The biggest advantage of working with the 24-Hour Museum was that, what with it being such a small scale operation, it was so hands-on. Unlike my second week - at a national monthly magazine - everyone in the office was involved in editorial which gave a sense of camaraderie as opposed to the "pecking order" one finds in larger institutions.
The two most appealing aspects of the 24-Hour Museum are, in my opinion, variety and immediacy. Over the course of my week, I reported news, reviewed an art installation and co-authored a heritage trail around Brighton. Although this latter task took up most of the week, the combination of researching, interviewing and actual walking meant that no one day was the same as any other.
Equally, where immediacy is concerned, the daily basis of the website meant that while we were using similar writing templates to those we had learned in magazine journalism (limiting the size of paragraphs, when to introduce a quote, etc.) we also saw our work going on site the following day as it might a newspaper. Immediate gratification through a byline may be a shallow experience but as shallow experiences go, it's pretty damn good.
Certainly, the week with 24-Hour Museum has helped clarify my thoughts as to what I want to do should I pass this course. Beforehand, my main intent was to work as a freelance, but now I want to get a regular editorial job, preferably with an arts-based website, so as to build up my portfolio as well as to enjoy the regular challange/salary that such a job would bring with it.
Finally, a thanks to all the staff who helped with suggestions, sub-editing and photo-editing. It was certainly an education in multi-tasking. I know I'm not the only one of my course who was made to feel welcome and I would not hesitate to recommend a week on the site to any would-be magazine journalist.
B) Tom Briggs
The week at the office was the most useful experience of the publishing industry I have had so far. There was more in the way of 'hands on' experience than I expected, which was great.
I now have more of a feel for what day-to-day journalism entails. I never expected to get anything published either, so to emerge from the week with three items to put in my portfolio was a result.
I would recommend work experience with the 24 Hour Museum team to anybody doing an NCTJ course. Thank you all once again.
C) Alan Morrison
My time at the 24 Hour Museum provided me with ample opportunity to write to deadlines which was invaluable. Being able to research a news story and feature, write them up, edit them and then see them only a day or so later published on a website gave an extra thrill to the task.
It was also nice to have the opportunity to think up stand-firsts and headlines. It was very interesting to see a magazine at work and to have some insight into the production, design and layout side.
I really enjoyed my week because I was able to write about things that interested me, especially the Missionary Collectors exhibition which was particularly enjoyable.
Researching the feature provided me with my first proper crack at face-to-face interviewing (with Dicta-phone).
What I most valued with this piece was the chance to write colourfully, not having to dumb down the information. This is how I think magazines should be: drawing readers in with intelligent and accessible writing on didactic subjects.
I'd love to work for you again if the opportunity arose. The 24 Hour Museum gave me a unique chance to write and learn at the same time.
D) Andrea Geeson
I really enjoyed working for the 24 Hour Museum and I think that this is because, unlike other work experience placements, we were given freedom to actually write features and the opportunity to see exactly what the job requires you to do.
By allowing us to take (almost) complete control of the site we became actively involved in writing and cared about the quality of our copy. We could see the finished product the next day when it appeared on the web and this helped create a sense of achievement.
It also made me feel much more valued than at other placements where making tea was a major responsibilty.
In terms of professional development the experience at the 24 Hour Museum was helpful because we left it with a considerable amount of articles to include in our portfolio. It was also good because we now have a range of printed material that includes work that has been on the web, an increasingly important aspect of modern media.
I feel that the experience was well organised and we all got to try a variety of different jobs, including news and feature writing so we never got bored.
I think that it is definitely an extremely valuable opportunity to offer to other students and after talking to others on our course about their work experiences it is clear to see that our stint at the 24 Hour Museum was one of the most beneficial and enjoyable.
Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to work with you.
E) Tessa Watkinson
It was a really enjoyable week, I felt very welcome and it was good to be in an environment where I actually felt that I was going to be of some use, and that the things I was doing were actually contributing rather than time-wasting fill-in tasks (which is how I felt at other work placements)!
It was very well set out: it was nice that at the very first meeting you created a schedule that we would follow so that we could get the most out of what we were doing, rather than being passed little bits and pieces to do randomly throughout the week.
Obviously the best thing was the fact that we all got so much actual writing done, and that this covered a range of styles (news, reviews, trails, for children).
I also liked the fact that we got to follow a story through from research, to visiting a gallery and interviewing someone, to writing and uploading it. As far as I can see, it is rare to be able to follow something through in this way while on work experience.
Being able to see an article I had written being published online the very next day really appealed to me, it was very encouraging to be able to see immediate results and be able to talk through it with you at the 24 Hour Museum while we were still with you for the week.
Professionally, it's provided me with some great material for my portfolio and my CV but also with a lot of confidence that I was able to get so involved in such an environment.
Click back in your browser to return to the case study
