Day Four: The Times of London
My class visited the Times of London! We were given a tour of the newsroom and the facilities, but only after we received our special passes to enter. The building is only about six months old, and the receptionist told us they were very happy about the move, because their old building didn’t have air conditioning! I can only imagine how awful it must have been to be stressed out, writing a news story under a time limit, and be in the heat. Good thing the Daily Iowan had air conditioning last summer, or I doubt I would have made it past my first day.
We were able to meet the online editor, who discussed the changes the newspaper has made to adapt to modern technology. Recently, the Times switched to paid online subscriptions, so it was interesting to hear how that has affected their business. I also found it interesting because the New York Times could see similar affects due to their recent pay wall. We also met two of their trainee reporters, who were selected out of 400 applicants. From those 400, ten are invited for an interview, four move on to interview with the editor, and then two are chosen. Obviously, these individuals are extremely talented and very driven, so their advice was very helpful. They discussed what they like and dislike about working with PR practitioners, and what makes them want to read a news release. We were able to ask them questions, so I asked them what is the best way for a PR practitioner to build a relationship with a reporter. (During their talk, they emphasized how annoying it is to receive news releases or pitches from PR people they have no relationship with.) I was surprised to hear that in the UK, public relations people often wine and dine reporters to build relationships. So, unfortunately their answer wasn’t very helpful, as we won’t be able to do that in the US. (Though it seems like a much easier way to build those relationships!)
After the tour of the Times, we decided to take a double decker bus tour to see more of the city. We had a guided tour, so I learned a lot of fun little facts that I didn’t know before. We saw Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Westminister Abbey, and Downing Street. We were a little tight on time because we didn’t start the tour until a couple hours after class, so we didn’t stop and get off anywhere. I’ll definitely go back to all those sites that I haven’t already visited, so it was just nice to see all of them and understand where they are. The weather was absolutely beautiful, and we have only had one rain for about 10 minutes. Maybe the legend that it rains all the time in London is a myth! (Don’t worry, I just knocked on wood!)
Up next: Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards
