, more press conferences, news writing and then more news
writing and a bunch of resubs in the evening. Just dandy.
It's true what Keith said in my
interview, “from day one, you will be writing!” And by god has it
been one week of constant writing like you.can.not.imagine! Forget
the kind of writing you might have done at uni, news writing is a
whole other level of concise writing that has to be “cut to the bone.”
I have found myself staying late in the
evenings working on resubs with the company of my fellow PMA-ers also
at their desks fighting against a 50 or 200 word count. One thing we
all feel in common, our weekends and nights are definitely not what
they used to be. Before, weekends were a time of leisure, parties,
seeing friends and family, relaxing, zoning out from obligations. And
now, it's all about cramming as much work as possible before Monday
begins and the next load is placed on our shoulders. Oh and of
course, lets not forget that when Roberta casually briefs us to find
a news story on a Saturday afternoon and throws in it's due the next
day … hell yes, say goodbye to your sunday!
It's amazing how much we have all
accomplished in just a week. I didn't believe it when past PMA-ers
told me you won't know how rewarding it is until you actually get in
there and do it. They were right. Little by little the challenges I
overcome give me a sense of empowerment and a strong belief that I
too can be a Journalist.
I'm learning something new every day.
Although it's intense, it's like that for a reason and as Roberta's
words ring in my head: “You are better than internships, you are
looking for a JOB.” The reality check kicks in pretty quickly. So
this is what it's all about, our work gets rejected until it's
progressing to publication standard. We learn shorthand 4 days in the
morning so we can write with ease when interviewing people and
getting the 'juicy' bits down. We are randomly quizzed on the news so
we are aware of whats happening, however important or mundane – we
should know! We get given spelling tests and face the shame of our
atrocious spelling errors! We stop people on the streets and get them
to talk to us by answering our questions about smartphones, air
pollution and other briefs we are given. Some of us (including me)
even sit at our desks to have lunch! So this is it kids …. this is
the life of PMA-ers so far.
Im happy I have got through the first
week as I'm sure all my fellow PMA-ers are too. It's been busy but
I'm excited to see what we have to face next week. Even though, it
sounds daunting and makes my stomach churn a little when thinking of
all the new challenges in week 2; I can't help but think of all the
new skills we will be learning. Skills that will get us all one step
closer to getting a job in Journalism.
Charlie's vision of us all “all nine
weeks from now, toasting our successes, as we sip champagne in
leather bound arm chairs” sure does make me laugh and feel hopeful
of the future. Although I do think it'll be a while before we get
there. I'd like to think of Charlie's vision is one of victory,
after the long and twisted journey that we have begun. But yes, (after
loads more rejected stories), I'd like to think we will get there.
Eventually...
Bring on week 2!
Over and out guys.
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