Keep a look out for my new more regular updates.

I hadn’t realised Superdrug had such strong ethical roots but good on them for taking a stand and removing the perfume from sale if these reports are indeed true. It looks like they could be as Price’s rep said production has moved back to the UK.

This is the type of journalism I want to do, uncovering injustices like this. It all stems from my geography roots I suppose.

Today I saw the fruits of my labour as my own story on the young girl who was in need of a wheelchair made a lead and my article on the Belfast marathon made a downpage. However, they did cut the quote I had used my contacts to get, my few contacts so far here in Northern Ireland.

Time does fly when you’re having fun and I don’t know how many times I have said that. Today I worked on a story about Northern Ireland’s first surfing competition which was cancelled because the weather….was TOO good for once.

Once again spoke to some really nice people who were actually gutted to have the event postponed until May time. This kept me busy for the afternoon and when the newsroom quietened down the news editor and I had a chat about how my 2 weeks had gone.

It has been great to have had a news editor who was attentive despite being so busy and also a team of reporters who were so welcoming. Looking forward to getting back next week.

Today I finalised my story on the young disabled girl who needs an electric wheelchair (I had put it in the wrong basket last night) and finally got to speak to the young Comber soldier. I was also given a story on the upcoming Belfast marathon.

Along with being busy with stories I also got to sit in on the news reporters meetings. Not the editorial meeting but it was still great to hear what the reporters were working on and what the news editor thought about the ideas reporters were bringing to the table.

Another successful day in the newsroom and my article from the other day was on page 8.

Today I was lucky enough to stumble upon my own story to pitch to the news editor which will hopefully be in Fridays paper. In the canteen there was a petition to help a severely disabled young girl from Belfast get her new pink electric wheelchair.

It turned out she was having trouble getting the electric wheelchair she was measured for in February 2009 and is now being told she cannot get one under recently reviewed guidelines due to her epilepsy. She must be seizure free for a year before she qualifies now but her mother worries this may never happen.

It was a great story to work on and the Belfast Telegraph’s education correspondent was extremely helpful after she pointed out the petition to me in the canteen. I enjoyed working on something fresh and as long as we get the picture on Thursday then the article will hopefully pass the test and go in on Friday.

My story on the wild pigs made it into the paper as did my piece on Philippa O’Hara, unfortunately it was cut down but with so many stories flying about the office this is something I must get used to. I can’t believe 2 weeks is almost over here at the Belfast Telegraph.

My week in Newcastle is fast approaching and then I will return to the Belfast Telegraph offices for one final week. I have learnt a lot already and I will be able to apply this in the future.

And although my future job prospects are uncertain at the moment I feel positive about getting into my first newsroom, whereever it may be. I do have the feeling however that the job will be all consuming and I will not want to turn off, but then again do journalists ever turn off?

The story I wrote on Monday was unfortunately nibbed but the same story appeared on page 3 of The Irish News. This shows how newspapers have to cater for different audiences.

My story was on Ireland’s Greatest, an RTE programme. This would be of greater interest to those who watch the channel and also more so those from the south of Ireland, therefore it was a perfect page 3 lead in The Irish News.

Apart from the disappointment of not getting a by-line I was kept busy in the newsroom. I spoke to Over the Rainbow hopeful Philippa O’Hara again after she didn’t make the finalist list.

From there I wrote a piece on her overall experience which was quite fun as I was given licence to be creative. Along with that story I wrote a cute picture story on love blossoming between two new wild pigs at Belfast Zoo.

Another story which landed on my lap was about a soldier from Comber who is hoping to compete as part of the ski team in the 2014 Winter Olympics. Unfortunately the press contact details meant I had to telephone Germany.

In the end the story was put on hold as we couldn’t get an international line in the office as those who work on the switch board were still on holiday. We also needed a different pictures but watch this space as the story is still in the pipeline.

Since I moved to sit in the news reporter area I have met some really lovely people who have offered me some great advice and welcomed me into the reporters hub. The announcement of the General Election was the buzz of the newsroom as reporters began ringing round Northern Irish politicians for their insight.

It’s such an exciting time to be a journalist, especially one starting out, as this has been labelled the most interesting election in a generation. At this stage I don’t think anything could put me off a journalist’s life.

Maybe I was naive to think I could walk out the doors of JOMEC and straight into the paper of my choice. Well, any paper come to that.

Obviously the fight for jobs in journalism is a tough one, you have to be the best of the best to get ahead. But what if your best isn’t good enough and you are left crushed by the others who beat you to the post.

Overall today has been another good day here at the Belfast Telegraph but I am now a little concerned about leaving the security of my course. Reality has hit me in the face like a wet flannel. Swanning into a job just may not happen.

Anyway, today I helped out updating a story about the Catholic church for the afternoon edition by telephoning a victim of the well-documented Irish Catholic church scandal, unfortunately waking her up, luckily for me she was lovely. That’s the problem for journalists working on Easter Monday, no-one’s home and if they are they more than likely do not want to talk.

My story for the day was on RTE’s release of the Top 10 in their Ireland’s Greatest programme which has been asking viewers to vote for the greatest Irish person ever. The only person from Northern Ireland to make the Top 10 was John Hume.

I did a bit of ringing around for comments and enjoyed learning about those that had made the Top 10, ‘unfortunately’ Bob Geldof didn’t quite make the cut! I even tried Westminster to get a quote off David Trimble as he and John Hume won the Nobel Peace Prize together in 1998, but of course it being Easter Monday there was no-one in the office.

The office has been very quiet today as those who aren’t journalists enjoy a four-day-weekend. Therefore, as I was told, unless it all kicks off we can be sat twiddling our thumbs to some extent.

I’m starting to feel very at home in the news room but my feet are getting itchy to go out and do some district reporting. I miss Cathays and its quirks and hidden news.

I think being a beatblogger, like Hannah Waldrum in Cardiff for The Guardian or Ed Walker for Media Wales, would be a really interesting job. You’re always on the go and meeting new people and you really get to know the area in which you’re working, if only I could try something like that……

Early in the morning I received a phone call from a member of the public who had seen my article on Thursday night about the salaries of the three council staff at Belfast city council. He wanted to share his experiences at making FOI requests to Belfast City Council.

It was an interesting conversation as he pointed out some of the flaws in the FOI system. It’s great to see it’s not only journalists who use the FOI route.

Later in the day I worked on a story about the new Duck Tours, Belfast’s first Splash tours. Half tour boat half tour bus.

It was a nice story to end the week and next week the news editor is thinking about the possibility of me having a go on it and telling people what it’s about. Lots of puns to do with splashes were running around my head on Friday.

What I’ve learnt in one week is amazing. I’m glad to have the weekend to recover from the early starts but I can’t wait for it to start over again tomorrow.

You are dying to make a good impression but you don’t want to seem pushy or come across as arrogant. We were told in Cardiff that there is a fine line between being a mouse and sitting in the corner or being in your face and come across as cocky.

The nerves are beginning to subside but the experience has only opened my eyes on how much I still have to learn. At Cardiff on production days we had the safety net of David, Glyn and Sarah, now you really have to think about what you are doing and what you are saying.

But to be honest I think it’s great that you never stop learning, even my dad says he’s still learning when it comes to his job. You should never have the attitude that you know everything in life because you will come crashing down to earth with a bang and it won’t be pretty.

Yesterday was a good day in the office as I worked on a nice story about the young girl from Belfast Philippa O’Hara who is one of the girls hoping to win the wild card on the new BBC programme Over the Rainbow. Trying to get in touch with either her or her family was my challenge and I thought I’d try using social media to find someone who could help.

I put a shout out on Facebook and Twitter, despite remarks from friends that it was a stab in the dark, but I got some results. In the end it wasn’t through these mediums I managed to get hold of Philippa and her sister but another contact who worked with both of them at St Agnes Choral Society.

It was a great story to do because Philippa, her sister and the friend were all so excited about the show and so thankful for the support received so far. Today it’s on pg 3 and it’s another cutting to add to my folder.

I’m learning that in this industry you have to be quite thick-skinned which I hope I am becoming more and more everyday. On my first day at the Belfast Telegraph I was told by the deputy editor that when he looked back at the work he had done when he was a trainee journalist he was surprised at how much of his copy he realised he could have cut.

I found these words comforting after my first day when I was desperate not to be seen as a waste of space.  Knowing everybody starts off in the same position helps.

The real challenge from there is learning as much as you can and taking advise from the people who have been there and possibly made the same mistakes as you. You only get out as much as you put in and I think if you’re always willing to learn only good can come of that.

With the crazy weather across Northern Ireland yesterday the buzz around the newsroom was high as more pictures of people stuck on the Glenshane Pass flew in. I helped out by listening to radio reports and trying to find out what schools were closed because of the weather.

Early on in the day I was given my assignment for the day, the results of FOI requests by the Taxpayers’ Alliance to councils across the UK. From these Freedom of Information requests they found how many senior council staff earned more than £100,000 2008/09.

It was an eye-opening task and I trawled through the spreadsheets and found there were three people in councils across Northern Ireland who had earned over this amount. In the UK there were 31 people in council staff positions who had earned more than our Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Firstly I sifted through the data and found the three executives were all from Belfast City Council. Then I spent the rest of the day phoning around and speaking to councillors, the researchers at the Taxpayers’ Alliance and Belfast City Council press officers.

The press officers at Belfast City Council were really helpful and got back to me with my quote. The gentleman I dealt with was very helpful and despite being out of the office all day he did get back to me by the end of the day which I really appreciated, especially as I added an extra question much later which I got a response for.  

However, John Snow recently raised the problems even he encounters when trying to talk to people in high positions. Read his blog on the subject here for an interesting perspective.

Working on the Taxpayers’ Alliance story was good fun, it was challenging to break it down in a way which was interesting and accessible. Another twist was that two of the three executives concerned have since left their post, one retiring and one moved on.

This meant I had to rewrite parts of my story but it kept me busy all day and it’s worth it when you see it in the paper the next day. The team here at the Belfast Telegraph have been so helpful and friendly and already I feel like I’ve learnt a lot.

Not sure what today will hold but I’m sure I’ll enjoy it whatever it turns out to be.