Media, Journalism & Publishing – B2 English Listening Exercise
Listening 1
You will hear a man called Liam talking about his transition from a journalist to a professional photographer. For questions 9-18, complete the sentences with a word or short phrase.
Liam – from journalist to photographer
Unlike many of his colleagues, Liam obtained a university qualification in (9)……………………… rather than journalism or literature.
Liam was initially hired to work as a (10)……………………… at a regional publication.
Instead of local politics, Liam’s early editorial responsibilities involved covering the (11)……………………… .
Liam explains that he was drawn to photography by the appeal of (12)……………………… .
Because he couldn’t afford formal classes, Liam invested in a (13)……………………… to practice his skills.
An image Liam captured at a (14)……………………… was the first to make it onto the newspaper’s front page.
In order to demonstrate his abilities to his bosses, Liam put together a (15)……………………… .
According to Liam, getting used to the (16)……………………… proved to be the most difficult part of his career change.
In his current position, Liam concentrates mostly on taking pictures of (17)……………………… .
Liam suggests that aspiring professionals must establish a (18)……………………… to stand out from others.
ANSWER KEY
9 sociology 10 research assistant 11 music scene 12 visual storytelling
13 second-hand camera 14 local festival 15 digital portfolio
16 editing software 17 sports events 18 unique style
AUDIO SCRIPT
Liam: Hi everyone, I’m Liam, and I’m here to talk about my career in the media industry, specifically how I transitioned from an editorial role to becoming an in-house photographer for a major publication.
I always knew I wanted to work in publishing. Most of my current colleagues studied journalism at university, which makes a lot of sense for this career path. I actually started out doing a degree in English literature, thinking I’d write novels, but I eventually switched and ended up graduating in sociology. It’s been surprisingly useful for understanding human behaviour in my work.
Getting into the industry was tough. I sent out dozens of applications, hoping for a position at a glossy national magazine. However, my first real break came when I was offered a job as a research assistant for a regional newspaper. It wasn’t glamorous, but it taught me how newsrooms operate.
Eventually, I managed to move into an actual editorial role. People often assume I started by covering local politics because that’s the standard training ground for reporters. In my case, though, I was assigned to the music scene. I spent my evenings reviewing gigs and interviewing up-and-coming bands.
So, how did the shift to photography happen? Well, our staff photographers were frequently busy with bigger stories, meaning reporters sometimes had to take their own pictures with basic point-and-shoot devices. It wasn’t the fancy equipment that hooked me; instead, it was the visual storytelling that completely captured my imagination. I loved how a single image could convey what took me five hundred words to write.
I decided I wanted to take this seriously and improve my skills. I seriously thought about enrolling in an evening class at the local college, but the tuition fees were just too expensive for my modest salary. Instead, I saved up every penny and bought a second-hand camera to practice with on my own during the weekends.
I started taking my camera everywhere. I took a photo of a street performer that I was incredibly proud of, but my editor decided not to use it. However, the following week, she absolutely loved a shot I took of a local festival and actually put it on the front page. That was a massive confidence boost!
I knew then that I wanted to transition to photography full-time. I knew just asking the boss for a title change wasn’t going to work. Instead, I spent three solid months building a digital portfolio of my best work to present to the management team, to prove I had the necessary talent.
The transition wasn’t entirely smooth, of course. I occasionally missed the process of writing, but the biggest hurdle for me was mastering the editing software. It was incredibly complex and completely different from the word processing programs I was used to.
Nowadays, I’m the lead in-house photographer. I still do occasional studio portraits, but my main focus these days is capturing sports events. It’s fast-paced and requires a completely different set of reflexes, which I find thrilling.
If any of you want to change career paths within the publishing world, my advice is simple. Don’t just rely on your enthusiasm or passion. You really need to develop a unique style that sets you apart from the competition. That’s what editors are truly looking for.
Listening 2
You will hear a man called Mark giving a talk about how he started a professional sports website. For questions 9-18, complete the sentences with a word or short phrase.
Mark – sports website founder
Mark chose to focus his initial web design project on the subject of (9)……………………… .
Mark found that the (10)……………………… was the most difficult part of running his early website.
Mark’s website became popular after it was mentioned in the (11)……………………… .
Mark expanded his website’s content by including (12)……………………… with people involved in the sport.
The first person Mark hired to help him with the website was an (13)……………………… .
Mark believes that winning a (14)……………………… was the moment the industry began to take his website seriously.
Mark’s website was funded primarily through (15)……………………… rather than charging users.
Mark describes the book he has recently written as a (16)……………………… for young entrepreneurs.
Mark says that (17)……………………… is the most important skill for a successful career in media.
Mark’s next project is to launch a (18)……………………… before the new season starts.
ANSWER KEY
9 basketball 10 photography 11 school newspaper 12 interviews
13 assistant editor 14 journalism award 15 digital advertising
16 business manual 17 networking 18 podcast
AUDIO SCRIPT
Mark: Hi everyone! I’m Mark, and I’m here today to talk about my career in digital publishing. It’s hard to believe, but my journey actually began back when I was a teenager with a simple high school web design project that eventually evolved into a professional sports platform.
For my IT class, we had to build a basic webpage from scratch. A lot of my classmates chose to focus their projects on video games or their favourite bands. However, I decided to centre my project around basketball, since I was a huge fan of our local team and went to all their matches.
At first, writing the match reports was a breeze, and I really enjoyed the coding aspect of the project. The real headache, though, was the photography. I only had a cheap camera, and capturing fast-moving players in a dark gym was incredibly frustrating, so many of my early pictures were completely blurred!
Getting people to actually visit the site was another major hurdle. I tried posting links on social media, assuming that would do the trick, but it didn’t generate much interest at all. Then, a friend wrote a short piece about it in the school newspaper, and suddenly, my visitor numbers skyrocketed overnight.
Because of this sudden popularity, I wanted to offer more than just match results and basic articles. I considered uploading video highlights, but the file sizes were simply too large for my basic server to handle. Instead, I started recording interviews with the players and coaches, which the fans absolutely loved and found really engaging.
As the site grew, it became way too much work for just one person. I knew I needed to bring someone else on board. I initially thought about finding a graphic designer to make the site look a bit more modern. But what I desperately needed was an assistant editor to help manage the growing volume of articles being submitted by volunteer writers.
The site eventually evolved into a professional sports platform covering regional athletics. I think people assumed our biggest milestone was hitting a million page views. In reality, the turning point that made the industry take us seriously was winning a regional journalism award. That really put us on the map and gave us massive credibility.
Of course, running a large website with full-time staff costs money. Many sports sites at the time were surviving by charging their readers a monthly subscription fee. I wanted to keep the content free for everyone, so we relied heavily on digital advertising to cover our hosting costs and pay our staff salaries.
Recently, I decided to write a book about my experiences. A publisher approached me hoping for a juicy autobiography full of behind-the-scenes gossip from the sports world. However, I insisted on writing a business manual designed to help other young entrepreneurs launch their own digital media startups.
When young people ask me for advice about getting into publishing, they usually expect me to tell them to learn coding or web design. While technical skills are undeniably useful, I always emphasize the importance of networking. Building strong relationships with other professionals is what truly opens doors in this competitive industry.
So, what does the future hold for us? Well, we’ve got a fantastic website and a highly loyal readership. There was some talk of launching a printed magazine, but print media is struggling right now. Instead, we are currently developing a weekly podcast, which we hope to launch just in time for the new sports season.