My time gaining work experience at the Herald

Posted by The Herald on January 5, 2009 11:22 AM

By Louise Dawson
Ysgol Syr Hugh Owen, Caernarfon
RATHER than continuing with my usual routine of attending sixth form, this week I have been on a work experience placement in the Caernarfon and Denbigh Herald.
On Monday Morning, as busy as the team were, they all kindly took time to say hello and to introduce themselves properly.
Expecting to be allowed to do no more than photocopies and tea runs I was happily surprised to be told I would actually be allowed to write a story to feature in the paper.
Gwenno Gwylim , who was to be my "mentor" for the week gave me some press releases and very much appreciated advice and tips on how to write them up.
With the help and expertise from the office workers I worked my way through articles varying from 100- 350 words.
The next day on completing a couple of press releases in the morning, I was invited to sit in at a meeting the team often hold to discuss what will be included in the paper of the week in question.
I found this very exciting as not only did I get a sneak preview of what stories would be used in the paper, more importantly I was able to see first person how the members of the team communicated with one another in order to put together a productive newspaper.
I was then given the opportunity to phone and interview two different people to get some information to put together two stories.
As nervous as I was to do so, after listening to the other team members interview over the phone, I soon had a list of questions jotted down ready to ask.
The week soon flew by as I was surely kept busy with interesting stories and press releases to type up.
On Thursday I was offered the chance to get out of the office to go and find some ghosts!
We went along to The Black Boy Inn where we were kindly given a small tour of the premises and told about ghosts who apparently haunted the building. It was quite an unusual experience, however I learnt a lot from Alex Hickey on how journalists work outside the office, and how they manage to turn a small amount of information into a great story!
The best part of my week was most definitely Thursday afternoon, when I found out my story was to be seen in the Caernarfon and Denbigh Herald!
The feeling was amazing as this was my first ever published piece of written work!
I would personally like to take this opportunity to thank every one at the office who made my week at the office so enjoyable! I had a fabulous time on my work experience and would love to come back again some day!

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