News
Wednesday 7 February 2007
Davina's 1,000 mile trek for top Nottingham course
Broadcast journalism student Davina Kirwan is already demonstrating the persistent qualities needed to make it as a top-grade journalist – by undertaking a seven-hour roundtrip so that she can study at Nottingham Trent University. The MA Television Journalism student takes bus, tube and train from her East London home four days a week just so she can attend the University’s prestigious Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism.
The 24-year-old, who also has a five-year-old son, and works part-time as a newsroom assistant for ITV News, views the year-long course as essential in helping her achieve her dream of becoming a newsreader.
She said: “It’s a long journey and sometimes I have to leave the house as early as 5.30am, but I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else. It’s an absolutely fantastic course, so relevant to what I’m doing now and want to do in the future. Because of what I have learned in the week I always feel that little bit more confident when I go to work at ITN.”
She added she couldn’t do it without the endless support of her partner and family.
The course, which was developed in consultation with a consortium of major industry employers, has accreditation from the Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC). It offers specialist training to equip students with the skills needed for entry-level work as a journalist in a television news editorial team.
As well as general television journalism skills, Davina studies media law; journalistic research methods, ethics and regulation; television journalism production; and public administration.
Davina’s tutor and Senior Lecturer in Broadcasting and Journalism, Dr Emma Hemmingway, said: “Davina has shown the most amazing commitment to her course, tirelessly turning in every day. I was staggered when she told me about her circumstances but thrilled that she felt attending the Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism was so worthwhile.”
She added: “When I asked her why she hadn’t chosen a journalism course closer to home, she told me she thought this was the best MA journalism course in the UK. We are so pleased she is getting so much from being here and delighted the students we teach feel so strongly about being on our courses.”
ENDS
For more information please contact: Dave Rogers, Press Officer, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8782, or via email.
or Therese Easom, Press and Media Relations Manager, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8774, or via email.
