| Rathmines students have the 'write' stuff |
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| Thursday, 15 May 2008 | |
Media students at Rathmines College have successfully launched a stunning new magazine which they produced as part of their college course.The seven young contributors all worked together for over six months in producing XY Magazine – a free and unique publication aimed at both male and female interests. Editor Doug Whelan from Killiney, said the team was very pleased with the magazine. “We invested months of blood, sweat and tears into XY, so for it to finally turn out as it did is a proud representation of all the work that was put into it,” he said. Every part of XY Magazine was created by the students, from the features to the layout and design. The team funded the printing of 600 copies by independently seeking advertising from sponsors and local businesses. Linda Murphy from Crumlin took on the task of approaching these people for funds. “The hardest part was the initial attempts to secure advertising,” she said. “Getting businesses to part with their money was a challenge in itself, but it was made even harder by the fact that we were asking them to give it to students for a one-off publication. However, as we got more suited to the roles, it became easier to approach them. Persistency ultimately paid off in the end.” The team’s print supervisor, Éadaoin Ashe from Ballinteer, revealed how the responsibility fell on each of them to produce the magazine. “The core element of the project was that we the students would have to do everything, and although the college was always available if we really needed them, they would not be holding our hand throughout the production process,” she said. “After discussing rates with different printers around Dublin, we agreed to produce the magazine with Dolphin Print in Crumlin, who offered us a great rate. We were able to lower it even further by offering them space in the magazine for an advert. The whole experience taught us a lot about the business side of the media.” However, any team working together for six months can experience hiccups. “We did hit some bumps along the way that threatened do derail our progress,” admitted Doug, “but part of the project was designed to see how the team would respond to problems it encountered.” “For example, a member had to pull out due to illness but we had contingency plans in place for such events that we were able to rely on quickly.” The XY contributors were just one of two groups of second-year journalism students who were required to produce a full-page magazine to be distributed in the Rathmines area. The two-year diploma course aims to introduce students to journalism and public relations practice, and to provide them with a working knowledge of the media industry in Ireland. The team’s production manager Gary Moore commented on life as a journalism student. “The course is very much geared towards preparing students for the sort of aspects that professional journalists address every day in their jobs,” he said. “For example, students are graded on assignments throughout the two years, instead of on end of year exams. As a result, students are required to work to deadlines and be able to juggle multiple workloads at any given time, much like a journalist in a newsroom needs to research and write many different articles in time for the print deadline.” As well as a magazine, students of the diploma course are also required to produce a half-hour radio documentary, which is broadcast in the Rathmines area each spring. The course addresses other issues that promising journalists need to be aware of, such as media law and politics. |
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