University of Brighton helps put shorthand on the map
Published 9 May 2013
Sport Journalism students past and present are the stars of a promotional shorthand video produced by BSkyB and the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ).
The Sky Sports News team interviewed Sport Journalism graduate Jon Vale, now a news reporter for the Berkshire Media Group, and Maria Hudd, a final-year student who has been working as a sports reporter for the Eastbourne Herald newspaper for more than a year. Maria’s shorthand skills played a major role in securing her a professional post before graduation - a testament to the skills she has learnt during her time at the University of Brighton.
The filming was conducted on behalf of the NCTJ who accredits the Sport Journalism course based at the university’s Eastbourne campus in the School of Sport and Service Management .
Filming was conducted on behalf of the National Council for the Training of Journalists
The film will be used in a promotional video for the virtues of the Teeline shorthand system the students are taught. Shorthand is a fundamental skill needed to ensure a successful career in journalism; in fact Sky Sport News insists on a minimum of 100 words per minute from their employees. The Sport Journalism degree has close links with Sky Sports News: course leader Simon McEnnis trains their journalists and presenters.
“Shorthand is just one of the indispensable tools with which we equip our graduates before they set out on their careers,” says Ben Parsons, lecturer in Journalism and Shorthand. “It is becoming more, not less, important as the digital revolution increases the demands upon journalists for instant, accurate reports from courts, press conferences or other events.
“The interest taken by Sky Sports News in the shorthand lectures attended by our Sport Journalism students only serves to underline how significant a skill they are acquiring.”
News International, publisher of The Sun, took on four graduates in 2012 and is taking on another four this year – and as editorial development director Graham Dudman emphasises, all have their 100 words-per-minute shorthand. A journalist without shorthand, he claimed, is like a footballer without boots – “it's not going to happen”.
Sky's Alex Crawford reinforced Dudman’s point: “Shorthand will get you out of big do-do...It's one of the dull things that you have to do so that you are able to do this fantastic job.”
Find out more about studying journalism at the University of Brighton.
Watch the finished film:
