Gurjeet
Nanrah

Why did you decide to do postgraduate study?

“After studying History BA, I really wanted to carry on my education but to look at more contemporary subjects. I’ve always been interested in current and global affairs so studying journalism appealed to me as a route to build on the investigative skills I developed in my undergraduate course, while contributing to a field I’m passionate about.”

What made you choose NTU?

“I felt at home in Nottingham during my undergraduate degree and the teaching support I was offered was excellent. The city campus has great facilities and is so ideally located in the city centre. I visited the Centre for Broadcast and Journalism on an open day and knew this is where I wanted to do my postgraduate course because of how impressive everything seemed.“

What do you enjoy most about your course at NTU?

“I really like what I’m learning and how I’m learning it. Study in journalism means relying on lots of shorter texts and that I’m not buried in textbooks! The digital aspects are great too, such as using video editing software and social media throughout my modules.”

What do you think about the course staff – include lecturers, tutors, administrators and technical staff within this. How do they support your learning and University experience?

“The staff are really outstanding. They all have extensive experience in their respective fields and I find them approachable no matter what I feel like asking them. They’ve given me great guidance on aspects of my professional career, such as help writing CVs, and I like how helpful the technicians are also. That’s a really important element on my course because all the tech we have to use can be quite tricky to handle.”

What do you think about the facilities available to you?

“The facilities available to me are outstanding, as we use industry leading video editing software, online news writing programmes, and equipment such as cameras and microphones. Our newsroom is bigger than a lot of professional newsrooms I have been in! Not only does this give an authentic feel to our role as journalists, but also, we are able to go out and produce our own work in our time because of how flexible to staff are with how we can use the facilities here.”

Why would you recommend your course / NTU to someone looking to study in that area?

“I would definitely recommend this course and university to someone wanting to study journalism. We have had industry experts come here and say themselves how CBJ at NTU is a national leader for studying journalism. It’s with good reason, because of the high-levels of teaching and because of the extensive preparation we undergo before entering the industry ourselves when we graduate.”

Have you completed any work placements and if so can you tell me a little bit about them – where you went, what you did, and any skills you’ve gained that will help you when you graduate?

“I have completed work placements at The Nottingham Post recently and been able to see how my course directly prepares me for this environment. I felt as if I my skills allowed me to produce good content for the newspaper and was able to consistently write stories for their website. Having done similar things on my course, I could see how I am becoming better prepared for working in an actual newsroom, something I believe I have the skills to do well before I graduate.”

What has been your greatest achievement at NTU so far?

“My greatest achievement at NTU has been writing my own original planning committee news story for my first portfolio which was then picked up by the Post and put in their paper. This was a great way to see my work recognised. A further personal achievement is becoming a more competent video editor, something that has been an ambition of mine for some time.”