CHALLENGED to write stories good enough to appear in the Scottish press, a group of post-graduate journalism trainees have exceeded all expectations, by having six articles published, with perhaps more to come.
The stories first appeared in The Dispatch, a newspaper produced by students at the Scottish Centre for Journalism Studies.
The students at the SCJS, run jointly by Strathclyde and Glasgow Caledonian universities, produced a total of six editions of The Dispatch.
Articles from there subsequently appeared in The Herald, The Scotsman, the Big Issue and Holyrood Magazine.
Said acting postgraduate course leader, Paul Rowinski: “I set them the challenge of producing copy fit to print in the nationals – but I did not think they would actually pull it off, and in such numbers.”
He added: “I ran through with them how to pitch their stories and I made them pick up the phone. In many instances they filed across an outline of the piece and waited for the phone to ring. They secured the commissions. And yes, they were paid.”
