And so it begins...

So, before I begin, allow me to recite my blog mantra. Ahem…

'This is my blog. There are many blogs like it, but this one is mine. 

My blog is my best friend. It is my life.

I must master it as I must master my life

My blog, without me is useless.

Without my blog, I am useless.'

Ok, where to start. Well I'm pleased to announce that I have completed my Catch 22 Introduction to Journalism programme! (With a merit grade of 72% no less!) As you can imagine, I felt a little something like this:

  

Or this: 

And what an experience that has been. I’ve learnt so many new things about the world of Journalism, did things that I never thought I could and met some amazing people along the way! 

If I thought that was hard, now is the time where all my efforts will be put to use because thanks to Mike and the Catch team, I am now an intern at Closer Magazine. And if you take a look at my post title ‘your placement or my placement’ you will see why I was so very pleased to get this!

So here I am, two weeks in and liking it a lot. Along with my fellow ‘Catcher’ Chloe, I have been getting stuck into numerous tasks that the Closer team has thrown at me. Already I have been on the real-life desk trawling through newspapers looking for a crazy, juicy story to grace the magazines front cover. I have been on the lifestyle desk seeking out celebrities with beautiful beach bodies (this weeks pics of Christine Bleakley were found by yours truly!, see pic above too). I have been on the art desk organizing filing page templates and organizing  ‘The Wall’ which is a giant flat plan of the magazine used to decide which pages go where. But what I’m most proud of is my work on the online desk, writing showbiz stories which have been published on the website. Here are a few examples of my work so far:

Amy Child's relationship on the rocks 

Kelly Rowland replaces Cheryl as X-Factor style queen 

Gavin Henson becomes 'The Bachelor' 

I must say it really is rewarding to see your very own work published for all to see. Oh and I almost forgot! Last week we got to accompany the picture editor on a photo shoot with a well known loose woman (check out next week’s issue). This was really exciting as I got to discover firsthand what goes on behind the scenes of seemingly glamorous photo shoots- and believe me its lots of hard work and very far from glamorous! 

Tomorrow is the start of my third week and I’m looking forward to whatever that brings. People in the office seem nice enough (editorial assistant Maggie is lovely), but I feel that I’m not quite established as ‘one of the team’ quite yet. I really need to up my game and make a good impression so they may consider me for future work. Monday is the perfect chance to showcase my talents as we will be having an appraisal during which we will be asked to pitch ideas for different parts of the magazine.

 Now I’m here, I’m really starting to discover what the real world of Journalism is really like. It’s a real eye-opener and I hope I’m strong enough to survive this cut-throat world. Only time will tell…

Your placement or my placement?

OK, so I'm sitting here in the Catch 22 offices, still feeling a Hulk-like anger towards these flipping Macs (I mean why won't the caps-lock ever work? and why can't I right-click on stuff?). But I have been given a task to do, and that is to write a blog post about the placements I want to do. Now, in theory that sounds like a piece of cake, but for me it's the whole bloody bakery as I don't seem to have got the hang of this blogging thing. Still, I'm never one to give up and as Catch as my witness I will embrace my blog! In fact, this will be my mantra from now on:

'This is my blog. There are many blogs like it, but this one is mine. 

My blog is my best friend. It is my life.

I must master it as I must master my life

My blog, without me is useless.

Without my blog, I am useless.'

So now, back to the task in hand. I think my ideal partner company that I would like to do a placement on is Bauer and that's mainly because it publishes my two favourite magazines, More and Closer. I like More magazine in particular as it's audience profile seems to be written directly about me! I am a female aged between 18 and 24 who is at the earlier stage of her career. I too am single, looking for a relationship and loves nothing better than hitting the shops in search for a high-street bargain. Yes, a placement at More magazine would be ideal for me. I have an unhealthy obsession with celebrities, I love ogling over hot new clothes and even more so ogling over hot men. (More's men of week is one of my favourite pages! lol) 

A placement at Bauer would be a great opportunity as it has a number of great flagship titles such as Grazia, Empire, Kerrang, Yours and Heat. Talking of Heat, Bauer Access (their new commercial creative initiative) recently launched an exclusive campaign for the new Glee season 2 DVD. Bauer Access secured a deal with Fox Entertainment to celebrate the release of the all singing, all dancing show with exclusives, other Glee-related fun and staff at Heat Magazine even launch the 'Glee- CSE's! This, my dears is right up my street and I assure you I would have got an A*.

         

Another partner that I would quite happily work for is The National Magazine Company (Natmags).  Like their nearest rivals Bauer, Natmags is home to a host of brilliant titles including Company, Best, Esquire, Harpers Bazaar and Good Housekeeping. It also publishes Cosmopolitan Magazine, another publication which I wouldn't mind doing a placement at. It's brand strap line 'for fun,fearless females' says it all really. It's what a lot of young women either are or aspire to be, and that includes myself. As a 'life, love and relationship bible', I think that working at Cosmopolitan would not only enhance my professional career, but it could also tweak my personal life too!

The third placement, given the opportunity, that I would like to have a go a is Trinity Mirror. You may be thinking, 'there's no girly or gossip magazines there!', but I have you know that I've been reading The Daily Mirror for as long as I can remember. It's been a staple part of my household for many years and in fact it was the Daily Mirror's '3am girls' that inspired me to become a Journalist in the first place. As one of the UK's largest Newspaper publishers, Trinity Mirror publishes 5 national Newspapers (including Sunday Mirror and The People), 160 Regional Newspapers and over 500 digital products. The Daily Mirror has a great mix of news, sport, politics and showbiz, and it has broken many big, exclusive news stories over the years. I think this would be an ideal place to develop my skills as a Journalist.

And there you have it! These are my top 3 ideal placements- Bauer, Natmags and Trinity Mirror. I think that whichever placement I do, I will put my all into it and try to develop my skills the best I can. Right, blog post done. Now, where's that cake...

Tesco Sandwiches by Beth by Niomi

Well this is just crap. I've come to London expecting the finest foods just like we had in Cambridge (I went to Cambridge university don't you know?) and all this place has got is Tesco Sandwiches. Tesco? In Cambridge for lunch we had caviar and quials eggs and frois gras. I can't believe I'm slumming it in Tottenham, it's so rubbish. I guess this place is the REAL catch.  


From now on I'm going to bring in lunch from my restaurant and put it in my giant bag. I'm going to bring in food from my Michellin starred restaurant, Heston Blumental owns it don't you know? I bet he went to Cambridge, I went to Cambridge too. 

Moe money, Moe problem

Well today is day two of my new blogging adventure and as part of the Catch 22 training, I have conducted an interview with my fellow Catch cohort Mohamed Khazma.  Moe, as he likes to be known, is 21 and is from Fulham. When Moe grows up he would like to be a Print Journalist too!

 

Here's Moe looking very happy indeed!

From what I've gathered, Moe is usually a cool and calm character so I've asked him five very pressing and important questions, so you followers can get to know him a little better:
  
Niomi: What words would you have on your tombstone and why?

Moe: Don't look down.

N: What's your guilty pleasure(s)?

M: My new wireless keyboard and mouse- I kiss them everyday. I also like my Nike Capri Trainers, glass bottle cokes, Turkish Sausages and tinned halved Peaches.   

N: If you were invisible for a day, who would you stalk and why?

M:I would stalk my Dad as he's so mysterious! He never tells you where he's going unless you ask.

N: If you were to form your own supergroup (max 4 people), who would be in it?

M: Hmmm (scratches head). I would have Lupe Fiasco, Michael Jackson, Tinie Tempah and Safety Suit.

N: If it was your last day on earth, what would you do?

M: I would work. I would basically live life like normal. What's the point of doing crazy things if your going to be dead the next day.

Hopefully this has given you a better insight into Moe, but if not, here's more!


Favourite Tune: Lupe Fiasco- The show goes on

 

Favourite Website: www.gumtree.com 

Favourite Youtube Clip: FPS Russia

If you would like to know more about the Turkish Sausage loving Moe, check out his Twitter page. 

New Kid on the Block

Ooh hello there. My name is Niomi and as you can probably guess, I'm new to this whole blogging process. It seems OK so far but before I started, I felt a little bit like this:

When I eventually grow up, I would quite like to be a Journalist. Now, for a wannabe Journalist, I really should have started a blog ages ago (I was actually told to get with the programme), but it's better late than never I suppose. To be fair, I'm not totally behind with the times, I do have a Twitter and Facebook account of which you more than welcome to have a look at. 


I'm currently a trainee at the Catch 22 Academy and I'm enjoying it very much, although when I started I felt a little like this:

I've met some really nice people and the tutors are really good. (You have to excuse my simplistic writing, I find it hard to write intelligently under pressure, especially with 'Vogue' playing on the radio) And before you say it, I know Journalists are supposed to work under pressure, but that's the reason I'm here silly! To learn how to be a proper Journalist! (Amongst other things) I am learning many things as it happens, these include writing shortcuts, court reporting and most prominently, figuring out how to use Macs of which usually makes me feel like this:

Now this is only my first blog post and I'm learning and improving my skills every day I'm at Catch 22. I think I'm doing quite well, but only time will tell. I'm working very hard to get at least a Merit at the end of this course, so wish me luck! And if I do pass, I'll probably feel a little something like this:

Look out for my next post. Who knows how I'll be feeling then!

Love Niomi xxx