Postgraduate journalism students had an element of reality brought into their training when Reuters man Keith Stafford filled them in with some useful hints and tips for being a foreign correspondent.

Speaking from experience to his audience at Trinity and All Saints College, at the University of Leeds, he warned them that choosing the right shoes was as important as getting the right quote.

When covering a riot a reporter can end up in the path of an exploding petrol bomb and the heat that is generated can cause plastic soles to melt, leaving the reporter in an even more dangerous position.

He was at the Centre for Journalism for a workshop with students on the Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism.

As part of the visit he read statements from George Bush, with the students acting as journalists in the press room at the White House, drafting stories in real time to send back to head office.

Centre director Gill Ursell said: "Keith introduced a note of excitement and reality into our training. The students loved it and felt they'd learnt a lot.

"There's nothing like being told your feet are on fire to make you get a move on."

The workshop came at the end of Keith's visit to the centre, where he was acting as an industry consultant in the design of a new BA in Business Journalism degree, to be offered from 2005.

The new degree aims to provide students with the skills and understanding they need to report business and related issues in different media.

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