Research Blog 3

After several weeks of conducting detailed and thorough research into my chosen subject area (Journalism) I have finally completed the final few parts that I needed to do. Most of this week was spent watching the videos I had in my bibliography and trying to decipher the key parts that would possibly be useful to me. In the end I chose the 3 videos that I managed to get the most information from and noted down the key information on a Google Doc.

I also decided to do a glossary of key Journalistic terms that I need to know before starting University in September and I certainly got enough down.

Now moving on I will need to present my findings in a presentation to the rest of my class and I will be creating it with InDesign seeing as that will be the primary program that I will be using for my final major project. I'll also ensure that I create a report based on what I found out in addition to a short but reflective statement to go alongside it.

Research Blog 2 (27th-31st January 2020)

This week for my 2nd week research found me particularly focusing on the historical/social context of Journalism which I expected would be the biggest area to research as there is a lot to know/talk about. I started an essay on the social context which linked significantly into the history and I have yet to fully complete it yet (although I had a strong start) but that'll be my next step.

I decided that researching these contexts are crucial to my research (and therefore prioritizing it) as society plays too much of an important role in Journalism...I mean the main purpose/role of Journalists is to deliver news to a wide range of people about world events so if I didn't brush up on my knowledge of our society I most certainly won't be hired or possibly even considered for a career in the industry. In regards to the history, I believe that in order to truly understand what the industry is like today I need to know what came before and what it was like say 100 years ago when WW1 updates were dominating the newspapers especially in the time where propaganda was starting to take prominence.

In addition to this I also completed a mini Google Slides presentation documenting an overview of what in the industry is like to today detailing the different job roles available, various well-known organisations spearheading the Journalism world and examples of famous Journalists (including 3 case studies of 1 radio presenter, 1 newspaper journalist and 1 news anchor). The reasons for this have already been explained but it also really demonstrates my understanding of the field.

Next week I will hopefully be finishing off this research (well I say finish it'll only be getting closer to the deadline to hand in my folders and these blog posts as I'll continue researching even after this...I'll always be researching). If there are any bits of research that I intended to do but haven't got around to finishing prior to the final week (seeing as I'm on the London trip during the week that it's due) I will make sure to get that completed (University Research and final parts of the Book research) but I'll also conduct some video research (to ensure that I am using a range of different sources and not just relying on the internet) with the videos that I found on YouTube which seem quite useful and I'll make some notes from them (well not every video as I included far too much on my bibliography just to be on the safe side), making a mini glossary of key Journalism-related terms and making a document of my survey results which I sent out last week.

Research Blog 1 (20th-24th January 2020)

Last week I began my research into the Journalism sector with hopes of furthering demonstrating and displaying my understanding of the industry I want to get into after completing this course.

I started it off by researching the university courses I have applied to (Journalism at 4 institutions and Journalism + Sociology at one other) with individual Google Docs detailing the key information I will need ranging from the course structure, learning/assessment + general support information, skills I will be able to practice, careers/placement, finance and non Course related information about the University and city/town in general. This has really benefited me especially as I had my first interview on Saturday (25th January) and by doing this research it helped me significantly to gain an idea of what to expect from it.

I also started conducting some library research (as I needed to use a range of different sources and not just rely on the internet) after finding a few books that I thought would be useful and read the first one whilst picking out and noting down key information. I only managed to find 3 books in the college library but they are enough for me and I will be focusing on one book per week to keep my overall research structure tidy.

Next I started to look at the historical context which I knew would consume a lot of my research as it is such a vast so I made sure to specifically allocate time to focus on it and I will continue to do so as it will likely carry across the next 2 weeks too if I'm also going to be trying to keep on top of the rest of my research as well.

Additionally I also created and sent out a survey as a form of primary research in which I asked people basic Journalism questions regarding how they keep updated with the news. Next week I will be carrying on with my library/historical research in addition to looking up social context (with current plans to write an essay on it) and studying famous journalists (case studies on how they got into the industry). I plan to come in on one of my days off (most likely Friday as well Friday next week) to ensure I remain on schedule as I will going on the London trip during the week of the deadline (it's due in on the 13th Feburary but the trip is from the 10th-12th).