[{"text_idx": "#000001", "text": "Ein proffilStrategaethPwy ydym niEin heffaith economaidd a chymdeithasolAdolygiad BlynyddolHanes"}, {"text_idx": "#000018", "text": "Defnyddiwch ein harbenigeddYmgynghoriaeth fusnesCyfleoedd wedi\u2019u hariannuTrwyddedu ein canfyddiadau ymchwilCyfnewid gwybodaethHysbysebu cyfle am ymgysylltu dinesig"}, {"text_idx": "#000028", "text": "After winning the \u2018Reach journalism for a digital audience award\u2019 from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ), Catriona\u2019s career as a news reporter has gone from strength to strength"}, {"text_idx": "#000029", "text": "MA News Journalism graduate, Catriona, has recently been recognised for obtaining the highest marks out of around 250 students across the UK in her Digital Audiences NCTJ exam."}, {"text_idx": "#000031", "text": "While facing challenging circumstances at the time of the exam, as well as being kicked out of it twice on the digital platform, she said she is over the moon that it has all worked out in the end."}, {"text_idx": "#000034", "text": "NCTJ\u2019s principal examiner Amanda Ball, said the talent on this year\u2019s list of award winners deserve extra special recognition for their exceptional performance while studying during a global pandemic."}, {"text_idx": "#000035", "text": "Since completing the course at the end of August last year, Catriona has gone on to start full-time work as a reporter at the Basingstoke Gazette."}, {"text_idx": "#000036", "text": "Despite describing the experience of full-time work as tiring and \u201cvery different to being a student\u201d, she believes the vocational nature of her masters at Cardiff gave her all the necessary skills needed to tackle it face on."}, {"text_idx": "#000037", "text": "\u201cI think the course is fantastic. I mean, you\u2019ve got a purpose-built journalism building right in the city centre which I think it makes you feel like you\u2019re in a newsroom, and you\u2019re working."}, {"text_idx": "#000039", "text": "The MA journalism courses at Cardiff University (News, Broadcast and Magazine) are highly regarded and widely respected in the industry, with the schools at Cardiff and City London often being regarded as the \u2018Oxbridge\u2019 of journalism."}, {"text_idx": "#000040", "text": "Catriona agreed that studying at Cardiff has been invaluable to her career progression, and with networking being a crucial way to get your foot in the door, finding friends for life on the course means she now has \u201c19 contacts across the country\u201d."}, {"text_idx": "#000041", "text": "\u201cI think people recognize Cardiff as somewhere that\u2019s known for journalism so it\u2019s definitely no bad thing to have on your CV. But I think as well as that, Cardiff has opened up a lot of opportunities to me,\u201d she said."}, {"text_idx": "#000043", "text": "She recognises there is a real support network and sense of belonging at JOMEC (School of Journalism, Media and Culture) and even today, she still has conversations with her personal tutor."}, {"text_idx": "#000044", "text": "For now, Catriona is taking it as it comes down in Basingstoke, and hopes to sit her NCTJ seniors exams in the near future."}, {"text_idx": "#000045", "text": "As for her advice to other aspiring young journalists, she emphasised that work experience is key."}, {"text_idx": "#000046", "text": "And once you do figure out journalism is for you, and maybe find yourself on a masters course, ask lots of questions."}]