Friday, 8 February 2008

Journalism students and Politics

I am testing the waters for a new project at the moment. I thought it would be interesting to see exactly where students get their news from and how interested they are in politics.

So far I haven't been able to get over the fact that many of them don't get their news from a
particular source. Many of the students at LCC, it seems, don't really read the paper much at all.

It worries me that students don't seem interested in politics at all. It effects our future, it effects how we live. Students don't pay taxes on their earning so a lot of them don't think about what happens to tax payers money; what it's spent on, where it goes. Why are students so uninterested in politics? Yes it can come across as a dull subject as it is not always presented to us in the best way but how can so many young people dismiss it so easily?

Especially being journalism students. Perhaps they all want to work in magazines and aren't interested in news journalism, but despite this I think its still important to have an awareness.

What happens when changes are made to things in society we don't agree with? If we haven't even got the knowledge or the urge to vote where does that leave us? How can we be called a true democracy?

Thursday, 7 February 2008

Life at LCC

People seem to sound impressed when you mention you're studying journalism at LCC. It is a well known college and has aparently turned out many sucessful alumni.

Our course covers a wide variety of topics and subjects and is a starting point to look further than the subjects we touch upon - to research further into the world of media. But are our tutors doing enough to encourage us to seek beyond that of what we're offered?

Uni is what you make it - it's up to the students to get empassioned out what they do. Our tutors highlight basic facts and ideas but without further dedication, enthusiasm and research you can't expect much from the course. It is insane sometimes to think that we pay money to put ourselves under pressure.

Maybe some of the tutors should provide more support - we don't seem to get offered much guidance. Things should be clearer than just being posted on to a notice board and students being expected to understand why certain tasks are set or just to accept things for how they are. Perhaps students are too quick to accept things - or perhaps more research should be done into student satisfaction. I know for a fact many students are not happy with the way things are but it's whether or not they are prepared to act upon it and do something about it.