Journalism students at the NCTJ-accredited course at Highbury College in Portsmouth are to be taught the basics of writing press releases. Holdthefrontpage tells us that the would-be reporters are taking part in a scheme with the college’s marketing department to write press releases on its behalf and see what stories they can get into print. Some will see the scheme as a sensible idea – many journalists end up moving over to PR, lured by the shorter hours and better pay and it could benefit journalists to understand how communications staff work. Though no doubt some traditionalists would argue that the two disciplines should be kept as far apart as possible, especially during training.
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