Chapter           synopses

Chapter One: Reporter to lecturer overnight . . . a doddle of a job? . . . academia shows an interest . . . the 'professor' paradox . . . sundry prejudices aired . . .

​

Chapter Two:  Adjusting to a time-tabled life . . . no such thing as journalism exams . . . identifying the basics . . . jobs are guaranteed . . . classroom hazards . . .

 

Chapter Three:  Grading - is Jim better than Fred?. . . a hilarious conference in London . . . how serious is error? . . . writing reports . . . the English-lecturer clash . . . a student close to tears . . . the fruit-machine addict . . .

 

Chapter Four:  Why choose journalism? . . . spotting the fainthearts . . . a tough start . . . familiar student types . . . abysmal letters . . . age-limit problems . . . a late-night hoax . . . ex-students far and wide . . .

 

Chapter Five:  Fun with one-par rewrites . . . avoiding ambiguity . . . describing blackboard diagrams . . . the screen inside our minds . . . lateral thinking . . .

 

Chapter Six:  Intrusion into grief . . .  interviewing the bereaved . . . students' tales of unwelcome assignments . . . can doorstep trickery be justified? . . . the pathologist's slide-show . . .  disturbing thoughts from the coroner . . .

 

Chapter Seven:  Britain's smallest newspaper . . . early technology . . . sex on page one . . . that first editorial team . . . a TV-star scoop . . . hoaxed by the scientists . . . lifted by the Sun . . . real-life tragedy . . . Ron Eyley's 'budget edition' . . . an opposition title . . .

 

Chapter Eight:  Books about interviewing . . . experimental teaching . . . video interviews in threes . . . the famous house-fire story . . . Proficiency Test trickery . . . the recurring faults . . . the politician problem . . . reels of flickering history . . .

 

Chapter Nine:  Police and fire stations . . . down a coal-mine . . . council meetings . . . newspaper placements . . . a visit to Parliament . . . guest lecturers . . . women's equality . . .

 

Chapter Ten:  The fun of it all . . . wrong room/wrong teacher . . .horoscopes . . . the 'project' farce . . . student pranks . . . fun with Marti Caine . . . mystery intruder . . . foggy nights . . . the nightmare of computers . . . NUJ versus IOJ . . . a visit from Her Majesty's inspector . . . devising new approaches . . . the ingenious 'Peter Collins marking system'! . . . Proficiency Test nerves . . .