My placement

For my Catch 22 placement I would most like to work at:

The Daily Mirror is part of media group Trinity Mirror PLC.

I would most like to work for this publication because it is a daily national tabloid newspaper. I've never worked on a tabloid paper before nor have I worked on a daily newspaper. I think the skills I would pick up here are: Organisation - because of tight deadlines. and also because journalists must handle several stories at one time. Communication - as a tabloid they have a quirky way of writing while simultaneously writing very tightly.

Daily Mirror facts:

- The Mirror was founded in 1903

- It is considered a left wing tabloid newspaper. For example, in the last election the paper pledged allegiance with Labour.

- It has a circulation of approximately 1.2million.

- The current editor is Richard Wallace

Recent news peice about Trinity Mirror PLC: "Trinity Mirror secures advertising deal with council" (April 6, 2011) - Trinity Mirror has negotiated a six-year deal with the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to publish statutory notices and recruitment ads in its local title.

Kiss FM is a radio station that is part of Bauer Media.

I would like to work for Kiss because I ultimately want to be a broadcast journalist. I would particularly want to have work experience in the news department of the radio station.

Recent news peice about Bauer Media: "Bauer Media gains support from major motion picture studios in the year's biggest UK film event" (April 19, 2011) - Motion picture studios like Sony Pictures UK, Warner Bros and 2oth Century Fox are supporting Bauer Media in a UK film event that takes place from 12-14 August and will feature Q&A sessions, masterclasses, exclusive preview screenings and much more.

The Metro newspaper is free national daily newspaper that is part of Associated Newspapers.

I would like to work for this newspaper because the Metro is a paper that I read very frquently. I know the house style and I know the sort of topics they cover - I am very familiar with this paper. I think I would pick up good skills because of the fact there are tight deadlines because it is daily and also because it is in the field I want to get into - news.

Recent news peice about Associated Newspapers: "Associated Newspapers' online network (Mail Online) passes Huffington Post with 39.6m unique visitors in March" (April 19, 2011) - Associated Newspaper's Mail Online is now the second most popular news website. It has grown in popularity in the last three years because of it's focus on US news and showbusiness.

Tesco Sandwiches by Abdullah by Funmi

Abdullah:

"Tesco sandwiches. Hmm... what can i say.

I like them. They're so tasty. So I walk down to Tesco every time I'm at Catch 22. I wish you could smell the sandwiches from the Bernie Grants Arts Centre. That way I could like semi-eat them before i actually get to the Tesco down the road. I think the Ilford Tesco sandwiches are not as nice as the Tottenham ones. They taste a bit funky.

It's kinda like the only ones I want to eat are the ones from Tottenham. I could go anywhere in the whole country and probably not find ones as good as the ones here.

I like to sit on the grass next to my diva mate Rick while eating these Tesco sandwiches. I think they make them taste better.

If I had a million pounds I would probably blow the whole lot on Tesco sandwiches. I'll probably set up a trust fund for my kids in the future just so they can eat Tesco sandwiches just like me."

This is just a parody. For the real Abuduallah, check out his blog

30 seconds in the mind of Kalera Nichols-Agard

Kalera Nichols-Agard

I had the lucky chance to sit down for 30 seconds with the sweet and soft-spoken trainee of Catch 22, Kalera Nichols-Agard. At 21, she is the youngest but has two much-older sisters, and as a result grew up as an only child in Lewes, East Sussex. Kalera now studies Media & Cultural Studies at the London College of Communication. She describes herself as a "woman of the world" having travelled to many destinations abroad. She occasionally volunteers and can play the piano fairly well by ear.

1. If you could sum up your ethos in life in one sentence what would it be?


There are no mistakes in life, just lessons.

2. What celebrity would you like to be your best friend and why?


Rhianna because she has a really fun lifestyle and I can go round and live that lifestyle with her. Oh yeah, and borrow her clothes!

3. If you could ban something forever what would it be and why?


Ban footballers for being overpaid. They should get minimum wage!

4. If you met your future husband today and have a five minute conversation with him, what would you say?


I'd make a checklist of questions and ask about his favourite things to see how similar we are. I'd want to get to know him.

5. If you were reincarnated what would you want to be?


A cat because they've got a chilled out, fun-loving and free lifestyle. You get free food, you get to sleep and get to go and mingle.

Favourite website: www.digitalspy.com

Favourite all-time song: Aaliyah - Are you that somebody

Favourite song of the moment: Kelly Rowland - Motivation

Favourtie YouTube clip: Boiling Point Umbrella Man

To delve more into the twists and turns of Kalera's mind, log on to her Twitter or check out her blog

Week 6: My experience so far

Hello!

So it's six weeks since joining the Catch 22 Academy and so far there have definitely been LOLs and BOOs. As with any experience I suppose.

So let me start from the top.

I had a three-person panel interview. Honest opinion? SHOCKER. I don't think i've ever had a three-person panel interview before.

This made me think "ok, I knew this was a serious academy but I didn't know it was that serious!" It made me a little nervous but as always as the interview continued I became more relaxed. Especially as I seemed to be getting nodding heads of approval from the Managing Director of Catch 22, Toks and the Monday tutor Matilda.

Since getting accepted I've learnt so much!

E.g Blogging, types of features, court reporting, sub-editing, interviewing

There's so much more yet to come!

I think what has really been beneficial for

me are the morning feature meetings. It really forces you to think outside of the box. Not only that but using different places as inspiration.

I really admire and respect all the tutors here at Catch. Each of them

are very different yet very inspiring. They are all established in their respected fields which makes me feel very lucky to have them as tutors and mentors.

There's something that Toks said that has literally changed my life forever. He said that we should "EMBRACE FEAR".

Not only have I done this whilst being in the Academy but I've applied this "theory", if you will, in all areas of my life. It is so true. Embracing fear can only make you reach greater heights in whatever you choose to do.

I'll never forget that.

So let me do a quick fireround of what have been the highs and lows so far:

Highs

- Getting accepted!

- Getting thorough feedback from the teachers

- Meeting new people - some really nice people in this cohort, we have some characters!

- Court reporting - we went into a case of an old lady who was on trial for theft and fraud! So interesting.

Lows

- Not getting to do my original feature idea - but all's well that ends well because I'm enjoying the new feature
- Being late... twice - this makes me so annoyed because I'm never late but that A13 is persistent on being the bane of my life. But I won't let it.

- Being the "Terry's Chocolate Orange" of the group - for Sarah's blog we had to decide what chocolate we would be if we were one. Someone suggested I was a chocolate Orange and I despise that chocolate lol.

So at the moment I'm on this side of graduating from Catch 22 singing:

So, I'm hoping that by the end of the course as well as the placement I will be singing a song like this:

Maybe not about the "getting money" bit but... you know what I mean!

Tune into the next post where I'll be revealing this week's expedition at the pub - our first trip as a group!