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.

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.

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.