The Media School has an outstanding reputation for its courses that focus on the communication and cultural awareness that are at the heart of modern marketing, whilst the Business School brings a cutting analytical and strategic angle that is increasingly demanded by employers.

This new course provides a bridge between the two Schools’ existing, well-established BA (Hons) Marketing Communications and BA (Hons) Business Studies courses. It will enable students to think critically about marketing scenarios and make informed strategic decisions that are financially aware, whilst also having a deeper understanding of communications theory and practice.

This distinctive blend of skills from two complimentary and respected areas of Bournemouth University will equip students for an exciting career in wide variety of sectors, both in companies and for agencies.

Details about the new course is now available on our website. For more information, please contact Colin Merrett (cmerrett@bournemouth.ac.uk) or Chris Chapleo (cchapleo@bournemouth.ac.uk).

Harriet Rose-Gale with her award, and Adam Lee-Potter left

BU BA Multi-Media journalism graduate Harriet Rose-Gale, 21, won the Dorset Journalist of the year award.

Utilising her work done as Deputy News Editor for student newspaper The Rock, Harriet’s winning entry was her report about the desperate measures cash strapped students are taking to afford university, including stripping and medical testing.

Despite her heavy involvement with journalism during her studies Harriet did not expect to win,

“I wasn’t expecting to win at all, it was a lovely surprise! Especially as I have started a new job as a features writer at Caters News Agency in Birmingham.”

The award was sponsored by the National Union of Journalists. The chairman of the judges, Neil Duncan-Jordan, said there was an impressive number of entries and huge variety of subjects covered.

Guest speaker Adam Lee-Potter joined students and lecturers at the award ceremony in Weymouth House at BU, championing the wonderful opportunities offered by a career in journalism. His own reporting exploits included being punched by actress Barbara Windsor and seeing the magician Paul Daniels naked.

As well as winning a shiny trophy and £150 prize money during her time at BU Harriet has produced a varied array of stories such as a front page exclusive interview with Wikkileaks founder Julian Assange for The Bournemouth Rock, whom she was able to approach through BU lecturer Matthew Charles film about the dictatorship in Belarus.

“Assange had provided the diplomatic cables on Belarus to Mathew so was happy to support the film. I just walked up to him and asked him if it was ok to ask him a few questions. He was more than happy to talk to me, especially as I was writing my dissertation on WikiLeaks’ disclosure of the Iraq War Logs.”

Professor Tom Watson

Negotiating public relations and corporate communication is always a difficult one when it comes to management, especially when wanting to produce value for your organisation or client.

In Germany, a major step forward has been taken with the development of a communication performance management method called “Communication Controlling” created by accountancy and auditing bodies.

BU’s Professor of Public relations Tom will be holding the UK’s first “Communication Controlling” event at the CIPR in London alongside Dr Kerstin Liehr-Gobbers of Reputation Inc.

The event will take place on June 26 at 5pm at the CIPR in London. Dr Kerstin was one of the German team that piloted this performance management system into practice in several major German trans-national corporations.

If you would like to come to the event please register. Please pass the message on to colleagues.

Professor Tom Watson

BU’s Professor of Public Relations and chairman of the PRCA Tom Watson told Speed Communications this week that the PR industry needs to value itself more before it can achieve professional recognition.

Professor Watson stated that the profession is starting to distinguish itself through the CIPR moving its Continuous Professional Development programme online, but needs more criteria for entry as he argues anyone can call themselves a ‘PR person.’

Professor Watson told Speed, “Despite efforts going back 25 years, public relations and communications management are not embedded in MBAs in this country which demonstrates their lack of standing amongst business and management. So we have an occupational field which exhibits more craft characteristics than professional ones; in which ‘custom and practice’ is held in greater esteem than ‘best practice’ or informed judgement.”

He goes on to say that there needs to be more training and not just at the educational level but mid-management level too, and outlined a 6 point plan that he believes will go some way into developing a more established profession. This includes restarting the CIPR with higher entry standards, more of a rigorous training programme, and more investment in education.

“Too often the discussion about talent for the PR sector focuses on entry-level training. It’s time that it looked at development and retention of that talent that it already employs,” says Professor Watson.

Read the full interview.

From left to right: Rose Pickard and Emily Ridgwell by their winning campaign poster

Advertising students at Bournemouth University starred in their own advertising campaign after winning a pitch for Aquafresh, set by MediaCom on behalf of pharmaceutical company Glaxo Smith Kline.

The winning team made up of final year students were Emily Ridgwell, Rose Pickard, Karis Brummitt and Anna Taylor. The students were set the challenge of coming up with a family based advertisement to use Aquafresh toothpaste as part of their final year campaign planning unit.

Emily said the team were not expecting to win the competition, but believe self-confidence won Glaxo Smith Kline’s attention;

“We thought we had a really good idea and we were confident in what we were presenting. It was very competitive, we definitely believed in ourselves and followed through what we thought was right.”

Rose said she did not feel so self-assured that the client were going to like the teams ideas,

“Because we were working on it for such a long time and we were so absorbed in the project, you have no idea how that will portray to the potential client so they we did not know how they would interpret it or if they would completely dislike it.”

As well as winning publicity for their campaign by having their picture on the advert, the team were rewarded by MediaCom with VIP tickets to the Big Brother launch party in August.

Which Emily said the team are “really looking forward too!”

Course leader for Advertising and Communication Richard Scullion said,

“It’s always great to get Blue-chip clients involved in live briefs for students. And in this case they had to put their learning into action through problem solving for this brand. The winning team were not only highly polished they had a very strong core idea about giving Aqafresh a clear ‘family’ position.”

Anna is the only student in the winning team that has already scored a job for when she graduates for tenth leading pharmaceutical company in the world Eli Lilly, whom she did her placement year with.

Emily is hopeful that BU’s reputation will help her in finding a job,

“I think it will help us in future when we are looking for jobs, as Bournemouth is recognised for having a good advertising course.”

You can currently see the winning team on the inside of the bus stop on Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth.

Winner Victoria and her award

Victoria Musguin graduated from BA TV production in 2010 and amongst working for the likes of channel 4 and the BBC since graduation she has just received a prestigious Al Jazeera award for her final year project documentary A different face.

A Different Face explores the life of Shaharzad Akbar, the first Afghan female to study at Oxford University. Victoria told 22-year-old Shaharzad’s story through her eyes by giving her a camera to film her life in Afghanistan, where the Taliban’s rule left 85% of women uneducated, fighting against war and the threat of assassination.

Crowned the Winner of the New Horizon (second) award at the Al Jazeera International Documentary Festival 2012, Victoria did not believe at first that she had won the award on receiving a ‘dodgy’ looking congratulating email,

“I assumed the email was hacked and ignored it, but decided to call in case and they said it was already screened and the awards had happened. I found out a week after the festival had finished, so I didn’t believe I had won until the presentation video came through the post!”

Victoria says she would definitely recommend anyone to enter as the award has won her an unprecedented level of respect amongst her peers,

“The Al Jazeera award has given me a slightly different level of respect and people take you a bit more seriously.”

Since leaving BU Victoria worked on a stream of high profile TV programmes such as Ramsey’s Best Restaurant, saying the foundation of technical skills from BA TV production have been really useful,

“The ability to edit has been really helpful, and the ability to shoot because the TV industry is evolving really quickly and if you can’t shoot you cannot get the work so you need the ability to shoot really well.”

Victoria would like to personally thank dedicated BU staff for her success,

“Dan Hogan helped with my documentary; even though I wasn’t a BAMMJ he found time to give me some great advice. He and Jonathan Auckland (TV) were really supportive throughout Uni, I owe them a lot.”

Victoria’s latest work has seen her assistant produce documentary film Mission to Lars, about a family and how their brother who has fragile x,  a cross between Down’s syndrome and Autism, where the sufferer has a fixations on things, in this case on Lars Ulrich drummer of Metallica.

Different Face is also short-listed in the short film category at the 2012 East London Film Festival screened in July, which Victoria hopes will add even more recognition to her already impressive CV.

Lord Young of Graffham, David Cameron’s enterprise adviser, came to BU and the Arts University College Bournemouth (AUCB) on 30 May to promote the entrepreneurial StartUp Loan scheme as part of Bournemouth Skillset Media Academy ‘Get That Job!’ day.

The Government launched the £82.5 million StartUp Loan scheme this week to help people aged 18-24 set up their own business.  Everyone who applies will be assigned one of 25,000 mentors who will help them develop a business plan and then it will be up to partner organisations who will decide who gets awarded the loan based on their applicant’s business plan. The loans will be on average £2,500.

Lord Young spoke to the audience of students from BU and AUCB, giving them advice on how to set up a business as he described himself as a “serial entrepreneur”. He told them that Twitter is a good business tool and that failure isn’t necessarily a bad thing, “When things don’t go well you learn more than when they do go well.” He also pointed out that business people are not born, they learn from experience.

He discussed the changing patterns in working life, explaining that the traditional job for life is no longer the norm, and how everyone is gradually moving into multiple part-time jobs. He also said that it is increasingly difficult to find employment as “companies can do more with fewer people” with modern technology.

This then led him to explain that all of us need to become more entrepreneurial and do things for ourselves. Comparing the UK business economy to that of the USA Lord Young said, “If we were as entrepreneurial as the US we would have a 20  increase in business – and a Chancellor who smiles.” Another point he highlighted was that the UK does not have enough women in business, or working for themselves.

When asked about companies who receive the loan and don’t work out 80-year-old said based on past experiences, “the exercise of running your own business makes you highly employable” – however, he did point out that the loan would still need to be paid back, no matter what happened, but on terms similar to a student loan.

Bournemouth Skillset Media Academy Coordinator Vanessa Edwards said,

“We are very pleased that Lord Young has come to the Bournemouth Skillset Media Academy. Our Partners – BU and AUCB see enterprise skills as a priority for our graduates and we’re delighted that Lord Young is giving Bournemouth such an important role in the launch of the StartUp scheme.”

Left to right: Stephen Jukes Dean of The Media School, Julia Denni Editor of The Bournemouth Rock, Harriet Hadfield reporter for Sky News

BU is frequently approached by the media to comment on a variety of topics across the news agenda, so a directory for the press has been compiled to include details of our top academics to offer expert insight and analysis.

Journalists from print, online and broadcast, including the BBC, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, People and Channel 4 came to mingle with BU experts and collect their copy of the directory.

Left to right: Martin Fewell Deputy Editor Channel 4, Michael Crozier Crozier Associates

They met with academics from across the University whose expertise covers a wide-range of issues including the media, economics, tourism, nursing, dementia and prosthetic limb design. Also on hand were staff from the new International VFX Hub based in Bournemouth and Julia Denni, editor of The Bournemouth Rock newspaper.

Left to right: Soho on Sea; Peter Truckel, Lindsay Watson and Sofranis Esthaniou

Journalists praised the usefulness of the directory and launching it in London. Editor of Supplements and Microsites at The Guardian Sarah Jewell tweeted after the event,

“It was great to see you and I learnt a lot about prosthetics.”

The mysterious Fleet Street Fox was in also in attendance, and was in full support of Bournemouth Universities student newspaper The Bournemouth Rock, tweeting after picking up her copy and meeting Editor Julia Denni,

“@bournemouthrock It’s a good paper. Give it some welly!”

Eliza Anyangwe HE community coordinator for The Guardian said replied to the @Bunewshound on Twitter after the event with:

“Been raving about it all day! Thanks for the invite …Think I’ll be at BU in July”

Harriet Hadfield Sky News reporter and Bournemouth University Alumni tweeted after being asked to come back to BU to talk to aspiring journalism students following the launch event,

“thank you for inviting me! Would love to come – anytime.”

BU press office will be sending out copies of The BU 100+ Media directory this week to all members of the press who could not make the launch, if you would like to receive a copy please get in touch with a member of the press team on 01202 963963 or by emailing newsdesk@bournemouth.ac.uk

Former multimedia journalism student Joe Casey

BA Multi-Media Journalism graduate Joe Casey scooped his third award for his special undercover report of care homes for BBC’s Panorama at the BAFTA’s on May 28.

Joe was awarded a BAFTA for an episode he went undercover for entitled Undercover Care: The Abuse Exposed for Panorama, which has also won him the John Schofield Trust bursary at the RTS Television awards. Joe said winning the award was almost as exciting as the ceremony itself,

“It was a great experience being in the same company of some of the biggest names in television.  There were some people in there that I respect for what they have achieved in their career. Also it’s not every day you are in a room with celebrities like Rolf Harris on the left and Ricky Gervais on the right of you!”

Currently working as an Assistant Producer for Panorama, Joe credited the whole team for the programmes success,

“The award is a brilliant acknowledgment of the whole team’s efforts working on a programme that had and will continue to have an enormous impact. On a personal note, I am honoured to have won the award and will use this accolade as inspiration to keep making programmes that make a real difference to society.”

Joe graduated from Bournemouth University, and has won so far 3 awards including his BAFTA for his outstanding work on BBC’s Panorama’s programme going undercover to investigate alleged allegations of ‘aggressive bullying and frequent abuse’ in a Bristol care home.

The 'Magic Tate Ball' app

BU Interactive Media Production graduate Ben Templetons’ creative agency ThoughtDen have crafted a unique ‘Magic Tate Ball’ app for the Tate Modern.

‘Magic Tate Ball’ is a new location-based mobile app from the world renowned Tate gallery and Bristol based digital agency Thought Den. Taking inspiration from the iconic Magic 8 Ball, simply shake your phone and this clever app presents you with an artwork that is linked to your life at that moment.

Using date, time-of-day, geographical location, live weather data and ambient noise levels the app will select from a wealth of artworks from Tate’s Collection for the best match.

With artworks from Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet and many more, Magic Tate Ball presents a new, playful approach to discovering art.

Jane Burton, Creative Director and Head of Content, Tate Media: “I love the serendipity of discovering art through Magic Tate Ball. We hope it will please both existing Tate fans and new audiences who are interested in a more playful experience than cultural institutions typically offer.”

Wherever you are in the world, Magic Tate Ball will find an appropriate piece of art. On a sunny day, share in Constable’s appreciation of the great British landscape; if it’s raining you might encounter Matisse’s ‘Snail’; or in a noisy pub you might get a Georg Baselitz sculpture made with a chainsaw. Each work comes with a twitter-sized informative write-up. A hidden bonus feature in the app can only be activated when the user visits Tate Modern.

Ben Templeton, Creative Director, Thought Den: “Magic Tate Ball is an everyday, playful way of reaching an audience outside the more formal environment of a gallery. For each artwork we wanted to find a trigger in the user’s immediate surroundings which would help them engage with the work.”

‘Magic Tate Ball’ is available in the Apple AppStore http://tdn.lv/MTB-app and Nokia OVI Store http://tdn.lv/MTB-nokia from the 11th May 2011.