A lot of journalists now working for the nationals often describe their route into the industry as haphazard. The generation just removed from mine, those in their 30s, almost ended up where they are by accident. Take Leo Benedictus, who freelances for The Guardian. His big break came from emailing deputy editor Ian Katz, with a cutting attached, and asking if they could meet up. Katz, a generous soul, obliged. At the meeting, Leo asked: "Could I be a features writer for the Guardian?"
Katz replied in the definitive: "No". But what he did do was ask his sub-editors whether there were any vacancies. There happened to be one. And the rest is history. Some succeed through sheer determination, climbing the ladder from local newspaper to regional to national. Others by a combination of chance and talent.
But that's the dream, to work on one of the big names. What of those in the regional press? Sometimes they too get into journalism by fated accident. Richard Morris, 29, went to the University of Hull to read English Literature. He switched to Social Policy and began writing for the uni paper - HullFire. "I thought I'd give it a go, I did it mostly to get free gig tickets", he says to me over the phone. He is speaking from the office of The Hastings Observer, where he is chief reporter. "After I graduated I wasn't sure really of what I was going to do, I had quite a few interests, writing was one of them and I liked it, so I just did that".
After taking a six-month NCTJ course, he looked for positions and Hastings was the first he alighted on. "Five years ago I started off as a trainee, but there's no regular progression, not anymore". Over the years he's seen first-hand how the industry has been forced to cut back owing to falling circulation. "There's just three of us working on the paper. Two years ago, a lot of subbers were made redundant - people who had been there 30, 40 years. Now all the design work is done in Portsmouth".
Competition is now vastly different to when he applied. "Six years ago, 12 applied for a position here. Two years ago, we had 210. And when I applied, I had a few cuttings, good NCTJs. But now they're coming with work experience here and there, they've all got blogs and twitter, loads of experience". And as for money, don't expect much. "I'm on the early 20,000s now, which is quite good to live on in Hastings. I have friends in central London, working on the nationals like The Mail and The Sun, who are on a similar amount".
Does he enjoy it though? "I enjoy my job, I wouldn't say I will be here that much longer. I've met loads of people, and there's lots of crime here, politics, and a good arts scene. When I first started, I didn't know who to go to, now for a story I know exactly who to go to". Being a weekly paper, he finds the job less demanding than what his friends have to do on the national dailies ("They don't seem like they're enjoying it").
I ask what advice he would give to those aspiring journalists out there. "When you're a trainee, even though you don't get paid much - I got £12,600 - you're still learning on the job and in your first year it's enough to get paid to do it. Do as much writing as you can, set-up a blog, embrace social media".
"It's worthwhile and it's good when you have a little positive effect".
Richard Morris is chief reporter at The Hastings Observer.
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Placements - dreams where I pretend to be a professional
I wish I could be one of those interns with balls big enough so that after my placement was over, say I finished on Friday, that I could just turn up on Monday and carry on pretending that I was working there. Either I'd worked so seamlessly that people would just ignore me, or security would get called. It's been done before and Tom Meltzer also made the point that interns are like stooges and interlopers.
But as a way to get bylines, contacts and CV credentials, it's undoubtedly essential, now that the media industry resembles a 50p hole through which a waterfall of mice are trying to clamber. Competition is fierce and the pressure ferocious, jobs can be secured or elicited from placements but in the meritocracy that is journalism - it's a champions test of nerve and wit.
As previously mentioned, Catch22 has 15 media partners and we get a 4-week placement in one of the publications that these media partners run. The list of titles on the partners' books pretty much fills the shelves of all good news agents. Names like Heat, Daily Mail, Radio Times, Zoo, Vogue, Economist, Men's Health, Daily Mirror....and so on.
3 places I'd like to go?
Daily Mirror
GQ
Lonely Planet
Daily Mirror so I can learn to be ruthlessly efficient and on the ball, brush up on my reporting and develop my news sense.
GQ because it's the British equivalent of glamour behemoths Vanity Fair and prestige icon The New Yorker, whose quality of journalism, long-form and literary, is something to which I aspire.
Lonely Planet because I have a great interest in travel and travel writing, having tried to set up my own website - traveldeep.com (under construction).
OF those 3, perhaps the most beneficial would be The Daily Mirror, the UK's third largest selling newspaper. February circulation figures were 1,177,220, compared with its rival The Daily Mail's 2,070,625 for the same time period.
This left-wing tabloid is owned by Trinity Mirror which also own the Sunday Mirror, The People, as well as regional papers amongst others - being Britain's biggest newspaper group. Recently they acquired the Manchester Evening News, one of the most prominent regional names in the industry, plus 30 other regionals for the apparently small sum of £7.4m.
Having interned on a couple of local newspapers: The Hastings Observer and The Brighton Argus - they seem the perfect place to build a grounding in essential journalistic skills. Things like shorthand, accuracy and 'death-knocks' etc. Being on an NCTJ-accredited journalism degree, I have some sense of what it takes to be a diligent and, most of all, reliable local reporter. Using shorthand in a court-room is something that would challenge me - still need that 80wpm, let alone 120!
I have had original news stories published, and set-up interviews under my own initiative for those papers where I placement-ed, and to offer new ways of thinking whilst being fearlessly curious are things I hope will appeal.
But as a way to get bylines, contacts and CV credentials, it's undoubtedly essential, now that the media industry resembles a 50p hole through which a waterfall of mice are trying to clamber. Competition is fierce and the pressure ferocious, jobs can be secured or elicited from placements but in the meritocracy that is journalism - it's a champions test of nerve and wit.
As previously mentioned, Catch22 has 15 media partners and we get a 4-week placement in one of the publications that these media partners run. The list of titles on the partners' books pretty much fills the shelves of all good news agents. Names like Heat, Daily Mail, Radio Times, Zoo, Vogue, Economist, Men's Health, Daily Mirror....and so on.
 |
| GQ: glamour and quality imo |
3 places I'd like to go?
Daily Mirror
GQ
Lonely Planet
Daily Mirror so I can learn to be ruthlessly efficient and on the ball, brush up on my reporting and develop my news sense.
GQ because it's the British equivalent of glamour behemoths Vanity Fair and prestige icon The New Yorker, whose quality of journalism, long-form and literary, is something to which I aspire.
Lonely Planet because I have a great interest in travel and travel writing, having tried to set up my own website - traveldeep.com (under construction).
OF those 3, perhaps the most beneficial would be The Daily Mirror, the UK's third largest selling newspaper. February circulation figures were 1,177,220, compared with its rival The Daily Mail's 2,070,625 for the same time period.
This left-wing tabloid is owned by Trinity Mirror which also own the Sunday Mirror, The People, as well as regional papers amongst others - being Britain's biggest newspaper group. Recently they acquired the Manchester Evening News, one of the most prominent regional names in the industry, plus 30 other regionals for the apparently small sum of £7.4m.
Having interned on a couple of local newspapers: The Hastings Observer and The Brighton Argus - they seem the perfect place to build a grounding in essential journalistic skills. Things like shorthand, accuracy and 'death-knocks' etc. Being on an NCTJ-accredited journalism degree, I have some sense of what it takes to be a diligent and, most of all, reliable local reporter. Using shorthand in a court-room is something that would challenge me - still need that 80wpm, let alone 120!
I have had original news stories published, and set-up interviews under my own initiative for those papers where I placement-ed, and to offer new ways of thinking whilst being fearlessly curious are things I hope will appeal.
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Mo - as seen by Lu-Hai
Hi I'm Mo. It's 12pm and I've just got up. Jokes, not really. Anyway I'm on the way to tesco to look at sandwiches. I've had 8 falafels already today, but I'm still hungry - do sandwiches come in hummus flavour? Anyway I'm enjoying Catch, everyone is really nice, especially that Lu-Hai kid, he's just such an outstanding guy. So I get to tesco and I'm at the sandwich section. God...just so many sandwiches, in so many flavours, how do I choose? Do sandwiches have feelings? Anyway, I ask an assistant if they have any prawn sandwiches. She just says "no", and walks away. How rude, should I arrest her? Nah, another time. Do I really want a sandwich? I'm not sure, so I just go home and enjoy my mum's really good home cooking. Safe.
30 Seconds In The Mind Of...
Laura Snow, 20, is a student studying Criticism, Communications & Curation at Central Saint Martens College of Art & Design. She comes from the "middle of nowhere", Gloucestershire. She now lives in Hackney and her favourite colour is orange. She's currently enrolled on Catch22 Academy.
What is your earliest memory?
Being picked up from nursery by my mum and grandad and being really excited to show them the paper mobile made of owls I'd made.
Who are your heroes?
I'm really obsessed with Punk, even though I don't totally look like it, I'd say Sid Vicious. It might be false or fabricated, but it's just his iconography.
What's your greatest achievement?
To get to uni, I was awarded a scholarship by the Helena Kennedy Foundation. We got to go to the House of Commons. It was the only time I've seen my mum really proud.
When was your first kiss?
I can't remember his name but we were in the same class. I think I was in year 2. But one afternoon, he decided to take me to the wooded area of the playground and decided to kiss me several times.
If you had no responsibilities, where would you go and what would you be doing?
I know it's not a great place to visit, but I'd love to go to the Democratic Republic of Congo. I'd love to go there and interview people. How they've coped with war, and the Rwanda genocide, I just find it all intriguing.
Twitter:@lauvicious
Fave website: Youtube
Fave youtube clip: 'happy double rainbow hawaiian guy'
Fave tune: An Ending Ascent by Brian Eno
What is your earliest memory?
Who are your heroes?
I'm really obsessed with Punk, even though I don't totally look like it, I'd say Sid Vicious. It might be false or fabricated, but it's just his iconography.
What's your greatest achievement?
To get to uni, I was awarded a scholarship by the Helena Kennedy Foundation. We got to go to the House of Commons. It was the only time I've seen my mum really proud.
When was your first kiss?
I can't remember his name but we were in the same class. I think I was in year 2. But one afternoon, he decided to take me to the wooded area of the playground and decided to kiss me several times.
If you had no responsibilities, where would you go and what would you be doing?
I know it's not a great place to visit, but I'd love to go to the Democratic Republic of Congo. I'd love to go there and interview people. How they've coped with war, and the Rwanda genocide, I just find it all intriguing.
Twitter:@lauvicious
Fave website: Youtube
Fave youtube clip: 'happy double rainbow hawaiian guy'
Fave tune: An Ending Ascent by Brian Eno
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Catch 22 for those interested in journalism
How to get experience, when to get it, you already need experience? It's an eternal infernal question, especially for those in the media industry, where contacts are key. But an organisation called Catch22 aims to remedy this dilemma. It's a social enterprise, started by journalist Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa, who specialise in teaching young people from diverse backgrounds the skills needed to succeed as journos.
I applied because I was after more and doggedly determined to enter a life of writing. I already study a multi-media journalism degree at Bournemouth University, a great place for it, so it is kind of overkill. But I was attracted to Catch because it offers work experience with some big publications - their media partners include: Economist, Conde Nast, Bauer Media, Trinity Mirror...and 11 others.
They also offer practical experience while enrolled on the course - pitching, developing and writing up features for their in-house magazine which is distributed throughout London.
It's been a good experience so far, currently half-way through the 3-month course (the whole program lasts a year, although their ultimate goal is employment), and helpful. The regular feature meetings, where we have to pitch ideas we've come up in a short time is great practise. Ideas, after all, are the hammer and sickle (not that I'm a communist or anything) of the trade.
Check out this video of the program
It's not a good time to get into journalism. Or so I've heard. At least 26,786 times. Circulation figures continue to fall, while the numbers of those studying media courses rises. Kelvin Mackenzie, former Sun editor, recently wrote in The Independent on the worthlessness of these degrees. Whatever. But one thing he said struck me: "The print business is working out ways to get rid of you, not hiring you!" Has ever a more fibrous chord of futility been rung that cut to the core of my professional ambitions?
But I persevere. I leave you with two quotes that help me keep true:
"The struggle itself is the reward" - Ricky Gervais
"Be so good they can't ignore you" - Steve Martin.
For my next post I will be interviewing my fellow Catch colleagues...
Useful sites:
I applied because I was after more and doggedly determined to enter a life of writing. I already study a multi-media journalism degree at Bournemouth University, a great place for it, so it is kind of overkill. But I was attracted to Catch because it offers work experience with some big publications - their media partners include: Economist, Conde Nast, Bauer Media, Trinity Mirror...and 11 others.
They also offer practical experience while enrolled on the course - pitching, developing and writing up features for their in-house magazine which is distributed throughout London.
It's been a good experience so far, currently half-way through the 3-month course (the whole program lasts a year, although their ultimate goal is employment), and helpful. The regular feature meetings, where we have to pitch ideas we've come up in a short time is great practise. Ideas, after all, are the hammer and sickle (not that I'm a communist or anything) of the trade.
Check out this video of the program
It's not a good time to get into journalism. Or so I've heard. At least 26,786 times. Circulation figures continue to fall, while the numbers of those studying media courses rises. Kelvin Mackenzie, former Sun editor, recently wrote in The Independent on the worthlessness of these degrees. Whatever. But one thing he said struck me: "The print business is working out ways to get rid of you, not hiring you!" Has ever a more fibrous chord of futility been rung that cut to the core of my professional ambitions?
But I persevere. I leave you with two quotes that help me keep true:
"The struggle itself is the reward" - Ricky Gervais
"Be so good they can't ignore you" - Steve Martin.
For my next post I will be interviewing my fellow Catch colleagues...
Useful sites:
- http://www.poynter.org/ - full of practical advice, on writing style to using social networks
- http://careers.guardian.co.uk/live-q-and-a/discuss/3d26927a-347a-462a-a83e-9c2bd2fad4a7 - Guardian live chat with tips from industry insiders as well as those climbing the ladder
- www.medianation.co.uk - site dedicated to scouring for work experience and employment opportunites in the media. Great stuff.
- http://www.theawl.com/2010/08/seven-years-as-a-freelance-writer-or-how-to-make-vitamin-soup - glorious paean to the joys and rigours of freelancing
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