Guest Speaker Articles
Social Media – Chrissie Savvas
I watched a presentation given by Chrissie Savvas from Birmingham Live about Social Media which was given as part of the Careers in the Media guest speaker series. In her presentation, Chrissie Savvas spoke about the different groups and brands there are as a part of Birmingham Live.
Her presentation was about how significant social media platforms are in terms of engaging with audiences. She mentioned that there are ‘3.484 billion active social media users around the world’ which is why it is important to engage with people using social media platforms. She then went on to talk about how to use social media correctly from a journalistic viewpoint, specifically looking at Twitter and Facebook, and how to properly engage with regular readers online.
One thought that I took away from Chrissie Savvas’s presentation was how important it is to build a community of regular readers on social media and how to interact with them. The community aspect of using social media reminded me of the idea of networked publics – ‘the space constructed […] as a result of the intersection of people, technologies, and practices’ (Boyd). This is useful advice for me as I hope to pursue a career in journalism.
References
Boyd, D. (2010). ‘Social Network Sites as Networked Publics: Affordances, Dynamics, and Implications.’ Networked Self: Identity, Community, and Culture on Social Network Sites 1, 39-58.
Journalism – Oli Hills
I listened to a guest speaker event about journalism given by Oli Hills from Updates Media on 13th March 2019 as a part of the Careers in the Media guest speaker series. In his presentation, Oli Hills spoke about his experiences as a managing director of a media company as well as his journey of getting to that position.
Oli Hills spoke about the changing face of journalism in the United Kingdom. One change in UK journalism that he mentioned during his presentation is that people are becoming more interested in news that is local to them. Many people are beginning to set up their own local news sites which gain high levels of popularity with that area. Many companies are starting to invest in local news. For example, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism awards local journalists £1000 to write about local news.
One thing that I learnt from Oli Hills’s presentation was how important local journalism is. This is useful for me because I can start to engage more with local community news and interact with a different style of journalism.
References
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (2020) Investing in local storytellers is vital for the future of news [online] available from <https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/blog/2020-02-17/investing-in-local-storytellers-is-vital-for-the-future-of-news> [20 April 2020]
Marketing and Communication – Lindsey Cook
I listened to talk about marketing and communications given by Lindsey Cook from Midlands Arts Centre on 18th March 2019 as a part of the Careers in the Media guest speaker series. In her presentation, Lindsey Cook spoke about her career in arts marketing.
Lindsey Cook spoke about the difficulties that the business she works for faces. One of these difficulties was that because they are doing so much and marketing in a lot of different sectors, such as retail and audience, development, they struggle to give all aspects of the company a digital presence. It is important to have a strong and clear digital presence so that companies can interact with customers and so that customers are easily able to find the services in which they are interested in making an investment on.
One thing that I learnt from Linsey Cook’s talk about marketing was that it involves working and being involved with many aspects of a company, such as sales and information, conferencing and retail.
References Socialnomics (2018) Here’s Why Having a Digital Presence is important for Business [online] available from <https://socialnomics.net/2017/03/27/heres-why-having-a-digital-presence-is-important-for-businesses/> [21 April 2020]
Public Relations – Hayley Longdin
I listened to a talk given by Hayley Longdin from Whistle PR, which took place on 11th March 2019 as a part of the Careers in the Media guest speaker series. In her presentation, Hayley Longdin talked about her transition from working in the journalism industry to working in the PR industry and all of the different roles she has undertaken since then.
One of the roles that Hayley Longdin spoke about was working as an account manager. She spoke about how it was possibly one of the hardest jobs she had done whilst in PR. This is because it involved working across multiple different sectors as well as being responsible for working out tactics and coming up with new ideas. Being in this role also involved working with people and looking for new clients to work with.
One thing I learnt from Hayley Longdin’s presentation was how many different roles there are within PR and how many sectors it covers. This is useful for me as it reminds me that it is important to keep learning about different aspects of the media industry.
References
Way Up (2020) What Are The Different Types of Public Relations Jobs? [online] available from <https://www.wayup.com/guide/what-are-the-different-types-of-public-relations-jobs/> [20 April 2020]
