To borrow a phrase from the book of clichés stashed under the 24 Hour Museum desk, all good things come to an end. After months of feverish endeavour all over the country the 24 HM Renaissance Student Journalists have finished their job.
Since January 2005 12 trainee journalists, 10 of them funded through the Renaissance in the Regions programme, have been embedded in museum offices all over England. Between them they’ve produced 106 stories read by an amazing 100,000 people on the 24 HM.
“We thoroughly enjoyed working with the students,” enthused 24 HM Editor Jon Pratty, “and getting lots and lots of great stories!”
SEMLAC funded student journalist Emily Sands gets the scoop on a collapsible lifeboat at the Classic Lifeboat Museum on the Isle of Wight. © Mandy Schaller.
However, as Jon pointed out, the network has seen gains on all sides particularly in raising the profile of the outstanding work carried out in our regional museums and galleries. “We’ve had lots of great feedback from museums in the regions,” he said, “who’ve really appreciated having students around to communicate their stories.”
With the backing of Renaissance, the groundbreaking Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) initiative to transform regional museums, the network was put together in January 2005. Other funding for the project came from the South East Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (SEMLAC), Norwich Heritage Economic & Regeneration Trust (NHEART) and the London Museums Hub.
Students were based in museum offices in the nine Renaissance Museum Hub regions and with a £500 bursary produced two or three stories each month.
They wrote about such diverse subjects as education initiatives in the south west, sending kids back to the Blitz in Coventry and a collapsible Titanic lifeboat on the Isle of Wight. All their work was published on the 24 HM City Heritage Guides, the national website and was also sent out across the web via the 24 HM newsfeed.
North East Hub Manager Bill Griffiths shows Alastair Smith around the Discovery Museum in Newcastle.
Chris Breese, who worked with the East Midlands Hub explained that one of the most rewarding aspects of the bursary scheme was in developing his skills and confidence. “I am able to pitch and develop my own projects and ideas,” he said back in March while still engaged in the programme, “and I am rewarded with a level of trust I would not have had while working on a newspaper.”
The same goes for Alastair Smith, whose news-hounding in the north east was particularly well appreciated by museum staff.
“It definitely boosted my confidence,” he said, “and I feel that I improved as a writer. It gave me a lot of awareness of what makes a news story, but also of what goes on in museums.”
The scheme even helped Alastair get a job with a local news agency. Having a six-month placement and a multitude of bylines to his name went down particularly well with his new boss: “To him it made me more employable,” explained Alastair.
East of England Hub based Catherine Rose got the story when the oldest living Great War (1914-18) veteran Henry Allingham, 108, visited Time and Tide Museum of Great Yarmouth Life.
But it wasn’t just the students doing the learning. North East Regional Museums Hub Manager Bill Griffiths told the 24 HM what a success Alastair had been: “We learnt a lot from him journalism wise,” he said. “We were able to genuinely help him and he was able to genuinely help us.”
David Worthington, East Midlands Hub Manager also found having a journalist around useful. “The whole thing has been a very positive experience and it’s certainly opened my eyes to something that is sorely needed in regional museums.”
With the first student network complete, the plan now is to try and build on the expertise and experience gained to embark on a new round of bursaries.
“Now the pilot phase is over,” said Jon Pratty, “we are really keen to create a fuller more ambitious volunteer network project.”
Watch this virtual space...
