Work Experience

After a long and rather relaxing summer, it is time to get back to blogging and this year I am determined to keep up with all my posts.

Before returning to Winchester I managed to obtain a few days work experience with the press release office in Gloucester, which turned out to be an insightful and extremely interesting opportunity, giving me a first hand look into how a press release office works.

I was fortunate enough to be given a pretty important role, working alongside other members of staff handling the Arch Bishop of Gloucester's appointments, interviews and press stories. I was given three press releases to write that have now been posted online for Gloucester's media to use as well as handling phone interviews and arranging with various local papers appointments for them to attend and cover certain events. I really enjoyed this aspect of journalism as it gave me the chance to write important pieces that can be used and edited by other journalists, as well as providing a certain amount of pressure to write correctly and factually without error.

I was also given a more practical job that included calling up many of the churches and parishes in the Gloucester Diocese to get in contact with them about up and coming events and social calenders as well as working alongside the communication and technology members of staff to build up a stronger base of social media to update and modernise the Diocese. It was key to get parish communities on board with twitter and Facebook links to expand their audiences as younger members of the parish are more likely to promote these forms of media.

I was also given the chance to get creative with Photoshop, designing and editing an advertisement to go in the press office magazine raising awareness for children in need of schools in Africa. I was given photographs that I could use to promote the benefits of donations and how the children desperately need places to learn and interact with other children. The advertisement was used in that weeks spread and is also being used in parish newsletters around the Gloucester area.

I was lucky enough to be trusted in a professional environment to write articles, press releases, and create advertisements as well as gaining contacts and connections with the press in Gloucester. I thoroughly enjoyed working in the cathedral offices as it is a unique and interesting place to broaden my knowledge and experience in the field of journalism.