Gareth Gordon, BBC political correspondent, inspires DMC students on journalism challenges

He gave a presentation on the challenges of being a reporter in a divided society. The students and faculty of the DMC Applied Communication Department along with other teachers from the college attended the inspirational discussion.

Mr. Gordon illustrated this presentation with some of his rich experiences as a journalist since the 1970s. Mr. Gordon, who comes from Northern Ireland, described how his childhood experiences in Northern Ireland had influenced him in the choice of his career. Having had first-hand experience of "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland, he developed a compelling desire to write about the conflicts and his first job was with a Belfast-based newspaper called "the Newsletter".

In 1990, at the time of the first Gulf War, he joined the BBC where he quickly had to learn about TV and journalism. He described how he was sent to war-torn areas of the Middle East and talked about some of the issues that reporters face in such circumstances. He also spoke of how he accompanied Gerry Adams, the erstwhile leader of the once controversial Sinn Fein party, on a visit to Ramallah to meet with a representative from Hamas to discuss the Middle East Peace Process. Since 2002, Mr. Gordon has been a political correspondent for the BBC Newsline, the BBC's regional television news service for Northern Ireland.

The presentation was followed by a question and answer session when students asked questions about the security issues of being a political correspondent and the political biases of the media today. Mr. Gordon's presentation has given the audience a fascinating insight in the day-to-day life of a journalist and undoubtedly inspired many of the students who were present to benefit from those experiences in their future journalistic careers.