Many things I expected, and many I didn't.

A lot has changed since the last time I wrote in my blog. I suppose the biggest change is the good news that I now have a job! Well, I've been offered a job, I haven't actually started it yet. One of the things I didn't expect is that, despite it not being a journalism job, I am really looking forward to starting work. I will be working as a Sales Consultant at Phones4U and have training all next week at a fantastic technological base in Birmingham, no expense spared. Although phones have never been more than just a way of keeping in touch with my friends and family for me I am looking forward to learning all about them.

Another thing that has changed about me is that I am now a graduate! Yes, last Thursday at the Lowry Centre on Salford Quays I managed to shake the Vice Chancellor of the University of Salford's hand without falling over or hurting anyone. Up until the moment we had to leave our seats and go round to queue to the stage I was fine, then suddenly the nerves just hit me and I was imagining everything that could possibly have gone wrong. Thankfully and unexpectedly, it was all fine and I had a fantastic day celebrating with friends and family. As was expected, I had a bit of a cry when I eventually got five minutes to myself. It was an emotional but fabulous day.

Having done all of these very grown up things and seemingly entering the adult world these past few weeks, it is rather unexpected for me to find myself once again sharing my house with ten strangers. Yes, I have come full circle and am now living in the student halls I started my student experience in. It's only a temporary measure while I was looking for a job and it's been fine but this is not the time of my life when I would expect to be writing notes on the fridge saying "if the bin is full, empty it, don't fill it with more rubbish." I mean seriously, that's common sense right?? But my nocturnal housemates all seem to think if we have cleaners we don't need to clean. So they don't wipe the sides after they've made toast, they don't put away their clean stuff when it's dry so it just gets dirty again and i'm pretty certain i'm the only one who empties the bin. It's infuriating that i'm back to this stage in my life but I keep telling myself that it's only for a few more weeks!

As for journalism, don't worry the name of the blog isn't going to change to "when I grow up I want to be a sales consultant". Journalism is still the aim, this is just a stop along the way. In my own time I'm going to be writing all the time, hopefully writing something I think is good enough to be paid for. Freelancing is the best way to get noticed in the field when you're first trying to break in so i'll just freelance for a year or two and it will pad my CV out a bit, I'll complete my NCTJ's at the same time and in a couple of years I'll apply for roles in journalism with a little more confidence than I currently have. I know it sounds like a bit of a basic plan but I believe it will work.

I'm not quite ready to give up on my dream just yet.

The beginning of the end for journalism?

One of the few things I never expected to happen in my lifetime has just been broken on BBC News. A national newspaper is being closed down. Not because they are making no money, nor because journalism is dead.

The News Of The World has not just been reporting the news this week, they have BEEN the news. For just over a week now the phone hacking scandal has been the hot topic of conversation. Needless to say phone hacking is illegal and the people it has arisen that the NOTW have hacked is part of what makes it so disgusting. They have hacked the parents of murdered children Milly Dowler and Sarah and Jessica, they have hacked parents of people who died in the 7/7 bombings six years ago today.

They have also been found to have paid police officers for information, also illegal in case you were wondering. The list of people hacked is extensive, with over 4,000 being contacted by the police force investigating the newspaper. Today News International Chairman James Murdoch has given in to the tirade of abuse being launched their way- this Sunday, the 10th of July, will be the News Of The World's last publication.

Obviously such a step is a response to the calls for such a thing, but is it the right thing to do?? Does it really solve anything? As someone who is trying to get into the journalism sphere, and struggling I might add, all I can think is that surely not every member of staff knew what was going on so why should all of them suffer? At the moment we don't know what will happen to the staff but you can imagine it's not going to look on their CV in the future because NOTW will only ever be remembered for the huge scandal that destroyed it. There is already talk of an alternative Sunday tabloid, a Sunday Sun as it were, but nothing is confirmed.

And many are being more suspicious of this turn around. Rupert Murdoch had said several times that the paper would not be closed down because of calls for it. He now claims he did not know the extent of the problems when he made such a statement but it is a complete 180. Many are saying the move was made in order to save the deal for a majority share of BSkyB, a deal which looked set to fall apart following the scandal.

But is this the beginning of the end of journalism? If a few weeks of scandal it's easy to see how some people believe journalism is dead. Combine this with the wikileaks scandal its hard to see a bright future for the "4th branch of the state". Arguably the NOTW is just one paper, and not exactly the classiest to begin with, but if a paper that has been running for 168 years can be destroyed over one scandal does it show a lack of support and faith in journalism?

Obviously for years the NOTW have had some shady dealings but they haven't always been involved in disgraceful behaviour. Many of the staff who have lost their jobs today were not involved, in fact most of them were not even working in the paper when it happened. Yes journalists should be held accountable, yes it is illegal and court proceedings should take place, but does that mean shutting down the most widely read paper in the Western world?

I for one am sad to see this day. One newspaper turning against another, one team of writers being hung out to dry for previous writers decisions, a popular newspaper being removed from the public. Yes the phone hacking was the most despicable thing any human being could ever do, not just any journalist, but removal of a newspaper is not the answer- removal of the people that made the choice to cross the line is the answer.

On the plus side, I daresay this Sunday will break the record for most newspapers sold in one day- I'll certainly be purchasing the last ever copy of the News Of The World.