Today is World Press Freedom Day.
Pity nobody told Dartford Borough Council Press Officer Lewis Kirnon.
As the clock struck midnight to usher in the day on which we honour those who fight for the right to bear witness to democracy, Mr Kirnon was ensuring precisely the opposite happened – by refusing two of our students entry to the borough’s election count.

Covering a count is something of a rite of passage for CfJ students. Through the years, hundreds of them have done that familiar all-night stint at general elections and local elections across the county. They have provided footage for ITV, the BBC and KMTV, as well as copy for newspapers and web sites across the county. They are well trained in the dos and don’ts, both technically and editorially. They know what to film and what not to film. They understand the law and Ofcom’s regulations inside out.
So it was with a degree of excitement that third year undergrad Jessica Sharp and her second year colleague Chloe Rose set off to cover the Dartford count as KMTV interns yesterday night.

Year 3 students can collect their Year 3 project marks and TV production marks from Nicola tomorrow (Friday) between 10am and 12noon and between 2.3pm and 4pm. MA students who took the TV Production module can also collect their marks. 

Project deadline days are legendary at the Centre for Journalism.

Tears, tantrums, tales of woe - and the wild staring eyes of students who haven't been to sleep for more than 24 hours - are reliable indicators that the submission of this all important piece of work is imminent.

And each year, the academic staff grab whispered conversations in the corridor to compare notes about some of the amazing work that is nearing completion.

So yesterday, as the clock ticked down towards 5pm, we decided to capture at least some of the mania with a time-lapse camera in the Year 3 newsroom.

Ron Green had already retired once after a long and successful career in print journalism - including 30 years at the Kent Messenger group -  before being persuaded to help out with lecturing our first batch of students just after we had set the department up.

That was more than a decade ago.

In the years since then he has been a stalwart of CfJ life, and many is the student who has benefitted from his patience, his wisdom and the incisions of his red pen through their copy. Dozens owe at least part of their progression through the NCTJ diploma to the many additional hours he put in helping them to sharpen top lines, polish quotes and check key facts.