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.
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