In response to Murdoch’s suggestion at the Inquiry that a employee who made allegations of bullying ‘should have just left’ the News of the World, Wheal felt that Murdoch was ultimately the biggest bully. I laughed in agreement.

As a student of English, not Journalism, it was great to have my own knowledge broadened as regards the legal and ethical aspects of the media.

It was interesting to hear Wheal explore the different laws that apply to broadcast and print journalism.

When writing for our student newspaper at Swansea University, the Waterfront, we have to keep in mind the potential laws we may be breaching and how to avoid this.

As mother of Swansea University’s NUJ chapel the social that followed the Media Law & Ethics session was a great place to meet other active NUJ members.

It gave us insight into how other chapels work as well as how to get involved with the delegates meeting later this year.

This event was invaluable and the chapel at Swansea University send their thanks to the staff that set up this up and who invited great connections for us to network with.

Bring on the revitalised ethics in future journalism!



Samantha Booth is 20-year-old English Literature student studying at Swansea University. She is currently the mother of Swansea University’s NUJ chapel and the General Features Editor of the students’ union newspaper, The Waterfront.

The Things My Mother Says is a humorous blog she updates exploring the life of her young mother.

 Unlikely though it may seem to people outside the business, journalists are creatures of habit.

Admittedly not all of them are good, legal or healthy, but they are habits for all that. And part of the process of acquiring them involves having some form of routine.

The latter is invariably determined by deadlines which serve as the foundations on which every journalist’s working day is built.

A journalist without a deadline

But how do you function in their absence? Since leaving full-time employment with Media Wales I knew there was going to come a point when I had to confront this reality.

Initially it was easy to put off. My redundancy package meant I had the (relative) luxury of treating any lengthy period of unemployment as an extended sabbatical.

So, yes, I’ve done a huge amount of reading for pleasure, maintained a decent social life and generally found ways of keeping myself occupied without having to fret over where the next meal comes from.

Skills development training

In addition I’ve taken the opportunity to improve my skills base. A common theme among colleagues who finished at Media Wales when I did was the realisation of just how industry specific our knowledge and experience was.

Sure, some of it was transferable as part of our fabled communications skills, but in themselves they were ¬- or are – no guarantee of work in today’s ultra-competitive job market.

ReAct funding for the unemployed in Wales

As a consequence I’ve completed a Welsh Government-funded ReAct course which has given me a good grounding in a range of commonly used professional IT skills.

Throw in some help and advice from NUJ Training Wales, for which many thanks, and on paper at least I’m now a much more attractive prospect to potential employers.

New ideas

Yet, like it or not, it’s surprising how quickly you get out of certain habits. In my case it’s living without deadlines, something which has led to a mini crisis of confidence.

And I need to address it, as a mix of self-doubt and low levels of motivation has left me doing little more than treading water.

It’s time to start putting my new skills to good use, alongside the old familiar ones. I have some ideas, but in the first instance I’m going to pursue some voluntary work, something I’ve thought about for a while and may actually provide the inspiration I’m looking for.

These things always happen when you least expect them, don’t they? Like a confession of infidelity or a Lottery win. Thankfully I’ve never been on the receiving end of the former, but then sadly neither have I of the latter…

But in all truthfulness, it didn’t come out of the blue. Working for one of Wales’ biggest publishers, I had spent seven years witnessing almost annual rounds of redundancies thanks to falling print ad revenues, fewer people buying newspapers and an over-zealous MD, so it was really only a matter of time before it was my turn.

Like the death of an elderly relative who has been ill for years, it still came as a body shock.

How they announced the redundancies

Here’s how it happened: I was going on holiday and had taken the day off to pack and have a spray tan. On walking back through the front door from the salon, the phone rang. It was my boss. And not my line manager but my BIG boss. Uh-oh. I must have made some horrendous subbing mistake that was going to lead to legal action and cost me my job.

Well, I was kind of half right, as it turned out.

She was fairly ambiguous, suggesting it would be a good idea to come into the office as a major departmental meeting was being held in literally an hour or so from then. I recall asking directly whether it was regarding redundancies and getting a non-committal reply. Not good news.

My first thought was to not bother going in. After all, it was my day off, for heaven’s sake! Not to mention the fact that I was covered head to foot in fake tan that I had been instructed not to wash off until the following morning. But the alternative was to sit at home worrying what was going on and whether my future was being decided for me in my absence.

Who was going to get the axe?

So donning a black maxi dress I braved the torrential rain (tip: fake tan and water don’t mix) and caught the train to work, feeling like a condemned woman but then reminding myself that my tendency for pessimism might mean that I was blowing this all out of proportion. Perhaps it was something entirely different?

Walking into the office, the tension was palpable. And as we all congregated in one of the boardrooms, it was obvious this was serious.

What our editorial director said in that meeting is now just a blur (even though, like a good journalist, I made notes during the meeting). And despite individuals not being named, in a nutshell, most production journalist roles were being made redundant and we would be forced to compete for a handful of new roles or a part-time position – or opt for redundancy.

Like bereavement, redundancy seems to have several stages – shock, grief, anger, acceptance, moving on, etc. At this point I simply felt numb, although I recall texting my other half, desperate to hear, or rather read, some words of reassurance and hope.

Although it was my day off, I filed back to my desk with the rest of the department to join the safe ones (writers, managers), most of whom who had the good grace to look a little sheepish. Any hint of smugness would have been too much to bear – as I was to discover further down the redundancy process.

But for now, the shock hit me and the tears came as I realised that, in all probability, my life was never going to be the same again.

To be continued…

Claire Gardiner, journalist

All students are invited to attend whether they are members of the NUJ or not.

The session isn’t limited to students of Journalism. Students of all disciplines who are contemplating a career in journalism, media and comms and who are interested in the work of the NUJ and the training it offers are more than welcome to attend.

 • 27th April 2012 – 3 till 6pm

• University of Glamorgan, The Atrium, Adam St, Cardiff CF24 2FN 

• Sign in at reception and ask for the NUJ student meeting (4th floor boardroom CA419) 

• 6-8pm: You’re invited for a drink and nibbles social at the Gwdihw Café Bar (details below)

It’ll be an informal session with plenty of opportunity to ask questions:

 • The NUJ’s general secretary, Michelle Stanistreet will give an update on the Leveson Inquiry into phone hacking and on the NUJ’s submissions to the Inquiry.

• Journalist and editor Chris Wheal will outline some of the prominent legal risks journalist face writing each and every story and will provide practical tips to help journalists avoid falling foul of the law. He will look at defamation and libel, contempt of court, copyright and policing. He will also touch on using the Freedom of Information Act.

• We will be able to give you information about the training we offer in Wales and England (available to students as well as media workers) plus general help and advice for NUJ students in Wales and England

• There will be a chance to ask questions

 Join us straight afterwards for drink and nibbles:

• The Gwdihw Café Bar: 6-8pm

• 6 Guildford Crescent
, Off Churchill Way, 
Cardiff
 CF10 2HJ

• It’s a 3 minute walk from the back of The Atrium and we can all head over there together.

I hate public speaking – even for three minutes. So it was with some reluctance I agreed to Anna Roberts’ email appeal.

Project Manager of NUJ Training Wales, she was giving a presentation at the “Well done WULF” (Wales Union Learning Fund) event, which has helped finance recent NUJ courses in Wales, and wanted a couple of personal testimonies from course participants to support her.

As I probably hold the record for having attended more of these courses than anyone else, I felt obliged to say ‘yes’. Especially if it helped ensure continued funding. And Welsh Assembly representatives would be in the audience to hear how their money had been spent.

Speakers included UCATT, the RCN, UNITE, Jocelyn Andrews, author, Learning Through Sport and guest inspirational speaker, Camilla Lovelace – who, after a life-threatening brain tumour, described how her life had been transformed through various training courses and has led to her becoming a trainer herself.

Anna did a good job reporting on the benefits to both freelances and staffers of courses and activities currently being offered by NUJ Training Wales as well as new ones in the pipeline.

And former Media Wales production journalist Steve Jones, vouched for the ‘outstanding value for money’ of the courses he’d been on since taking redundancy, e.g. CV writing and career development workshops.

Despite the butterflies in my stomach, I managed to tell delegates that through networking on the NUJ ‘s training courses, colleagues and I have launched a new media consultancy, which is taking off very nicely – thank you. Visit us at www.everymediasolutions.co.uk

Hope WULF think we’re all worth it!

Jenny Sims, journalist, editor ….. and entrepreneur

Photo of Jenny doing what she hates most (she’s actually very good at it)

Check out their course calendar for information and dates for the Marketing, Accountancy, Pro Tools, Digital Workflows and Film Production courses.

Anyone living or working in the convergence area of Wales can attend these workshops for free.

Further details of courses will be published week by week.

All courses will be run in 2012 and again in 2013 and 2014.

Conversations with friends and colleagues in the print and broadcast sectors have tended to follow a depressingly familiar trend, when no sooner has one set of cuts been analysed to the nth degree, then another comes along and the whole sorry process starts again.

Redundancy from Media Wales

That was certainly my experience prior to finishing at Media Wales. In the eight years beforehand I’d witnessed at least seven rounds of redundancy within editorial, allied to periodic recruitment freezes which involved the non-replacement of staff that left of their own accord.

However, all of the above meant I was about as well prepared as it’s possible to be for the moment when your employer decides your services have become surplus to requirements.

As a result I’d plenty of time to consider what I wanted to do in the aftermath of having performed several different roles within the same organisation over more than 21 years.

Others who left at the same time have reported similar experiences, while one consistent factor has been the issue of training – what to do, where to find it, how relevant is it, and, perhaps most importantly, its cost.

Training for journalists in Wales

And that’s where living in Wales in this instance comes into its own, largely thanks to eligibility for Welsh Government-funded ReAct training grants and competitively priced NUJ courses which represent outstanding value for money.

I’ve attended one or two day courses like Maximising the Potential of Social Media and Writing for the Web run by NUJ Training Wales and I also attended some career development workshops they held on developing your skills in interview as well as a one-to-one CV surgery which were invaluable.

I appreciate my circumstances are by no means typical of many who find themselves confronting the often grim realities which accompany redundancy, but if you’re looking for a fresh challenge don’t despair.

Being a member of the NUJ in Wales, in conjunction with your own transferable skills, means you’re in as good a position as any to pursue a new career regardless of whether it’s in an established editorial environment or not.

Read an update from Steve Jones, journalist and sub-editor, as he moves towards a life of work beyond Media Wales.

Photo of Steve speaking about training at a recent Wales Union Learning Fund event.

Where? Galeri, Caernarfon

NB: If you’ve been made redundant then you can apply to get the cost of the course covered by REACT funding.

Are you an ambitious programme-maker working in the TV, film or digital industries in Wales?

Are you keen to develop your creativity and work opportunities?

The Preditor Programme is an intensive 5-day training course to give producers, directors, APs and others the practical skills to shoot and edit their own broadcast-quality video.

Taught by award-winning filmmakers, this ‘hands on’ course will equip delegates with the technical and directorial skills needed to self-shoot with confidence (on either the Canon XF305 or Sony EX3) and then edit (on FCP or Avid) to create taster-tapes or rough cuts for broadcast programmes, or online video content.

As part of Skillset Cymru’s Skills for the Digital Economy Programme, the course, run by DV Talent, has been commissioned in response to the growing demand for multi-skilling programme makers in West Wales and the Valleys including North West Wales. There will be two runs of this course, the first in mid-March and the 2nd in May (TBC).

Eligible freelancers pay as little as £120. (NB: If you’ve been made redundant then you can apply to get the cost of the course covered by REACT funding.)

In addition to learning how to use the camera, sound equipment, basic three-point lighting, and editing software, this course also teaches participants the crucial grammar of film-making, including:

• How to structure sequences and get shots needed for the edit,

• How to frame and compose shots,

• how to cut shots together,

• How to log and storyboard shoots, film interviews, GVs and observationally

The course has been designed so that participants work through progressively more challenging modules – from basic camera skills, to filming controllable action and then observational filming) before moving the post-production including managing the tapeless workflow, and editing to produce a short film/taster tape.

PRACTICAL MATTERS

6 places are available on each of two courses. Participants are required to contribute £500 plus Vat to the course cost, although eligible freelancers can apply for bursaries to cover 80% of these fees.

Who is this for? Producers, Directors, Assistant Producers, Development Producers, Researchers and others working in the film, TV or digital industries

Where?  Galeri, Caernarfon

When?   26th – 30th March 2012

Cost? £500 + VAT   NB:  Eligible freelancers can apply for a Skillset Cymru Freelance Bursary to be used towards this course lowering cost to as little as £120 inc VAT:

Please note: To be eligible for the course, you must either live or work in the ‘Convergence’ regions of West Wales and the Valleys including North West Wales.

More information:   Skillset Cymru’s Skills for the Digital Economy Programme

To register, or if you have any questions, please email training@dvtalent.co.uk or call 0207 267 2300

“This activity is being carried out as part of Skillset Cymru’s £4.5m Skills for the Digital Economy Programme. The Programme is backed with £2.7m from the European Social Fund through the Welsh Government, with the rest of the funds provided by Welsh broadcaster S4C, the trade association for independent producers in film and television in Wales, Teledwyr Annibynnol Cymru (TAC) and Skillset Cymru.”

“Skillset is the Creative Industries’ Sector Skills Council (SSC). SSCs are licensed by the UK Government and by Ministers in the devolved administrations to tackle the skills and productivity challenges by sector. They are independent, UK-wide organisations, are employer-led, and actively involve trade unions, professional bodies and other stakeholders in their industries. www.skillset.org”

The course has been approved by Skillset’s Industry Steering Group and they believe it will address the need for improved succession planning across the Creative Industries in Wales.
 
Detailed information about the course can be found here.
 
The first of 3 ‘weekend retreats’ is on 27th of January. If you are interested, please get in touch with Rhidian Dafydd at Skillset: rhidiand@skillset.org

Facebook. One little word (well two, sort of). One giant step for this reluctant hack who, until recently, had successfully fended off all attempts by friends and colleagues to join up.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a technophobe. I’d already signed up – albeit rather belatedly – to Twitter and LinkedIn, happily creating profiles and throwing a few tentative comments ‘out there’ to test the water. After all, if you haven’t got a social media presence these days, you effectively cease to exist.

But Facebook? That was something different. My official line when defending my reluctance to sign up was one of security and privacy – not wanting my personal details available to all and sundry. Perhaps I’m missing that egotistical gene seemingly present in so many others that screams, ‘look at me, I’m an incredibly interesting person doing incredibly interesting things all the time’.

Social Media for Professionals

And when would I find the time? Not that I’m incredibly busy you understand but still, did I really want yet another site to have to monitor and update; another demand in an already demanding life? What was wrong with texting or emailing?

No, what it really boiled down to was plain old-fashioned prejudice. Yes folks, to me Facebook seemed a bit, well, common. Maybe I’ve been watching too much Jeremy Kyle, but my impression was of a world inhabited by self-obsessed people posting inane comments, endlessly changing their status as they worked through relationships at an alarming rate, and posting endless baby photos on their wall. Yawn.

Yes, those people do exist on Facebook. In their droves.

But so do intelligent, respectful, interesting folk with meaningful things to say, ideas to offer and experiences to share. People like me. And you.

A brilliant NUJ course on social media helped me to see the light; to demystify the jargon and recognise the opportunities Facebook presents professionally, particularly on behalf of the two charities for whom I do voluntary publicity work.

I’ll never love Facebook but as a journalist I could no longer ignore the massive power it wields in how we communicate with each other.

But I’d still rather email you…

Claire Gardiner, Journalist