It’s all smiles – despite some atrocious weather conditions - from the students of Year 1 of the HND in Broadcast Journalism as they successfully complete their tour and press conference at Parliament Buildings, Stormont.

Some of our local politicians were put through their paces recently when Higher National Diploma students from the Year 1 in Broadcast Journalism attended a press conference at Parliament Buildings, Stormont.
The main event took place in the Assembly’s official press conference suite where a panel of politicians answered questions as part of an assessed assignment.

The HND Broadcast Journalism students then recorded either one-minute news reports or three-minute audio packages about their experiences. These will be broadcast on the College’s proposed new on-line radio station, Belfast Met On-Line which will go ‘on air’ later this academic session.

Law tutor John Hunter chaired the press conference, which involved politicians Rev Dr Robert Coulter from the Ulster Unionists, Mr Barry McElduff from Sinn Fein, Dr John Kyle from the Progressive Unionists, and Mr Brian Wilson from the Green Party. A lively debate on a range of issues took place, giving the broadcast journalists of the future plenty of material for their projects.  The students also enjoyed an extensive tour of Parliament Buildings, including the Great Hall, Senate Chamber and main Assembly Chamber. They also saw ‘live’ press conferences being conducted by many of the top names in the Northern Ireland media.

HND Broadcast Journalism Year One Co-ordinator Dr John Coulter said: “The emphasis in the HND in Broadcast Journalism is very much on ‘real-life’ project based learning.“The press conference at Stormont gave these trainee broadcast journalists the opportunity to experience real life interviewing of some of our elected representatives as well as learn about the history of Parliament Buildings. “

The visit by the broadcast journalists followed hot on the heels of an earlier visit to Parliament Buildings and a press conference with politicians by students from the NVQ4 in Newspaper Writing. The press conference assignments are now well established as part of the curriculum on both training courses.

The Broadcast Journalism students are now preparing for the launch of their annual one-week fm radio station which will broadcast from the Castlereagh campus studio from Monday 22 March to Friday 26 March from 8 am to 9 pm.