Charlene Sarah Bennie

I am an honest and reliable individual with integrity who is creative, assertive, willing to learn, ambitious, and adventurous; with a passion for unbiased journalism, particularly the “good news” stories. I have the initiative to create inspiration for news stories and features, as well as a particular enthusiasm for investigating under-represented social issues and providing a voice for under-represented social groups. I am passionate about bringing concepts to light, producing written articles to a high standard.

Intern Marketing Assistant – Scottish Tech Army  – August 2021-October 2021

The Scottish Tech Army is a not for profit, technical response team providing digital solutions to technical issues  faced by third sector organisations. 

The Scottish Tech Army Limited is a not for profit company and a volunteer Covid-19 technical response team that helps the Scottish Government, Local Authorities, and other organisations across the country with rapid technical development projects to address current Covid-19 related challenges, and post pandemic economic recovery.

Responsibilities & Achievements: 

• I delivered 7 Case studies bringing to life the projects the STA had completed with various charity partners. Two of these case studies featured in the monthly newsletter. This included scheduling and conducting interviews with various charity representatives and volunteers.

• Conducted research on charities in Scotland – drawing data from OSCR the charity regulator and investigating the number of people each charity supported to enhance the STA impact reporting.

• Took part in some project closures which included contacting clients from a range of charities to ask them to evaluate their experience of their support from STA, in order to collect impact data. 

Key Skills: 

• Stakeholder management – I have the ability to collaborate with a variety of people across a multitude of levels and business roles. 

• Verbal Communication- I am able to independently conduct an interview across a plethora of communication software, including email, Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, as well as in-person conversation. 

• Written Communication – I have a flexible writing style, demonstrating ability to adapt my language, tone and wording to speak to various audiences, hierarchical levels and stakeholders. 

Attentive: I have a good eye for detail, successfully proof-reading technical tutorial documents.

August 2019- May 2021

Glasgow Caledonian University

2.1 BA (Hons) Multimedia Journalism

• Gained experience of working in a professional newsroom setting through practical newsdays where I built a portfolio of print, television and radio news.
• Studied communications law as well as covering sensitive issues with consideration of ethical practice; researched media representation and discourse which included studying representations of race, gender, social class and disability in the press and in fictional narratives
• Produced a 12,000 word dissertation on representation of cultural diversity in Scotland
•  Attended voice coaching and live reporting workshops.     

August 2017- June 2019 

City of Glasgow College 

Pass with B/A in graded units- HND Practical Journalism

• Worked with a group of three other students to create an online publication in which I wrote and produced podcasts tackling social injustices- two features- one on LGBT adoption and another on Women in STEM, as well as podcasts on Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and ESOL.

• Learned about the relationship between the press and the government which included a question time session with four MSPs from Glasgow

• Took part in a dynamic learning initiative which involved writing an article for the staff magazine and working with young people with complex learning disabilities. 

August 2016- June 2017

Ayrshire  College 

Pass with B in Graded unit- HNC Media Analysis and Production 

• Wrote, filmed and edited an eight- minute video documentary on Scottish identity and what it means to be a ‘patriotic Scot’ in the 21st century.

• Collated a portfolio of photography; produced scripts for television, film and radio; produced radio podcasts and short films.

• Studied film semiotics and elements of film such as genre, narrative and target demographic; participated in group projects including filming an introduction for a horror film.