School of Social & Political Sciences

In this prototype ‘News Day at The Hunterian’ event organised by Dr Catriona Forrest and Mr Erdem Avsar, academics, third-space professionals, and students collaborated to design, deliver, and evaluate a one-day simulated news event at The Hunterian Museum. ‘News Day at The Hunterian’ was designed to provide hands-on newsgathering experience for postgraduate students on the MSc Media, Communications and International Journalism (MCIJ) programme, offering them a chance to develop skills and confidence by experimenting and reflecting on their work in a supportive environment.

MCIJ academic staff collaborated with The Hunterian Museum team to design an event that was reflective of real-world news industry principles, challenges, and ethics. Drawing on the core practical journalism courses of the MCIJ programme (Writing News and Producing News) with which the event was aligned, it also spoke to the Intended Learning Objectives of the MCIJ programme.

Mr Avsar shared "It felt like an incredible opportunity to challenge the traditional boundaries of journalism education - getting students to think beyond the classroom and into the complexities of reporting in a space like the Hunterian."

Organisers asked participating staff and students to answer a set of questions which helped evaluate the event and give useful feedback. Forrest and Avsar have applied for research ethics in order to use evaluation data from the event in future Scholarship of Learning and Teaching outputs, including an upcoming presentation at the University of Glasgow Learning and Teaching Conference on 8th April 2025.

Forrest, who co-convenes the core practical journalism courses of the MCIJ programme with Avsar, shared “Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and it seems we achieved what we set out to achieve, and in doing so we built stronger connections with our partners. Now we will look at the event evaluations, and work with our partners to find a way to make this a regular feature in our journalism teaching. Can we find a way to make it timetabled, credit-bearing, and continue to include our international partners? Could the model be used in other types of courses or disciplines?”

Our MCIJ Student Ritika shared her experience of participating as "more than just an academic exercise; it was a practical, hands-on experience that prepares us for the real-world challenges of journalismin." A blog written by Ritika reflecting on the day is available to read online here. 

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First published: 31 March 2025