BA (Hons) Journalism explores core practices from print to the newsroom, this course encourages students to gain skills and knowledge across a variety of platforms including print, online and broadcast journalism. Students are equipped with the skills to succeed in the rapidly evolving world of journalism.
This year’s line-up of work – shown in LCC Degree Shows 2018: Show 1, 31 May – 2 June 2018 – includes work from final-year students on the courses together with workshops and speaker events exploring issues in journalism and publishing.
Here we shine a spotlight on some of the projects on show…
Joséphine Schulte
Image Credit: Joséphine Schulte
Why did you choose to study a degree in journalism?
I have always loved stories, people, and writing. Journalism was a degree that brought openness and freedom in terms of the exact topics I wanted to explore.
Why do you think Journalism is important?
First, in terms of news, journalism is obviously important for a democracy to function. However, I also think journalism is important to tell stories and showcase all the great things the world has to offer.
What is your preferred style of journalism?
I enjoy culture journalism most. I like reading and writing journalism that informs, moves and inspires.
What are your career ambitions once you leave LCC?
I am looking to get more experience through internships and am also planning on doing an MA in Arts and Politics. Later I would like to go into working with cultural institutions, specifically the promotion and fostering of different aspects of culture (art, film).
How do you think your time at LCC has helped you develop as a journalist?
I think LCC has creatively challenged and inspired me a lot. In my second year, I produced a magazine with a friend from my course and LCC was the greatest, most resourceful place to complete such a project.
What work are you featuring as part of the LCC Degree shows, and could you tell us a little about it?
I am featuring all of the journalistic work that I produced for Artefact magazine, not only written work but also visuals; for example, photos I took interviewing dancers at the ‘Crazy Horse’ in Paris and a video about London’s off-license stores.
I wrote In Orange For Osho on the life of a woman that was a member of the Bhagwan cult in the 80s. The now 75-year-old lived with Bhagwan in Pune and later in the US and her accounts of the very controversial group and her time with them were extremely fascinating. The research was definitely the most interesting; to get immersed into the subject and hear the first hand experiences and memories was amazing!
Follow Josephine on Instagram.
Valentina Curci
Image Credit: Valentina Curci
Why did you choose to study a degree in Journalism?
I have always had a strong passion for writing, but I had never really seen journalism as a viable option for my future as I was studying in the field of maths and chemistry. It was only after working on my high school newspaper and having my philosophy teacher encourage me that I decided to pursue this path. In short, I have chosen to study journalism because I want to give my contribute in giving people a voice and in spreading awareness on issues that need to be at the centre of our society.
Why do you think Journalism is important?
As I have said, I believe it is important to give people’s stories and societal issues a voice and a platform of visibility, to raise awareness and even to prompt plural action. I think good journalism is fundamental to achieve this and I think it is the duty of journalists to find the best ways to portray these realities.
What is your preferred style of journalism?
I favour feature writing, mostly, because I like mixing a narrative style with well-developed and researched pieces. I think that, ideally, my aim is to reach a documentary ‘feeling’ with long features. I like the challenge of trying to convey truth and emotion through the written form, which I believe can be an incredibly powerful mean of expression. I am always looking for the untold and enriching stories, for ignored realities, but also for ways to engage whoever is reading a piece.
Image Credit: Valentina Curci
What are your career ambitions once you leave LCC?
I am going to continue my studies with a postgraduate degree in media and culture to expand my knowledge and awareness of media. After, I hope to be able to continue with my journalism and to find a platform and support for the stories I want to recount.
How do you think your time at LCC has helped you develop as a journalist?
I think my time at LCC has been crucial in my developing, both as a person and as a journalist. It has pushed me to take up many challenges, helped me refine my skills and learn new ones.
I think both my writing and storytelling have benefited largely from these years of study and advice, and I have especially appreciated the possibility to try my hand at different styles of journalism before ultimately finding my path and being allowed to stay on it.
What work are you featuring as part of LCC Degree Shows, and could you tell us a little about it?
My article Albania: A Country in Transition came after I had visited the Balkans; I was both surprised and fascinated by Albania, its beauty and many contradictions; for this reason I wanted to narrate this land, fallen to its knees after the civil war and a long dictatorship and now starting to resurrect and becoming a tourists’ destination.
As an Italian, I am very aware of the most recent history of this country, since Italy, being in the proximity, has been land of immigration for thousands of Albanians fleeing a struggling country. I was seeking to recount the paradoxes of Albania, the luxury catering to visitors and then towns still underdeveloped or forgotten, the flux of inverted migration that sees business people starting to invest there.
Defne Saricetin
Image Credit: Defne Sacricetin
Why did you choose to study a degree in journalism?
I think I chose to do a degree on journalism because I have always loved writing, and I think gaining skills such as thinking about context, research, discovering issues and themes, and expressing them (be it via a documentary or an article) was to me a great way of equipping myself to keep doing what I want to do.
Why do you think journalism is important?
Information, knowledge and understanding are powerful and important things. At a time when there is more conversation and less empathy than ever, I think journalism should do a vital job of telling stories accurately while providing more context and understanding. I am in the view that we need to hear more stories, from those we agree with as well as those we don’t, and we need to do a better job at it.
What is your preferred style of journalism?
I personally favour long form narrative journalism that reads like literature which in my opinion provides more context and background as well as offering a more engaging and beautiful form of writing.
Image Credit: Defne Sacricetin
What are your career ambitions once you leave LCC?
I think I will keep telling stories that I think should be told no matter where or in what form.
How do you think your time at LCC has helped you develop as a journalist?
Studying journalism at an arts university really emphasises creativity, a part about how you do what you do. It allowed and encouraged me to think of journalistic writing as a craft rather than a mere act of listing facts. Also, being surrounded by great people be it our supporting tutors or people from other courses. I think LCC really is a place you can take out a lot from if you want to.
What work are you featuring as part of LCC Degree Shows, and could you tell us a little about it?
Finding and creating stories throughout the year has been an incredible experience, personally, I feel that our course had brought me encouragement to find interesting angles which to me was telling stories from my hometown Turkey to a London audience, attempting to offer an insider experience. Or getting an incredible opportunity such as interviewing Boris Johnson alongside Omima Elmattawaa about crimes against journalists the day after his comments on the British-Iranian mother jailed in Iran.
The work we did and the conversations we had in the newsroom has furthered my interest in journalism’s role about providing a deeper understanding to people which I believe is more crucial in our times than ever, asking the questions that you as a journalist believe should be asked and leaving the answers to readers. There are few things that develop you more as a writer than editing other’s work, sharing your stories and having the opportunity to really think about what you do and try to offer meaningful and moving work.
See more of Defne’s work on Artefact.
Find out more about LCC Degree Shows 2018: Show 1 or book your place for the Launch Night on 30 May, 6-9pm.
- See more BA (Hons) Journalism work on Artefact.
- Find out about BA (Hons) Journalism at LCC.
- Follow LCC on Instagram to see behind-the-scenes from Degree Shows and more.