Ian Crouch
Ian Crouch is a highly experienced journalist and is News Director at 2NURFM.
Lauren Freemantle
Lauren Freemantle is the assistant News Director at 2NURFM.
Lauren’s story
I began volunteering in the newsroom in October 2016, where I worked one day a week, until I began the full time Assistant Journalist position in February 2018. It is just Ian Crouch and myself working in news, supported by the student volunteers.
I have completed 2 years of a Communication and Law degree at UoN. I’ve taken this year off to work at 2NUR – I’ll be returning to study in 2019, graduating from Communication at the end of 2019, and graduating from Law end of 2021.
Student volunteers undertake a range of tasks under the one umbrella of producing accurate and comprehensive local news. A typical day in the 2NUR Newsroom begins with sifting through correspondence and media to identify stories. Our students then conduct telephone interviews and embed the most relevant audio in their ‘scripts’ – the short-form news pieces you hear on air. On weekdays, our 12pm, 1pm and 2pm bulletins are 100% Hunter news, written and read on air by students. During my time as a volunteer, I always looked forward to a day in the newsroom and the chance to be heard by a listenership of around 86,000 people.
While the UoN Communication degree centres on real-world case studies in the media landscape, there’s no better way to put journalism theory into practice than by working in a functional newsroom. 2NUR works on the basis of hourly news deadlines, teaching students to swiftly identify the most relevant information and collate it into a story. More broadly, volunteering has encouraged me to keep abreast with Hunter news every day, building my general knowledge; has helped me to develop confidence on the telephone and has given me transferable skills like prioritisation and time management.