I write this blog as the last refugee from City’s newspaper journalism course. Unlike some of the more eloquent members of the Interhacktives, I am not particularly passionate about data, numbers, mathematics, Opinsy, technology, or basically anything quantitative. However, I did catch on during the induction week that the skills we are to be taught in the interactive journalism programme are far more valuable and transferable in the changing world of journalism than the material taught in newspaper journalism.
Also, I didn’t want to do shorthand.
The master’s has been hit or miss thus far – not because of any of my classmates (whom I love dearly) or my tutors, but rather because for one reason or another, I seem to be missing key parts of lessons.
Take our first intensive data lesson- I missed a few minutes of Paul Bradshaw’s vital lecture to go be incredibly ill* in the hallway and then was subsequently lost (and congested) for the rest of the day. That seems to be the case thus far.
I’m starting at the absolute beginning. While some of my course mates will undoubtedly pick up the information easily and without any kind of emotional turmoil, I’m likely going to be stumbling around blind, deaf, and incredibly dumb. My contributions to this blog will be accounts of me feeling my way around data extremely carefully. Maybe someday I’ll get it.
I have eight months to find out.
(*For concerned parents and other parties, I did not mean “ill” as in “sick” or “hungover”- I had a horrible cold and was terribly congested!)