Kristina's Story: International Journalism at Brunel

Kristina Khoo studied for an International Journalism MA at Brunel and is currently country editor for Hotcourses Malaysia and an intern for Hotcourses UK, Floodlight and Love My Course.

I’ve always wanted to be a journalist but because I was offered a scholarship to study PR and advertising for my degree, I thought oh well, maybe I should put my dreams on hold. After all, you can’t really say no to free tuition fees. After I graduated, I worked as a press officer in a university and did loads of PR stints. A lot of my written work was published and that was when I seriously thought about going into journalism. I knew that without a qualification in journalism, I’d be at a disadvantage compared to other applicants. So I went on to do my MA and really enjoyed it!

What was the hardest thing about the course?

You’re expected to know a lot and coming from a non-journalism background, I had a lot of catching up to do. To understand EU laws and how the UK government works, I ended up reading on my own A level history books and subscribing to every single news website. It was hard at first, but everything fell into place in the end.

What was the most enjoyable aspect?

I enjoyed doing my final dissertation the most because I was given free rein to explore any subjects I wanted. I produced a 20-minute investigative documentary on Rough Sleeping in London, looking into the government’s move to end homelessness just before the Olympics and the scepticism surrounding it. I decided to pursue this subject after talking to a homeless person on a night out and realised that all the positive stories about ending homelessness in the papers represented just a minority of what the rough sleepers felt. So I spent 4 months hanging out with the homeless. I found out that in order to sweep the homeless off the streets, the government resorts to cruel tactics like hosing them down and banning soup runs. I also spent a night following Muhammad, a homeless asylum seeker who has been sleeping on London buses every night for the past 10 years! I spoke to grass-root charities and discovered that whilst the government may have some plans in place, there are still a lot of unaddressed loopholes. Although the experience was sometimes very emotional and draining, I felt good producing something that gives a voice to the voiceless. The documentary received great feedback from journalists, charities and BBC Panorama producers.

How did you fund yourself?

Money that I saved myself and partly funded by parents.

How did it prepare you for work?

The course taught me a lot of transferrable skills. I developed great research skills and I find myself a lot more resourceful. The short, helpful filming and editing sessions in university made me realise some of my other interests and allowed me to experiment them at work.  

Was it a good investment?

Yes it was. Although I would advise other students to check what sort of qualifications the industry looks for when you’re looking for jobs. I didn’t realise that to work with media organisations in the UK, many prefer graduates with a NCTJ qualification. Unfortunately, I was not informed of that when I asked the university about the course differences (International Journalism and Journalism). It’s important to have a quick look at job sites just to understand what employers are looking for.

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