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Course outline

Building a Feature

The class examines the elements a writer needs to create a feature. Discussion on how that changes with the needs of different publications and how you place stories.

Interviewing

Tutor gives a talk about the techniques of interviewing, both ordinary members of the public and celebrities. This is followed by an interviewing exercise.

Structure

The one thing that marks amateur writers out from professionals is their structure. Discussion on a particular text to illustrate the key principles of structuring a piece.

Undercover and Investigative Reporting

Tutor uses both her own work and that of others to talk about the skills of obtaining stories. Although the discussion is principally about investigative journalism, many of the same principles apply to working on any story.

Tutor

Jean Rafferty lives in Glasgow and is a top Fleet Street Writer. She will write in any form, from human interest to celebrity interviewing, from travel to lighthearted comment. She will knock you out a humorous piece on lesbian lapdancing in an hour or will doggedly pursue an investigation into prostitution for months.

Jean is an award-winning freelance journalists and a visiting lecturer on the postgraduate course at the Scottish Centre of Journalism Studies, run jointly by Strathclyde and Glasgow Caledonia Universities.

Jean has a wide range of experience in linking journalism to the academic world. This is highlighted by the fact that she also assisted in drawing up journalism courses at Bell College, Hamilton and Cardonald College, Glasgow and has also taught Scots Law for Journalists at Cardonald College.

She is an accomplished author and her biographical details make very interesting reading. You can find out more from her Website: www.jeanrafferty.com.

If you wish to take advantage of the training please telephone Angela Austin, NUJ Assistant Organiser, on 0141 944 7031 or email: angela.nuj@btinternet.com.