Reflection on the communication cafe and industry panel

The Communication Café I attended in Week 7 was something that I believe, was important for my learning and for my future within the Journalism industry from some professionals. The people that were there at the panel were, Louise Willis, Journalist for the ABC and content director at ABC Radio Canberra. Jasper Lindell, a reporter for The Canberra Times. Charlotte Gore, a digital producer and news operation assistant at ABC Canberra and Samantha Rose, a newsreader and journalist at the 104.7 and 106.3 Radio Stations.

These people had some interesting insights to give about the various questions that were asked of them and I learned a lot from them about how they got into the industry and their careers, as well as the ways that they went about doing this as well.
For example, Jasper Lindell mentioned that he did not study Journalism at University and just decided one day that it was what he wanted to do with his life and so, he chose to get into the industry as his career. I think that the most important things that I learned and took away from the panel were the ways that I could get into it as well as what professionals believe is the most important skills that one should have as a Journalist and how it helped them succeed in their careers.

I didn’t ask a lot of questions at the panel, I only ended up asking one or two questions because I believed that they were the best two of all the questions I had prepared, as well as the fact that some of my other questions had been asked or were similarly worded to other questions.
The questions I asked were about what they (the professionals) believe to be the most important thing as a journalist and if they believed that citizen journalism was a good way to get a start within the industry. The answers that were given I felt satisfied with and helped my understanding of what makes a good journalist and how I can start my career as well.

My main take aways from the panel is that there are a lot of ways that one can get into a journalism career as well as the vast scope of how many different ‘streams’ that I can go into in my future once I’ve finished my course and what important things to remember are if I want to succeed and do well in my career once I get to the point of being a professional in the industry and how I can better my career once I make it to that point of being in a position that I feel like is something that I want to be in and want to do. The road ahead of me is still long but, I believe that with the knowledge I know now from the panel, I’ll be better equipped to deal with the future and succeed the way I want to in my career.