Never ask a journalist to do this...
For those of you who haven't read about the absolute communications car crash that took the tech and PR world by storm last week (ok, a dose of hyperbole there), let me fill you in.
Following a tense exchange during a podcast interview between Sasan Goodarzi, chief executive of Intuit, which owns TurboTax, and editor-in-chief of The Verge and host of the Decoder podcast Nilay Patel, Patel received a note from Rick Heineman, the chief communications officer at Intuit, calling the line of questioning and his tone “inappropriate,” “egregious,” and “disappointing” and demanded that they delete that entire section of the recording. Yes, really.
Patel added: “I mean, literally — he wrote a long email that ended with “at the very least the end portion of your interview should be deleted"."
Patel then explained that The Verge has abides by journalistic ethics and doesn't remove content or make changes.
You'd think Heineman might have then just left it. But no. He responded by asking that they “delete that which takes away from the conversation,” which he defined as “raised voices” or us “speaking over each other,” so that “listeners understand your question and the answer Sasan gave".
Instead, Patel wrote a separate article about the request and focused on that segment of the interview.
Now, I’m assuming Goodarzi said to his PR, something along the lines of “Do whatever you can to remove that part of the podcast”. The PR might have tried his best to tell his boss this would be the wrong line of approach, that journalists don’t do this. But the PR should have stood his ground.
But as a result of this exchange — which probably wouldn’t have gained that much traction outside of The Verge, it’s led to a separate article by The Verge and further coverage on Inuit’s response on other websites, plus traction on social media. It’s embarrassing for Inuit, Sassan and Heineman.
There’s an extra point to be made here about the comms person perhaps not briefing the CEO correctly so they were ill prepared for that line of questioning. Hands up, I don’t know Inuit that well, but it appears that these questions should have been expected.
I’m often asked by people (sometimes even PRs, though mainly, but not all the time, they're based out of the UK) to see if they can see the article before it goes live. I’ve had this conversation several times in the past week, in fact. I talk about this in my workshops, but no, unless it is a sensitive subject, such as an interview with a domestic abuse survivor, I don’t allow anyone else to see part/all of the article, check it and amend it before it goes live – apart from the publisher. If we want independent and unbiased journalism, then we certainly don’t want other people controlling and greenlighting the content.
Of course, if it’s factually incorrect, politely tell us and we’ll change it.
The move towards churnalism
It was recently reported that Birmingham Live editor Graeme Brown last month emailed journalists on his team to say that they should file at least eight stories per day unless they were newsgathering out of the office.
“We need to make more of shifts where people are not going out as drivers of volume," said Brown, as first quoted by Hold The Front Page. "In practice, if you’re on a general shift and you’re not on a job, it should be at least eight stories a shift.”
Urgh. I can imagine the intense pressure these journalists are under already and then to be told they need to file eight stories a day.
I know local, like national, publishers are struggling but insisting on such a number of stories just creates even more churnalism; if you want good quality local journalism, then you can’t insist journalists knock out eight stories a day.
There's plenty of important stories that don’t have to involve stepping outside the office, but instead battering the phones and say, calling the emergency services to follow up on as story, chasing leads, and conducting interviews. This can't be achieved if journalists are forced to write eight stories a day. I can just imagine the burn out, exhaustion and low levels of job satisfaction these journalists are living with when it's all about volume, and not quality.
When the story broke, journalist Olivia Devereux-Evans commented on X: “As someone who has done this… a 7-3pm shift means writing at least a story an hour, sometimes more. Sometimes I didn’t take a proper lunch break as I felt pressure to hit 8 stories and was consistently stressed about page views…”
Similarly Louis Staples said: “As someone who used to work in clickbait content farming: this puts reporters at professional and personal risk. It burns them out and leads to mistakes and a loss confidence, not to mention questionable ethical judgements in pursuit of traffic. End this model!”
Maybe instead they should focus on creating useable websites that doesn't bring up annoying pop-ups every time you try to read an article.
Slow right down
I wanted to chat this week about the speed of talking in interviews. When a journalist is interviewing you/your client, of course it might feel a/ super exciting and b/ like you want to use the opportunity to reel off everything about the subject you're speaking on so you don't miss anything out.
But this can prove to be a bit of a headache for the journalist.
For my interviews, and for many of my fellow journalists, we’re often interviewing over the phone, or perhaps using Teams or Zoom, and most certainly with our earphones in and tapping away making notes on own computers or in a notebook (unless it’s a live interview, of course). What often happens is the interviewee speaks so quickly it’s difficult to type/write up what they’re saying and secondly, it’s hard to keep up and digest what they’re saying when they’re speaking at 50 mph, especially if it's on a subject we're not used to. Also, what often happens is people speak continuously, covering and switching between several points at once.
So, while the journalist will often ask for the interviewee to slow down, or repeat a point, I would advise anyone to speak slower and more concisely than you usually would. Pause. Breathe. Let the point sink in. Don’t rush to bring in lots of different points all at once or you could lose the journalist or the viewer/listener.
Of course, there’s AI translation tools we could all use to make our lives easier but at the moment, most journalists are not using these on a daily basis when interviewing someone.
All hail the freelancer fighters
There’s been some good news over the past month with both the Guardian and BBC upping their freelancer rates. I’ll share what these are as I expect many people not be familiar with what kind of rates freelancers receive.
Firstly, the Guardian has increased its rates for casuals and freelancers by 2.5%. This no doubt took a lot of grafting from freelancers such as Donna Ferguson and the NUJ staff reps who push for stronger rates for us freelancers, who aren’t often given as much thought as staffers. It means lineage rates will rise to 37p a word across the Guardian, and casual shifts will increase to £215 a day this year. Meanwhile the BBC has increased its article feature rate to £369.60.
I wish these were larger amounts but I'm thankful for the small wins and the people who have campaigned for such increases.
Cut out the jargon
Whether it's in your/your client's team, company, or even industry, there'll no doubt be certain terms thrown around that mean something to you all but to anyone outside of this world, it's meaningless. This was the case for me during a recent interview I held with a senior person at a company for an article for the nationals. Throughout the interview they used terms that no-one outside of their team or industry would know, prompting me to constantly stop and ask what those terms meant. There was one word that was being said through the interview that meant something most of us would understand to mean but when I asked a question at the end of the interview about the use of X, she said actually, that word wasn’t what was meant in the Oxford Dictionary. It meant something very different. It was only because I asked a particular question at the end that I then knew that. Otherwise the piece would have included it referring to its original meaning, not the one used by the company.
Whether you are sending over comments, writing a press release, or speaking to a journalist, remember to cut out the jargon and use plain English. Or, if when you are prepping your client, remind them. Also remind them not to sound like they're giving a sales pitch to a client with lines that don’t really say or mean anything, rather than answering the questions.
For example:
ME: How do you plan to use AI in the future?
THEM: “We want to explore all elements of AI to help our customers so we can continue being the leading technology provider in our field - our mission is to be the best provider for all of our clients.”
Yes, sometimes it really is like interviewing a politician.
Drop me a line if you’d like more information or recommendations about media training.
Pitch me for this national newspaper slot
Hope you’re all well amongst this hatred and division amongst sections of society. It’s ugly and deeply upsetting (though last night's anti-racism protests gave me hope). Love and solidarity to anyone feeling vulnerable right now.
I have started writing for The Sunday Time's Fame & Fortune section. It’s a Q&A at the back of the Money pages, in which a famous person is interviewed about their finances. Questions range from ‘Are you a saver or a spender?’ to ‘Have you ever been hard up?’.
This means I’m on the lookout for well-known people who have never been featured in the slot. If you have someone who might be of interest and doesn’t mind discussing their finances, please email me. The editor is happy to include a credit to promote a project/charity.
Call out for stories from Mexico, Guatemala and the US
Last week I interviewed several people travelling the world by boat. Oh my, was I green-eyed when she turned the video on and showed me the turquoise waters the boat was bobbing around on.
It's spurred me to start thinking ahead to my dream of exploring North and Central America from early January (as long my health is ok, that is). As I need to start to be properly organised and not my usual last-minute self, I’m starting to seek out stories that I can work on from out there. What I’m hoping is that I either start in Guatemala, perhaps staying somewhere like San Pedro for a month, swing by Belize and travel extensively through Mexico, but also stay in a place or two for a few weeks each. From there, I’m hoping to travel overland through the States, making numerous stops in places like Texas, Austin and New Orleans before reaching my final destination, New York, where I may stay for a couple of weeks.
So, in the run-up, I’m looking for travel, climate/sustainability stories, and business stories across these areas. I will travelling overland from Mexico to the US so if you think there might be a story along that route, please do let me know.
Also, I’m hoping to run my workshops in these cities so if you know anyone who has run workshops in the US, please let me know.
Also, tips and routes are well received, especially from crossing the border overland to the US.
Here's what to avoid doing in media interviews
Generally, I love to chat. But when it comes to interviews, I’ll go through some level of small talk before cracking on with the interview. I had a situation recently where I was joined by several people on an interview on Zoom (not my ideal situation and I didn’t know the community manager was joining along, I’m still not sure why). Obviously there was a few tech issues to start with, and then after explaining the story, I was about to start the interview when someone suggested everyone introduce themselves properly. By then it was already about 12 minutes into the 30-minute call. The first person spoke about her background, where she had worked before. The next person spoke, again for a few minutes, so when it came to me I said, "Actually we’ve only got 15 minutes left. Could we move on with the interview?" (I had said who I was at the start of the call and explained the nature of the piece over email and the phone). No, the next person also jumped in and shared their work history. Cue squeezing in a limited number of questions.
Another recent interview involved interviewing someone who wanted to share a lot of information on their backstory. Every time I jumped in to direct the interview back to where I needed it to flow, it went off in another direction. It was interesting but I spent about four times as long as I expected on that call. Now in this instant, she was a real life interview so I needed to build her trust and I could tell she wanted to explain more about background till she was happy to share the rest.
But it made me think it might be worth sharing a few pointers to help you/your client when it comes to media interviews:
Please be mindful of how much time you have. Spending 15 minutes on your backstory in a 30-minute interview is poor etiquette. Unless a journalist asks, don’t go overboard sharing your own backstory. Many a time I have dived into an interview and then the founder want to start at the beginning (none of which might have made the cut). "For example, so when I was 15 I did GCSEs in, and then…". Make it succinct. A journalist will certainly stop and ask you if they need more on your backstory but honestly, giving us the whole working history (unless asked for), isn't needed.
Don’t make your answers longwinded. Be succinct. Practice good soundbites.
Listen to a journalist. If they’re trying to bring you back in, listen to their question – don’t continually go off on a tangent.
Also, be wary of bringing facts too much into the discussion. I spoke to someone recently who kept pulling in statistics throughout the conversation. “Well, a recent survey of ours found 43% of customers.." and so on. We want anecdotes, not continual quotes with statistics thrown at us.
Hope that helps.
I have a brilliant media training session video named How to Win at Media Interviews with media trainer Guy Clapperton here for just £14.99 if you would like to bolster your skills.
Reliving my old journalism life at a Taylor Swift concert
Last Friday night I joined almost 90,000 people to shake it off at a Taylor Swift concert. And no, it didn’t involve the usual searching online days before for a resale ticket (which is my usual way to buy my gig/festival tickets). Instead, I was offered one by a PR, thanks to a chance meeting in an east end pub three months before when he told me he had access to a box at Wembley. For the few weeks prior, I was inhaling the Eras playlist on Spotify, and then fast forward to last week, dancing in a box at Wembley. There was food, drinks, and the holy grail when there's a million girls and women - access to a toilet inside. It was total luxe even before I discovered Prince William was hanging out a couple of boxes down with his daughters.
During the evening I caught up with Daniel, the PR, and also met and hung out with the external PR (though we didn’t discuss what we did for a living till half way through the gig).
It was spectacular evening, regardless of whether you're a big Swiftie or not (tbh, I wasn't a fan until all my mates started whipping up tickets and posting about it on Instagram. Surprised that so many were into her, I started listening to her music...and found myself playing some songs on repeat).
The evening flung me back to my old life of working on a trade magazine writing about tech and the publishing industry. Back then the above was kind of the norm. There were invitations to boxes at the O2 flying through every week or so (never mind all the parties invites). It got me thinking about how when journalists leave their staff jobs to go freelance, the invites die down – drastically – despite there being, perhaps, more opportunities to work with said journalist across a range of titles. If you’re not already, it’s really worth looking at which freelancers you can invite to your next event, and no, it doesn’t need to be to see Taylor Swift [or insert any major musician]. With freelancers not having as many opportunities thrown at them, your success - and chance to build relationships - rate may be higher.
Just tell us the real answer
I recently contacted a hotel with regards to a press stay for a national newspaper.
“We don’t have availability to host a stay for you,” responded the PR.
“That's strange as I can see availability. Would May 12-14 be more suitable?”
“That is correct, we indeed have availability. But we are unfortunately not able to offer you a complimentary stay in exchange for exposure on the dates you mentioned."
"I understand* (*I don't). Which other dates are available?"
“Thank you for your understanding. But unfortunately we are not interested in your offer for the exposure. So we are therefore not able to host you.”
It took at least five emails for the truth to unfold - they simply weren’t interested. So instead of all the to-ing and fro-ing, please just say this.
If you/the company you represent don’t want to comment on a piece, don’t say you don’t have the time/can't meet the deadline because a journalist can sometimes chat to the editor and come back and extend the deadline for the right comment (this usually then results in another flaky excuse).
The MD isn’t available? Ok, sometimes we’re happy with someone lower down the chain.
Honestly, 18 years I have done this and rather than the emails back and forth and the lies, just tell us – “Sorry, we’re not interested in contributing right now.” I’d much appreciate that rather than trying to extend the deadline and come back to you, or figure out new dates for the press trip and then be declined again when actually, it wasn’t the dates that didn’t fit – it was because you/the company just didn’t want to be in the press (or in that particular title).
Why the alarm bells sound with some journorequest responses
I talk a lot about utilising #journorequest in my webinars, workshops and course, but I know as a journalist you also have to be wary of some of the responses to these. I see the same people responding to many of them. Does that person really have a story about joining a book club/being bullied/or having a comment on the latest row [or insert every niche request a journalist throws out there]….or are they lying to simply land press coverage?
I remember one particular request I put out on Twitter a while back. I’ll change it so it’s not possible to find and identity the person, but say it was along the lines of wanting to speak to someone who only buys secondhand clothes now. A woman responded saying this was something she was doing but when I checked her social media, I knew this was a lie as there were pictures and content around the purchase of new clothes.
Most of the time journalists – especially in the face of mounting cuts to budgets and teams - have a quick turnaround on stories and it’s about getting that story out there so many stories like this are not fact checked. To a certain degree, you have to believe people. Though there might be a request for evidence, depending on the journalist and the title. And then other times you have to be cynical, especially when you see the same names being quoted in articles.
Sure, we might all be able to comment on a lot of #journorequests but sometimes seeing the same names again and again makes me suspicious, especially if I look on their timeline and they’re responding to lots of them all the time.
There’s some people I have simply banned in my head from using as I believe there’s elements of fabrication. I spoke to someone the other day for another story who’d spotted my #journorequest. I called her and I could see that she was changing her story to fit into my brief.
So please, be honest. Don’t fabricate or mould your story just to get in the press. Some journalists will see through this and they may well warn others.
This is how much the average freelance journalist earns…
As regular readers know I often talk about the difficulties of being a freelance journalist and while I won’t reveal my earnings here (yet), according to a new survey, the average freelance journalist in the UK makes £27,000 per year. It also flagged that the distribution of earnings is very uneven, with the top 10% of freelancers take 37% of the total earnings pie.
Not surprising the survey of 458 journalists, which was commissioned by the UK Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) in partnership with the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), found that most freelance journalists subsidise their earnings with other non-journalism work. Almost half (48%) of respondents said they spend more than 50% of their time on freelance journalism while 29% said freelance journalism was their only occupation.
I definitely used to fall into the latter camp but over the years have expanded my freelance work to include everything from media consultancy to running a content network. And renting out my home on Airbnb. Honestly, I don't know how any freelance journalists just survive on journalism alone.
One journalist told the survey: “In general, journalism has become a much more unstable and challenging profession. It is not well rewarded – and I’m one of the luckier ones. I’ve never felt secure in 35 years. Every day doing the job is a small victory.”
More on the joy of freelancing here.
A glimpse into the day of a radio producer
I’m writing this after a couple of weeks up in Salford. You all know how much I adore this (relatively new-ish) part of my career so I thought I’d give you a little insight into what goes on when I’m working at Quay House in MediaCity.
7am: Rise and shine. Although the programmes I mainly work on (Radio 4 Today and Radio 5 Wake Up to Money) start bright and early (5am and 6am respectively), I do not. There are early shifts available – starting at 4am, with a car picking you up even earlier, but I’ve politely declined those shifts so far. Though I hope to visit the studio at that time one day soon, with my intermittent insomnia, I know I’d arriving in a zombie-like state if I started that early. And so my morning starts at about 7am, with the shows running in the background while I have breakfast and get ready. There's always an element of nerves here – wondering will the guest turn up, will they sound ok on the radio – but generally it all goes to plan. Saying that, one recent guest failed to show up after leaving 'do not disturb' on their phone, meaning their alarm didn't go off and they didn't pick up when the team called. Oops.
8.45am - 9am: I'll arrive in the office and have a catch up with colleagues and quickly discuss how the shows were. I always make a round of hot drinks (and then throughout the day - I must consume about 12 cups of green tea), before reading the news across titles such as the Financial Times, Reuters, Guardian Business, and a handful of trade titles.
9.30am: Morning meeting. We’ll briefly dissect the morning shows before discussing what’s on the agenda for the next day. Here we'll chat through the backgrounds and stories of any already booked guests, any pre-recorded interviews the team have already have organised, and then discuss our story ideas.
10am: Post-meeting we’ll all assigned a story to work on. Recent pieces I've worked include a report on rising ‘priority debt’ – such as council tax, rent arrears and energy bills – and poor customer service with HMRC. For stories like these, I’ll scout out who might be best to speak to and put in bids (interview requests) with various organisations or individuals. For the tax one, I remembered a brilliant tax lawyer and barrister I'd worked with for a digital nomad piece for the Guardian. I may also fire out some #journorequests and scout around on the BBC contacts system to see who has been featured on the BBC before. If they come back yes and we’re still going ahead with the story, I’ll interview the person myself. This is called a briefing. For this, I’ll check they’re a suitable guest, prep them for the interview the next day, and try and draw out any interesting points that might be good for the presenter to focus on. There’s also organising the logistics of the interview for the next day. I’ll write up the notes and script for the presenter with background information about the sector.
1pm: Lunch. I’ll be honest, I hardly ever step outside the building. I’m terrible. Forget about vitamin D. Usually I catch up with some freelance work or with a colleague. The canteen is fantastic, with a decent selection of plant-based food. I usually opt for one of the colourful salads or soup. The hot meals are delicious and if I’m not heading out in Manchester that evening, I’ll have some kind of Mexican feast but need to be careful as I'll often feel like I want to just lie down rather than head back to the desk. (Just where are the napping stations?).
2pm: Colleagues on the late shift come in, and we'll have a team meeting to discuss the latest developments with our stories and any other stories that have emerged.
3pm-5pm: This really depends on where I am with the first story, but usually in the afternoon I'm juggling a couple of stories and am writing questions, researching another story, or interviewing another guest. There could also be a pre-record so where I interview the person in the studio over the phone or Zoom and this will be added to the programme. This also involves editing the audio and tightening up the interview so it's only two minutes. There might also be the chance for the journalist to create a quick package explaining something coming up on the show, or we might brief the economist or the whole programmes guest and fill them in on the news the presenter will want to discuss the next day.
6pm: I usually leave by about 6pm. It could be that I head upstairs to crack on with freelance work, or if the weather is good, I might walk into Manchester and have dinner with someone. Last week my pal from uni joined me for Burmese and Korean food in a buzzy foodhall near to MediaCity.
This is how long journalists can wait to get paid
Thank you for your kind words (on top of the shock) regarding the last blog post.
Perhaps I should share some upbeat news after that depressing outlook but instead I've decided to write about another downside to being a freelance journalist: payment on publication.
While most titles abide by the usual payment within 30 days of invoicing rule, some only pay up after your piece has gone to press (and then to add insult to injury, 30 days after). Yes, you may have filed that article on how workers are fighting back against low pay in February 2024 but it might not be until December 2024 when the article sees the light of day that you’re actually paid. I KID YOU NOT.
I won’t name names but you might be surprised by some of the publications that get away with this. I believe the NUJ has put pressure on publications to scrap this while other freelancers have battled against this insidious policy. Maybe I’ll apply the same principles the next time I have to pay a tradesperson. “Well, I know it’s the spring but I’m not going to put those fairy lights you've just fixed up till Christmas so I’ll pay you on December 12.” Sure. Can imagine getting away with that.
You might wonder why I’m still here. Why I’m still bashing out words for tiny amounts. Why I’m still in an industry that has increasing disregard for its workers. Well, I can’t see myself leaving. I could probably earn twice as much in another career but I absolutely adore being a journalist. What an absolute privilege it is to contact almost anyone and have them take time out of their day to talk to you, to share their story or their expertise (bar an A-list celebrity or a company you're investigating, I should add). No, I think I’ll continue. I may be pivoting and shifting things around a little to make sure I can continue to write the kind of stories I want, and while some former colleagues have made exits (and I don’t blame them, I really don’t), for me, I can’t imagine doing anything else.
A bleak start to the year for the journalism industry
I feel like every day my timeline on X, formerly Twitter (just in case you didn't know by now), is filled with journalists announcing they’ve lost their job.
Over in the US, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an employment company that tracks labour market trends, reported that there were over 500 journalists axed at news outlets in January alone. Sigh. This follows the loss of 3,087 digital, broadcast and print news jobs in the US in 2023 — the highest annual total since 2020, when 16,060 cuts were recorded. Press Gazette tracked UK, US and Canadian outlets and found that more than 7,900 journalism industry jobs were cut in 2023. These include jobs at Vogue, Wired, the BBC and Reach.
Now in the past month, we’ve seen the likes of Business Insider make 8% of its global staff redundant, Channel 4 reveal it's to make its biggest level of redundancies in 15 years, while the Los Angeles Times has laid off 20% of its workforce.
Others are trying to find ways to bring in much-needed additional income. You might have spotted recently that Mail Online is now putting a number of its stories behind a paywall for £4.99 a month. “It’s a tough time in the industry, of course, but I think people here recognise that being able to invest and to launch new products and to diversify is our way of future-proofing,” editor and publisher Danny Groom told Press Gazette.
Perhaps we’ll see further paywalls. More innovation. And although I’d love to be all optimistic, having covered the industry for so many years, I just can’t see a turnaround (and while Substack is helping some journalists, I don't think it's the saviour for local, national and global news and investigative journalism that we desperately need to hold the powerful to account). Instead, it's going to be rocky road in 2024, with our Twitter/X feeds consisting of further rounds of job cuts.
A reminder to add this to your emails to journalists
I’ve mentioned this before but thought I'd flag it up again seeing as though it's something I see regularly happening in my inbox. Whether you’re pitching a journalist or responding to a ResponseSource, please for the love of god include a description of the company. Such a simple tip but I don’t know who say Blue Velvet is (perhaps red velvet cakes’ unpopular sibling) or what May Solutions do unless you tell me. If we’re receiving scores of emails, you don’t want a journalist to delete your email or move onto the next as you haven’t thrown in a description of what the company actually does. It may sound like a tech company and we’ve already got two tech companies featuring in the piece so we move onto the next email, or there’s eight other responses and we’ll be more interested in the ones we don’t have to work out ourselves (I appreciate this might take all of six seconds for us to do but when time is of the essence, it could be the difference between appearing in the press or not).
Just by coincidence, I was up in Salford recently when my second-ever radio package aired on BBC World Service. It was lovely to be in the office and hear positive words from my colleagues as my piece on the Red Light District’s potential move to the south of the city saw (or rather, heard) me visit the infamous Amsterdam area to interview businesses such as Condomerie (which, as the name implies, sells condoms including a glow-in-the-dark one which the owner couldn't resist throwing in my bag as I left), residents, and a former sex worker-turned-activist on their views. It’s a contentious issue and the move to a separate erotic centre will continue to be fiercely fought.
Now working as a radio producer, it’s interesting to learn what goes into creating radio. This is hours of work condensed into about four minutes. Here’s the link. It runs at about 17 minutes. While up in Manchester I also recorded links in the studio (pictured) for a couple of my upcoming BBC World Service packages.
Oh woe journalism rates this Christmas (and every single day of the year)
I wanted to hone in on an important point made in a recent Instagram post by sustainability writer Juliet Kinsman which resonated with every single journalist reading it. Titled ‘Journalism is really, really badly paid. It’s important to know that', it goes on to detail how underpaid the sector is, how she's paid less for articles than she was 20 years ago, and how we need to value writers and pay them properly.
The post struck a chord with every single writer reading it – and, of course, other creatives. One prominent former columnist said, ‘THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. I am broke and having to sell my house.” Ana Santi, my friend and former colleague, commented: “I think people forget that journalism is uncovering new things, it’s holding people to account, it’s finding the truth. It’s not aggregating existing information and forming readable sentences. It takes TIME. And effort. And passion. And worth so much more than pennies per word.”
I’ve written about the paltry rates in journalism before but have had a surge in subscribers since then and it’s an ongoing issue that’s worth talking about again and again. I received a quote from builder recently and I noticed his day rate had gone up about 25% since he last quoted two years ago. I probed him on it and he said it was down to materials etc going up (although there was barely any materials being used). But I thought, I just couldn’t ever imagine the same thing happening in journalism. Saying that, perhaps I should be grateful for the recent several pound rise at one title. But the reality means rates are falling in real times. Across some publishers, we’re paid £150 for crafting 1000 words. Day rates are also paltry. While inflation has rocketed, somehow journalism rates continue to freefall. And I know this doesn’t just impact journalists; I know many other creatives are feeling this pain too.
I don’t know why but many people think journalism is much higher paid that it is. Maybe they’ve recall Boris Johnson’s salary at the Telegraph and think we’re all raking it in. Maybe they see the press trips and the parties (for some) and see that as a successful lavish life. But what they don’t see is people talk about struggling to pay their bills.
While I don’t wish to be a pessimist, I don’t see things radically shifting. Instead, freelance budgets are being culled, rates are falling, and opportunities disappearing. I’ve said before, but about five years ago I was finding it somewhat difficult. My life didn’t go from rags-to-riches exactly, but I’m incredibly grateful for the Guardian coming to me with the Masterclass tutor opportunity which led to me to start my own sessions, private workshops, webinars, courses, consultancy and content network. It doesn’t mean I’m wealthy and I still worry about money, but not at the level I did before. Otherwise I’m really not sure what I would have done if it hadn’t come along as I’m certainly not ready to leave journalism and there’s no other huge career desire kicking about.
I do sometimes wonder what I will do in the future, which is quite tough for someone who lives for the moment and doesn’t plan much ahead. I’m fortunate I rent out my place when I’m not there, which helps pay for the experiences which I spend my money on and my rent in Amsterdam, and while a much-desired radio career has opened up for me this year, the amount of time and energy that goes it into that (and train fares and hotels which means if I’m doing shifts I hardly come out with anything but experience), at least this investment is propped up my workshops and consultancy work.
And let’s not forget the time that it takes to work on journalism. Good quality journalism takes time and the value is not reflected in the money we receive. It’s incredibly sad and I don’t know what the answer is. All I can say – and I know many of you do - is invest in journalism this Christmas and beyond. Subscribe to a newspaper. Gift a magazine subscription this Christmas. And don’t ask people to work for free. Support journalism because I keep seeing more and more leave to move into more lucrative careers. I don’t blame them, but it’s journalism’s loss.
My first radio package
It’s been a long-held dream of mine to work in radio, and to create my own radio packages from overseas was probably beyond what I thought was possible.
I’d tried - and failed - at pitching radio shows over the years. They'd like my ideas but to them I was just a random person, even though I've worked as a journalist for 15 years and write for BBC Online. But as soon as I walked into the BBC building in Manchester in June having started a freelance producer role, opportunities jumped out. Within an hour or two I was chatting to a BBC World Service editor who’d seen my Amsterdam circular economy piece online and asked for story ideas. I pitched him a day or two later. This BBC World Service package on one of my favourite subjects - sustainability (and travel, so make that two) - is the result.
The package, which broadcast about a week ago, featured on a programme called The Newsroom; it was supposed to feature on another show for starters but apparently this non-business programme nabbed it first, which my editor was super pleased about as it’s a “massive” programme). I'll be finding out more about the programme when I freelance at BBC World Service in Manchester over the next few months.
The three-plus minutes may sound easy but there were hours and hours of work involved as unbeknown to me at first, the reporter actually produces it too, injecting sound and editing it into shape (with final edits by the editor). A huge learning curve and hopefully just the start of this side of my radio career.
Here’s a link just in case you’d like to hear my radio voice.
Using event programmes as inspiration
I’m back in Amsterdam. I wasn’t sure how I felt about returning as I was so hectic in the run up to coming to even think about it until I was packing my suitcases (one of which inevitably broke, probably from yet another – pardon the unintended pun - case of overpacking) and the usual excitement wasn’t there. But then as soon as the train scuttled closer to Amsterdam, the giddiness jolted out of me. I always feel slightly emotional pulling into Centraal Station and then when I see my usual haunts, I feel overwhelming pangs of happiness. So yes, I’m very happy and grateful to be back. Although, I will say I’m not sleeping as much as I'd like due to noises from the flat above and work outside so I’m feeling exhausted. Zzzz.
I’m writing this earlier than usual as I’ll be on a psilocybin (magic truffles) retreat and then will be running my workshop. I’m feeling all kind of emotions from slightly nervous to excited for the former. I’ll say more on it on another newsletter. My loose Amsterdam itinerary is stacking up with work. Amsterdam does hold an abundance of work opportunities. For example, this week there’s AI World Summit, Social Enterprise World Forum, while the following there’s Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE). And I find lots of contacts and old acquaintances pass through, like the guy I lived next door to in East Dulwich in 2005, who messaged me last night on Facebook to ask to meet up as he’s visiting later in the month.
I was scouring through the programme for some of these events and I thought some of them can spark good feature ideas. For example, I’m attending the Green conference for ADE and there’s a session on bamboo as a construction material at festivals, which I pointed out to my BBC editor and he’s commissioned me a piece on it (although we're widening it out and I will give a nod to the conference). This could also be used as a springboard for PRs for feature ideas and suggestions – not just the event PRs who but if you or your client are appearing on an interesting panel you could highlight the session/idea to a features journalist. We’re always looking for fresh and interesting ideas and obviously can’t attend or look at every event programme.
Baby, think twice (before you send that book to journalists)
Every week or so I receive an email asking if I would like [insert name of author] new business book. Due to them not being relevant to anything I'm working on - or hoping to work on - it's never a yes. I don’t know when I last accepted a book by a PR, or covered one in a piece. (Or perhaps I’m being wrongly targeted – if there was one that was more sustainability focused that could generate feature ideas, I’d be open to such an email).
But I was prompted to write this newsletter after working at the BBC in Manchester last week and seeing yet another book uncalled for/unwanted/unasked for business book being sent to an editor and put to one side, never to be read. You might all know by now how much I abhor waste anyhow, but wow, how many unread business books and other books must be sent to journalists every week. Do ask a journalist first if they want said book rather than it being left to collect dust in the office and chucked out years later when there’s an office clean up. I know some journalists will want books, there’ll be dedicated sections, book reviews, and so on. But so many books are sent unprompted to journalists who are never going to read it, never mind have the opportunity to feature it anywhere. If that’s the case, then do ask beforehand, rather than sending out.
Ps one journalist told me that at least said books were rather useful before – by using them to create a makeshift laptop stand before HR kindly granted him one.