BY EMILY HAYWARD

A WEEK of work experience with the Dorset Echo allowed great insight into the real role of the journalist.

The experience has shown that certain skills and characteristics are required to be successful in the job.

Over the course of the week, I was fortunate enough to attend various jobs including car crashes and charity events; observing how journalists conduct interviews, communicate with people and present themselves at the scene.

It was of particular interest to hear the certain questions they asked in order to get a successful story later on and find out the most important information about the event or incident.

Writing articles was a fundamental part of the experience.

This was particularly useful as it allowed me to use the journalistic style of writing which proved to be very different to the essays that are created in school.

The articles I got the opportunity to write were contrasting.

I created pieces for the education section of the newspaper, wrote up stories about exceptional achievements of certain individuals and formulated pieces about various charity events; one of which I was required to undergo a telephone interview in order to get more information and a personal response from the people who took part in the fundraising event.

This experience was extremely useful and worthwhile as the writing style that I developed will be valuable throughout my educational journey as well as if I pursue a future career in the journalistic field.

The jobs that I was able to attend also granted me with insight into the types events that are attended by journalists at a local level.

It was a fantastic week.