The nation's young journalists could be forgiven for feeling prematurely world-weary. Careers in the arts, and journalism in particular, seem increasingly unfeasible. Imagine my relief then at the refreshing optimism expressed at the young journalist days organised by 4Talent and the Guardian Education Centre and Sustainability teams; with hard graft and the use of social media, we were told, aspiring reporters could still carve out fruitful careers in British journalism.
Nowhere better was this sentiment expressed than in Priscilla Baffour's (C4 Industry Talent Specialist) speech. In the last of four inspiring presentations from some of the organisation's most influential editors and programmers, she insisted that Channel 4 are not interested in qualifications; "we're looking for raw talent" she said. Other speakers continued in much the same vein, Joanna Abeyie (founder of Shine Media) regaling a captivated audience about her rise from humble tea-making intern to glamorous show business reporter and Lucille Howe (freelance journalist and writer) emphatically recounting the merits of freelance reportage. Elsewhere, Vicky Taylor (C4 new commissioning editor), Anna Doble (head of online at C4 news) and Jenny Rigby (web reporter) were equally inspiring. Each came to the same conclusion in different ways; work hard, keep knocking on the door and the results would come.
Thursday's Guardian young journalist day was just as enlightening, Elli Narewska (Guardian education officer) leading a workshop in which we teamed into threes and created prototype front pages for our own potential newspapers. These were appraised by Martin Nicholls and Ben Smith (Guardian designers and subeditors), who provided a fascinating insight into the design decisions and politics which affect the make-up of a real front page. Fascinating talks from Nancy Groves (editor of the Guardian culture professionals network) and Simone Baird (head of Guardian Masterclasses) were followed by a whistle-stop tour of the impressive Guardian offices. Ending in the conference room where morning stories are discussed by the editorial team, Joseph Harker (Guardian comment editor) gave us some powerful last words of advice.
Despite reaching the end of play on Thursday feeling pumped with adrenaline, the repeated emphasis on social media presence was a huge wake-up call. The recurring focus on blogging, tweeting, Instagram-ing, Pinterest-ing and Vine-ing made me feel as if I'd been mugged by a hashtag, but I was undoubtedly energised. I logged onto my painfully neglected Twitter account, a feeble offering from January 2012 gazing mournfully back at me, to find my peers had kicked up a veritable flurry of #4Tdays activity. Social media was the future of journalism, we'd been told – and we'd be convinced. I threw my lot in with a quasi-irreverent snippet praising the decor of the Guardian offices and headed home.
