Media and journalism networking

On Thursday 25 April, 34 attendees, including 11 pupils from the College's sixth form, met in London for the first ever networking event with OEs who work in the media and journalism industries.

John Ryley (Blackwater 1975-80) was the guest speaker for the evening, in his last week as head of Sky News, which he has headed up for the past 16 years.

John detailed the changes he has seen over the past 40 years in the industry, from when touch-typing was a highly regarded skill, to what the next 40 years might hold with the huge developments in social media and AI. He passionately believes that there has been and will always remain a need for real-time reporting from journalists in the field.

The floor was then opened up for a Q&A session, which provided an opportunity for College pupils and younger OEs to get a better understanding of how to enter a career in journalism.

We were fortunate not only to have John in attendance but also several other notable OEs with media backgrounds, including Torin Douglas (Gonville 1964-69), former BBC media correspondent for 24 years; Ted Young (Blackwater 1974-79), recent editor of Metro UK and current committee member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation; Jane Slade (Nugent 1975-77), who has over 20 years of property editor experience working for many of the main broadsheets; and Rob Stevens (Pennell 1999-2004), BBC Radio sports journalist.

The enthusiasm for their industry was very compelling and advice invaluable. If attendees were not a daily listener of the Today programme already, they are now!

'It must be said that the entire event was a highly useful learning experience', commented Year 12 pupil Ella Stevenson.