Like what you've seen?

Check my more up to date blog at

http://gem-suyat.tumblr.com/

Introducing Celeste

How I Got My Media Break…

Celeste,

Editor of Live magazine- “The Youth of Voice.”

  

Amidst a hectic day at a production shoot for Live, I managed to catch a few minutes with magazine editor Celeste.  At 19, Celeste has proven herself as an exciting new talent ready to take the media industry by storm.  Here’s what she had to say about how she got her media break…

“I started out at college, studying my a levels and on the side was doing as much work experience as I could.”  Following her studies Celeste also did an NCTJ (National Council for the Training of Journalists) specializing in magazine journalism, something which she feels has accelerated her journalistic skills to a great lengths.  “Doing the NCTJ really showed me the skills I needed and helped develop the ones I already gained on how to be a good journalist.”  She adds, “If I didn’t do the course I definitely think it would have taken me a lot more time to build up my skills and get to where I have.”

In true Catch style, Celeste says that her ‘foot in the door’ moment into the media was when she joined Live.  “I started out doing work experience which was great, I built up my contacts, skills, and I loved it so much that I stayed.”  Live was perfect for her, very much tapping into her lifestyle being a magazine aimed at young Londoners with a keen interest in culture and artists emerging from the urban music scene.

In her earlier days at Live, Celeste recalls an interview with a district nurse for the NHS, “it was a feature that was for a newspaper on nurses who were awarded for their outstanding work for the community by the Princess Diana Trust.”  Although this wasn’t one of her more glamorous interviews, Celeste feels that every experience is one to learn from and to take every opportunity to develop your skills.

Celeste’s voice lights up when she mentions the best interview she has ever done which was with American rapper B.O.B, her reasoning for this: “simply because I’m a massive fan!”  It’s opportunities like this, and finding out about the people that you love when one realises that they are in the right industry.  Woman of the moment Jessie J comes a close second in Celeste’s list of top interviews.  Big on the scene at the exciting age of 19,  Celeste is here to prove that hard work and perseverance is the key to thriving in this industry, like they say, age aint nothing but a number! 

Facts:

-Live has a readership of 140,000 across London

-Launched in 2001, the aim of Live was to give a voice to young people residing in South London

-Anyone can contribute to live as long as you fit into the age group of 14-22 and live in London.

Here’s the low down on Live magazine…

Gemma's TOP 3...

Ideal Placements...

3. Third on my list of ideal partners is…

*The London Evening Standard: Evening Standard

*Titles: Evening Standard, Daily Express, ES magazine

What separates the Evening Standard from other free newspapers that we are constantly bombarded with on our travels around London, is the quality of the news we are given.  The sophisticated ES magazine focusing on glamour, fashion and beauty, which is included free in the paper every Friday is another aspect of the paper that separates its rivals.  It would be a challenging yet rewarding experience to work on newspaper, the fast paced nature and finding news stories daily I feel would at times stressful but nothing short of satisfying! 

Facts:

-First Quality newspaper in the world to go free to public

-Rival newspapers are The London Lite, Metro.

-Distributes 600,000 copies daily.

Current Evening Standard News story:

At the recent 2011 Press Awards the evening standard won two awards for their campaign called 'Dispossessed.' 

2. Just missing out on my top spot is... (can I stress that there was not much in it!)

*Bauer Media: Empire

*Titles: Grazia, Heat, GQ, FHM.

From classics like American Beauty, to anything Scorsese directed (Taxi Driver, Casino, Goodfellas), to Latin American pictures with absolutely anything featuring Gael Bernal Garcia- yes, film is one of my biggest passions.  What I like most about Empire is its willingness to feature independent films from the underground that many mainstream publications shy away from.   I’ve been reading Empire since my teen years, and on the more recent occasions where funds are low, I resort to checking the online website to get my fix, or my Empire film guide- the ultimate bible for film goers!    Aside from keeping up with what’s good and new in cinema, the features section always grabs me from slightly mocking titles like ‘How to Win and Oscar,’ to the more inspirational, ‘The Ten Buzz Films of Sundance.’     

Facts:

-Has over 1 million readers worldwide

-Australia’s biggest selling movie magazine

-Rival publications are Total film and Sight and Sound

Current Bauer News story:

-Bauer Media recently announced two new national commercial radio packages; Bauer Place and Bauer Passion.  It intends to offer a more personal approach its programming.

1. Topping my list for the number one spot is…

Bauer Media: Grazia

Yes, Bauer returns to top my list of placements I’d love to work on.  I have to admit I’m not your girliest of girls concerned with the latest fashion trends, but if you were to ask which of the fashion magazines I do enjoy; Grazia would top my list hands down.  Three main things appeal to me about this magazine:

1.The varying content whereby you can read about what Angelina Jolie wore at the Oscars to a story on the banning of the Burka in France.  It doesn’t try to be to intelligent but gives you the ins and outs of what’s current today.

2. They have their own Grazia TV channel, something which I think more magazines should think about utilizing to get their brand spread across more mediums of the media.  The channel features catwalk footage, catch ups with celebrities and designers and much more.

3. Finally, I appreciate its ‘no brow’ approach.  It’s the pretentious nature of high fashion magazines that just doesn’t appeal to me, and so I enjoy Grazia’s more modest approach, it does what it says on the tin.

Grazia’s output and style is refreshing!  Weekly, fast paced, originally presenting news alongside fashion; something which rival fashion magazines have failed to do.

Facts:

-First and only weekly glossy fashion magazine for women.

-Rivals publications are, Company, Marie Claire, Glamour.

-Grazia sells a whopping 200,000 copies every week

Only time will tell whether I become successful in gaining a spot on one of my ideal placements, watch this space!

"30 seconds in the mind of Abdullah Moallim"

Abdullah is 23, hailing from Ilford, Redbridge (big up East London!) and is currently training at the Catch22 academy.  Graduating last year from the University of Westminister with a degree in International Relations and Arabic studies, Abdullah, known to his friends as 'Boodie' has dreams of becoming your favourite TV personality in the years to come!

1. Favourite news story? 

A good one I read this morning in the Daily Mirror after the big United/Chelsea game yesterday, the headline was 'p45,' and it had a picture of Hernandez of United and Chelsea manager  Carlos Ancelotti.  'P' meaning little p in Mexican and the 45 for Ancelloti who might get sacked!  I loved that story.

2. What animal would you be?

Someone once said I'd be a really good golden retriever because I'm so big and larger than life so I'll take that.  I'm not going to go with the cliche of me being a giraffe!

3. What song makes you cry?

I watched Janelle Monae's video 'Cold War' where she cries and well that sort of made me really emotional, I didn't really tear up, but I was close to tears.

4. Celebrity you cannot stand?

Lady Gaga, I can't stand her.  People like Lady Gaga should be in a circus where we can all go and point and laugh at her.

5. Would you rather be forgotten of hatefully remembered?

Forgotten.

*FAVOURITE...

-WEBSITE- Jason Mraz's blog.

-SONG of all time



-YOUTUBE Clip

-You can follow Boodie on twitter HERE!

The story so far...

So this past month I’ve made TFL a fortune travelling back and forth from my Uni in Surrey, my home in East London and training at the Catch22 academy in Seven Sisters. Although I absolutely despise paying ridiculous amounts for a travel card, the experience and what I’m learning is invaluable. The journey began on a warm March afternoon, 15 budding journos all nervously sat in one room looking on as the big man Toks gave his speech about what the academy was and how important our role is to the process. To put it simply: we rep the academy and hard work and pushing yourself creatively will lead to your success, failure to do so and you'll be left behind in this media rat race. Daunting and feeling like this was going be a tougher experience than giving birth, I left feeling like I had to focus and get my head straight; nothing more enticing then bagging myself a placement with one of Catch's media partners.

Some highlights have been the talk with BBC news journalist Warren Nettleford, court reporting, presenting our ideas to the group if we were editor of Catch and the infamous evening session of pitching our ideas for our magazine feature to the panel of judges i.e. the Catch tutors fronted by the ever authoritative Toks. I won't go into too much detail but think Dragon's Den for journos...okay maybe not as extreme but near enough!

I guess my not so favourite task, which had me on the verge of ripping my hair out in ultimate frustration was the task we were set of finding a news story in the area which we would later pitch to the Haringey Independent. I stumbled onto the Wards Corner Latin American market and approached a small 50 something Colombian named Luiz and asked him about the demolition plans from the market to which he instead went on to tell me his life story. Me being me, fascinated with South America, I ended up spending a good 20 minutes speaking to him about his homeland and how beautiful Medellin was; a very poor attempt at finding a new story.

The more I desperately tried to find something worthy of pitching the more harsh the response was, a worker at a Cuban restaurant ferociously asking me what my interest was, and certainly did not see any humour in me telling him I was a journalist. I don't know how but I managed to sort myself out something worthy enough of pitching within the second part of the day, again not one of my better days but something to learn from!

So that's bit of insight into the story so far, and well nothing much has changed since day one, our tutors work their hardest to get the best out of us, morning feature meetings frequently hear the words: 'so what!' 'What's new about your idea?' The cohorts continue to build our small family unit; Areeb with his 101 questions, Rick with his animal loving features and Jack humouring us with his Owl persona on twitter. Let the good times roll!

-Here's what previous cohort Jimmy Nsubuga had to say about how Catch helped him get funding for the NCTJ course, the Journalism Diversity Fund a great scheme for people who simply cannot afford the course fee.  Something which I will look into doing after the Catch 22 academy.

*Websites that I've found useful during the experience:

-The Daily What- Great inspiration for weird and quirky news stories

-Ideas Tap- Every writer should join this, great competitions, jobs, opportunities and a way to network with creative talent!

-Twitter- Great to find out what's happening NOW. On that note follow me here!

-Careers in the media- Does as it says

Look out for my next post spilling the beans on what goes on behind the scenes at the Catch academy in and out of office hours!  But before I go I'll leave you with this, a little video to illustrate the FEAR of getting this response from the tutors after attempting to pitch an idea at our feature meetings, ENJOY!