{"id":6215,"date":"2023-06-28T09:03:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-28T09:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/polir-news\/?p=6215"},"modified":"2023-06-28T09:22:50","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T09:22:50","slug":"after-kent-bill-bowkett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/polir-news\/2023\/06\/28\/after-kent-bill-bowkett\/","title":{"rendered":"After Kent: Bill Bowkett"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Having graduated from Kent in 2020 Bowkett now works as news editor at The Mail+<\/a>, the Daily Mail\u2019s premium digital subscription service. We asked him about his journey.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Did you always know what you wanted to do?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Aside from becoming an astronaut or an actor, absolutely! From a young age, I knew I wanted to be a journalist because it allowed me to express myself in a way I couldn\u2019t through spoken word. My favourite subject in school was English Literature. I loved learning about William Shakespeare and poetry. On weekends, I would visit my grandparents and read the nationals with them. When I was 13, I joined the\u00a0student magazine<\/a>\u00a0and later became editor-in-chief. I created podcasts on Soundcloud, interviewing teachers and celebrities, and had articles\u00a0republished in the local press<\/a>. In 2017, I was awarded \u2018Most Outstanding Student\u2019 at the\u00a0Shine School Media Awards<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So why did you choose to study Politics at Kent? \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

I chose the University of Kent because it had a high student satisfaction rating. Politics is a living, breathing subject, which teaches you to think critically. As I hoped, the course helped me understand the various actors and ideologies shaping our world. In my spare time, I edited the campus newspaper\u00a0InQuire<\/a>\u00a0which was \u2018Highly Commended\u2019 for Best Publication at the 2019 SPA National Awards and BBC Radio 4 Today Programme Student Journalism Awards.<\/p>\n

What path did you take after your undergraduate? \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

After leaving Kent, I studied for a master\u2019s degree in Newspaper Journalism at City, University of London. The course covered everything from media law and video editing to Teeline shorthand. I received a bursary from the Stationers\u2019 Foundation to pay for equipment and travel to campus which was helpful.<\/p>\n

How did you ‘catch a break’? \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

I was already pitching articles to various publications and had my first national byline in the\u00a0Daily Telegraph<\/a>\u00a0in 2019. I also took up other opportunities, such as a parliamentary internship with Conservative MP\u00a0Sir Oliver Heald<\/a>\u00a0in the summer of 2018, and as a researcher for my lecturer Professor Matthew Goodwin<\/a> on his book\u00a0Values, Voice and Virtue: The New British Politics<\/a>\u00a0and research paper\u00a0Is Academic Freedom Under Threat?<\/a>\u00a0I successfully applied to the Mail\u2019s graduate scheme in 2022, having been rejected in 2021.<\/p>\n

Can you tell us about some of the stand-out moments?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

I spent five incredible months at the Scottish Daily Mail, where I got to work in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and earned my\u00a0first splash<\/a>. Attending the Conservative and Labour Party conferences are certainly career highlights of mine. Appearing as a guest on\u00a0GB News<\/a>\u00a0with Eamon Holmes and Isabel Webster was also an amazing experience.<\/p>\n

What advice would you have for anyone with a similar ambition?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Get writing! Whether it is for a student publication or a blog, employers love to see applicants who are committed and can balance extracurricular activities alongside their studies. Show editors that you are passionate about journalism and have a solid general knowledge of current affairs. And never feel afraid to ask senior reporters for a coffee or work experience. There is a common industry saying that \u2018it is not what you know, but who you know\u2019. So, start building up those contacts.<\/p>\n

How formative was your degree in getting you to where you wanted to be?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

With my modules constantly changing and the moderators regularly updating their teaching methods to meet the changing landscape, I was able to learn something new every day. Furthermore, the degree gave me a greater understanding of the role journalists play in civil society. Key to the health of democracies, they give a platform to those whose stories deserve telling, while keeping a check on, and holding to account, those who occupy some of the most powerful positions. Without my three years at Kent, I don\u2019t think I would be where I am today.<\/p>\n

You can follow Bill’s adventures in Fleet Street on his Twitter account<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Having graduated from Kent in 2020 Bowkett now works as news editor at The Mail+, the Daily Mail\u2019s premium digital subscription service. We asked him … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66395,"featured_media":6219,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/polir-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6215"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/polir-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/polir-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/polir-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/polir-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6215"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/polir-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6223,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/polir-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6215\/revisions\/6223"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/polir-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/polir-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/polir-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/polir-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}