Leah graduated from the MA Arts and Lifestyle Journalism course at London College of Communication in 2021.
What attracted you to postgraduate study, and MA Arts and Lifestyle Journalism?
I was struggling to get my foot in the door in terms of internships/jobs and thought an MA could help. I was drawn to the specificity of the MA Arts and Lifestyle Journalism course as I knew I wanted to go into feature writing/ writing about culture.
What experience did you have prior to joining the course?
Before joining I had written a handful of gig reviews for my student newspaper, for the sake of free tickets. I also managed to do two weeks of work experience at Grazia magazine but that was the full extent of any journalism experience. I worked for a few months as a copywriter in Berlin and I think that was useful as I learnt that I preferred journalism over marketing/content creation.
Can you tell us a little bit about your final major project? What was your inspiration behind it?
It was really hard to feel inspired about my final major project. The university had recently closed and Covid restrictions affected a lot of things. It was hard to stay focused and settle on an idea that I knew would have to be brought to fruition from my bedroom.
Like many people I became obsessed with TikTok and started thinking about how this app could actually tell us a lot about how young people are coping with the pandemic. So, I ended up writing two trend-focused pieces and how they related to quarantine and tried to sum up TikTok’s overall impact on digital culture in the final piece.
Did the course provide opportunities to engage with industry?
Yes definitely! I think the guest speakers/networking events were among the most useful aspects of the course. I even went to a virtual guest speaker event post-FMP hand-in because it was with Vanessa Friedman from the New York Times, which was amazing.
If you could give one piece of advice to someone thinking of studying the course, what would it be?
Honestly, if you’re a particularly confident person I would dive straight into freelancing and internship applications. But I found that this course really helped build my confidence after a lot of rejections. Writing is a lonely occupation and at times really competitive. Having a supportive learning space to bounce questions off each other was definitely helpful.
What was the most important thing you learnt from studying MA Arts and Lifestyle Journalism at postgraduate level?
Learning how to pitch, for sure. The pitching workshops were either led by really established freelancers like Nicola Slawson and Amelia Tait, or managing editors like Phoebe Hurst, which were very valuable.
Why would you recommend studying your course to others?
The atmosphere of the course was really easy going and supportive which is so refreshing (and important!) in such a cut-throat and highly-strung industry. I made great friends on my course and the college itself was super inspirational. There were always so many clever exhibitions from other courses going on.
What was your personal highlight of studying your course at London College of Communication?
I think the friends I made or the real-life networking events that took place. I used the pitching guides we were given in the early days of the course and pitched religiously. I ended up getting some exciting commissions which were definitely highlights!
What are you currently working on / what are your plans for the future?
I’m interning at CNN at the moment in their ‘Style’ section which covers fashion, beauty, art and culture generally. I’d love to stick around there or work at a magazine like Dazed or i-D for a bit. I’d also like to one day work at an English-speaking magazine abroad like Kinfolk.
Visit the MA Arts and Lifestyle Journalism course page.
To read Leah's articles and view more of her work, visit her website.