Students on the new Higher Diploma in Arts in Journalism and New Media Content course have had special visits by leading public figures in recent weeks as part of the Feature Writing module.
Carlow-Kilkenny TD, John McGuinness and Grand National winning Irish jockey, Rachael Blackmore, have made special guest appearances on the course to provide students with a crucial opportunity to develop skills in interviewing and structuring a feature.
The new Journalism course, being jointly delivered by IT Carlow and Carlow College, offers a unique learning experience with an emphasis on practical skill development. Therefore, in course modules such as Feature Writing, students will have exposure to public figures, such as Mr McGuinness, to develop their interview techniques and follow up feature writing skills.
The features’ module aims to give students practical experience writing stories that can get published. Learners study feature writing across the spectrum and includes seminars on the first-person piece, the news feature and the human-interest story.
Speaking of the special guests, Lecturer of the Features’ module, Niamh O’Connor, says “the experience of interviewing John McGuinness TD, the former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and current chairman of the Dáil’s Finance Committee in the same week that he had described the ‘Grace Case’ as ‘the greatest scandal of our times‘ in the Dáil was invaluable experience for the journalism students. They were able to develop their skills by interrogating a story playing out on the national stage. John also described how central good journalism had been to exposing what had happened to Grace and encouraged the students to continue to seek out injustices in their careers as the job is so central to any functioning democracy.”
“Rachael was beyond generous to give her time after having spent an afternoon racing. The opportunity to interview a pioneering sports star performing at the peak of her profession was an invaluable journalistic opportunity for the students.”
The higher diploma runs from September until May 2022, over two evenings a week, as well as a number of Saturdays across the year. Teaching is a hybrid of face to face and online classes.
To find out more or register your interest in the next course, contact the Faculty of Lifelong Learning at Institute of Technology Carlow at lll@itcarlow.ie, Carlow College at infocc@carlowcollege.ie or Carlow/Kilkenny Skillnet at admin@carlowkilkennyskillnet.ie
