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.

Dreaming of down time

I’m writing this from Wales where I’m staying with my dear friends S & L who recently left London to live out their countryside dreams. I’ve woken up to birdsong and the view from my window is a square of trees. Dreamy. The stay was supposed to be a little break (aka no work) but perhaps that was always going to be impossible. As a freelancer, I find taking time off a huge challenge. During these few days in Wales, there's been a newsletter to write, an interview with the Met Office, emails to answer, a brainstorming session between a journalist and an eco organisation to organise, a BBC World Service radio programme to edit (and a lot of this I tried to sort out before my trip but it wasn't meant to be). Shall I go on?

Although I'm in Amsterdam A LOT, it’s never a holiday, while my trip to Berlin in July involved a workshop and a hotel review (ok, the latter wasn’t too enduring). I think my last few consecutive days off were over Christmas.

In her newsletter last week, journalist Anna Codrea-Rado wrote about how perhaps we should incorporate more breaks into our daily lives rather than focusing so heavily on the big holiday every year. This I can do. I definitely take time out of my daily life to exercise, head down to the beach for a swim, go on day trips, volunteer, and catch up with friends. But as a freelancer, it's hard to down tools completely. Do you agree?

A welcome (and emotional) impact from journalism

A few years ago I interviewed Rose* for the Guardian's How I Spend It slot. It was an emotional conversation that I've never forgot.

Rose had lost both her parents when she was trafficked over to the UK from Nigeria, aged 21. She was forced to work as a prostitute for five years. "It was against every basic belief and right that I knew," she told me. "We weren’t allowed out on our own. There were always men guiding us. They abused us. We were forced to do unthinkable things."

Her life took a turn when she met a woman in a hairdressers who spoke her local language in Nigeria. The woman hatched a plan for her to escape and let her live with her. Later, Rose met someone and had a family.

When I spoke to her she was single mum, and an asylum seeker, meaning she was unable to work and further continue her health and social care career. "It reminded me that even though I’m safe, I’m still a prisoner. I don’t have freedom. I cannot work...I want my son and daughter, aged 10 and 7, to see me as someone doing something, not sat at home doing nothing. I’m grateful, but it’s not me."

She lived off an allowance of £100 a week. As she wanted to improve her children's prospects, a third was spent on tutors.

After the piece was published, a charity got in touch to say they would fund her health and social care course.

Last week I received a message that, I have to admit, left me sobbing. I have added it below but in a nutshell the trustee from the charity said they had since helped secure Rose and her children accommodation in London, sponsor her nursing training and provide legal support to secure her UK citizenship. This year Rose will qualify as a nurse, and is due to receive full citizenship in 2025. Her kids are thriving and her daughter is hoping to become a lawyer.

* Rose's name was changed in the article.

Here is the original Guardian article.

Friday night in Amsterdam's Red Light District

It’s 10pm on Friday night and I’m in the Red Light District (RLD) working. No, not scantily-clad behind neon windows, but interviewing residents and business owners about the proposal to move the RLD out of the neighbourhood. As the hours roll by, the area becomes more boisterous. In some areas, where there’s lines of red-lit windows down narrow streets, it's overbearingly congested. Noisy. Drunken men leer at the women behind the glass. Some walk out like they’ve won a prize. Most, though, are just there to gawp. I go from business to business - coffee shops to bars to tattoo parlours and restaurants, looking for people to interview. I don’t know how many I go in over the hours but I soon understand how difficult reporting like this can be.

While you might come across vox pops (a series of short interviews, usually with members of the public) in a paper, on TV or on radio, what you don’t see are the attempts to get people to talk. Here in the RLD, most don’t want to chat. Either they don’t have authority from their boss, or it’s Friday, they’re busy. “It’ll only take one minute,” I almost plead after countless knockbacks. They shrug their shoulders and shake their head. I can’t help but think our whole conversation just took a minute. One more. Many are nervous and when they find out it’s for radio, they back out. I find a case study via a WhatsApp group, which then leads to a neighbour next door being open to being interviewed. We end up having a good chat. She wants to be off the record, though. At this stage, I can cope with it. I try more places. No, no, no.

I come across two friends sat drinking wine outside a fashion store. The woman is vocal and passionate about the RLD remaining where it is. She’s a good find. But when her friend starts his tirade, it’s littered with swear words. “Sorry, no swearing, like I said.” This angers him immensely. “Fucking hell, why can’t I swear?” Followed by more expletives. Sigh. I wonder if he can be edited. Coming up to 11pm, with enough interviews captured, I call it a night.

Learning when to stop emailing a journalist

Every now and again I have to ask a PR to remove me from their mailing list. The request doesn’t give me any pleasure, but it’s often a last resort after receiving too many pitches that I wouldn't cover. I could block them (and sometimes I do) but sometimes I prefer to send through a polite request with a reason so they know why their emails have gone unanswered and perhaps it helps them understand why it’s better to target journalists (something I bang on about in my workshop and course).

I was reminded of this when I saw a journalist publicly flogging a PR on Twitter last week after she posted that she had been repeatedly sent emails about pregnancy and babies which she didn’t wish to receive. I too have asked PRs not to send me emails and then weeks later, they’re back at it. Now I know some of this can be put down to all manner of tech systems and media databases, but if a journalist is telling you not to email them, please do everything you can to respect that. It’s rude to continue emailing when someone has specifically gone out their way to tell you not to, especially about subjects they may find sensitive. However, I will say, there’s always the block button which I am also partial to when a barrage of unwanted and irrelevant emails fly into my inbox.

ps I continually work with AMAZING PRs and have bigged up PRs on here. Also, I'm well aware what a nightmare some of us journalists are too.

Beyond expectations: My first rodeo in radio

While I adore print and online and will continue to work in those fields, I’ve yearned to move into radio for years (so much so it even made an appearance on my one and only mood board in 2020). Last week, to my amazement, there I was up Salford, Manchester helping produce BBC Four’s prestigious Today programme and Radio 5’s Wake Up to Money. I absolutely loved getting stuck in, thrashing around ideas for the next day, finding and briefing guests, and learning first-hand how a radio show is produced. I was only in for two days for a test run but it made me realise how much I love being part of a team. I used to freelance in-house at magazines and at the Guardian but apart from volunteering at the food bank, winter shelters, and Crisis and so on, I haven’t worked as part of a team for years.

Like most people facing a new challenge, I’d had pangs of self-doubt before entering Quay House so I was taken aback when the editor told me how impressed they all were with me and that he’d already shared his thoughts about me with the two bigwigs above him. To have that level of feedback obviously made my heart sing, especially as I’d spent the last six weeks worrying about how it might go. At the end of my last day, he said they’d like to properly train me up.

After longing to move into the format for so long, I'm surprised by how quickly doors have opened. On the first day the editor asked where I lived. “Margate, and actually, kind of also Amsterdam now,” I replied. Ears pricked up behind me. “Did you write the piece “Can Amsterdam make the circular economy work?” asked the BBC World Service editor sat behind me. I nodded. “We were just discussing you yesterday. Would you be open to pitching me ideas?” This was exactly the situation I wanted to be in – reporting on the radio from overseas. I discussed some ideas. This is exactly the stuff we want, he said. We’ve been in touch since and I’m thrilled to say (and I'm still in full pinch-me mode) that he’s commissioned me my first audio piece for BBC World Service (well, as long as there's no tech issues).

While there's a huge learning curve ahead of me and as self-indulgent as all of this is, I wanted to share this as I thought it might help any readers who are faced with barriers when it comes to achieving their ambitions. I never thought this chance might happen, even though I knew I could definitely I'd give it a good shot if it ever came my way. Now, hopefully, I’m at the start of the journey and a new chapter in my career. Of course, it’s all new and anything could happen, but just to get a foot in somewhere I was starting to think was impossible feels like a huge milestone.

What this means for my current mode of semi living in Amsterdam I don’t know, although I’m hoping that the opportunities with BBC World Service means I can get my foot in the door and report from overseas in a different way and more than I currently do.

As for yourselves, obviously I’ve only worked there for a few days so far but it’s been super useful in making me understand how businesses and PRs can pitch radio producers. My learnings will come through in another post, or as part of my course/workshop soon. When I’m working regular shifts, I will let you know what kind of pitches I’m open to and how best to pitch.

Taking steps to ensure the language you use is inclusive

How journalists write a story and the words they use matter. Of course they do. Language is nuanced and forever changing. While progress has been made, ableist language still exists. Inclusion London’s report, Disability, Crime and Hate Crime in the News, examined news coverage of 300 crimes against disabled people over the last 18 years and found that news stories about crimes against disabled people (using the language in Disability News Service here) contained disablist portrayals, frequently using descriptions such helpless, weak, and vulnerable.

While reporters, editors, subeditors and so on have a job to do, PRs and those working in comms also have a role to play to help ensure the language used is inclusive.

I’m bringing this up today as my lovely friend Sara Thornhurst, who provides disability focused inclusion training for PR professionals, has recently worked with the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) to launch a new guide designed to help PR and comms professionals improve their understanding of the language to use when it comes to disability. It is one of five guides, and is available to download here.

For those who are keen to learn more, Sara offers online training sessions for PR agencies and teams. More information here.

The downfall of digital publishing

When I started off in journalism back in 2007 there was so much discourse and enthusiasm surrounding digital publishing. Print circulation stats showed the industry was in dire straits but on the other hand, there was so much investment and buzz around the burgeoning digital startups such as Buzzfeed, Vice, and later a flurry of titles like The Pool (RIP). Perhaps these bright young stars were going to show the traditional publishers that this was the future of journalism, starting with 7 Things You Need to Know From Watching an Episode of Friends. I jest.

Listicles aside, Buzzfeed did go beyond the clickbait at times and publish strong stories often followed up by news titles. But its success didn't last. The publisher closed its newsroom in April and its CEO Jonah Peretti said the company “can no longer continue to fund” the site. Now the latest victim of digital publishing is Vice News, which has just filed for bankruptcy. The site did produce stellar journalism and investigations at times and while the company has just been bought, it's far cry from its hey day when it was valued at a whopping $5.7bn.

Like we’ve known for a while, online revenues simply don’t add up. Early in my journalism days when I covered the publishing patch, even scribing a weekly column called Bearne on Media where I would chart the media landscape, there was so much discussion about how publishers could make journalism pay. The Times made a bold leap and followed the FT’s cue to launch a paywall, much to everyone’s surprise. Many thought it wouldn’t work but they have defeated the naysayers, and subs keep rising.

To succeed, there needs to be a mixture of revenue models. In the world of TikTok and Instagram, advertisers are finding more engagement on those platforms than sticking a banner ad on a website (although, advertising goes beyond that).

What we do need is journalism, and for people to be willing to pay for it. Personally I love buying newspapers and magazines. This is what I pay for:

• The Sunday Times (subscription which gives me access to The Times online)

• Ethical Consumer (subscription)

• The Big Issue (subscription)

• The New York Times (subscription)

• Guardian or Observer on a weekend

• Red 

• Positive News (probably twice a year)

• Conde Nast Traveller (probably twice a year)

• Wired (couple of times a year)

• Simple Things (couple of times a year)

• When I’m travelling, I still need my print fix so I'll either buy Guardian Weekly, The New York Times or the FT Weekend. Sometimes I’ll buy the Economist. Or a few of them if I'm feeling flush (and have run out of papers and magazines brought from home).

Plus I like to buy magazine subscriptions as gifts, say a science one for my nephews, a hiking title for my sister-in-law, and a newsy one for my dad.

I hope you can support journalism. I'll add a post on LinkedIn so we can continue the conversation over there.

An insight into the commissioning process

The topic for this blog comes from a question asked in my last workshop: do editors ask me to write stories on certain subjects or do I pitch ideas?

Good question. I’ve gone through periods, especially back in the day at trade magazines, where pretty much all the feature briefs were fielded out to me by the features editor rather than me pitching. But when I started working for the nationals and consumer titles and those editors didn’t know me from Adam, I had to pitch fresh ideas myself. These days, it’s a combination. Sometimes an editor will drop me an email and ask if I have any ideas and could I send them over, other times they’ll send me a brief and ask if I have availability to work on it. I’d say most of the time now I’m in a fortunate position to work on ideas I want to work on (usually that means they're sustainability focused, or feel-good/solutions-based journalism). One editor knows not to contact me with suggestions as I’m quite particular about what I want to cover for that particular title. I wasn’t always in this fortunate position and I know things could change again and so I don’t take it for granted. Although I’m far from raking it in, due to the media consultancy (the workshops, the online course, the content network agency and the Power Hours), I no longer have to say yes to absolutely every single potential commission that lands in my inbox, giving me the luxury and breathing space to focus more on stories that I’m interested in, and generally for publications I want to write for.

Of course, this is just my way of working. There’ll be freelancers who won’t write for certain publications if they asked them, there’ll be some that due to the terrible rates in journalism need to accept any work that comes their way, while some journalists will only work on particular features for high-paying publications.

If you have any subjects that you would like me to discuss in a future workshop or newsletter, please send them over as I’m always on the lookout for new ideas.

It pays to be kind

I’d finally refilled my Le Labo bottle after several failed attempts and was happily walking to my workspace in London when I was suddenly reminded of an arrogant entrepreneur in one of the beats I used to cover. A veteran in the industry, he was a strong contact of the magazine and was one of the first people I interviewed when I joined. From the offset he was rude, condescending, and always tried to assert control. In order to continue dealing with him I had to put my feelings towards him to one side. When I broke free, I never had to deal with him on that level again – well, till I was freelancing on a newsdesk and I wrote a critical story about his company and then he turned on me. Karma anyone? 

Over the years since I’ve been freelance I’ve had different PR agencies put him forward for interview slots. He might be a name, but when I think of him I just remember that sense of entitlement and his overwhelming arrogance. It’s always a big fat NO from me. We all know it pays to be kind, but if you or your client are rude or a walking ego, journalists (like most people) remember, meaning perhaps they won’t want to work with you or your client again in the future.

Does AI spell the end of journalism?

It’s no secret that journalists have had a rough ride for a long time: hello stagnating rates, falling print circulation rates, publishers dropping out of the sector. Shall I go on? Well, yes, because we have another huge challenge hurtling at us. Come on at us, artificial intelligence (AI).

ChatGPT has prompted huge debate and column inches since its launch at the start of year. Standing for Generative Pre-trained Transformer, the machine-learning platform is a very nifty tool enabling users to type in queries and the AI responding in just seconds. If you haven’t tried it already (it’s quite easy to sign up and give it a whirl), you can see the gist of it with the picture below.

I started by asking ChatGBT to first write an article on the impact of Airbnb on communities across the globe. I followed this up by requesting a closer look at the impact of Airbnbs in Margate in the UK. You can see the response below:

Ok, so after testing the technology, I've decided I won't start rereading What Colour Is My Parachute? just yet.

As you can see, the very basic response did cover some of the key concerns of the platform, but I couldn’t see a national newspaper replacing its human crafted articles with this pared down content just yet. It’s lacking depth, critical thinking, and facts - and then it would need to be fact checked. But arguably, it forms the start of an article (or a GCSE essay). However, one of many other concerns is that the AI isn't providing you with unique copy; instead it's regurgitating the same content to people who have asked similar questions.

Still, some titles have jumped in and are already experimenting with the automated technology. CNET for one has been trialling the tech and using it to help write news articles or gather information for stories.

Editor-in-chief Connie Guglielmo said their plan was to find out whether the tech could “efficiently assist” their journalists “in using publicly available facts to create the most helpful content so our audience can make better decisions”. She said the articles were always “reviewed, fact-checked and edited by an editor with topical expertise” before going live.

For now journalists with insider knowledge and a book of strong contacts can’t be replaced – I’m not sure the robots have learnt how to door knock just yet, and I feel we’ll still be yearning to read opinion pieces from actual real-life journalists. But this is just the beginning, and of course, it doesn’t just impact journalists. There’s thousands of other jobs this will have a huge impact on.

Writing in The Spectator, author Sean Thomas believes the end is nigh for writers. “That's it. It's time to pack away your quill, your biro, and your shiny iPad: the computers will soon be here to do it better. ... The machines will come for much academic work first - essays, PhDs, boring scholarly texts (unsurprisingly it can churn these out right now). Fanfic is instantly doomed, as are self-published novels. Next will be low-level journalism ... then high-level journalism will go, along with genre fiction, history, biography, screenplays. ... 5,000 years of the written human word, and 500 years of people making a life, a career, and even fame out of those same human words, are quite abruptly coming to an end.”

Sober reading but hopefully it will spawn a huge creation of jobs we'd never heard of (hopefully beyond just servicing the robots and machines), like many of the past industrial changes have.

Thanks for reading.

Susie

Why isn't mainstream journalism paying enough attention to the climate crisis?

Happy New Year. I hope you had a pleasant break away from the laptop. I succumbed to the flu after our freelancer Christmas lunch in Margate and it was touch and go whether I’d make it back to my parents. But I slogged it to the north east in the nick of time and had a joyful Christmas with my family (after two years of festive separation due to Covid playing havoc).

I know I should probably start the year on a positive note but after reading yet another article from the weekend papers which frustrated the hell of me, I wanted to chat about the disconnect between journalism and the climate crisis. However, it’s not all doom and gloom (I hope), and I’ve outlined a few positive actions you could take away from this, if interested.

My anger was first ignited after reading a travel article in a Sunday paper which outlined the devastating impact of climate change (highlighting last year’s floods in Pakistan in which 33 million people were affected and a third of the country was UNDER WATER) and flagged up regions to avoid due to wildfires and extreme temperatures, instead suggesting alternative places to explore. I assumed that the journalist would then naturally talk about how we need to rethink the way we travel, encouraging us to holiday more local, fly less often, and turn to more sustainable modes of transport given we’re living in a climate emergency with parts of the world on fire or flooded, causing famine, death and homes being washed or burnt to the ground, but no. I reread the article in case I was missing something. Nada.

In the arts section of the same paper, I came across a double-page spread encouraging people to book flights purely to see exhibitions across the world. “Fly there for the weekend", was the gist of it. Given what we know about the climate emergency, I feel articles like these are a parody to the reality of the situation (hello Don't Look Up). Sometimes it feels like parts of the media are intentionally trying to end the future of humanity. You just need to recall all the front-page images of whenever it’s a heatwave, with images of people at the beach, rather than pictures of people running out of water, for example, and ignoring the alarming reasons why it’s happening – and what the future looks like, i.e. this could be the coolest summer on record. 

Last year I wrote about the rise of dedicated climate desks, and while this is great news, what doesn't seem to be happening are conversations about the climate across other desks. We are in desperate need of climate training across all editorial. I see food features with are back-to-back meat and fish dishes. I’m not saying all features should focus on us living off-the-grid in the woods (sounds idyllic, though) but I think there needs to be reality check. Time is literally running out and the media has a huge role to play in relaying the urgency of it. 

But we know many of these news desks and TV stations are in the hands of billionaire owners who provide a voice to climate deniers and certainly don’t want a move away from the current system of focusing on growth and more growth (which is harming us all).

So what can you do?

Ditch the fossil fuel clients. I wrote a couple of articles last year about agencies moving away from fossil fuel clients. Many people are rethinking their careers and moving to green jobs, a trend I wrote about for the BBC and Positive News. Could you encourage your clients to run more eco-friendly press trips? For example, in this past newsletter I looked at how one PR company were reducing flying and encouraging press trips by train. Is there a way to follow suit or bring in journalists who live in that region rather than flying journalists out? 

Join a climate training workshop. I received a message on LinkedIn last week from a facilitator and trainer from Climate Clarity, which organises workshops for individuals and organisations designed to spread climate knowledge and provide tools to help them look at their specific power in position in society and look at what meaningful action they can take. More information here.

There’s also the Carbon Literacy Project which offers training to individuals and organisations to help them become aware of the impact of everyday carbon emissions, and what action they can take.

Thanks for reading,

Susie

Here’s Where More Journalists Are Hanging Out

In the last 48 hours I’ve had at least four alerts of journalists doing the same thing. Ping. Another has joined. And another one has joined. What is it, you might ask? The answer is Substack, the newsletter publishing platform.

Writing newsletters ain’t anything new but there appears to be a new breed of journalists choosing to go down this route. Many writers are jumping into this field because the traditional publishing model isn’t working for them anymore. Maybe there’s fewer opportunities to cover what they’d like to be writing about. Perhaps they view publishing a newsletter as an additional revenue stream, with some asking subscribers for a reasonable £5 a month to read their words. It may well be early days for some of them but they might turn into a strong side hustle or equate to a decent salary.

It’s another place you can get a glimpse into a journalist’s life (if you want to). You might gain more of an affinity or glimpse into their lifestyle which might make them easier to pitch to. Maybe they might cover what they’re working on at the moment (like moi, sometimes), or there could be an opportunity for you or your client’s brand to be featured in the newsletter as some may be landing in the inbox of your exact target audience. It might be impossible to subscribe to all of them (time-wise or money-wise), but perhaps there’s certain writers in your sector, or some you feel more naturally associated with, that you may wish to follow.

Also, it’s always another great way to build relationships with journalists. “Oh, I read your newsletter on and xxxx” etc might catch their attention and make them feel slightly more inclined to respond.

Here’s a few journalists on Substack that have caught my eye recently:

• Kate Spicer

• Tiffanie Darke

• Caroline Criado Perez (starts from £5 a month)

• Flic Bowden-Smith

• Farrah Storr (from £6 a month)

A shocking PR experience

I was recently reminded of what a grind it could be working as a trade journalist. Back then, whether it was in-house at say New Media Age (RIP) or Drapers, or freelancing at Retail Week or Marketing Week, I’d frequently have to contact the press offices of huge brands, asking for an interview or comment for a feature or news article (this was if we didn’t have a contact between us on the news or features desk where we could circumvent this and go straight to the CEO or financial director, etc.).

It was pretty much always headache-inducing. Firstly, many emails would go unanswered. There was so much chasing (which yes, I know many of us do as part of our jobs). After a brief exchange about the feature, the Spanish Inquisition would start: who had I contacted, which other brands were featuring, which expert was I chatting to, what would the feature look like, could I send through all the potential questions, and so on. Maybe some of these are questions asked by a client but honestly, even my editor wouldn’t know the answer to these so I’m unsure why I’d be asked to pretty much send out the feature in full to a press officer before they can even tell me if they can comment.

It’s rare that I have to go through all this now. The waiting. The coming back with one thousand additional questions. But I was reminded of this laborious rigmarole last week when I contacted a big brand for a national piece. My god, did it make me glad this was no longer my world. That I didn’t have to deal with folk who made it seem they were protecting the Royal Family. Anyhow, at this stage I now have comment on background. I didn’t even ask for background, which makes it more farcical. I was then asked to send over questions which they could answer on the record. After sending them through the press team responded saying “as mentioned we we’re not answering questions”. After asking me to send questions through. Utterly terrible behaviour and I’ve made my thoughts known.

It did remind me of how much I enjoy speaking to smaller companies, or bigger brands that don’t have a PR team with burly security, and those that can set up interviews quickly. All hail to them.