Arcadia England

Today we are featuring Kelly Brickey, one of our London Now students. As part of her Journalism class, led by faculty member Veronique Mistiaen, Kelly was given the opportunity to visit the base of the Guardian newspaper. The group were very lucky to spend time with feature writer, Homa Khaleeli.

After all of the coverage and news I’ve read through The Guardian, I could not wait to be able to walk through its halls and find out a little bit of inside scoop about the paper. Learning about the history of the newspaper was interesting, but I was very intrigued to hear more about their digital content. We were told that many of their desktop/laptop users looked more during lunch time while tablet or smartphone users peaked during the morning and late night hours. Like many people these days, I look at my phone first thing when I wake up as well as before I fall asleep. It’s also interesting that they noted their new format for their online site has actually increased by 50 percent within the past couple weeks. That amount of readership proves how much of an impact their online content makes towards its readers and how the shift from paper to technological sources is drastically changing how people get their news.

When Homa came in to speak, I was excited to hear her perspective based on her portfolio of work for The Guardian. She seems to have covered a broad range of topics, from personal human interest stories to pop culture interviews. She was such a candid speaker about the articles she writes and her approach to her journalism. I particularly enjoyed when she let us know what she’s working on and how she’s balancing all of the articles she has been assigned. She also kept it real when she admitted she likes to be nosy and gossip, and that’s why she loves her job. Although many journalists are those things, none really seem to say it out loud. I related to her a lot because I am definitely curious about what’s going on in the world and I love to tell people all about what I can find out. Through her talk, she inspired me to want to go after deeper stories and actually find truth hidden underneath obvious surfaces.

Going to The Guardian was an incredible experience and knowing about the opportunities for students makes me want to try to contribute to the publication. I definitely think a news source like The Guardian has such a solid presence in day-to-day life for not only the nation, but also citizens of the world. The Guardian proved through our visit that they will remain a vital source of news for years to come and I plan to continue reading their stories throughout the years.