{"id":16005,"date":"2015-11-04T12:00:29","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T12:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/?p=16005"},"modified":"2015-11-04T12:00:29","modified_gmt":"2015-11-04T12:00:29","slug":"from-ul-to-the-irish-independent-jason-kennedy-talks-to-an-focal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/index.php\/from-ul-to-the-irish-independent-jason-kennedy-talks-to-an-focal\/","title":{"rendered":"From UL to the Irish Independent: Jason Kennedy talks to An Focal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jason Kennedy. Photo: LinkedIn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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By Marisa Kennedy<\/p>\n

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Jason Kennedy graduated from the BA in Journalism and New Media course in UL in 2012. He is now working as the Multimedia and Content Editor for Independent.ie. He is also a reporter for the Irish Independent on various topics including current affairs, politics and entertainment. Here he tells us his story about life in UL and what\u2019s been going on since.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI was part of the first year of the course. There were six or seven of us and in fact three of us are now working in the Independent.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Speaking as a student of the same course, I can say that a lot has changed since it\u2019s inaugural year.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe used to hold fake press conferences and we would have to have the copied filed for the next day. It\u2019s crazy now to think that we had a whole day before our deadline, of course it must be all changed now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jason credits his success as a journalist to where it all began.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen I think back on the course, it\u2019s actually a lot different to what I\u2019m practicing now, like say I work a lot with video now and we didn\u2019t get a taster of that till our final year but at the same time, I wouldn\u2019t be where I am had I not started out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

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He remembers his time at UL very fondly, mainly because he wasn\u2019t afraid to get involved.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI had a great time in UL, I was really sad when I left it. I was heavily involved in the Student\u2019s Union, you know, I helped set up ULFM and I was the News Editor for An Focal. We used to head out to The Lodge, I loved that, or to the Trinity Rooms which I wasn\u2019t exactly a big fan of…Many an evening was spent in the Scholars.. it was great.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jason gained a substantial amount of experience in the field of journalism during his time in UL. During a six month co-op placement as part of the course, he worked in the Cork Independent which he says was a fantastic learning curve for him. He himself was the editor of this very paper and Jason had his Final Year Project published in The Journal.<\/p>\n

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He stressed that it may be hard to get the experience but every little helps.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNot many people were interested in writing for An Focal but I thought it was a brilliant opportunity and I was delighted to do it…Sometimes you have to take a lot of unpaid internships but that\u2019s just what you have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

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After leaving UL in 2012 Jason completed an internship with the Irish Examiner before working with The Irish Times for a year. Finally he was approached by the Irish Independent and offered a job where he is to this day.<\/p>\n

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Though his course was mainly print based, Jason decided to broaden his horizons after college and expand into video which he insists gave him an edge.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI finished college and I realised it\u2019s what a lot of people were looking towards…Later on then I applied for a job. It was something like 700 people looking for a post and two of us got it and that was down to the fact we both had a bit of experience with video.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jason wants to leave no student journalist under the wrong impression when it comes to the demands of the job.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is tough, there\u2019s no doubt about it. It\u2019s not like back in college, especially in a place like the Independent where you\u2019re expected to write your copy for print and online. With online, every minute is a deadline.\u201d<\/p>\n

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His main advice to journalism students is to take every opportunity that comes along, no matter how big or small.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe best advice I could give is don\u2019t be too big for your boots.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Journalism is a career in which interacting with people and getting to know them is key, a point Jason emphasised.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBuild contacts, get to know people that\u2019s what\u2019s most important in this line of work.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In something like journalism, Jason admits that \u201cit can be very advantageous coming from a Dublin based college,\u201d\u00a0 but it\u2019s all about pushing yourself to stand out from the crowd.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMaybe people think coming from a rural based background might put you at a bit of a disadvantage but I went to college in Limerick and I ended up working in two of the largest newsrooms in the country. The most important thing is to work hard to be that bit better than the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

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So hard work, tight deadlines and unpaid internships, is that what journalism is all about?<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is a hard gig to get into, I\u2019m not going to lie, it\u2019s hard to get into. But when you do, it\u2019s great. It\u2019s exciting, it\u2019s different and you never know what you\u2019re going to end up doing and that\u2019s what\u2019s so great about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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  By Marisa Kennedy   Jason Kennedy graduated from the BA in Journalism and New Media course in UL in 2012. He is now working as the Multimedia and Content Editor for Independent.ie. He is also a reporter for the Irish Independent on various topics including current affairs, politics and entertainment. Here he tells us […]<\/p>\n

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