"So basically, your project is just about women moaning."

This response is exactly why my FMP will focus on women's rights campaigns. I've always had an interest in both campaign journalism and feminism, so it would only be fitting to let my passion drive my final degree project. It's just a shame some of my friends evidently do not share my outlook!

Whilst pitching my ideas to my tutor, I realised the potential my project has. Not only does it lead itself to various mediums, there are some great opportunities to try something completely different in terms of online journalism. I just hope I do the subject justice.

My initial plan entails: 
Reclaim the Night - video project
International Women's Day - marathon live blogging with OnLocation
Does the UK need Femen? - feature on extreme feminism in the UK
No more page 3 - campaign coverage
Rape Culture - Mini doc, potentially historical
What makes me a woman? - My own campaign working with transwomen.

I have left four spaces for potential breaking news and surplus work. Hopefully some of these stories will catch your eye as I will be using my blog to heavily promote my work, amongst other things.

A lot of thought has gone into this. I knew I wanted to focus on some form of feminism/women's issues, but I just had to find the right title. Although this is a very stressful time for any student, I am so blessed to have a topic that I can get excited about.

(Image: NQ street art by MOZE)

Newsday Feature: Pinioning

Today I've been working towards our newsday assessment at uni. I'm going to be working on a TV package regarding pinioning with my friend Beth. Originally I was only helping with the research side, until I offered to film and edit.

TV is not my preferred medium, but I feel the story would work great with moving images. I think it will be really interesting to get behind the camera again. I'm also really looking forward to working with Beth. We've worked together creating radio talk shows in the past and she always works hard. One thing I often have trouble with at university is people who don't want to pull their weight. You'd be surprised by how many people still behave that way in HE!

The picture above is from my lecture. In between slides Beth and I emailed charities, zoos and campaigners to arrange filming. Once I get started on a project, I make sure I see it to the end and do a damn fine job of it! I'm glad I've got something new to throw myself into.

Paper and perfume

I mentioned a few posts ago that I have started my new Christmas job at Lush. The training has been absolutely fantastic and I've genuinely enjoyed every moment of it. I originally knew a lot of their products, but now I understand them on a whole other level. We've learnt the science of hair care and skin care, how to work with different skin types, dying with henna; I feel like I should have a Lush degree!

I'm most looking forward to getting out on the shop floor. I think the more face to face interaction I have, the more I am going to grow and change. I've had shop jobs here and there, but I've been waiting for an opportunity like this to really explore sales and social interaction. I am also greatly looking forward to Christmas. Our new range looks incredible and I can't wait to show you all! Pop into Lush Arndale for a consultation with me! 

Yesterday I also attended a meeting for the new student newspaper. It's our first year making the jump to online so things have been hectic. Having said that, I am greatly disappointed with the organisation of our recruitment drive and although I take my features editor role seriously, I am feeling exasperated by the whole situation. For now, I'm operating in my own bubble. I want to make content that students will love reading and those that don't will still talk about. I don't want the paper to be ignored in the same way that it has been in the past. We have great writers involved already, it's just a shame they may not be able to show and nurture their talent in a structured way. 

I will do what I can but at the end of the day it's a team effort!

ILM placement

Guess who found a placement?

This week I've been able to work on IloveManchester.com. I visited the office on Tuesday to work on a project regarding small businesses and rewriting press releases. Since then I've been working from home because I'm training for my other new job. It's been really interesting to see how a seemingly small business can take on so much work and gain so much interest.

I'll be having a week block placement at IloveManchester for part of my third year 'Journalism Practise' module. I'm really excited because I absolutely loved my first day in their Barton Arcade office! They share another office with Viva mag so I'm hoping to gain some contacts there as well.

Overall it's been lovely working on a local scale!

It's good to be busy again

This week entails placement interviews, training, freshers fair prep and of course more Allié!

I'm excited to say that I've finally got myself a job that I can fit around my studies! I'll be working in my local Lush store. It's safe to say I know Lush products inside and out. After being a long-term fan of their excellent range and wonderful ethics; it feels amazing to say that I am now a part of their team.

I have a few placement interviews lined up. Hopefully they'll pull through because in the past I have been promised opportunities that haven't materialised. My plan is to visit as many places as possible to get the most enriched and varied experience.

Freshers fair will be taking place on 18th-19th. I'm so exciting to be heavily involved in the paper this year. I pulled an 'all-nighter' on Thursday night and managed to generate 3 pages of solid ideas for the features section. Although I am a student, it's actually been a challenge trying to tag into what my fellow students will want to read. I wouldn't exactly class myself as a typical student and most of my research lead to very 'lad-culture' orientated content.

Today I updated the Allié jobs page. This time I've asked for people to pitch ideas, rather than apply to be a part of the team. This is purely because we've had a lot of people join us and not actually submit anything. It has been highly frustrating, but I hope that this new way will ensure that the content we create will be of a higher standard.

I've been so busy recently that I've had to turn down events and visiting my family in Newcastle. It's disappointing, but I really feel like I'm progressing now. Fingers crossed I'll be able to find something that takes on graduates so I can stay in Manchester after uni!

Latest feature: Male suicide

My final module piece will be a 2000 word feature for a North West based audience. An extremely broad brief allowed me to explore many social issues. Originally I considered teen pregnancy, anorexia and drug abuse. However, these seemed to be part of a more national issue and it was hard to squeeze them down into one region.

Don't get me wrong, male suicide is a serious national issue, but I feel that particular traditional lifestyles in the north create a social barrier for men suffering in silence. Thus, I've been exploring what can be done to tackle this issue and what makes NW men at risk.

It's been a real challenge for me. Not only is this issue quite close to home, but obviously I'm also not a man so I can't instantly relate to traditional male roles. In the past, I've focused heavily on women's issues but I feel being a feminist goes beyond standing up for your fellow females. It's about gender equality. That's another reason why I was particularly drawn to this subject. We hear a lot about how gender roles effect women, but little about how they effect men. Breaking down these social constructions allows us to create a better world for both men and women alike.

I've yet to finish my piece. I'm currently writing up a very personal interview so it's been rather tough to get through. A friend told me the worst thing you can do with a story like this is to get emotionally involved, evidently I didn't get that memo! 

I'll probably put my piece on here after I've received feedback.

Ever fancied being a club promotion girl?

My latest feature went live on Allié Magazine today! This piece was originally written for a university assignment. I received a high 2:1 grade, but being only 2% away from a first was admittedly rather annoying!

My aim was to find whether being part of a promotion team was all it's cracked up to be. Having lived in university halls in my first year, I was constantly receiving flyers offering jobs in club promotion. Since it's a popular earner for students, I was interested in finding out more!

My interviewee was very open. In the piece we discuss drinking, relationships and sex. Before interviews I often panic about asking awkward questions, but during interviews, it's best to just be up front!

I'd appreciate it if you could take a look and leave some comments! Maybe even your own experiences?

A little bit of everything

This week I started as the Cosmo On Campus campaign manager for Salford. It's a great honour to represent such a respectable magazine, especially considering I've been a long-term reader! I'm really going all in on this project. Despite the recent weather conditions, I'm not put off about the idea of hand to hand distribution. It's going to be really nice getting out on campus and having the opportunity to have a natter with fellow students!

I've also got some good news regarding Allié! We've had a huge increase in traffic to the website and have smashed our monthly target. I've very proud of all the writers and the effort they've put in! Admittedly I've become rather obsessed with Google Analytics Real Time.

University is also keeping me busy. Anyone who follows me on twitter will know that for my last Print Journalism project I chose to write a news feature on the sex industry in my home town. This was a huge task. Despite the risqué subject, I found many interviewees were willing to talk about their career choices. Whilst I had a great response from the workers, I struggled getting comment from official bodies. I had been very worried about how this let my piece down. However, I got my grades back yesterday and can proudly say I finished the module on a 2:1 grade!

Salford University Dance Society - Romeo and Juliet review

When it comes to entertainment I'm the type of person who prefers to sit in with a couple of DVD's and a takeaway, so when my friends suggested attending a dance interpretation of Romeo and Juliet I had very mixed feelings.

Salford University Dance Society's (S.U.D.S) adaptation of Romeo and Juliet was more modern than I assumed it would be. With a soundtrack that included the likes of N.E.R.D and Katy Perry I was very surprised. I even found myself shuffling along in my seat to the beat. Despite the unexpected music, the chosen tracks really helped to illustrate the story. Even those who were unfamiliar with the play found it easy to follow along.



The choreography was fantastic. I really got the feeling that the brains behind the moves, Poppy Olah and Rachel Howe, really tried to incorporate a diverse range of dancing styles to show off what the cast could really do. The only draw back was the size of the stage. Some scenes felt let down by lack of space on the stage and due to the crowding I feel some of the dancers were distracted. I was informed that for some scenes some of the cast already had to be cut as they couldn't fit everyone on the stage.

Despite the cramped setting the cast pulled through and put on a great show. I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed the night and would recommend this kind of event to anyone looking for something a bit different to a DVD and takeaway!