Journalism and the Literature of Reality

First paragraph: Journalism matters to us all. I believe that or I wouldn’t have spent my working life as a journalist and then as a lecturer in journalism, training students in the skills they’ll need if they want to be reporters and writers of features. Some of the skills have changed -- familiarity with HTML or how to produce a podcast wasn’t needed when I worked for the Newcastle Evening Chronicle or Brides magazine. Equally, some have not – the ability to use words well is as vital for journalists today as it ever was, and old-fashioned shorthand remains a key skill, at least for news reporters