This year I’m the editor of the politics section on our campus’s student news website; theMedwire.co.uk

I’m looking for students to write for us, so if you’re hoping to go into political journalism then this is a great opportunity for something that would look really good on your CV! In addition, after writing a few stories for the Medwire, you can always use them to help build your portfolio (I cannot stress enough how useful it is to have stories ready to go into your portfolio when you reach the end of the year!).

Don’t let the fact it’s ‘politics’ scare you away either. if you’re fairly new to the political scene you can ease in with some easier stories of your choice or cover campus politics stories. As a member of the UMSA I’m happy to explain how things work and send you to cover relevant meetings and events.

How can you get involved? Just email me at [email protected] stating your interest and I’ll add you to a mailing list. Each week I’ll send out a list of stories we need written along with deadlines…you can choose to write something from that list, or send me a brief pitch about an idea for a story you want to do and I’ll get back to you right away!

We are students, and the Medwire is a voluntary organisation, running for the benefit of the Medway Campus. I don’t expect people to write stories at the drop of a hat, nor do I expect all the stories written to be of an amazing standard (at least to start with!). What I do expect however is that if you agree to write a certain story and by a certain dealine, that you will honour that commitment. There’s nothing worse than having stories promised and then finding out last minute that none of them have been written – the Medwire website runs through advertising and if our site isn’t regularly updated we will lose the funding.

By all means feel free sign up to the politics mailing list even if you’re unsure you’ll have the time to write for us, just don’t commit to any deadlines unless you’re 100% certain you’ll meet them!

Don’t be afraid to ask for help – if you’re not sure of a certain legal issue, or you’re having trouble with your article then let us know. We’ll be more than happy to help you out…but be ready for constructive criticism. If your article is pure conjecture and needs facts and quotes to back it up I won’t hesitate to tell you so! But neither will we hesitate to help you make it better.

It’s not all work, work, work however (far from it!) – the Medwire also runs staff socials and, once you’ve written for us a few times, you can get added to the guestlist for local nightclub Bliss, one of our sponsors.

Last but not least, if there’s enough interest and it fits within budget, I’m planning to take a team to cover this year’s National Union of Students (NUS) conference in Birmingham. I’ll only be taking people who’ve contributed good pieces to the Medwire in the first place. I will be an amazing experience, with press room facilities available for use. This is an excellent opportunity for video, radio, online and print journalism.