A Bournemouth University Multimedia Journalism graduate been praised in a survey conducted by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). The NCTJ’s Journalists at Work 2018 survey, which was carried out earlier this year. The survey asked participants which living journalists they most respected and felt most embodied the values of journalism.
The list, published by the NCTJ, includes Ryan Hooper, who graduated from the BA (Hons) in Multimedia Journalism in 2009 and now works for the Press Association (PA). Ryan features alongside Allan Little, Kate Adie and Fergal Keane, who have all been awarded Honorary Doctorates by BU. BU’s graduates are listed alongside 234 other journalists named in the report, including Jon Snow, Katya Adler, Louis Theroux and Fiona Bruce.
Ryan was set on a career in journalism from an early age, and applied to Bournemouth because of its reputation as a centre of excellence for the profession. He said: “I applied to five courses which were considered to be the best in the field, and of these Bournemouth came out on top. The experience more than met my expectations. Over the three years I secured two work placements, which directly shaped my future career.
“One was at the Western Morning News, which I went on to work for immediately after graduating, and the other was at the Press Association, where I am now. These placements were arranged with the support of an extremely well-connected course team, which I am really grateful for.
“Now that I am working in the industry, I regularly meet other graduates from the course. You instantly have that sense that they have come from a good place and know that they will have received excellent training. I have about four colleagues at PA who trained at Bournemouth. For me, both Bournemouth University and PA are bastions of the profession, so their connection strengthens the other and brings mutual benefits.”
BU Honorary Doctorate recipient and former BBC special correspondent Allan Little was named in the report, having been conferred the title of Doctor of Letters in November 2017. A BBC foreign correspondent with 33 years’ experience, Allan has a Gold Sony Radio Award as Reporter of the Year and an Amnesty International Reporter of the Year Award.
Also named is BBC News’ Africa Editor Fergal Keane, who received an honorary degree from BU in 2003. Fergal has recently been working with Dr Karen Fowler-Watt from the BU’s Centre of Excellence in Media Practice (CEMP). In November Fergal will be giving a keynote speech on journalism best practice at the Media Education Summit in Hong Kong, which is co-hosted by CEMP.
Forthcoming BU Chancellor Kate Adie OBE also featured in the list after being named as BU’s new Chancellor, succeeding Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers as the fifth Chancellor of the university, who will complete his tenure at Graduation this November.
To read the report, visit: http://www.nctj.com/latestnews/nctj-publishes-list-of-most-respected-journalists
