Aiana Iacob, BA (Hons) Multimedia Journalism
How one graduate feels her dream of becoming a news presenter has been helped by the multi-million pound media facilities in Elephant Studios at LSBUAs a budding multimedia journalist, Aiana Iacob was keen to make the most of any opportunity to gain hands-on experience as part of her BA (Hons) Journalism course. “During my time at LSBU I managed to secure a few work placements at companies including Yahoo and London 360,” she says. “However, the best part of my course was actually the opportunity to use the newsroom at Elephant Studios. It taught us how to behave in a professional environment and how to work with different facilities.”
Latest equipment
Part of Elephant Studios’ multi-million pound suite, the newsroom is home to the latest equipment for journalists and available to help LSBU students learn how to get the most out of the latest technology in the industry. It includes three 42” screens running 24-hour news feeds from a variety of news agencies, allowing our student journalists to monitor and respond to stories in a live environment.
Journalistic skills
“It was great to have the chance to work in a news environment before graduating,” says Aiana. “Being located in the middle of London also helped, as it made filming packages more convenient as well as making it easier to bring experts into the newsroom for interviews.”
[Elephant Studios] gave me a good idea of what to expect, and helped me develop my journalistic skills in a safe environment.
Aiana Iacob
YouTube show
During her degree, Aiana become involved in the Journalism.London group at LSBU, and used the facilities at Elephant Studios to produce work for the live YouTube show. “I have presented the show twice, including the first episode – which was quite a nervy experience as we were all new to the experience. It was much easier the second time around!”
Varied challenges
Like all our students, Aiana has gained experience in a wide variety of roles in the newsroom at Elephant Studios, including operating the cameras and manning the autocue – brilliant preparation for the varied challenges that await multimedia journalists, as well as an excellent lesson in the importance of teamwork.
Great insight
“I think the facilities at Elephant Studios would benefit anyone that uses them, because they give you a great insight into what their future career might look like,” says Aiana. “If you haven’t decided exactly what it is you would like to do, it can help you to make a more informed choice – and there are so many different roles and facilities to use, it’s impossible not to find something you love doing!”
Find out more about Elephant Studios at LSBU.