Sky News Placements

YEAR TWO/THREE ONLY:

Rob Kirk head of training at Sky News and a member of the BJTC National Council writes:

SKY is able to offer a limited number of editorial placements in SKY NEWS and SKY SHOWBIZ ONLINE to talented students on courses aged 18 or over who wish to make a career in broadcast journalism. The scheme is open to first degree students and post-graduates determined to work in the broadcast industry – particularly online.
Placements can be arranged in various programme areas at the new Sky News Centre at Osterley, and in Sky Showbiz Online, based at nearby Great West House, in west London. There are also rare opportunities in regional bureaux. Most of the placement work involves research, planning and writing in the following areas:
* Sky News Online
* Sky News programmes, including weekend work
* Specialist areas such as Sky News Business and Sky News Sport
* Sky News Radio
* Five News.
* SkyNews.Com
* Sky Showbiz Online
Placements in other parts of Sky News might be available for suitable candidates, who indicate an interest in home affairs, world news, the environment or health and medicine.
Candidates for Online must be able to demonstrate a flair and commitment to on-line journalism and digital production techniques.
Candidates for Sky News Radio should ideally have some radio experience already, and provide an example of their voice.
Placements will normally last three weeks, and will be unpaid. Students are responsible for their own transport and accommodation arrangements.
If you want to apply, you should write to skynewswork@bskyb.com, with a full CV, and a 500- word thesis on 'Why Should Sky News (or Sky Showbiz Online) Offer Me a Placement?'
You should indicate where you’d like the placement – and why - and when you'd like it to happen; the more flexible the timing, the easier it will be fit in. Easter is very popular, and is booked well in advance.
Be aware that there are many more applications than Sky News can accommodate, and most candidates will be disappointed.
Preference will be given to candidates who can demonstrate a clear understanding of what’s happening in the world, and a keen commitment to journalism, in the form of quality freelance work or other work experience. We are particularly interested in students committed to multi-media news, with a thorough appreciation of online journalism.

CH NOTES - you should emphasise your blog, and the fact that you have ben blogginf and following the news and issues in journalism for a while. You should mention WINOL (Rob Kirk knows about that and thinks it is fantastic. You should mention that although you are interested in popular areas like football or showbiz, you are first and forremost a reporter with those skills - emphasise your shorthand; emphasise being trained with the Fatal Errors system, and repeated news reporting training. Don't waffle on about how you are a fan of this or a fan of this or that and what a generally fantastic person you are, etc. Just talk mainly about how they can build their audiences by Search Engine Optimisation - and show you know about metatags, Page Rank building and that kind of things.

Above all - as with all these jobs you just need to stick to showing how/why you are
1. Fast
2. Accurate
3. Fair

That's why we put that on the wall in the newsroom. Good Luck - Sky is very meritocratic - If you can hack out accurate stories which are optimised for the web; if you can shoot a bit of decent video and edit it and if - above all else - you can be trusted to put stuff on - eg your blog without getting them closed down or blown up. I have written to Rob already saying some might apply and explaining the set up here and warning that some of the blogs are not representative and might have silly stuff on them. So nobody who has being working well is disadvantaged by people how may have been messing about, or showing poor judgement.

If Rob receives any 'dodgy' applications, then he will be straight on the phone to me. You won't get the placement, everyone else will be tarnished and I will jolly cross. So show me first and then I will forward them to him if they are good enough (which will not be everyone).