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Editor’s note
Editor Aisha Rimi Deputy Editor Kay Leong Production Editor Isabelle Gray
W
hen last year’s XCity production period rapidly shrank due to the pandemic, I don’t think anyone thought we’d still be grappling with the effects of the coronavirus today. This year, we’ve spent most of our teaching days online and much of our time working on XCity via countless Zoom meetings. Production fortnight has been a socially distanced affair, with some team members working remotely, and one person even working from Paris. Despite the unusual circumstances, our team has worked hard to produce another insightful issue of XCity. Our determination to plough on in spite of the obstacles is reminiscent of the way in which the industry has shifted and reshaped itself this year. We’ve learnt that it’s more important now than ever for journalism to adapt to unprecedented situations. Virtual interviews have become the norm and journalists have mastered the art of Zoom (p.104). Glossy fashion pages have changed significantly as the industry makes the most of the new normal (p. 35). And sex and relationship journalists have had to adapt to a year of no intimacy (p. 74). Yet in a year overshadowed by the pandemic, it hasn’t been all doom and gloom for the industry. The voices of Black reporters came to the forefront to cover the Black Lives Matter movement (p. 68). Journalists uncovered one of the biggest political scoops of the year, exposing the Barnard Castle scandal (p. 32). This period has also allowed for an emergence of new print magazines, challenging the opinion that print is dead (p. 90). Music journalism has adapted to change with several publications adopting a new business model to stay afloat (p. 126). Podcasting’s popularity exploded during lockdown and we have spoken to some of the industry’s most popular presenters to find out what makes them so successful (p. 102). We’ve covered all corners of the globe, from the current media landscape in China (p.99), to the journalists reporting from some of the world’s smallest islands (p.65). Regardless of the challenges, we have persevered and produced a magazine that explores both the highs and lows of the media world. As a generation that’s about to enter the industry during a time like no other, I know that with the same resilience we’ve displayed this past year, we’re ready to take on the ever-changing world of journalism. To the team behind this year’s XCity, I thank you for your hard work and passion. I am incredibly proud of what we’ve been able to achieve and you all should be too. If the content produced in this magazine is just a fraction of what we’re capable of creating as journalists, then I eagerly anticipate seeing what the future holds for all of us.
Aisha Rimi Editor Cover illustration: Samyama Kolhapuri
Back cover design: Victoria Miller
XCity magazine writers: Charlotte Rawlings, Shauna Lewis, Patrick Sproull, Ella Doyle, Ed Cunningham, Cara Laskaris, Elizabeth Gregory, Sorcha Mondon-Ballantyne, Carina Murphy, Nicola Blackburn, Nicholas Harris, Isabella McRae, Lauren Sneade, Becca Challis, Eva Levy, Kitty Chrisp, Sophie Ward, Anna Barry, Narzra Ahmed, Jake Helm, Catherine Entwistle, Yasamin Karimi Illustrators: Nanami Takeuchi, Ian Baker, Maya Cross Odemudia, Agnes Chapman Wills, Harriet Dennis and Sweetielicious (cover cameraman) With special thanks to: Malvin van Gelderen www.idesigntrainer.com and Associated Press If you have any concerns about XCity Magazine please email the Course Director Sarah Lonsdale at: sarah.lonsdale.1@city.ac.uk or write to: Sarah Lonsdale, Journalism Department, City University, Northampton Square, London, EH1V OHB Printed in the UK by The Magazine Printing Company www.magprint.co.uk
Deputy Production Editor Rhiannon Jenkins Art Director Matt Reed Deputy Art Director Bea Tridimas Pictures Editor Madeleine Killick Deputy Pictures Editor Samyama Kolhapuri News Editor Emily Stearn Deputy News Editor Simone Fraser Features Editor Chiara Wilkinson Deputy Features Editors Cameron Henderson Frankie Lister-Fell Listings Editor Eloise Feilden Deputy Listings Editor Victoria Miller Chief Sub-editor Sophie Laughton Deputy Chief Sub-editors Charlotte Colombo Nicola Lewis Managing Editor Chloé Meley Advertising Manager Katie Bell Publishers Jason Bennetto Sarah Lonsdale
partment h ea De
CONTENTS
do teps wn 7 s d Did City spend enough on PPE this year? 23
News
6
Paul Lashmar City journalism head resigns Bob Jones Respected former lecturer dies at 87 Roy Greenslade City lecturer resigns after IRA controversy Eleanor Mills Former editorial director of Sunday Times speaks to XCity Daphne Caruana Galizia Son continues legacy of murdered journalist World Photo Contest Love wins in lockdown FOI Cost of PPE at City revealed
Features
7 9 11 13 17 21 23 XCITY Award Who will win? 24
Last mag standing: XCity in a Lockdown Critics in Pyjamas Uncovering the Barnard Castle scandal Prêt à Pandemic Being a Brit at The New Yorker What made photographers smile this year? Returning to the motherland Care homes in crisis What’s inside your pandemic pantry? Shanghai’s zine scene 2020: A year of data How freelancers fight writer’s block Storming the Capitol Rebooting sports reporting Island Life Reporting the Black Lives Matter protests Zing Tsjeng Online orgies, virtual dating, and webcamming
“It was the embodiment of how much care goes into care homes”
Care homes in crisis 48
“There’s been a lot of soul searching in the arts” Critics in Pyjamas 28
26 28 32 35 36 38 46 48 50 52 53 59 60 64 65 68 71 74
“It felt like I had a tangible impact on people’s health” Covering the pandemic 85
“I was voiceless”
Refugee journalists share their stories 110
Features cont. Reporting the Beirut blast “Do me the justice of writing my story accurately” State of racism in the UK media A tragedy cloaked in numbers: covering the pandemic Q&A with Hugh Pym The power of print Annie: Lord of dating An idiot’s guide to Clubhouse Have you reddit? A user’s guide for journalists Walled out of China Top of the pods: a masterclass Essential virtual interview tips Shon Faye A fire burns in Turkey Refugee journalists share their stories Spilling the Royal-tea Old hacks of Fleet Street look back Simplifying Politics Stay-at-home cinema GB News: A new dawn for British broadcasting? How Bellingcat is reinventing investigative journalism A new model for music journalism The fight against social media abuse Freelancers unite Trading places: careers beyond the newsroom Alumni: Where are they now? Day in the life of a locked-down journo
Do journos like it sweet or salty? Stay-at-home cinema 118
Listings
from page 134
Giovanni Dennis Broadcast, 2019
“My next memory is everything submerged in dust” Reporting the Beirut blast 75
75 78 80 85 88 89 93 95 97 99 102 104 106 108 110 113 115 117 118 120 123 126 128 130 131 134 158
XCITY / News
Pandemic wedding for former Magazine students Nicola Blackburn City journalism may not leave much room for romance, but for two class of 2014 graduates it inspired the story of a lifetime. Ellie Bothwell, 29, and Matthew Lambert, 31, are the latest alumni to wed after saying their vows in an intimate ceremony last October. Ms Bothwell, a writer and editor for Times Higher Education, and Mr Lambert, a sports writer and sub-editor for the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, are former students of the Magazine MA. They did not begin dating until after City. Ms Bothwell said: “We weren’t in the same orbit in terms of classes, but a group of us used to go to Exmouth Market near to campus on a Friday for a burrito.” They grew closer whilst working together on XCity magazine, when Ms Bothwell worked as picture editor and Mr Lambert as chief sub editor. In the months after the course ended, they still met up as friends for drinks or to visit galleries. Ms Bothwell said:
Image: Ellie Bothwell
MA Magazine alumni Ellie Bothwell and Matthew Lambert tie the knot in a “low-key” ceremony after six and a half years together
“Then there was a night out,” adding that their friends were “really pleased” when they got together. The pair were a couple for five and a half years before getting engaged in 2019. Mr Lambert proposed one May evening as they were about to enjoy Isolated and in love: The pair were married in Kent with their parents as witnesses a takeaway pizza held the ceremony before the ceremony, as did their parents. on their rooftop. November lockdown. The small party celebrated Mr Lambert said: “I thought, Marriage to another the marriage with a “reception” I should probably do it now journalist “works quite well” of champagne and a meal because her hands are about according to Ms Bothwell. and the newlyweds even to get dirty.” He presented Mr Lambert added: “In the squeezed in a “mini-moon” at her with a ring and a letter summer I report on tennis, so a nearby hotel in Bridge, near declaring his love. for a few weeks or months I’m Canterbury. Despite being “quite a reporter and it’s very helpful Despite being “low-key”, engrossed in the pizza by that having Ellie around who is the newly-weds were content stage”, Ms Bothwell said: “I was with the festivities. Mr Lambert technically a reporter 52 weeks so happy, so excited.” of the year. And then Ellie said: “It still felt so special and The couple were married gets some free subbing and it was such a break from the at Hayne House in Kent with headlines from me.” only their parents for witnesses, pandemic. We both think that The newlyweds hope to hold if that is the only wedding we having postponed their a wedding party in August this ever have, then we’re pretty planned May 2020 date due to year at Hayne House, but are happy with that.” Ms Bothwell COVID-19. They self-isolated yet to plan a honeymoon. added they felt lucky they for two weeks prior to the
Alumna wins six figure deal for historical fiction debut Sophie Laughton Image: Lizzie Pook
Debut author: Lizzie Pook’s novel transports readers to Oz
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A Magazine MA graduate has landed a string of multinational book deals for her first two novels. Lizzie Pook, who graduated in 2010, has secured a twobook deal in the UK with Mantle/Pan Macmillan, and has sold rights in Australia and New Zealand, North America, and Germany in a series of sixfigure deals. The first title, Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter, is a feminist tale set in Western Australia in the late 1800s, at the height of the “brutal” pearldiving industry. Ms Pook, a freelance
journalist who has written for titles such as Condé Nast Traveller, Stylist, and The Independent, said the idea for the novel arose from an impromptu trip to Perth’s Maritime Museum. She added: “It had a tiny exhibition about a family of British settlers called the Broadhursts: the mother was feminist, the daughter grew up to be a suffragette who chained herself to the railings of Parliament, and the father was an entrepreneur.” The author later visited the “visually beautiful” town of Broome on the north west
coast, an area famed for pearldiving. She said: “I thought if I could take this family and set their story here, I could look at this industry that not a lot of people know about and include the themes of grief, family and prejudice that I wanted to explore.” The award-winning journalist’s writing has taken her from the foothills of the Himalayas to the remote east coast of Greenland, where she wrote parts of her first novel onboard an expedition ship. Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter is set for UK release in 2022.
XCITY / News IImage: Robin Mills
“Extremely dedicated” Journalism head steps down early Dr Paul Lashmar, 66, announces his departure after two years as head of Department of Journalism Emily Stearn
Journalism, and loyal to his discipline and colleagues without being closed to new ideas.” She added: “He has been consistently collegiate, honest Focusing on his health: Dr Lashmar cited his age as the motivation for leaving the role and constructive in his dealings with the leadership team.” proud of the department for The head of City’s Department The university is advertising having delivered as much faceof Journalism is stepping down early after two years in the post. to-face teaching as was possible, for a replacement and the new head is expected to be Dr Paul Lashmar joined City and the professional way staff announced in the next few and students handled the in 2017, and was deputy head months. As head, Dr Lashmar of the department before taking COVID-19 restrictions.” has focused his attention on Dr Lashmar is best known charge in May 2018. He leaves for his investigative reporting at widening diversity among the top job a year earlier than The Observer, The Independent students joining City’s expected. Dr Lashmar, 66, said: “It has on Sunday and the Granada TV journalism department. This year City has nine journalism series World in Action, as well been fantastically challenging master’s scholarships in as producing programmes for but very rewarding. I just don’t partnership with the Aziz think I can guarantee my health BBC’s Timewatch and Channel Foundation, to help tackle the if I did it for another year under 4’s Dispatches. underrepresentation of British The industry veteran, the current circumstances. I’ve Muslim journalists within the who is a founder of the really enjoyed it in lots of ways, industry. Bureau of Investigative but I’d be lying if I told you it’s Dr Lashmar said: Journalism, first took up a been easy this last year.” “Scholarships are a really teaching role at Falmouth As head, he has led City’s hard thing to do and we put University in 2001 and has Department of Journalism a lot of effort into it. But since lectured in journalism at through both the challenges allowing people who would Southampton Solent, Brunel presented by the pandemic and not otherwise be able to, the and the University of Sussex. a 14-day University College opportunity to attend university Dr Lashmar’s deputy in the Union strike between February is always a good thing.” He journalism department is Dr and March 2020, in response added: “We want to ensure Mel Bunce. to proposed changes to City’s that City is an inclusive and Professor Juliet John, the pension scheme. supportive environment for all.” Dean for the School of Arts He said: “The workload From September he will & Social Sciences told XCity: is 150 per cent what it was in take a two-term sabbatical “Paul has been an extremely the months before last year’s where he plans to devote much dedicated Head of Department, strike. I have to say my age was of his time towards publishing completely committed to the beginning to tell.” his eighth book, exploring role and to the Department of But he added: “I am so
the socio-economic impact of slavery, before returning to continue delivering the postgraduate journalism ethics course in 2022. Dr Lashmar said: “I have become completely gripped about the relationship between slavery and modern Britain and that some families become enormously wealthy from plantations.” In December 2020, he revealed in The Observer and Sunday Mirror that the Conservative MP Richard Drax still owns and grows sugar on the Barbados based Drax Hall plantation that made his family’s fortune and for 200 years from 1650s was worked by enslaved people. He added: “It’s fascinating seeing how their wealth accumulated, how that’s affected the way they see things. And also the fact that there’s this long history of people from slave-owning roots being MPs. Drax’s family includes six former MPs.” But for now he is firmly focused on leading City’s Department of Journalism as restrictions ease and face-toface teaching fully returns. He said: “Our tech team, staff team and students all pulled together. There is something about a crisis where people say, ‘okay, we’re all in this together. We’re doing our best, so let’s make it work’, and that’s been fantastic.”
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XCITY / News
Broadcast graduate lands lead anchor role at Television Jamaica Rhiannon Jenkins Image: Giovanni Dennis
A big smile: Dennis greets his Midday News viewers on TVJ
A former City student has taken up the role of Midday News anchor for Television Jamaica (TVJ) — one of Jamaica’s two major television stations - just two years after graduating from the university. Giovanni Dennis worked as a journalist in Jamaica for seven years before winning a Chevening Scholarship to study an MA in Broadcast
Journalism at City in 2018. The UK government awards the scholarship to outstanding scholars with leadership potential from over 160 countries so they can pursue postgraduate studies in UK universities. Mr Dennis had worked predominantly in radio and joined the Real Jamaican Radio (RJR) newsroom in 2016 as a
producer and reporter. He was then transferred to TVJ the following year to embark on a dream career in television journalism. Despite winning awards such as Best Documentary Programme at the 2018 Caribbean Media Awards for his work Pothole Paradise — an investigation into poor road conditions in Jamaica — Mr Dennis felt he needed to broaden his skill set to advance further in the field. He said: “I was a little bit slow with the scripting and the writing because I wasn’t trained to do that, so I wanted to improve my skills. “While at City, I did some anchoring during our broadcast news days and that’s when I realised that I had a passion for anchoring. When I came back to Jamaica, I decided to pursue it here.” Mr Dennis has reported on music, culture, technology as well as issues that affect people from rural areas who are marginalised from society. “It’s about giving a voice to the voiceless,” he said.
Amnesty Award win for Aziz scholar grad Anna Barry
Image: Nimra Shahid
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a piece that created shock waves and held the government to account about the way people of colour are treated in the civil service and the way people are hired.” Ms Shahid, who was awarded the 2020 Google News Initiative Fellowship with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, credits her Aziz Foundation scholarship for her success. She said: “The scholarship was part of a pipeline that inspired more Muslims to get into journalism. I’m not sure I would have been able to go to City without that financial support.” Caitlin Kelly, who graduated from the Television MA in 2020, was one of the award’s three runners up for her documentary When Sex Games Go Wrong.
Jake Helm An investigation into what happens to migrants who die trying to enter the US from Mexico has won a former Broadcast student an Emmy Award. Alexandra King (Broadcast, 2009), won the 2020 News & Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Feature Story in Spanish. She was acclaimed for her threepart documentary titled No Olvidado: Death and dignity on the US border. Ms King, a digital producer and supervisor at CNN, said: “It was wonderful to win this award and such a pleasure to make a series that starts with a central question: what happens to the bodies of migrants who died trying to cross the US border?” The documentary follows Aguilas del Desierto, a searchand-rescue group of MexicanAmerican volunteers, through Arizona’s Sonoran Desert as they search for migrants who have been reported lost or missing. They found skulls, skeletons and paupers’ graves. In her acceptance speech, Ms King thanked everyone who contributed to the series. She said: “We are indebted to the courageous men and women who we met on the border and shared their stories.”
Image: Alexandra King
City triumphed at the 2021 Amnesty International human rights awards with an investigation into the sacking of one of Dominic Cummings’ recruits. Nimra Shahid, who graduated from the Interactive MA in 2020, won the Student Journalist of the Year prize at the 2021 Amnesty Media Awards for her Guardian article titled “Cummings recruit sacked after suggesting police
use ‘live rounds’ on BLM protestors”. The article revealed that Will O’Shea, who tweeted the comment about the Black Lives Matter protests on 5 July, had been hired by the Cabinet Office through Dominic Cummings’ recruitment advert, which encouraged “weirdos and misfits” to apply. While taking City’s Data Journalism module Ms Shahid focused on recruitment within the civil service. She discovered that people of colour were “far more likely” to be in junior or entry level roles than senior positions. She said: “It got me thinking about what the reasons behind this could be and what was holding them back from rising through the ranks.” Commenting on her winning article, she added: “It’s
Alumna wins Emmy for Mexico documentary
Golden girl: Alexandra King
XCITY / News
Remembering Bob Jones Colleagues recall the “eccentric” antics of City journalism department’s longest serving lecturer Bob Jones, the longest serving lecturer in City’s Department of Journalism, died in February at the age of 87. He leaves behind a powerful legacy among both colleagues and former students. Considered an innovator and “great eccentric” by many of his colleagues, Mr Jones was involved with the university’s journalism programme from its inception in 1979, and continued his work in the department for 28 years, before retiring from his role as Emeritus Fellow in 2007. After writing for student newspaper the Guild News in Birmingham, Mr Jones worked on Forbes magazine in New York in 1959, before returning to the UK to become assistant editor for The Statist in 1961. He then worked as features editor for The Times business desk in 1967 before joining the Department of Journalism at City. It was during his time at The Statist and The Times that Mr Jones began his seven-year investigation into the Mirror Group owner and media mogul Robert Maxwell, whose theft of hundreds of millions of pounds from his companies’ pension funds triggered the collapse of his publishing empire. Speaking to Vanessa Pawsey for XCity at the time of his retirement in 1999, Mr Jones said: “Maxwell helped to cure my innocence because my tendency is to believe that people are telling the truth.” Despite attempts by the media giant to throw Mr Jones off the scent, even writing to
Eva Levy City scooped two awards at one of regional journalism’s biggest nights of the year, as two alumni were named joint winners of the 2020 Regional Press Awards.
Tweeds and cigarettes: Jones was “the great eccentric of the department”
The Times’ proprietor Lord Thompson, Mr Jones persisted with the story. It was his time as a lecturer at City for which Mr Jones is so fondly remembered. Involved in the launch of the university’s journalism programme in the late 1970s, he was responsible for setting up the international MA course in 1982 and creating XCity magazine in 1986. He directed the periodical (now magazine) course from 1990 until his retirement in 1999. Mr Jones remained in the
department as Emeritus Fellow until 2007. Anna McKane, former political correspondent for Reuters, worked with Mr Jones in the 1990s when he formed the Journalism and Contemporary History course jointly offered by City and Queen Mary, University of London. Ms McKane said: “Bob was without a doubt the great eccentric of the journalism department. There may have been more eccentrics before
Newsquest’s London City Hall reporter Jessie Mathewson, (Magazine, 2019) and Jack Dyson, Kentish Gazette reporter (Newspaper, 2017) scooped the top prizes. The awards, championing the best of British journalism, were hosted virtually by the Society of Editors. Ms Mathewson, now a digital journalist at The Economist, said she was in
shock when she found out she won: “I jumped around my flat and the roof of my house.” Mr Dyson, a reporter with the KM Media group, said: “The advice and guidance given to me by Jonathan Hewett and Paul Dunn with news writing and story gathering really helped me.” Mr Dyson added: “It was a really lovely surprise. In this job, you often get an
my time, but I doubt there was anyone more eccentric than Bob.” Riding a motorbike well into his later years, his tendency to smoke cigarettes in his office despite the university’s strict no-smoking policy is evidence of his eccentricity. In spite of his quirks, Mr Jones was anything but oldfashioned. Harriett Gilbert, presenter of A Good Read on BBC Radio 4, worked alongside the veteran lecturer on the periodical course from 1992 until his retirement. She described Jones as “a mentor as much as a colleague”, and spoke of his forward-thinking attitude to teaching. Ms Gilbert said: “He looked as though he was bumbling around. You might think he was very old fashioned; absolutely the opposite.” Mr Jones was always ahead of his time, responsible for introducing computers to the department during the 1980s. She added: “He was aware that the industry was changing fast and that students had to be happy with the new technology.” Above all, Mr Jones will be remembered for his dedication to journalism and commitment to his students. Glenda Cooper, a former student of the MA Newspaper course and senior lecturer at the university, spoke of the “integral part” Mr Jones played in the department. She said: “I like to think there will always be a place for some motorbike boots and a helmet somewhere in the department, to remind us of him.” awful lot more criticism than praise, so it was incredibly satisfying receiving this recognition.” Image: Chris Davey / Seren Morris
City triumphs at Regional Press Awards
Image: Courtesy of Professor Richard Lance Keeble
Eloise Feilden
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XCITY / News
Lecturer injured in Beirut blast Bea Tridimas City journalism lecturer Dr Zahera Harb suffered three facial injuries after being caught up in the Beirut blast last August. The director of MA International Journalism was visiting Beirut last summer to carry out workshops with Lebanese journalists as part of a research project funded by City. She was in Hamra, a neighbourhood about 5 km from the port of Beirut, when a warehouse containing 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded. The blast, which caused over 200 deaths and 6,500 injuries, was due to the chemical, usually used in fertiliser, igniting. It had been stored in a warehouse in the port for six years. Dr Harb, who was meeting friends for a drink at her hotel in Hamra at the time of the blast, said she first heard over WhatsApp that a fire had broken out at the port. She said: “We thought it’s actually fake news. We didn’t feel anything. We didn’t hear anything. And
Image: Zahera Harb
Head of International MA escapes blast that kills 200
Port blast: Dr Zahera Harb (pictured left) suffered three injuries to her face when a warehouse containing 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded in the port of Beirut (pictured right) last August
then I just saw this blast, a huge, huge blast and all I could see was glasses shattering and windows and things flying.” Dr Harb was one of only two injured in the hotel, after a heavy glass window fell on her and forced her face into the table. She suffered injuries to her upper cheek, nose and forehead due to broken glass. Dr Harb was turned away from three hospitals in the area, owing to the sheer numbers of
those injured in the blast. At a fourth hospital in the adjacent neighbourhood, Ras, she was seen by a plastic surgeon who stitched up a 1.5 cm wound in her cheek and a smaller wound in her forehead. A deep wound across her nose bone did not need stitches. She also suffered damage to the nerve in her left cheek which doctors said could take up to a year to fully heal. After the blast, Dr Harb shared her experiences with
the media. She gave interviews to the BBC World Service and CNN Money as well as writing about her experiences in 180 Post, a pan-Arab magazine, and the Ethical Journalism Network. As a journalist, she felt that “I might have a platform that others might not have and I’m just voicing what others are feeling”. She plans on returning to Beirut to finish her research later in the year.
City named new home of European Journalism Observatory City has been named the new home of the European Journalism Observatory (EJO), a pan-European network of 13 media research institutes spread across 11 countries. Founded in 2004, the EJO holds conferences and workshops on how to improve contemporary journalism, and publishes research on press freedom, journalistic best practice, and new media trends – from the rise of misinformation to AI-assisted newsrooms. Based at Oxford University since 2013, the organisation moved to City in September 2020. Since then, the network has investigated the global coverage of two major events:
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President Biden’s ascent to the White House and the COVID-19 pandemic. Key to the EJO’s pandemic research has been analysis on coronavirus misinformation, highlighting journalists’ responsibility to debunk dangerous conspiracy theories about the disease and vaccines. Dr Glenda Cooper, a senior lecturer in City’s Department of Journalism, who was appointed the new director of the EJO in April 2021, believes the network’s international outlook is its greatest strength in addressing global challenges. She said: “Fake news is not going to go away, and new transnational issues will have to be addressed.” She took over the role from
her colleague Dr Colin Porlezza, an honorary senior research fellow at City who had held the position since September 2020. Dr Cooper added: “We can often get caught up in what our own country is going through and how our own media is telling Dr Glenda Cooper: appointed new EJO director those stories. So there’s a real opportunity here to look We’re lucky to have this at how the media worldwide is network to be able to do this covering these big questions. research.”
Image: European Journalism Observatory
Chloé Meley
XCITY / News
Greenslade resigns after revealing IRA support Emily Stearn and Simone Fraser
Image: City, University of London
Former Daily Mirror editor resigns honorary position at City after expressing support for IRA’s violent tactics
Roy Greenslade, the former editor of the Daily Mirror, resigned in March as honorary visiting professor of journalism at City, following the publication of an article exposing his support for the IRA. In an article for the British Journalism Review (BJR), published on 25 February, Mr Greenslade said he was “in complete agreement about the right of the Irish people to engage in armed struggle”. He wrote: “I came to accept that the fight between the forces of the state and a group of insurgents was unequal and therefore could not be fought on conventional terms. In other words, I supported the use of physical force.” But speaking exclusively to XCity following his resignation, the former Fleet Street editor revealed he did not believe his article to be controversial. Mr Greenslade told XCity: “Given that it was more than 20 years since the end of the IRA’s military campaign, it didn’t strike me as being unduly controversial. The BJR editor said he found the article ‘fascinating’. Two colleagues he showed it to in advance of publication took a similar viewpoint, as Rebellious Roy: Former Mirror editor says goodbye after controversial comments they expressed to me in emails.” views to himself for fear of damaging his accused an IRA member of raping her. He Mr Greenslade was appointed a career and needing to pay his mortgage. remained a regular commentator for The professor of journalism at City in 2003, He told XCity: “I do know of journalists Guardian until March last year. where he taught journalism ethics, before on mainstream UK newspapers who also Mr Greenslade, who also previously retiring in 2018 and taking up the position supported or support Sinn Féin,” adding: worked for The Sun and The Sunday Times of honorary visiting professor. “I was, on several occasions, downcast at said: “From the moment Nick Davies’s The publication of the article prompted certain incidents.” widespread media condemnation including book, Flat Earth News, was published in A spokesman for City said: “Professor 2008, my republicanism was out in the among City alumni who had been taught Roy Greenslade did not inform the open. As Nick very properly recounted, by Mr Greenslade. University of his pro-IRA sympathies or I had written in the 1980s under a Just hours after its publication, Tom tell us that his article was to be published in pseudonym for An Phoblacht, the Sinn Goodenough, online editor at The the British Journalism Review. We saw the Féin newspaper that supported the IRA. Spectator, wrote for the magazine: “Why coverage when the story was first published “Some journalists, plus Private Eye, did I pay £9,000 for Roy Greenslade to in The Sunday Times.” picked up on the reference at the time. But lecture me on media ethics?” He told They added: “One of a university’s main XCity: “His justification seems to gloss over there was no hoo-ha. It was a matter of public record. I was never questioned about roles in society is to encourage critical the worst of the atrocities carried out in the thinking and vigorous debate. This may it by my Guardian editors.” name of republicanism while painting an result in the expression of contentious, He added: “I didn’t, as some newspapers entirely negative picture of those on ‘the inflammatory or offensive views. said, “set up” any journalistic colleagues; other side’.” “Professor Greenslade has the right I didn’t act as an IRA informant; I didn’t The Guardian also apologised and has to express his views freely, he resigned provide a safe house for IRA volunteers.” now launched a review of Mr Greenslade’s from his honorary post because of the In his article, Mr Greenslade said his journalism for the paper. The newspaper embarrassment he felt that he had caused sympathies developed in the 1970s while was criticised for allowing him in 2014 to to a university he values and respects.” working as a journalist, but he kept his question the credibility of a woman who
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XCITY / News
Eloise Feilden City’s journalism department has responded to the boom in popularity of podcasting by introducing a dedicated module to its MA programmes. The new module is designed to develop podcasting skills, combining everything from hosting to editing. Students produced their own recordings alongside submitting a podcast business plan, and were given the tools to extend their projects into future series. Headed by Sandy Warr, a lecturer on the Broadcast pathway and freelance presenter for LBC News and Bauer Media, the new module was taken by more than 130 students from the Magazine, Newspaper, TV and Broadcast MA pathways. Podcast listenership has increased year on year in the UK, with BBC Sounds seeing a rise of 10 million global downloads alone in the second quarter of 2020 to more than 240 million. Market
and consumer data company Statista also recorded 15.6 million UK podcast listeners in 2020. Ms Warr described podcasting as a “fast changing medium” and explained that the coronavirus pandemic has prompted a spike in its popularity. She added that the idea for the module had “been in the ether for a couple of years”. Mark Sandell, a television and radio producer and owner of podcasting company 6Foot6 Productions, taught on the module as a visiting lecturer. He said: “It is great talking to people who are every bit as enthusiastic about podcasting as I am.” He added: “It’s such a great creative space now, and almost anything you are interested in you can make a podcast about.” While the pandemic has spurred on the rise in podcast popularity, the UK national lockdowns meant teaching for the module from January to
Image: Unsplash Jonathan Farber
City adds podcasting module to curriculum March took place online, with audio-editing workshops and tutorials uploaded onto the university website for students to follow from home. Ms Warr said: “Logistically, my biggest challenge was to make sure people who have never edited audio before feel they are able to produce a piece of recording. “I think in many ways having the deconstructed videos, taking it task by task, probably is a better way of doing it than having everybody in a classroom trying to do it at the same speed.” Despite teaching restraints, the module has enabled students across different MA pathways to work together and apply a range of skills learned across their varied courses. Magnus Lewis, an MA TV Journalism student, said: “With TV, you spend half your time directing and half your time reporting, so it’s been refreshing having to do both and for everyone to show off what they
can do and learn from each other at the same time.”
Sandy’s Top 5 Podcasts S-Town My Dad Wrote A Porno Americast Shreds The Apology Line
Top journo talent appointed to MA specialism team Victoria Miller Image: Yahoo
Lifestyle Head: Dr Ben Falk
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A former BBC World Service journalist and an exentertainment and lifestyle reporter at The Mirror have become the new heads of City’s postgraduate specialism courses in humanitarian reporting and lifestyle reporting. The 11 different specialism modules offered to MA students on the Magazine, Newspaper, International, TV, and Broadcast Journalism pathways allow them to study different areas of reporting. Jane McClenahan, a journalist trainer at the Thomson Reuters Foundation
and former BBC journalist, editor and producer, joined City in January to teach the humanitarian reporting specialism. She said: “I am delighted to take on this role and I have been really enjoying working with the students. They have been so engaged and responsive in a time that has been extremely challenging for them.” Dr Ben Falk, an entertainment reporter who has written for publications including Empire and The Mirror, joined City University
in September 2019 as a lecturer in journalism. He also started teaching the postgraduate lifestyle specialism in January. Dr Falk said that, as lifestyle reporting is “often one of the first sections people go to in a newspaper”, he wants to “impress upon the students how vital lifestyle is as part of the journalistic eco-system”. Due to lockdown restrictions, all the specialisms in 2021 were taught online. Dr Falk added: “It would be nice to meet my students face to face and go to an event with them; that is my dream.”
XCITY / News
Mills: Industry must face “systemic” diversity crisis Image: Eleanor Mills
The former editorial director of The Sunday Times tells XCity that failure to tackle journalism’s “bias” problem will lead to a collapse of public trust Emily Stearn The British journalism industry must tackle its “structural racism” if it is to “have any legitimacy”, according to the former editorial director of The Sunday Times. Speaking exclusively to XCity, Eleanor Mills, who stepped down as director last year after almost 23 years with News UK, warned of a collapse of public trust in journalism unless the industry faced its diversity crisis. She said: “If you don’t have representation of different viewpoints in the way that news coverage is put together, then it becomes bias. That multiplied up is what gives us a kind of structural racism in the media.” Ms Mills added: “If journalism is going to have any legitimacy going forwards and people are going to trust it, then it has to be more representative of a broader base of view, whether you’re on the left or the right. People need to feel that their viewpoints are being considered and that it is not right for racist statements to be made.” In March, Ms Mills resigned from the Society of Editors (SoE) board following controversy over the body’s handling of claims about bigotry in the media. The body’s executive director, Ian Murray, prompted industry backlash on 8 March
after issuing a statement titled: “UK media not bigoted”, just minutes after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s interview aired in the UK. The Duke told Oprah Winfrey: “The UK press is bigoted: specifically the tabloids.” Ms Mills publicly distanced herself from the statement, writing on Twitter on 10 March: “Lots of the board are very angry”, while 255 British journalists also signed an open letter to say they “deplore and reject” the Society’s statement. Then, ITV presenter Charlene White quit as host of the press awards, organised by the SoE. Mr Murray subsequently resigned, and the award ceremony was postponed. The Society issued a clarification two days later, however despite holding a board crisis meeting on 11 March, it has yet to issue a further statement. Ms Mills, who stepped down as chair of Women in Journalism in February after seven years in the role, told XCity: “If newspapers have a lack of representation in their offices, how can they possibly be performing their democratic mandate, which is to cover the news in a fair and truthful way?” She added that although “there are some really good people on the Society Board, colleagues who I’m really fond
Society silence: Mills stepped down two weeks after the SoE statement
of ”, she had “lost faith that the Society would come up with an adequate solution”. A report edited by Ms Mills and published by Women in Journalism in September, revealed a disparity in media diversity. The report monitored the gender and ethnicity of reporters, presenters and expert guests on the front page of 11 major national newspapers and prime-time radio and television news programmes for a week in mid-July. Of the 174 newspaper frontpage bylines studied, just one in four bylines were attributed to women. Additionally, of the 111 people quoted on these pages, just 16 per cent were women, with only one Black woman. Newsnight failed to include a single non-white expert guest. Ms Mills said: “I
Women in Journalism’s revealing research on newsroom diversity
One in four of the 174 front-page bylines counted went to women
Four of the 11 major newspapers had a reporter of an ethnic minority background on the front page
commissioned the research because I wanted to be able to produce a snapshot of how bad it was so we could actually put some numbers on the agenda. I really wanted to be able to say, ‘we’ve really got a systemic problem and what are we going to do about it?’” But Ms Mills, who recently launched Noon, a media platform and community designed to empower women in midlife, warned that significant change following the report would take some time. She told XCity: “It’s a real problem because you can’t just find senior diverse journalists from out the air. So it’s important that the industry as a whole really commits to it, is held accountable for it, and the scrutiny continues.” She added: “If we really see journalism as the fourth estate of democracy, then we need to fund it and think about it as a profession, who’s in it, who’s reporting it. The whole ecosystem needs to be valued, thought about and made more representative.” ⤷ Read about the state of racism in the UK media on page 80
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MA prof blasts BBC Oxbridge pledge
Beeb accused by academic of oversimplifying the media diversity crisis Simone Fraser Image: Ben Seymour, Unsplash
Professor Jane Martinson, head of the Financial Journalism MA at City, has argued an Oxbridge ban is not the answer to the BBC’s diversity issue. In October 2020, Tim Davie the BBC Director General, pledged to recruit staff from a broader range of backgrounds, telling a virtual Ofcom conference that the organisation could not “just take people from a certain academic track”. Following the conference, a BBC source clarified: “It’s about not fishing in an Oxbridge gene pool. And it’s about looking beyond university altogether – not everyone has to be a graduate.” Professor Martinson, who is the Marjorie Deane Professor of Financial Journalism, told XCity: “I know that Oxbridge is overly represented, but it’s the wrong way round. Think about the whole person.” She added: “The key thing is to tackle the lack of diversity but not simply by barring certain universities.” Prof Martinson, a Guardian columnist and their former Head of Media, grew up in a council house in East London and studied English at Cambridge University. She
(Ox)Bridging the diversity gap: Oxford University’s central library
said: “Cambridge gave me the opportunity to change my life.” She added: “The problem is the BBC constantly has these people applying and yet somehow the ‘best’ people are always white privately educated men. Often, they went to Oxbridge. The thing is Oxbridge is not the problem there. It’s the BBC’s own processes that are the problem. “I’m all in favour of the BBC looking for apprentices and those who did not go to university, but I also think they need to try harder to represent all licence fee payers, not just the wealthy and white in the
South of England.” Data published by the Sutton Trust in 2019 showed that 33 per cent of BBC executives had attended Oxbridge. Half of women in news media and 44 per cent of newspaper columnists also attended one of the two universities. A BBC spokesperson said: “There is not, and there never has been, any pledge to employ fewer graduates from any one place. Our plan is about ensuring our workforce reflects the communities we serve and encouraging communities that are currently underrepresented in the BBC’s workforce.”
‘Rebel Women’ focus of mag MA head’s book Simone Fraser Dr Sarah Lonsdale, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Journalism and head of the MA Magazine course, has published her second book, which explores pioneering women in the 1920s and 30s. Rebel Women Between the Wars: Fearless Writers and Adventurers (Manchester University Press, 2020), investigates how women from a range of backgrounds and industries, from mountaineers to motorists, changed their respective areas through their trailblazing actions. Dr Lonsdale said: “I tried to make it a rounded image of how women on loads of fronts were chipping away at all these obstacles that had been put in front of them.” When writing the book, she relied on the “complete and utter self-discipline” which had “emerged from when I was a freelance journalist”. Her first book, The Journalist in British Fiction and Film: Guarding the Guardians 1990 to the Present (Bloomsbury Academic) was published in 2016. Rebel Women Between the Wars is out in paperback in September 2021.
Police domestic abuse article wins Paul Foot Award An investigation into policeperpetrated domestic abuse has won Alexandra Heal (Investigative, 2018) the 2020 Paul Foot Award. Set up by The Guardian and Private Eye in memory of the journalist Paul Foot, the award is given for investigative or campaigning journalism. Ms Heal started work on “Nowhere to Turn”, published by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, during her final project at City in 2018. As part of the project,
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Ms Heal sent Freedom of Information requests to every UK police force and found 700 reports of domestic abuse by police from April 2015 to 2018. Just 3.9 per cent led to conviction in England and Wales. Ms Heal phoned 150 charities and spoke to multiple women who had faced abuse. She said: “It was an invaluable experience, learning to work with sources like that.” The investigation led to the launch of a super-complaint by
the Centre for Women’s Justice, a charity which challenges legal discrimination around violence against women, in March 2020. The super-complaint, through which organisations have the right to raise issues on behalf of the public about harmful trends in policing, demands an examination into police failures. Asked about winning the award, Ms Heal said: “It was complete and utter shock. I cried on the phone when they called me to say I won.”
Image: Maud Powell
Isabella McRae
Award Winner: Alexandra Heal
XCITY / News
African Caribbean journo network launches at City Aisha Rimi
be journalists and have them support each other. We needed a network for our students so that they wouldn’t feel alone. “Sometimes they don’t want to speak to me, sometimes they don’t want to speak to a white lecturer either. This was a way of getting them to speak to each other.” Alongside virtual meetups every fortnight, the network has held two events since it began, which included guest speakers Charlie BrinkhurstCuff, outgoing Editor-in-Chief of gal-dem, Keme Nzerem, Channel 4 News reporter, and Rianna Croxford, BBC News correspondent. For Kira Richards, a first-year student on the BA course, the CACJN has played a “huge and important part” in her university experience. She said: “To have a place where we can all come together and there aren’t any boundaries in terms of people not understanding you or
your culture is something I’ve really cherished and valued. “I’m glad we’ve been able to put our voices at the centre of the network. It’s supported me and broadened my network at City as I don’t know a lot of people. It’s been great to meet people not just from my year, but from all walks of life Network Founder: Coral James O’Connor and stages of their career.” trying to enter into the media Runako Bernard-Stevenson, is very exciting. It feels super an Investigative MA student necessary and like we’re doing who also joined the initiative, added: “To be part of a network something special.” Find the network on Twitter @ that serves to assist those from CityACJN different backgrounds and
Image: Kira Richards
City Journalism has launched its first African Caribbean student network. The network brings together BA, MA and alumni journalism students of African and Caribbean descent; it launched in October during Black History Month. The network comes as a result of research conducted by Coral James O’Connor, a lecturer on the BA Journalism course, which revealed that the dropout rate for Black students, in particular on the BA course, was higher than their nonBlack counterparts. Her findings urged Ms James O’Connor to start the network as a way for other Black students to connect with each other and to make them feel more included on their journalism courses. She said: “It was about getting together like-minded students who all wanted to
Research lead hails “creativity” of digital models Narzra Ahmed A City professor has praised the “outpouring of creativity” of digital-only journalism models, after acting as specialist advisor to a House of Lords Inquiry. Professor Jane Singer, City University’s research lead and Professor of Journalism Innovation, was appointed Specialist Adviser to the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications and Digital,
which in November 2020 published its report, “Breaking News? The Future of UK Journalism”. The report found the UK is in a strong position to take advantage of the “radically” changing landscape of journalism. This includes the successful implementation of innovative technologies including artificial intelligence, Image: Shane Rounce, Unsplash
and engagement and collaboration with audiences. Professor Singer said: “There’s been a huge number of start-ups, digital-only initiatives, niche offerings that serve particular markets, all kinds of different things going on, on social media, and audio– different ways of telling stories. Everything from podcasts to explorations of virtual reality.” She added: “There’s just been this vast outpouring of creativity in the media. But, it’s been a hard time for some legacy organisations that have relied on a traditional business model that was about advertising and reaching as many people within the target market as they could so that advertisers could sell to them. That business model is not sustainable for them anymore.” She added that in the short term: “We’ll see a growing
number of major journalistic projects that involve journalists at different organisations working together. “The Panama Papers was a prominent example, but we’ve seen it in coverage of elections, in tackling misinformation and disinformation, and in projects that help journalists extract different information of value to their different communities from a shared data set.” The House of Lords inquiry concluded that it is important that consumers can have easy access to information about the credibility of their news publishers. One of the report’s most notable proposals also included setting up the Digital Markets Unit (DMU) “as a matter of urgency”. The DMU is a watchdog which will oversee and implement a new code of conduct for digital platforms such as Facebook and Google.
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Alumnus wins prestigious Hugo Young Award Cara Laskaris Image: Ian Johnston
Sexual harassment is “rife” in African press research reveals City University study found that more than three quarters of female journalists in Kenya had experienced sexual harassment at work
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Unwelcome attention: African men and women report work harassment
had experienced it five times or more. The rate of sexual harassment for women was also high in South Africa at 57.5 per cent, as well as in Nigeria at 38.1 per cent – but it wasn’t just female victims. Men also reported experiencing sexual harassment in newsrooms. The highest rate was again in Kenya at 29.7 per cent, South Africa at 11.1 per cent, and Nigeria at 10 per cent. Dr Blumell said: “The results are shocking. There should be zero tolerance of sexual harassment in any workplace, but why is it so commonly tolerated in newsrooms? There is a power struggle. “Sexual harassment is always about power. That’s why the highest level of it is among the most vulnerable – the interns,
Image: Lindsey Blumell
MA Newspaper graduate Ian Johnston has won the Guardian Foundation’s 2020 Hugo Young Award – the second consecutive year this honour has gone to a City student. Mr Johnston’s winning article, titled “If Ireland is to unite, it must reclaim its common past and build a shared future”, explored the cultural and political ramifications of a united Ireland. The award, established in 2016, celebrates the legacy of former political columnist Hugo Young who died in 2003, and is judged by a panel of Guardian journalists. Journalism students aged 18 and over across the country were invited to submit political opinion pieces on any news topic. Mr Johnston, who graduated in 2020, said: “I’m so grateful for this award. I chose to write on this topic because nuanced views in Northern Ireland are so often ignored in favour of extremes. “I have not seen anything written by people like me; moderate Protestants who could be won over to unification, but are worried about the uncertainty it could bring.” Sonia Sodha, chief leader writer at The Observer and one of the judges, described his article as “an outstanding piece of journalism” that offered “an original and insightful perspective on a very timely issue”.
Three quarters of female journalists and one third of male journalists in Kenya have experienced sexual harassment in newsrooms, according to new research supported by City. Conducted by Dr Lindsey Blumell, senior lecturer at City’s Journalism department, and Dinfin Mulupi, a PhD student at the University of Maryland, the research investigated sexual harassment in newsrooms and the motivations driving this in three African countries. The project emerged after Ms Mulupi, who studied at City as part of the Erasmus programme, approached Dr Blumell, whose research focuses largely on sexism and gender representation in newsrooms and the media. Dr Blumell said: “I was researching and writing a lot about the Me Too movement and the Access Hollywood scandal, and before that, about Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault cases, so I was really interested in working on this collaborative project with Dinfin.” Their research – comprising surveys, focus groups, field observations, and in-depth interviews – found that in Kenya, 77.5 per cent of female participants had experienced sexual harassment at work – with 40 per cent saying they
Image: Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
Rhiannon Jenkins
Dream team: Dr Blumell and Ms Mulupi take on research at City
because they are desperate to get into the workplace.” The research also found that the majority of participants also witnessed sexual harassment – with one in five stating they had witnessed it multiple times. However, 90 per cent of participants chose not to report their experiences, which revealed a lack of organisational support for victims to come forward. Dr Blumell said: “It’s a question of why is it happening, how is it happening, and who is it happening to, so that we can work towards having a safe newsroom as a norm – just as objectivity, just as checking your sources. This should be considered as important, if not more important. “It’s actually very easy not to sexually harass someone; the problem is that it happens because the newsroom is currently an environment in which it is allowed to happen.” Dr Blumell and Ms Mulupi have now joined forces with Women in News, a charity that works with organisations and individuals to close the gender gap in the news media. Together they have expanded their research to 18 countries – eight of which are in Africa.
XCITY / News Image: Matthew Caruana Galizia
In her honour: Matthew Caruana Galizia and mother Daphne Caruana Galizia
Following in her footsteps
Financial journalism graduate continues investigation of Maltese corruption after mother’s murder
Bea Tridimas A City alumnus has published a leading investigation into Malta’s cash-for-passports scheme, to continue the fight for his mother’s legacy of investigating corruption. Matthew Caruana Galizia, who graduated from MA Financial Journalism in 2010, is the director of The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, which co-published an investigation in collaboration with The Guardian, five Maltese newspapers and Russian investigative network The Dossier Centre in April. It revealed a loophole in Malta’s cash-for-passport scheme, which allowed applicants to spend less than three weeks in the country to gain citizenship. The Foundation was established in memory of his mother, Daphne Caruana Galizia, an investigative journalist and columnist, who was killed after a bomb was placed under the seat of her car in 2017. She was known for her blog Running Commentary which sought to expose corruption among the highest ranks of Malta’s government. She first started investigating Malta’s cash-for-passport
scheme when it was introduced by the then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in 2013. The Foundation was able to continue Mrs Caruana Galizia’s investigation after one of her sources resurfaced. Mr Caruana Galizia, 35, said: “After the murder, it was a huge challenge to re-establish contact with my mother’s sources. This was one of the few sources that we managed to re-establish contact with. Over the next few years, we started receiving information from this source and that culminated in the investigation that was published.” The Foundation also works with advocacy groups to protect journalists from violent attacks and ensure justice in the killings of journalists. Mr Caruana Galizia said: “The mission of the foundation is to continue my mother’s work, but also to build up capacity in Malta and I guess in Europe in general, too, for investigating corruption.” He was inspired by his mother to become an investigative journalist and worked on the data team for the International Consortium
of Investigative Journalists, investigating the Panama Papers, a series of leaks exposing the inner-workings of off-shore money laundering. He also helped his mother interpret data from whistle-blowers in Malta. Mr Caruana Galizia said: “It’s work that will never end because there will always be people who will try and weaken systems or take advantage of systems that are already weak, who will take advantage of political connections. People like this will always exist. “What can change is our country’s ability to build up a resilience to them and that resilience is not just in institutions and laws and authorities, but also in the media itself.” He said revisiting his mother’s work at the Foundation daily was difficult: “You’re battling monsters all the time. There’s never any kind of respite where you’re not dealing with these problems, but also the fact that it’s such a personal matter adds another layer of difficulty to everything.” The Foundation is also working to ensure the
investigation into her death meets international standards. The fight for justice is not over yet. “It is a painful process but there are aspects of it that are redeeming. You find out that you were right to have certain suspicions and that the crimes that you investigated are confirmed but, also, that it’s worse than you ever imagine,” said Mr Caruana Galizia. To date, the investigation has involved the questioning and arrest of a senior government official and contributed to Muscat’s resignation in January 2020, after protests over Mrs Caruana Galizia’s death in late 2019 . One man, Vincent Muscat (no relation to Joseph Muscat) was convicted of her murder in February. Mr Caruana Galizia said the country faces a choice now whether “to continue with the ways of the past or to change for the better”. He added: “Our work is most needed when the country is in this situation because we really have a window of opportunity now. It means we kind of have to convince enough people that it’s worth changing direction.”
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International student life: Sleep Study Zoom Repeat
Contending with different time zones and changing diets, City’s international journalism students share their experiences of undertaking their studies abroad Victoria Miller complete their masters. That equates to 12 per cent of the MA journalism course. For Nillah Nyakoa Okello, an MA International Journalism student living in Beijing, eight hours ahead of the UK, the most disorientating part of studying at City whilst abroad is the different time zones. She said: “It feels like an out of body experience because physically I’m in China, but mentally I’m in the UK.” She added that she is “constantly anxious about missing deadlines” and has stayed awake until 2am to attend lectures. Alongside her studies, Ms Okello works at a radio station in Beijing to maintain financial stability. But, as a result, said, “within one day, I live two lives”. Ms Okello said that the combination Covid and the Capitol: Ayanda Ntuli lived in of juggling work, Washington DC while studying at City study and the different
time zones makes her feel “exhausted” as she is “constantly sleep deprived”. While the late nights are tiring for Ms Okello, Singaporebased MA Magazine student and self-proclaimed “nightowl”, Kay Leong, uses the eight-hour time difference to her advantage. Ms Leong said she drafts emails and gets ahead with work while the rest of London sleeps. But, she added, “sleeping at such funky hours” has made her more fatigued, less productive and more likely to nap during the day. What constitutes late nights for some, translates into early rises for others. Thirteen hours behind Ms Okello and Ms Leong is MA Financial Journalism student, Scott Carpenter, living in Chicago. Mr Carpenter has had to contend with 4am starts to participate in morning classes in the UK. He said: “I’ve trained myself to go to sleep at 9pm.” But, he added, such early starts
“totally throw me off ”. Like Ms Leong, he takes naps to stay awake for classes that start later in the day. Further, it isn’t just sleep routines that are being altered. MA International Journalism student Ayanda Ntuli, based in Washington D.C., has even altered her diet to cope with the different time zones. She said: “I’ve needed to be extra alert and sugar and carbs can make you feel sluggish and tired, so I’ve tried to limit my intake.” Ms Ntuli added that she has also fasted intermittently to maximise her energy levels because working in a different time zone “isn’t healthy”. While all students agreed that studying abroad has presented challenges, the upside is that their countries are not in lockdown. As such, they have the freedom to meet up with friends and family. For Ms Okello, that has been the “best thing” about being in Beijing. She said: “I am able to connect with friends, go to the park, and live my life.”
marriage in the UK, and the use of the ‘rough sex defence’ in murder cases. Sophia Miller (Broadcast MA, 2020) co-produced the ‘Best Radio News Report’ and ‘Best TV Documentary’ categories. Her radio entry discussed the reopening of a barista school for unemployed Londoners, while her TV documentary explored the rise of hearing conditions in young people. She said: “I felt so proud of everything we had achieved, especially during all the restrictions of the pandemic. There was definitely a ‘is this really happening’ voice at the back of my head too when
the second award was announced, it didn't quite seem real.” Sally Webb, head of the MA TV and Broadcast Journalism courses said the award success was both “wonderful and embarrassing at the same time”, because of the domination of City students at the awards. She added: “I really hope that my students can get the
best out of the course, and that they come out of it prepared and able to work in the industry which now is going to be hybrid, so they can produce work of a really high standard to go on to win more awards.”
Daytime fatigue, brain fog, disrupted sleeping patterns – are these the symptoms of someone suffering from a sleep disorder? Or, could they be City journalism students studying abroad? Due to the pandemic, various travel restrictions and national lockdowns, postgraduate course directors estimate that around 40 MA journalism students have been unable to travel to London to
Image: Ayanda Ntuli
BJTC award success for alumni Simone Fraser
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Image: Bing
Students from the Broadcast and TV Journalism MAs emerged victorious in the recent Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC) Awards. Work made by students on the 2019/2020 courses won four awards: Best TV News Report, Best TV Feature, Best TV Documentary and Best Radio News Report. The students were also runners up in three categories, Best Podcast, Best TV News Report, and Best TV Newsday. The entries explored a range of issues, including the closure of Camden nurseries, child
XCITY / News Image: Unsplash
Alumni save the day for struggling students Simone Fraser
Data Journalism MA to launch An increasing reliance on data-led storytelling sees City launch new journalism pathway with an emphasis on coding and technology Chiara Wilkinson The next generation of data journalists will be catapulted into the media industry through City’s new Data Journalism MA, starting in September 2021. The pathway is a response to the soaring demand for data journalists and aims to equip students with the necessary skills to navigate numbers in the newsroom. The course will be headed by Senior Lecturer, Glyn Mottershead. Mr Mottershead co-designed the Computational and Data Journalism MSc at Cardiff University where he worked for 12 years before joining City in June 2019, when plans for the new pathway kicked off. He said: “We’re going to be working with people from the industry to deliver the modules and focus on the skills that the industry needs.” Although the course will share some features of the Interactive Journalism MA, which currently offers the modules ‘Data Visualisation and Communication’ and ‘Data Journalism’, the new pathway will have a stronger emphasis on coding. Mr Mottershead explained: “Data journalists use everything from spreadsheets to coding languages to solve problems and to enable us to tell a story. “That’s one of the crucial things for me: it is technology in
the service of journalism, it’s not technology-led journalism. It’s all about telling a good story that can help people make informed decisions.” As part of the course, Mr Mottershead added that a new module called ‘Newsroom Applications’ will introduce students to the workflow of using coding technologies like D3, data analysis, and building web pages to host data driven applications. “It’s about building something,” he said. “And gets much deeper into those aspects of a [data journalist] role in a way that the interactive course doesn’t.” The new pathway also has commonalities with the Investigative Journalism MA, with a new ‘Digital Investigation’ module focusing on how to apply data techniques like open source intelligence to deep dive Image: City, University of London
The “superb” alumni of the TV and Broadcast MAs stepped up to provide mentoring and work experience for City students this year. The pandemic has meant many media organisations have not been able to offer work experience, with some conducting it remotely instead. Students this year have struggled to complete the regular face-to-face work experience previously required of them. All 39 MA Television Journalism students found remote placements at organisations including journalism.co.uk and Caravan Media. Many also found mentors, including ITN news presenter Sir Trevor McDonald OBE. TV and Broadcast head Sally Webb and her departments sent out emails to alumni and said: “The response was superb.” She added: “They’ve been really keen to help them in whatever way they can, which is just brilliant.” Natasha Potts, production journalist at ITV Border who graduated from the MA TV Journalism course in 2018, spoke with current students about working in regional news giving them a broader overview of the industry and the opportunities available to them upon graduating. She said: “It seemed like the right thing to do given the pandemic and the fact that these students aren’t able to get the work experience they normally would. “It’s a big step, from having a media degree to actually working in a newsroom. It’s something that I think would have been useful for me, when I was weighing up my options on what to do next.”
investigations. The course will also teach students the compulsory modules ‘Journalism Ethics’ and ‘UK Media Law’, in addition to allowing them to flex their muscles in a final data-driven journalism project at the end of the year. Dr Paul Lashmar, Head of the Department of Journalism, said: “The MA in data journalism is something we’ve been planning for a while. “Its importance is such that we have chosen to go ahead although we are still in the midst of the COVID crisis, which makes things complicated.” He added: “We think it’s really important that we keep up with industry trends, and try to lead them where possible. I’m looking forward to the moment when I see our graduates move into the mainstream media at a high level, as the new wave of data journalists with lots of new ideas about how you can generate stories from data.” Applications for the new course opened in January 2021. The Data Journalism MA will start this September with a cap of 30 students.
Mottershead’s module: New course will be headed by Glyn Mottershead, Senior Lecturer
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Withdrawal from Erasmus scheme “matter of regret” budget for Erasmus has been set at €26.2bn (£23.1bn) over the next seven years. Dr Rodgers said: “We will have to look at ways we can offer our students the best international education without Erasmus.” He added: “We will find ways, but it is a matter of regret that this is the case.” A reader in the International Journalism MA, Dr Rodgers was first appointed to the role of Associate Dean for Global Engagement weeks before the country was plunged into a national lockdown last spring. For Dr Rodgers, the impact of both the pandemic and Brexit will be felt by journalists and academics not just in the short term, but in the longterm, too. He said: “For those of us in journalism or part of the
Image: Julius Yls, Unsplash
Charlotte Colombo The government’s decision to withdraw the UK from the Erasmus exchange programme is a “matter of regret”, City’s associate dean has told XCity. Dr James Rodgers, who also teaches the Erasmus Mundus MA in Journalism, Media and Globalisation, has overseen City’s Erasmus scheme for the past four years as the Associate Dean for Global Engagement. In February the Government announced the £110m Alan Turing Scheme will replace the EU’s Erasmus student exchange programme. The Department for Education said it will provide funding for around 35,000 students to undertake placements from September 2021 around the world, not just in Europe. Comparatively, the
Erasmus Hub: Aarhus, Denmark where students spent their first year
arts and social sciences more widely, it is fascinating.” He added: “There will be a lot to write about and study, but in the short-term, in terms of international activity, we have to look at how we can best place ourselves for what comes afterwards.” Despite this, Dr Rodgers feels optimistic about the
opportunities the Turing Scheme might bring: “Both in the Department of Journalism and the School of Arts and Social Sciences as a whole, we have always greatly valued our international partnerships in education and research and look forward to making the most of what the Turing Scheme has to offer.”
Simone Fraser Dr James Rodgers, a reader in journalism who teaches on City’s International MA, has written a new book exploring Western news coverage of Russia. Published in June 2020 by I. B. Tauris, Assignment Moscow: reporting on Russia from Lenin to Putin investigates how
Simone Fraser Dr Paul Lashmar, head of City’s Department of Journalism, has published two nonfiction books on investigative journalism within the last year. The first, titled Spies, Spin and the Fourth Estate: British Intelligence and the Media, published by Edinburgh University Press, examines the turbulent relationship between spies and the press, including how notorious figures such as Edward Snowden and Julian Assange were reported on. Dr Lashmar, who previously covered security issues for The Independent on Sunday between 2001 and 2007, said: “It’s about how journalists cover intelligence, but it’s also about how intelligence uses journalists, and that relationship. How it’s been subverted and corrupted, how it’s simplified.” He wrote the book in part because “it enabled me to look back and see what I’ve done and try to be a bit critical.” He added: “Some of the things that
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foreign correspondents have reported on the country from the 1920 siege of the Winter Palace to the modern day. Dr Rodgers is currently Associate Dean for Global Engagement in the School of Arts and Social Sciences at City. He previously spent 15 years working for the BBC as a foreign correspondent in areas including Moscow, Brussels, and Gaza. He said: “One of my main aims was to bring the work of correspondents to a new audience. They really tried to help people in the West during the last century understand Russia and the Soviet Union. “Another [aim] was to argue for a more nuanced view of the country which the best journalism has offered. I also wanted to write a book that promoted the value of international reporting at a time when so many governments use vast resources to criticize it. I hope I have succeeded − but it is for the readers to judge.”
Image: Edinburgh University
Department head releases two investigative reads
Image: I.B. Tauris
City academic publishes book on reporting Russia
we did in the 80s would be seen to be very iffy now.” Dr Lashmar also co-wrote and edited the third edition of the popular journalism textbook Investigative Journalism, published by Routledge, alongside Hugo de Burgh, director of the China Media Centre at the University of Westminster. The new edition, released in March 2021, focuses on international issues and digital content, and includes new chapters on “Digital Sleuthing” and “Syria - the war and before”. Dr Lashmar described it as “virtually a new book”.
XCITY / News Image: Mads Nissen
Lockdown inspires 2021 World Press Photo Contest win Carina Murphy The 2021 World Press Photographer of the Year has told XCity that photojournalism today “rarely helps us find solutions”. Danish photojournalist Mads Nissen won the World Press Photo Contest for his picture of a care home resident in São Paulo being embraced through a plastic sheet. He told XCity his photo was significant for symbolising “hope and a path forwards”. He added: “As a previous jury member myself, you’re looking for an image that has some abstractness, some symbolism. My image was topical, but it also symbolised hope and a path forwards, where a lot of photojournalism today does not help us find solutions.” Now in its 64th year, the contest awards photojournalism around the world, with eight categories including general news, nature, sports and portraits. A record-breaking 4,000 photographers entered over 74,000 images, which judges whittled down to just 14 winners – a single image and
Iconic image: Mr Nissen’s winning photo The Embrace shows two women hugging through a plastic sheet
His winning entry this year shows Rosa Luzia Lunardi, 85, being hugged for the first time in five months by nurse Adriana Silva da Costa Souza on 5 August 2020. Judges called the photo an “iconic image of COVID-19”, commending it for depicting human resilience in the face of the pandemic and the way the plastic sheet gave the impression of wings. Mr Nissen said: “In my opinion [the winning image] needed to be a COVID-19 Nature category winner: Rescue of Giraffes from Flooding Island by Ami Vitale picture this photo series for each category. This is the second time Mr Nissen has been awarded the top prize, having won in 2015.
Image: Ami Vitale
year,” adding: “capturing the zeitgeist is in the DNA of the competition.” Other category winners also addressed social and political issues. Antonio Faccilongo’s photo series Habibi, which won the World Press Photo Story of the Year award, depicts the impact of conflict on Palestinian families. Meanwhile, the winners of the Nature and Environment categories both addressed the climate crisis, with Ami Vitale’s photo depicting a giraffe being moved due to rising water levels. Judge Jo-Anne McArthur said the contest reflects how photojournalism is moving “away from just pretty pictures that document things, to political pictures that have a goal of changing things and sparking a conversation.”
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XCITY / News
MA Magazine grad bags PPA Student award for City’s 14th year in a row
Rhiannon Jenkins
The use of women experts in TV news programmes has gone “backwards” during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the lead researcher of a City project tracking female specialists on television. The Expert Women Project was set up in 2013 by Lis Howell, Professor Emeritus of Journalism at City. The project reports on the number of women interviewed as experts or authority figures on six major UK news programmes. BBC News at Ten, ITV News at Ten, Channel 4 News, the Channel 5 evening news programme, the Today programme, and Sky News are all surveyed over a five-day working week in randomly selected months. Since the Expert Women Project began, the ratio of women experts to male experts has almost doubled – from an average of 4.4 men to one woman in 2014, to an average of 2.1 men to one woman in 2021. Prof Howell said the ratio of
women experts to male experts on the surveyed programmes had “gone backwards” due to the number of politicians on air at the start of the pandemic. She explained: “The ratio of men to women experts peaked in March 2020 with a three-year high of 2.7 male experts to every female expert interviewed on the flagship news programmes – up by 20 per cent from the week monitored in February.” In April, the proportion of women experts surged as broadcasters began to focus on healthcare. “This brought the female ratio right up,” Prof Howell said. The ratio for April was 2.1 men to every woman. The NHS has four times as many women as men, and even in the top rank, has a ratio of 1.7 men to one woman – unlike the cabinet at 2.7 to one. However, Prof Howell said: “Before the pandemic it was getting to be much more like two or less, more like one to one. But it’s gone backwards, so you’ve got to keep your foot on the accelerator. “Anything over two to one
Image: City, University of London
Kay Leong Recent MA Magazine graduate Annabel Nugent, 25, has scooped the Professional Publishers Association (PPA) Student of the Year 2020 award. The prize is part of the PPA’s 30 under 30 Awards, which celebrates young talent in consumer and business media. Ms Nugent, who graduated in 2020, is the 14th consecutive City MA Magazine student to have won. Her entry included an analysis of class in film for The Independent, a profile of Laura Kuenssberg and a report on the dangers faced by Mexican journalists for XCity. She said: “I was really shocked, as I expected that they’d give it to a political journalist, rather than someone who works on culture.” The PPA said that Nugent’s work was a “first class entry, truly deserving of the top prize” and that “each one of the judges would have hired her on the spot if they could”.
Number of female experts on TV falls in first lockdown
Lis Howell: Professor Emeritus
is bad because the ratio of expertise in society is roughly two to one. “Broadcasters were even more discriminating towards women than society generally – and that’s a real condemnation.” Suzanne Franks, Professor of Journalism at City, who also works on the project, said: “The research shows that we have basically doubled the proportion of women experts versus men experts in news broadcasting overall.” Prof Franks added: “We are throwing light on society and on the way that women are taken seriously or not seriously – and as we’ve shown, you can really affect change.”
Double award joy for TV alumnus reporting in China Katie Bell A City alumnus who reported from China’s southeastern Hubei region during the initial COVID-19 outbreak has scooped two prestigious awards from Reuters news agency. Martin Pollard (TV, 2016), a Beijing-based multimedia
reporter for Reuters, was awarded the Thomson Reuters Award for his “heroic efforts to keep the world informed” and the Reuters Video Journalist of the Year prize. Mr Pollard and a colleague spent two weeks between January and February 2020 Image: Tom Peter
On the front line: Martin Pollard reporting from China
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travelling through and reporting on towns along the southeastern border of Hubei experiencing surges in coronavirus infections. He said: “Usually a lot of stories calm down, but this was like a pot of boiling water that keeps threatening to boil over.” He added: “People were afraid of anyone who was associated with Wuhan.” As a foreign journalist, he was constantly questioned by Chinese law enforcement. On one occasion, a train station employee trapped Mr Pollard behind large metal shutters after they caught him filming temperature checks. The staff
forced him to delete the footage as a “matter of state security”. On presenting Mr Pollard with the Thomson Reuters Award, Steve Hasker, CEO, said he respected Mr Pollard’s willingness to “put it all on the line in order to reach the truth”. The City graduate said he was “shocked and very honoured” to win the awards. He added: “I didn’t dream that I would be lucky enough to get shortlisted. It’s incredible to get one [award] let alone two.” He attended the ceremony virtually while reporting from the North Korean border and celebrated with “a special stash of Venezuelan rum”.
XCITY / News
Price of health: City’s low spend on PPE revealed A Freedom of Information request has shown City has spent just over £23,000 on PPE and hygiene measures during the COVID-19 pandemic Sophie Laughton
£13,000 was spent in this period alone, including £2,000 on face shields. City received an additional 80,000 face masks from the Department of Education at the start of 2021, according to a spokesperson for the university. Staff and students are not provided with PPE, but are required to bring their own when attending campus. Jack Ball, who is studying for a Graduate Diploma in Law at City, said: “The fact that City spent so little clearly shows they do not care about their students.” A spokesperson for City, University of London told XCity: “The health and safety of our students, staff and visitors remains our top priority and over the past year we have put measures in place to ensure our campus is a safe environment. “We continue to operate with an enhanced cleaning programme, sanitising all surfaces and high touch areas. Hand sanitiser stations can be found across campus and disinfectant spray is available to Hand sanitiser students and staff so they can also clean areas they are using.” 53% City spent £277 on Face cleaning wipes to sanitise shields workspaces, £3,026 on anti9% £12,197 bacterial spray and £1,533 on blue roll. Individual schools £2,121 and departments may have How City spent administered extra spending £23,000 based on specific needs. Unlike many other UK universities, City does not Wipes own any halls of residence £3,763 and therefore does not have 1% to provide extra cleaning £277 Face £3,026 materials for these spaces. A masks spokesperson told XCity that £1,533 Keyboard covers they “have been in contact with 16% Blue roll 1% our accommodation partners Anti-bacterial spray 7% who have been ensuring their £119 premises are safe”. 13%
City, University of London has spent just over £23,000 on PPE, cleaning materials and hand sanitiser since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Freedom of Information request by XCity has revealed. This figure is significantly lower than the reported cost of hygiene measures implemented by other UK universities. City spent £23,040.36 on protecting its 20,000 students and 2,000 staff between February 2020 and February 2021. However, other universities have spent over £1m on COVID-19 precautions, according to Research Professional News, a website aimed at professionals working in higher education. Over half of the total amount was spent on hand sanitising dispensers and gels, costing City more than £12,000. By contrast, University of Leeds spent £102,000 on hand sanitiser for its 39,000 students in the period between March and September 2020, Research Professional News reported. In the same period Queen Mary University of London spent
£600,000 on hand sanitisers and PPE to protect its UK-based student population of 23,000. City began its response in February 2020 with an initial spend of just over £2,450 on hand sanitiser units and gel. A further £342 was spent on antibacterial sprays, £834 on hand sanitiser, and just £84.80 on face masks in March 2020. The university closed all of its buildings on 20 March 2020, and began partially reopening in July 2020. Leeds and Queen Mary’s campuses remained open to a small number of researchers and medical professionals carrying out COVID-19 research during this period, although all teaching was moved online. There was a significant increase in PPE expenditure at City between August and October 2020 in preparation for the return of face-to-face teaching at the start of the new academic year. Over
What City spent each month on PPE, sanitiser and cleaning materials
2020 February
£2,453.10 Campus closes in response to COVID-19
March
£1,331.80
April
£1,011.00 May
£384.75 June
£1,890.24 July Cty partially repoens
£1,564.30
August
£5,355.80 September In person teaching returns
£2,135.48
October
£7,368.44 November
£420.00 December
£959.00
2021 City receives 80,000 face masks from DFE
January
£277.55
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XCITY / News
Startup founder wins XCity Award for international initiative
Chloé Meley
get out of my comfort zone.” Ms Aboughazala added: “I’m flattered by the nomination and selection. Every time I get a nod of approval like that, I take it as the universe giving me a sign to go ahead.” With Egab, Ms Aboughazala aims to promote locallyproduced solutions journalism —or SoJo—a type of reporting that explores how people are responding to social problems in their communities. She said: “As a Middle Eastern journalist, we have always reported about terrorism, wars, conflicts, human rights violations. It’s the way the media portrays that part of the world. And it’s not that these things do not exist, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.” Egab helps local journalists craft their SoJo pitches and sell them to editors who, in turn, benefit from having on-theground reporters who know the language, the culture, and the people. This aims to circumvent the issue of ‘parachute reporting’, where journalists are dispatched to report on a crisis they are unfamiliar with, which carries the risk of simplifying or misrepresenting it. For journalists, Egab provides a platform to acquire the confidence and the skills to get started in a saturated, deteriorating industry. Ms Aboughazala said: “Young journalists [in some parts of
Image: Dina Aboughazala
As reports of the Beirut blast reached newsrooms last August, many outlets across the globe immediately dispatched reporters to document the aftermath. But one of them did not need to. The United Arab Emirates’ National News instead used the services of Egab, a startup that puts local journalists in contact with editors of regional and international outlets. The paper commissioned a young Beirut-based reporter to write about how Palestinian refugees, routinely discriminated against in Lebanon, were instrumental in helping find survivors. Egab founder Dina Aboughazala, a 2019 graduate of City’s Interactive MA, is this year’s XCity Award winner. The media entrepreneur’s initiative, which was started in August 2020, beat 19 nominees to win the £500 prize, which honours an alumni who has made an outstanding contribution to journalism over the last year. A former BBC journalist in Cairo, Addis Ababa, and London, Ms Aboughazala had a mid-career crisis in 2017 which prompted her to apply for the MA Interactive Journalism programme. She said: “City showed me that I’m not limited. I wouldn’t have been able to take this step of leaving my job and going on this crazy journey of launching a startup if I had not had that training on how to
Journalism Network, where she got the project off the ground. She then joined the startup accelerator Founder Institute, where her brainchild grew into a viable business. Less than a year old, Egab is still in its infancy, with the short-term goal of getting funding to turn volunteers into employees and grow the threeperson team. Dr James Morris, head of the Interactive MA, said of Ms Aboughazala’s success: “Dina’s award comes as no surprise. Her new startup is extremely exciting and has the potential to make a very positive contribution. “A greatly deserving winner of the XCity Award.”
the Middle East and Africa] are really struggling to join the market. The quality of journalism is absolutely poor. It’s propaganda, it’s PR, it’s not journalism anymore.” Ms Aboughazala hopes that Egab can shake the status quo, and help those young graduates produce authoritative and innovative journalism. Ms Aboughazala was inspired to create Egab whilst completing her Chevening Scholarship application—a scheme for international students with leadership potential that allowed her to attend City. Following her MA in 2019, she was offered a fellowship at the nonprofit organisation Solutions
XCity Award shortlist Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff Newspaper, 2016
Recognised for his work to establish Ghana’s first fact-checking organisation, a crucial tool for the country’s election coverage.
Mary Fitzgerald Magazine, 2007 Image: Open Democracy
Recognised for his work as the BBC’s first LGBT correspondent and his new role as the BBC’s West Africa correspondent.
Image: Naa Ninche
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Rabiu Alhassan Erasmus Mundus, 2019 Image: Ben Hunte/Twitter
Image: Shope Delano
Recognised for her work as gal-dem editor, centring women and nonbinary people of colour in coverage of COVID and Black Lives Matter.
Ben Hunte Broadcast, 2017
Recognised for her work as editor of openDemocracy, through which she has continuously held the government to account.
XCITY / Features
10 March:
First day of Production Fortnight.
11 March:
Everyone will have to come in on the weekend.
£30bn support package announced for coronavirus
15 March:
16 March:
Printed dummy. Announcement made that City will stop all face-toface teaching. Need to finish ASAP!
irus nav t o r y co star Dail efings bri
Sunday. Most people in. Emily Maitlis interview laid out. Subbing.
17 March:
In till 11pm. Mostly subbing and last minute things. Got everything done.
Last mag standing: XCity in a lockdown
Lights, camera, coronavirus! What happens when the pandemic rains on your production fortnight? Ella Doyle asks last year’s team
nneTaylor lly-A Ke
Image : Ro
After Sarah’s call, there were 18 of us left on campus to make the magazine. At that point we still had 10 days, so things were steady. But on I Monday 16, we got the news that the university was closing to everyone, including staff, in two days. There’s actually a video
e:
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Kelly-Anne Taylor, editor-in-chief
ag
We had started work on the magazine in January. As the term continued, people
needed to go in and tell everyone what was happening. At that point, we were looking at just over half the time that we initially had. We needed to decide as a group whether we were going to try and finish XCity before the uni closed, and make a game plan. The other option was to maybe come back in May and finish it then. Because at this point we were all thinking that lockdown would probably be done in May!
m
Robyn Schaffer, production editor
were talking about coronavirus. I don’t think anyone thought much was going to come of it. Things were getting bad just before production fortnight. It was all a bit up in the air. On Tuesday (10 March) we started production. Everyone was in good spirits – computers were set up, people had their snacks, someone made an XCity playlist. We got all the listings laid out for the “Where are they now?” section. After that first day of production, I woke up to a missed call from Sarah, our course leader. This was 8.30 in the morning. I called her back. She said: “Rumours are flying that the university is going to close at the r ff e end of next week.” ha She rang me on a Wednesday, so this left us nine more days. I was thinking – oh my god. She said that the editors
by nS c
L
ast year, just as XCity’s production fortnight got underway, rumours began flying that City was to close imminently. Suddenly production fortnight was looking more like production week and a bit, or even less. After months of preparation, with pieces written and pictures secured, the students were determined to see the magazine through to print. But new announcements came daily and rules were likely to change at any minute. Amongst a blur of takeaway coffee, InDesign layouts, and Deliveroo orders at midnight, the last ones standing from the magazine cohort got XCity out to the printers just in time, clutching cups of celebratory prosecco as the university doors locked behind them. XCity spoke to last year’s editors about the highs and lows from that notorious week.
XCITY / Features
Sent draft listings PDFs to magazine tutors.
Schools cancel trips abroad
Designed by pikisuperstar
13 March:
12 March:
Stayed until 9pm finishing listings.
14 March:
Saturday. Getting everyone in was hard.
asta, ut of p o l l e s r ts t pape marke Super gel and toile hand
18 March:
🍾
Came in to check proofs – all done and approved by 6pm. Prosecco.
Government announces all schools will close on 20 March
somewhere that James [multimedia editor] took of us telling the cohort about the new deadline. I bought loads of snacks from Sainsbury’s to try and get the morale up. Snack-a-jacks, cheese twists, choccies, lots of crisps. No fruit. Snacks for the brain. I remember it was the time when there was no pasta on the shelves. We were advised to leave altogether, but we were so close. Obviously some people felt very passionately about getting XCity finished in two days, and other people, quite rightly, needed to stop and go home.
with this, a really great sense of unity and dedication to each other. And that included the people who weren’t physically there, as well, massively—people were helping from wherever they were. At this point the gates of City were closed to everyone, and you had to have specific staff let you into the building through the back door. People were taking the hand sanitiser from the university. And there was no toilet paper in the bathroom either, because people were taking the loo roll.
“We were tired and delirious but getting it done” Among all this chaos was the XCity team. It seemed nuts. It was the most bizarre experience, but, on the same note, absolutely brilliant.
Katie Jenkins, deputy editor
Je
n
In the journalism department, there’s a hallway next to the TVs with sofas and chairs, and all the walls are glass. You could see people from the other journalism departments just legging it, piling out of the university on the 16th. I remember at one point Paul Lashmar [department head] coming in and asking in bewilderment, “You guys are still here?” We had two days before the uni closed to everyone, and we just thought, we have to see this through. Imag e: K atie
Katie [deputy editor] and I went into a separate podcast room. One by one, each person came through and told us whether they wanted to continue or not. We didn’t want anyone to be influenced by anyone else’s decisions, but we needed to see if it was going to be plausible to actually make the magazine with the number of people that wanted to stay. There were 10 left, so we felt we could do it. That, for me, was probably the hardest part of the entire experience. We’ve lived with coronavirus now for a year, but at the time, people were scared. And I’m not excluding myself from that either. What we had to do was expand responsibility and delegate a lot more to people who weren’t going to be doing those jobs. It was very much all hands in. There was a really nice feeling of, obviously, general panic, but coupled
kin
s
So we stayed until about midnight that night. One of the guys offered to get Vietnamese food for everyone, as the rest of us were in our overdrafts. I’m not sure if we ever paid him back for that actually… I remember getting the bus back after midnight, and it was eerily quiet. Everything was dead in London. The next day, we came back at 8am, and again stayed till midnight. It was like that for the next few days. At this point we were doing the last minute things—checking, subbing, printing proofs. We were tired and delirious but getting it done. On the final day (18 March), it was down to just six of us to do a final check and send XCity off to the printers. Jason had brought us prosecco. I’ll never forget that final delirious moment, drinking our plastic cups of prosecco after we sent it off, taking a tired-looking selfie. Our little island in the weird global turmoil going on around us. It wasn’t exactly the goodbye we were expecting— walking from a deserted uni campus to an equally deserted tube station. But, cheesy as it sounds, I still feel so lucky to have been part of such a brilliant team. Hopefully in the not too distant future we’ll be able to have a proper reunion. But, until then, if they’re making as many waves as they did at XCity then I’m sure they’ll go far. 🆇
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XCITY / Features
Critics in
From online shows to restaurant deliveries, XCity asks eight arts Jordan Bassett: Commissioning editor at NME How has the pandemic changed your life as a music writer? Apart from the fact that we’re not sitting in the office and going to gigs after work, not much has changed in terms of output. We’re still reviewing records, still doing the same number of interviews, and we are even still doing live reviews. It’s all just done via Zoom instead. What have been some of the major innovations for the music industry in the last year? When livestreams were new they felt quite rough around the edges, and it was cool that you could see Matty Healy’s bedroom. They then went from being a free thing that someone was doing on their phone to something made by
a videographer that you’d have to pay a fiver for. Now they always have some sort of weird gimmick, like wacky visuals or costume changes. What is the future of music journalism? The big thing that everyone is talking about at the moment is newsletters, as a sort of bite-sized digital magazine sent directly to your inbox. It might be a fad, it might be a lasting trend, who knows? I would personally rather see a focus on more long-form content. Well curated homepages, digital cover stories, and maybe print magazines with less regularity. What do you miss most about pre-pandemic live music? The spontaneity, both as a gig-goer and as a journalist. Hearing that someone is doing a secret gig and you have two hours to get a writer and photographer there, that scramble is really good fun. Best album to come out of lockdown? TYRON by slowthai. Worst thing about working from home? Too much emphasis on social media. You boil people down to an avatar. Guilty pleasure? I don’t really believe in guilty pleasures: if you like it, you like it. But for what most people would consider a guilty pleasure, I am a massive Robbie Williams fan. One to watch? Greentea Peng. I think she’s going to blow up. By Chiara Wilkinson
David Jenkins: Editor at Little White Lies How has the pandemic changed your life as a music writer? When you have a schedule of films coming out, it means you just end up doing things as they pop down the chute. When the chute is blocked up or not working as it should, it forces you to be more creative. We made an issue of Little White Lies in lockdown, which just looked at food and film. Most people were getting enjoyment out of cooking, and it seemed like a good way to connect film to something that people were more interested in during that moment.
What is the future of film writing? There are film review apps like Letterboxd now, so that’s a less formal way to engage with cinema. That’s not to say there isn’t a place for traditional critics. However, there was a hierarchy before. You had weekly newspaper critics at the top, then magazine critics, then bloggers, and people writing on social media etc. Now, these worlds are fairly equal.
How do you think on demand platforms will impact cinemas? There was a sense that cinema was a rival to video on demand. Maybe it’s seen as this malevolent force to people who romanticise cinema. I think lockdown has taught us that you can have both. There is enough time to be able to go to the cinema, and also have a few streaming platforms.
What’s your advice to aspiring film writers? Watch, read, and write loads.
What do you miss most about the cinema? Being able to really focus your attention on something. I don’t think I’m being too over the top to say that even something as small as the doorbell going, or your phone buzzing, takes you out of the moment. I think films are at their most effective when you’re completely shut off from the world. It’s hard to think of a filmmaker who wouldn’t want people to experience their work in that way.
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Best film of lockdown? Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland Worst film of lockdown? Hubie Halloween by Steven Brill A timeless film? Ernst Lubitsch’s The Shop Around the Corner An underrated film? David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me By Charlotte Rawlings
XCITY / Features
and lifestyle writers how the pandemic has changed their world Leo Robson: Fiction reviewer at New Statesman How has the pandemic changed your life as a fiction critic? As I am used to going to the library very regularly, my access to books has been really reduced. The internet and e-books are helpful but not that helpful – often they’re very expensive and certain things aren’t available because of licensing. How do you find working online in general? If the internet was just JSTOR [online academic journals], it would be fine, but there’s all the other distractions that come with it. But it has its advantages. For instance, last year I was writing something about Joyce Carol Oates, who has published well over a hundred books. And it was a godsend not to be able to get hold of them all. I had to focus on what I already knew. Sometimes the library can be a bottomless well, and a Google search box can be more of a funnel or keyhole.
Lockdown comfort read? Pauline Kael’s New Yorker film reviews. New discoveries over the year? Rebecca Watson’s brilliant new novel Little Scratch, and Sarah Moss, who I hadn’t read before. Dream literary meeting? Jane Austen or George Eliot, to see what they would make of Freud and Marx. Most underrated book of the last few years? The Zero and the One by Ryan Ruby.
Images: Maya Cross Odemudia
How has the pandemic changed your approach in a literary sense? Sitting around reading the great or aspiringly great writers talking about public life, love, and society, you always have this slight question of how it all ultimately relates to real life. And the monotony of life at the moment makes it seem even more flagrantly contradictory to engage in ‘big ideas’ and ‘questions of being’ when I’m sitting randomly googling and going to the corner shop. There’s always that obvious contrast between the grandeur of some literature and the mundanity of the lives we mostly lead, but it’s been exacerbated by the pandemic.
What were the most important literary events of the last year? It would have to be the Obama memoir and the Normal People TV adaptation. In literary journalism, it would be the retirement or semi-retirement of Mary-Kay Wilmers from editing the London Review of Books. She ran the paper solo from 1992 and has been a mentor to generations of brilliant people.
By Nicholas Harris
Lyndsey Winship: Dance critic at The Guardian How has the pandemic changed your life as a dance critic? Normally, I go to the theatre a few times a week. I had a whole calendar full of shows planned from last March to the autumn season. Suddenly, there was nothing. Since then, dance companies have put out digital content. Now, I’m reviewing shows from archives, or films people are making themselves. What do you miss most about going to the theatre? Obviously, seeing works live. I’ve seen some good things online but some things you can’t recreate. The feeling of mass communal silence before the lights go down, the energy and anticipation. I miss seeing colleagues and the conversations you’d have during the interval. Have there been other major trends in the dance industry last year? There’s been a lot of soul searching. There’s a lot of consideration about
the reliance on freelance workers, who our essential workers are, and whether they are really being valued. When the pandemic happened, big companies were able to get government support. But 81 per cent of dancers and choreographers are freelancers. How can it be fair that the people who are providing the food to the industry are the least well paid and most precarious? Do you think TikTok has also contributed to bringing dancers and audiences closer? Definitely. TikTok’s the most enthusiastic gathering of people performing and recording dance. You see top dancers doing ridiculous skits. Traditionally, ballet dancers are very composed in their public image, it’s fun to see people be themselves. With amateur dance trends, you’re encouraged to copy and add to them – there’s constant creation. That creativity is what dance needs. Most memorable dance performance? Coming down from Newcastle to see Merce Cunningham Company when I was 16. Favourite lockdown performance? Robbie Fairchild and Chris Jarosz dancing on their New York rooftop. Dream interviewee? Merce Cunningham. Favourite dance book? Jennifer Homans’ Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet. → By Kay Leong
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Lucy Halfhead: Group luxury travel director at Hearst UK What has been the biggest challenge in the pandemic? Because we couldn’t get on a plane and send writers on trips, it was difficult to know what copy we would have. There was no news or new hotels, so we had to come up with a new way of telling stories. We did reflective pieces on past trips in familiar places like Italy and Greece. We covered once-in-a-lifetime destinations like Rwanda, and we also did a lot about UK travel and the different ways of travelling. But I felt quite helpless. I was hearing stories about the industry crumbling around me and people losing their jobs and livelihoods. This was an opportunity to publish news-oriented articles to examine the impact of the pandemic on the industry. How has the pandemic impacted your job as a travel writer and editor? In every way possible. We’re told to stay in our homes; it’s the complete opposite to everything I know and love. Even when things started to open up last summer, it was like a revolving door. You never knew what the next day would bring. From the outset, I remained committed to running travel content in our magazines. We had to keep providing what we normally do, which is inspirational content. Saying that, we had to boost what we were doing online because it was easier to respond to the ever-evolving restrictions there. The traffic was crazy! What do you miss about being able to go on press trips? The people. Whether it’s the barman who makes you a special cocktail when you arrive at the hotel, or the general manager who’s
been there for 20 years and can tell you every single thing about it. I love to share people’s stories and knowledge with my readers. Have there been any major innovations in the travel and tourism industry? The industry has been amazing at pivoting and adhering to new protocols. The luxury travel market has a slight advantage in that it’s always had strict hygiene protocols, and luxury hotels have been able to offer guests maximum space and privacy. In the Maldives and the Caribbean you can even do a PCR test upon arrival, which has allowed people to have holidays of pre-pandemic times. Best thing from lockdown? The Berkeley’s summer terrace. Your guilty-pleasure holiday destination? Ibiza! Most underrated holiday destination? The UK. By Rhiannon Jenkins
Tim Hayward: Restaurant critic at the Financial Times In November you spent a whole month in hospital with coronavirus, with 10 days in the ICU. Has the experience changed the way that you want to write about food? It was very strange being in hospital for a long time. You look at the hospital food and go: “God, this is just revolting.” Then you very quickly realise that it’s probably the closest thing to a square meal many of the people that are in there get, and you suddenly feel very awkward about who you are and what you are, and how you make a living. It does really remind you of your privilege and it did affect me massively.
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How has the pandemic changed your everyday practice as a food writer? I own some restaurants, so every waking moment is spent talking and thinking about food and restaurants. I would be in touch with a lot of restaurant people all day, every day. I would go into London on average twice a week. I would eat in restaurants usually on my own ticket; once or twice a week I’d be doing it on somebody
else’s – to review or for consultancy work. And that just stopped. What would be your advice to a young writer starting out who wants to go into food journalism? Well, you’re probably not going to be a critic. In my generation, a lot of the critics are actually from advertising. We did it because we had spent 10 years on expenses going to expensive restaurants, but that won’t happen again. We are irrelevant. We’re old. We’re culturally homogenous. Our newspapers will keep us going, and we’ll keep writing about restaurants as long as we can. But as they replace us, they’re looking for young people of varying backgrounds and ethnicities to write about new and different restaurants. What is the best food related book you’ve read during lockdown? Life is Meals by James and Kay Salter. Best bottle of wine since March 2020? A Condrieu my father-inlaw bought me for Christmas. Best meal since March 2020? My 17-year-old daughter made me pizza a couple of nights ago. The main thing was that she handled the whole thing herself. She actually bothered to cycle to an Italian deli for salsiccia, she drained canned San Marzanos and hand crushed them, and her sourdough was on point, having rested it overnight in the fridge. I guess what delights me the most is that those aren’t things I’ve ‘taught’ her. In fact, some of them I wouldn’t do. I’m kind of more pleased about that than exam results – just don’t tell her I said so. By Elizabeth Gregory
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Jason Zinoman: Comedy and theatre critic at The New York Times How has the pandemic changed your work as a comedy critic? Completely transformed it. I used to go out to comedy clubs three or four times a week, so when they all disappeared I put that energy into spending more time on social media and Zoom shows. But it’s not new anymore, it’s just the way it is and it is just not as good as the way it used to be. Because of a lack of live shows I’ve also written a lot about the history of comedy.
Who are your favourite lockdown social media comedians? The biggest example of front-facing camera comedy is Sarah Cooper, who did Trump lip-syncs and got her own Netflix special and a TV show. I also really like Meg Stalter. She plays weird, eccentric characters. It’s not political, just silly and flamboyant. Is there a gap in the comedy market or a niche that you think needs to be filled? My guess is that people are exhausted by politics. I think we will swing from being very topical to very escapist. The kind of comedy that does well for escapism is absurdist, surreal and weird comedy. There’s two types of people in this world. Do you like Mamma Mia, or not? Do I have to answer this question? The honest answer is yes, I do like Mamma Mia. Your number one guilty pleasure? Inanimate object horror. What are you watching at the moment? Call My Agent. Best performance you’ve ever seen? Fiona Shaw in Medea. By Kitty Chrisp
Aindrea Emelife: Freelance art critic Explain how the pandemic has changed your day to day practice as an art critic. I’ve been writing less reviews, and I’ve probably done more thinking, reading, and researching. Being trapped in my house and seeing how COVID-19 has made so many social issues fast forward, I’ve realised I want to focus on what art can do and how it makes us feel. What have been some of the major changes in the art world over the past year? The art world is now really trying to get digital off the ground. There is a mass of online content, which is making art more accessible. There’s almost too many ideas and information, but that can never be a bad thing. The past year has also changed the way that diversity is being addressed. Now, every museum that doesn’t have a black curator wants one, and there’s been a big shift to understand what’s important. What is the future of art writing, and of the art world? Making art writing accessible and making sure that the right stories are told will be the future. And maybe people won’t be reading newspapers as much. Maybe the future of art writing lies in podcasts or conversations. This year is going to see a proliferation of black artists in museum shows: whether it is tokenistic or not is yet to be seen, but I think it will be really great. I look forward to an art world that is more conscious of how art can stand up for human issues. Whenever there is a crisis, there is always a boom. Every
Images: Maya Cross Odemudia
What do you miss? Being in an audience. Collective joy is primal. Laughter is social and contagious. When you’re in PJs it’s not an event. You get dressed up, you take the subway, you show up, you may see someone you know. There’s anticipation. The atmosphere is real and there’s something really satisfying about being present; turning your phone off, the lights going down and focusing for an hour.
What is the best performance you’ve seen in lockdown? How To with John Wilson. He spends all his time filming around New York and did a whole episode on scaffolding. I like work that’s all around you, but you never think about. I realised this whole city – which I think I know really well – is deformed by all these temporary structures. They are all there for safety, so it’s this great metaphor for where we are now. The central question is: when does something temporary become permanent?
important art movement has historically come after something chaotic. I’m looking forward to maybe seeing a new wave of artists, or some artistic change. What do you miss most about going to galleries? I miss seeing lots of different types of art. I’ve not really seen any for almost a year, which is weird given that’s what I do. Best art exhibition to come out of lockdown? Lynette Yiadom-Boakye: Fly in League With The Night, at Tate Britain. Emerging artists to keep an eye on? Tabita Rezaire and Somaya Critchlow. Dream artist dinner date? Caravaggio would be some party. Most overrated art movement? “Bad Painting”; a trend from America in the 1970s. People seem to love it, but it’s just bad. 🆇 By Chiara Wilkinson
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Matthew Weaver and Pippa Crerar reveal how they broke Britain’s political scoop of the year, writes Emily Stearn
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t was the scandal of the year: a scandal that unfolded before the eyes of the nation over one warm bank holiday weekend in May. Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s Chief Advisor, had fled his London home for Durham with suspected coronavirus, along with his wife and son. Cummings’ 264-mile trip (or two depending on which sources you listen to) sparked meme after meme. Specsavers saw mentions of their slogan increase by 6,000 per cent overnight, a Cummings cartoon featured in Beano comic book’s first ever issue for grown-ups, while TripAdvisor was forced to temporarily suspend ratings for Barnard Castle after thousands of spoof reviews. But it was the work of two rival
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newspapers, The Guardian and The Mirror, working collaboratively that uncovered Britain’s scoop of the year. And for the two journalists on those papers, it brought them international acclaim, a British Press Award in December 2020, and five nominations at The Society of Editors’ Press Awards. But why did they collaborate? And how did the scoop unfold? Here’s the inside story. On 6 April, Matthew Weaver, a Guardian reporter, posts on their coronavirus live blog that Cummings is not working in Downing Street, but in contact with their officials. Weaver suddenly receives a voicemail. “I can tell you why he’s not in Downing Street,” it says. “I’ve just seen him in Durham.” Weaver calls them straight back. “The details were very compelling – what he
was wearing, how they encountered him,” he explains. “There was this music playing from Cummings’ family home – ABBA. I asked them what tune it was – Dancing Queen. Everything I asked, they were very ready with an answer.” Just one day earlier, Catherine Calderwood, Scotland’s chief medical officer, had resigned after visiting her second home in Fife, East Scotland. On 28 March, Stephen Kinnock, MP for Aberavon, South Wales, was contacted by the police after he posted a photo on Twitter showing he had visited his father on his birthday. These stories were dynamite. “We just thought, ‘oh fuck it let’s just see what Downing Street say,’” Weaver adds. “They refused to comment. I knew it wasn’t good enough to have only one source. I
Image: AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali
Uncovering the Barnard Castle Scandal
XCITY / Features any reports of Cummings in the area. “This was something Pippa and I just hadn’t done,” says Weaver. “They told us we’ll have a statement for you by the afternoon. It was completely out of our hands. We thought it would get straight back down to Downing Street first and they would release some sort of statement and spoil the story for us. We were really nervous.”
“Oh f*** it let’s see what Downing Street say” But at 4pm, the statement arrives in their inbox. It’s official: Cummings had been to Durham. Crerar and Weaver agree to publish together at 8pm. The story reveals Cummings was spotted on 5 April outside his parents’ house in Durham. “At 7:59pm Pippa sent me three sick face emojis,” Weaver reveals. “I knew it was going to be a big story. I guess I was so caught up in the methodical checking, and then making sure that everything was done, going back to my sources multiple times and speaking to the lawyers that I should have probably been prepared for the reaction,” Crerar admits. “When it happened, I felt a bit overwhelmed by it, honestly.” On Saturday morning, Cummings emerges to journalists, photographers and TV crews gathering outside his home. He dismisses the story as being of no interest. “I just sat there and thought, actually, people really do care,” Crerar says. “This is somebody that prides himself on being in touch with regular people, and is incredibly scathing about what he describes as the ‘Westminster bubble’. Yet, he and Number
10 completely didn’t get that this story went way beyond the bubble.” Weaver had agreed to go into the office on Saturday to cover the reaction. At 10:09am he receives a phone call from Robin Lees, a retired chemistry teacher. Lees had spotted Cummings with his family in April, not in Durham but 24 miles away. In a town that was about to become famous. “It seemed completely beyond our wildest expectations that we could get someone as good as him,” Weaver explains. “He was prepared to go on the record, he had the number plate of Cummings’ car and a Google search history showing when he looked that number plate up. I was so excited.” Meanwhile, Crerar manages to convince ‘bluebell’ to go on the record. That evening Grant Shapps tells the daily press conference that Cummings hasn’t broken any rules by travelling to Durham for childcare reasons. But Crerar and Weaver have proof he had. At 7:30pm, the Sunday Mirror and The Observer publish a second story. It reveals that Lees had spotted Cummings in Barnard Castle on 12 April, and Cummings was also seen walking in Houghall Woods on 19 April by an unnamed source. The next morning Crerar appears on the Andrew Marr Show for the paper review. By sheer coincidence, the appearance had been booked weeks in advance. “I had quite a lot of requests to do other high-profile TV shows” she says. “But I didn’t want the story to be about me. I thought it was great that the rest of the media felt it was serious enough to follow up and push the story forwards.” Throughout the day, Government ministers tweet defending Cummings’ breach of lockdown. “Caring for your wife and child is not a crime,” says Michael → Image: Instagram @l.ttle.joys / Robert Scarth
spent a lot of time on social media as there were tweets saying things like ‘a friend of mine has seen Cummings.’” But on 19 April, he receives another tip off. Cummings has been spotted with someone in Houghall Bluebell Woods, Durham. Over at The Mirror, Pippa Crerar receives this tip too. A contact calls the political editor saying their friend had been walking in Houghall Bluebell Woods and was absolutely certain they’d seen Cummings with his wife. She rings her colleague Jeremy Armstrong, The Mirror’s North East correspondent, who explains he’d received a tip off at the beginning of April that Cummings had been seen coming out of his parent’s home in Durham. He’d made initial enquiries but hadn’t got anywhere. “So, I went to Number 10 and they didn’t deny it,” Crerar says. “And when you’ve been in political journalism as long as I have, you learn to read between the lines. There’s a formula of denials and you can glean quite a lot from that.” She spends the following weeks trying to convince the source, who they call ‘bluebell’, to go on the record, but is unsuccessful. “Unbeknownst to me, until that moment, so had The Guardian,” Crerar says. “They’d also got to the point where they felt they’d come up against a brick wall and couldn’t publish.” Suddenly she tracks down The Guardian’s ABBA source. Prior to joining The Mirror in 2018, Crerar had spent 10 months as The Guardian’s deputy political editor. “I still knew lots of people there,” she says. “So, I called up a senior editor and said ‘Look, I know it’s unorthodox, but how about putting together what we’ve got, and seeing if we can do it together?’” Rules of engagement between the two papers are drawn up. “We were both disappointed initially when we realised we were chasing the same story,” Weaver says. “But within two minutes of talking to Pippa, it was pretty clear that this was going to be a good move. She was incredibly trustworthy.” But they need more: an independent source. On 25 April, Mary Wakefield, Cummings’ wife and an editor at The Spectator, publishes an article in the magazine and appears later that day on BBC Radio 4’s Today describing the family’s experience of suffering with coronavirus. She fails to mention any visit to Durham. Meanwhile, Professor Neil Ferguson, a coronavirus government advisor, resigns on 6 May after breaking lockdown rules twice to meet his girlfriend. “That was really a much more minor breach,” says Weaver. “And it angered our sources. My original source was getting frustrated and joked about taking it to Private Eye. Thankfully I managed to stop them.” Then, on Friday 22 May, Armstrong rings Durham Police, asking if they have
Postcards from Durham: Greetings from the bluebell wood, love Dom
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Image: Jonathan Brady/Pool via AP
Cummings and goings: The PM’s chief advisor delivers his Downing Street press conference
Gove. “Taking care of your wife and young child is justifiable and reasonable; trying to score political points over it isn’t,” adds Rishi Sunak. “It was entirely right for Dom Cummings to find childcare for his toddler,” tweets Matt Hancock. But MPs are inundated with emails from tens of thousands of angry constituents, furious with Cummings. Analysis by The Guardian later revealed that 117 MPs had received 31,738 emails in the first five days since the story was published. While each MP analysed received an average of 271 emails, for Conservative MPs this was 590, with many receiving over 1,000. Later that day, Boris Johnson stands before the daily press conference podium and calls elements of the news stories “palpably false”. “It was clear to us that that was about the second trip back up,” Crerar says. But Weaver and Crerar don’t know that a couple from County Durham are watching the press conference on TV and had also seen Cummings on 19 April. “Dave and Clare Edwards were really good witnesses, as a journalist, because they had no political axe to grind,” says Crerar. “Dave was a businessman who had voted Tory in the past. And Clare was an NHS nurse of 30 years and had also worked in the care sector.” Crerar speaks with Clare later that night. As public anger intensifies, Downing Street grants Cummings a press conference in Number Ten’s Rose Garden on Monday afternoon. He arrives 30 minutes late. Despite the “stay at home” rules he had helped to craft, he insists he has done nothing wrong. He admits to driving to Durham on 27 March, being visited by the police, and travelling to Barnard Castle to test his eyesight. But he denies reports he made a second trip on 19 April, when he was seen in Houghall Woods, and says he
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has evidence proving he was in London. Sitting in The Guardian office, Weaver watches the conference while WhatsApping Lees. “The first thing Robin [Lees] said was that ‘there’s nothing wrong with his eyesight’,” says Weaver. “To portray the whole thing as lies by the media seemed to me deeply disingenuous.”
“I now know the Prime Minister was furious” On Wednesday 27 May, Johnson appears before the Public Accounts Committee to discuss the government’s response to the pandemic. He rules out an inquiry into the conduct of his top adviser and insists it is time to “move on”. But he is questioned repeatedly by the committee’s Chair, Meg Hillier, over whether he has seen the evidence proving Cummings did not take the alleged second trip. “I now know that the Prime Minister was furious and had called in Cummings. They had a six-hour meeting,” says Crerar. “I don’t know what they talked about. I don’t know how much he confessed to, but they had the meeting and worked out what the strategy would be. And the response of Number 10, under Cummings and Lee Cain, probably really until the end of last year, was very much to double down on anything. They would never admit doing wrong. They would never say sorry.” Meanwhile, Weaver and Crerar grapple with whether to run the Edwards’ story, given Cummings had so vehemently denied it. “Matt and I were very keen to have it on the public record; we felt that it was important because it would have given much more credibility to the second trip,”
she says. “We wanted the Edwards’ story out there.” Eventually, they publish it on 6 August. As the drama intensifies, public trust in the government’s handling of the pandemic plummets. A study later published in The Lancet in August found a clear and lasting “Cummings effect”. “Quite a lot of people have asked me, ‘Did you ever think about how people might behave because of it?”’ says Crerar. “And I did. I worried about it a lot. But I also think that I wasn’t to blame for that. Cummings was. It was his behaviour. It was his breach of the rules. And if that was going to sit with anyone, it should sit with him.” Since May, tourists have swamped Barnard Castle, with selfies outside Specsavers. Beer maker BrewDog even sold a special edition of ‘Barnard Castle Eye Test’ IPA, which sold out twice. “It wasn’t until I watched Have I Got News For You that I realised the impact it had had,” says Weaver. “I was WhatsApping Robin Lees watching it. It was so surreal; I’ve never had anything like that before.” But how did it feel to have uncovered virtually the entire scoop from home? “Weird,” Crerar admits. “When we go back to normal, Matt and I have to do a road trip up to Durham,” she says. “We should meet Jeremy there and have a night out and walk in Houghall Woods and take a trip to Barnard Castle. It’s got to happen.” And they’ve both enjoyed the merchandise too. “For Christmas I got a ‘Where’s Wally?’ style ‘Where’s Dom?’ comic book, which my kids love,” she adds. “I realised I’d written a story that had broken the public consciousness when a few weeks later I received several Dominic Cummings themed birthday cards. If you make it into the birthday card market, you’re doing alright.” 🆇
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Prêt à Pandemic Madeleine Killick speaks with fashion editors about the future of the catwalk
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weekly digital edition of the magazine. “Digital subscriptions increased substantially last year,” reveals Fashion Journalist of the Year and head of fashion at The Telegraph, Lisa Armstrong. “We’re being read by more people than ever.” But why are more readers tuning into sartorial trends when a recent YouGov survey found that a third of us no longer change our clothes on a daily basis? As Armstrong explains: “People have more time on their hands and have been looking for glamour and escapism.” Whether we’re browsing Browns boutique online from bed or streaming the front row of Fashion Week to our front rooms, technology has granted us that escape; and more so, it has revolutionised the way we interact with fashion.
“The pandemic has proved that technology can be extremely helpful,” says Natalie Setterwall, digital editor for Vogue Scandinavia. This February, in spite of the ongoing lockdown across the UK, 94 designers participated in London Fashion Week by bringing their shows online. As Setterwall simply puts it: “The audience used to come to the show, now the show is coming to the audience.” With coronavirus limiting foreign travel, the concept of touring the fashion capitals of the world several times a year to catch a 10-minute show in a crammed audience is perhaps as practical as wearing one of
Marine Serre’s mesh face masks. “Personally, I have loved not having to get on a plane,” confesses Armstrong. “Not least because travelling all over the world for shows is indefensible environmentally, but it’s also incredibly time consuming.” Unlike loo paper or supermarket home delivery slots, in the last 12 months, time has been in abundance for many of the 800,000 employees of the UK’s fashion industry who have found themselves with little to design, make, sell or photograph. “There has been less to write about,” admits Hammond, who has spent the last year writing extensively about TV shows and loungewear. “From the Met Gala to the holiday season, things haven’t been happening as usual.” Whether it’s The Telegraph’s practical suggestions on looking presentable for Zoom meetings or Grazia’s guide on how to buy a bra online, Armstrong and Hammond were quick to adapt their publications to the times. As Armstrong explains: “At the start of the pandemic The Telegraph’s fashion team gave a lot of thought about our tone. It was a question about making sure we were really reader focused and reactive.” Apart from endorsing more coronavirus-friendly fashions for all ages, styles and budgets, magazines have varied their image to reflect their diverse readership. Hammond suggests: “You’re not going to pick up a magazine unless it speaks to you in some way.” Grazia was the first fashion magazine to pay tribute to health workers by featuring doctors, nurses and paramedics on its cover in April last year. The Telegraph’s Sunday fashion supplement Stella also dedicated an entire issue to 100 years of female frontline medics. Keen to keep up with the trends, British Vogue went on to further celebrate key workers when a train driver, midwife and supermarket assistant were made cover stars for the July 2020 edition of the ‘fashion bible’. While it’s impossible to predict whether the runway will ever return to real life, who really needs a catwalk when you can flash your frills by the check-out tills instead? 🆇
Image: Ian Baker
oronavirus has called off the catwalks; it has cancelled clothes without an elasticated waistband; and heck, it even closed Topshop. After a year defined by lockdowns and devoid of the regular autumn/winter and spring/summer collections, the pandemic hasn’t just changed our clothes but the face of fashion journalism ever since Boris Johnson forced us to swap the stiletto for slippers in March 2020. Keeping up with the latest trends has hardly been on the top of anyone’s priorities at a time when frontline NHS workers have had to fashion PPE out of repurposed bin bags. Whether you’re furloughed or a fashion editor, we’ve spent the majority of the last year lazing around our homes in nothing more than dressing-gowns and joggers. “At the beginning of the pandemic, I wasn’t bothering with my style at all,” admits Grazia’s fashion news and features editor, Natalie Hammond. “I was wearing tracksuit bottoms.” The pandemic hasn’t just eradicated sequins and skinny jeans from our wardrobe; the glossy pages of our favourite fashion magazines have also been tossed aside. A catastrophic drop in advertising sales triggered by COVID-19 saw the Australian publishing business Mercury Capital announce the permanent closure of eight fashion magazines last July, including Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and InStyle. With newsagents shut nationwide and the work commute cancelled, there have been fewer opportunities to chuck a magazine into our shopping baskets and briefcases. In a bid to keep the printing press rolling, the pandemic has prompted publishers to adapt their methods of distribution. Last April, in the wake of the first lockdown, Stylist ceased production of its paper supplement and switched to a paid subscription service offering an alternative
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Being a Brit at Ed Caesar tells Kay Leong about working for one of the world’s
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he New Yorker is magazine journalism at its best. You work hard for your money but I love writing and reporting for them.” Since 2015, 41-year-old journalist Ed Caesar has been a contributing writer at The New Yorker, home to esteemed writers like Lillian Ross, John Updike and Janet Malcolm. He has covered subjects ranging from the collapse of an illicit dark web marketplace to the return of the cricket season in the pandemic. Caesar, who is based in Manchester, has also recently published his second book, The Moth and the Mountain, a biography of British mountaineer Maurice Wilson. Prior to The New Yorker, he worked as a journalist for The Independent and contributed to British GQ, Esquire and The Atlantic. XCity speaks to Caesar to discover the ins and outs of working for one of the world’s most illustrious publications, and how he broke into journalism in America. Tell me how you got into The New Yorker. At The Independent I had these brilliant editors who used to give me what they perceived to be the best type of magazine journalism to read, from The New Yorker to Vanity Fair. I loved the richness and the ambition of these stories, and they let me try that at The Independent. While there, in between doing lots of other normal features work, I would occasionally get given a more ambitious brief, such as a piece on Mikhail Khodorkovsky. I was able to try writing at greater length but with slightly deeper reporting. I then realised this was the type of work I wanted to do, and that it was pretty difficult to do it in the UK. There’s just not many places where you can do it. So, I plotted my way into working for American magazines, writing more ambitious longform pieces to build a portfolio. This transition between working for The Independent and The New Yorker happened in stages. I was reading a lot, obviously – the first thing to do if you want to do a different type of work is to read. I wrote for The Sunday Times, GQ – it takes a while to get used to the demands of a different style of journalism, and I was able to learn every time I did such work in the UK. I then went to New York a couple of times, crashing on people’s sofas, to meet
some editors. Eventually I met Daniel Zalewski, The New Yorker editor, who still edits my work today. At the time, he was really interested in London’s high-end property market. I pitched an idea about investigating this big empty house in Highgate, North London, called Witanhurst. It was very mysterious; no one knew who owned it. Zalewski commissioned me, on the condition that the story would only work if I was successful at finding out who definitely owned it. It took me over a year to work it out, but that became my first piece. What do you think makes a quintessential New Yorker story? The best stories have scenes and reveal character in interesting ways. It doesn’t have to be a matter of great geopolitical importance for it to be affecting or work as a New Yorker story. Some of my favourites have been on quite obscure subjects, like Burkhard Bilger’s piece on the carpenter behind some of New York’s most expensive penthouses. You want to feel as though the writer really knows their subject, and that what you’re reading is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of their knowledge. And then there’s the classic New Yorker tone, which is wry and slightly detached. You’re trying to show readers something
question of being persistent. Another of my favourite pieces, which is one I did on the diamond industry, was suggested to me by the very brilliant editor Tyler Foggatt. She saw a small news story about the world’s largest diamond and passed it along. I probably owe her lunch, because it was a really fun and fascinating story to work on and write. It was wonderful as it had travel involved – I flew to Botswana to visit the diamond mine and got to learn about the diamond company. And all the stuff in the Antwerp diamond quarter was just delicious. I got to see the extraordinary tools up-close and talk to the people who were real experts. The whole world was very intoxicating, and full of great characters — it was just lovely from start to finish. The New Yorker is full of clever people who have these ideas all the time and are generous about sharing them. But it’s also fun to work on stories that you’ve generated, so I quite like maintaining that 50:50 ratio. What’s it like being a Brit at an American publication? Yeah, it’s weird. We are divided by a common language. I have to write in American, which is quite strange, typing the spellings for certain things. And sometimes I feel like I misunderstand American people, just because we use phrases differently. Sometimes I feel like they misunderstand me, but maybe that’s because they don’t laugh at my jokes! But generally speaking, there’s no problem working together.
“For the 8,000 word piece I’ve just filed, I’ve sent a copy to the checkers with 200 footnotes”
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that they’ve seen before in a way they’ve not previously considered. What’s the process of generating a story for The New Yorker? Fifty per cent of the time I pitch ideas, and the other 50 per cent of the time I get ideas pitched to me. A story I enjoyed that I pitched was one I wrote about Deutsche Bank in August 2016. I learnt a huge amount about a world that I don’t very much know or understand. About how money moves and sometimes in quite sneaky ways. I found that super fascinating. It was very difficult and took me ages but it was satisfying to see it come together. People in banking can be quite reticent but eventually I spoke to many people with firsthand knowledge. It was a
How do you sell a British story to an American audience? America is this wonderful, interesting, crazy, diverse, powerful place, but you’d be amazed at how little attention is paid to what’s happening outside America. And so you have to explain, even to an educated American audience, quite straightforward things about how life works in the UK. When you’re trying to pitch a British story, you’ve got to find something in it that’s going to resonate for an American audience. There was a piece I did about Robbie Mullen, a mole who infiltrated the far right group National Action – that was really interesting for Americans because America has its own far-right problems.
XCITY / Features
The New Yorker most illustrious publications
A good story is, at the end of the day, a good story. But I’m always conscious of how much detail readers want to know and I never assume that they know the background or context of a story. What differences are there between writing for a British publication and an American one? For one, the editing process is more exhaustive. A lot of British journalists might feel it’s too onerous. It’s long and rigorous. So, just before this, I had an hour long conversation with my editor about a draft I’ve just filed. You don’t file a piece, you file a draft – the expectation is that you work on it again. We have a creative
discussion about how the piece could be better, rather than just getting a document back with instructions on what to do. You go away, work on it more, you file a new draft. If it’s alright, the editor does a line edit. In the meantime, you send a footnoted copy to the fact checkers. For the 8,000 word piece I’ve just filed, I’ve sent a copy to the checkers with about 150-200 footnotes with links to my audio records, notes, and all the supporting material. It’s then a back-and-forth with my editor and fact checkers until the piece is finalised a few days before it goes to press. That’s when you have a page meeting. Everyone who has worked on the piece – your editor, the fact checkers and copy editors – gets together and goes through it as it appears in the magazine. Then you’re done. The editor David
Image: Ian Baker
Remnick sends you a nice thank-you note and you pour yourself a big drink. It’s hard work, but I’ve enjoyed getting into that frame of mind where you feel like the piece can always be better or tighter. This process of fact checking over and over saves you from hundreds of pitfalls. By the time the piece comes out, readers can either like or dislike the piece, but you know it’s bulletproof. Another key difference is the amount of time you’re given to do a piece. American magazines give you more time but expect a much deeper level of reporting. British magazines will probably give you less time for a story, so they can’t expect you to go to the same level of depth. Very often at The Independent, I would get an assignment in the early afternoon which had to be delivered by six or seven that night, for the next day’s paper. The whole thing about learning about your subject and writing it – it’s only an afternoon’s work. Compare that to the month or months you spend on a piece for The New Yorker – it’s completely different. As a result, the structure is also different. In American journalism, you tend to build stories with scenes. You don’t start with your best stuff – which is the British newspaper way of doing things. It all comes back to how much time you are given for a story. Are there any differences working in the offices of The Independent vs The New Yorker? At The New Yorker, everyone’s extremely polite. The newspaper offices I was in here in the UK, like The Independent, were much more boisterous. People have big arguments and are laughing and it just felt a bit more carnivalesque, I suppose. That being said, there was hubbub in New Yorker offices, it’s just a bit more calm and sedate. People are quite respectful of other people’s space and they don’t talk loudly. Meetings happen in little side offices and so on. It’s a completely different type of environment. Tips for breaking into American journalism? Be committed. Meet editors if you can. Go out there and get it. 🆇
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What made photographers smile this year? Seven photojournalists share the images that lifted their spirits with Samyama Kolhapuri
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Location: London, UK In the last year, we have had to learn how to interact and embed ourselves in our community more than relying on diary jobs. On Christmas Day I went to a care home to document how families have been separated because of lockdown. I photographed their 11 residents and it had a lovely community feel. I remember photographing daughter (Nicky) who visited her mother (Pam) through her ground-floor room window.
Right Image: Nicky Clough visits her mother Pam Harrison in her bedroom at Alexander House Care Home for the first time since COVID-19 lockdown restrictions began to ease, in London, Britain March 8, 2021. REUTERS/Hannah Mckay
Left Image: Nicky Clough looks through the window at her mother Pam Harrison opening a present on Christmas Day at Alexander House Care Home, as the spread of COVID-19 continues, in Wimbledon, London, Britain, December 25, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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This year, as the restrictions were eased and one resident could have one family member visit, I went back. Pam has dementia, so we weren’t sure if she was aware that she hasn’t seen her daughter for so long. But when her daughter came into the room with the hazmat suit, Pam lit up. She was asking many questions and found Nicky’s suit funny. I witnessed them reunite; it was the first time in 12 months that they were in the same room and touching. It felt like we were on the road to normality.
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Hannah McKay Pulitzer Prize-winning Reuters staff photographer McKay got her first cover on her hometown paper by clicking dramatic imagery of a big fire at a local factory. She is now an international photojournalist, covering general, political and business news, as well as sports and feature stories. →
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“ Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Ben Amato performing on the saxophone for the rest of his street Alon Skuy Pictures of the Year (POYI) Photographer of the Year 2020; author of upcoming book (BR)OTHER; chief photographer at Sunday Times and The Times in Johannesburg. Skuy’s work focuses on issues relating to inequality, resilience and conflict, and life on the fringes.
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When COVID-19 hit, the South African government declared a state of disaster and dispatched the military and police to enforce the level 5 lockdown. They had a heavy-handed approach and a big presence throughout the country. To contrast the many sobering photos I clicked on in 2020, I wanted to show that there were moments of peace or lightness despite the devastation and hurt. The evening this photo was taken, there was a moment of freedom. It was a beautiful instance in the middle of such troubling, uncertain, terrifying, constrained times. People needed an outlet to communicate with each other. In Orange Grove, Johannesburg, at 6pm every day for the first few weeks of the hard lockdown, to keep spirits high and gain some semblance of normality, people who could play instruments or sing would go onto their front porch or balconies and entertain each other.
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Location: Warrandyte, Melbourne, Australia
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see her parents. Also, as a person who is really big on the beach, being away from the water that rejuvenates her was difficult as well. But she stuck it out.
New mother, Emma, kissing her son, taken from outside her home
I was there when she finally took Ben to the beach. When he saw the water for the first time, she was in tears, it was just so rewarding. I guess you have to break a couple of eggshells to make an omelette.
Benjamin Ocean was born when the bushfires happened and stayed indoors till November, as the lockdown followed right after.
Christopher Hopkins Nikon-Walkley Photograph of the Year winner 2020; photojournalist; writer.
This photo shows that if you want something bad enough, you can come out of it okay. Emma was very lonely during the lockdown, having a newborn without being able to
From rural Victoria, Hopkins travelled for six years before starting out. He explores race, mental health and cultural assimilation - bringing human rights issues to light. →
For the coming year, Australian photojournalists will be more focused on local stories, like the above.
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Location: Queens, New York, USA
Children play in a stream of water from an uncapped fire hydrant
Location: Heligoland, Germany
A mated pair of Northern gannets reaffirming their bond
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Strong winds blew across Heligoland’s cliffs, where the Northern gannets nest. I was surrounded by a colony of loudly squawking gannets coming in after making their last fishing rounds before the evening set in. Gannets cruised above my head, carrying pieces of algae in their beaks and beating their strong wings. One of these birds landed by its mate and began a greeting ceremony to reaffirm their lifelong bond. Exhilarated, I quickly captured this ‘fencing display’, the two birds stood breast to breast with wings spread and bills extended vertically. They fenced and clicked with their bills rapidly, calling loudly at the same time.
The love and affection that forms between mated pairs is particularly moving. Their devotion and the way they look out for each other amidst numerous challenges in our rapidly changing world gives me hope that anything can be overcome with fellowship and compassion.
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Lana Tannir Award-winning landscape and wildlife photographer; World Animal Protection ambassador. Tannir’s photos document species that are on the brink of extinction and help us visualise the challenges they go through.
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Last year was brutal. I was in a lot of hospitals and saw a lot of deaths. Everything was just so heavy and filled with trauma. I didn’t have much experience with conflict photography or what it feels like to photograph in very dire situations. Many of us felt like we were thrown to the wolves. Luckily, as journalists, we’re trained to be responsive to the world and cater accordingly.
I remember this photo as an isolated moment of joy I remember this photo as an isolated moment of joy. I was walking around the neighbourhood for a Guardian article and came across this beautiful scene. The tone was so different. For a brief moment, it felt like a regular New York summer scene. Usually, city workers come in and crack the pipes on really hot days. Seeing these kids playing, their joy, was something to revel in - the purity of it. Going forward, I just hope for a little bit of peace. Ryan Christopher Jones POYI Award of Excellence, Reporting winner (NYT); photojournalist; writer. Being Mexican-American, Jones explores divergent cultures, the US’s conflicted history, labour, and migration. →
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Location: Malaysia
Mr JS and his youngest son
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When Mr JS was 11, he fled Afghanistan after his father passed away, fearing death threats. In Iran, he lived as a tailor, fell in love, and started a family. But, five years ago, they fled again, threatened by the authorities. Today, they call Malaysia their home as United Nations (UN) Refugees. Through it all, Mr JS’s hope remained constant – to provide for his family and their basic needs. Mr JS said, “I try to be a good father for my children and a good husband for my wife. My biggest hope is for my children to lead good lives. We don’t need a lot, we are content – when we have each other, we have everything.” Even during post-edits, this image made me smile because it showed me how simple pleasures lead to contentment in life. This ‘Barehands’ assignment taught me to never take the little things for granted.
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Annice Lyn Visual artist; documentary & sports photographer; former national figure skater; Winner 2020 Arts & Culture Women of the Future award, Southeast Asia; Winner 2020 Prestige Malaysia 40 Under 40. Lyn seeks to document community stories and develops an inclusive culture as the co-founder of Women Photographers Malaysia.
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In 2020, COVID-19 increased social gaps and hunger, but Guatemala also faced two hurricanes and massive protests. During these dark times, I travelled to this mostly Indigenous region to document the story of ‘Profe Lalito’, a young motivated educator from the department of Quiché. His character and dedication gave me hope. With primary schools closed and his students unable to get an internet connection, he bought a bicycle and turned it into a mobile classroom. He rides to his 10 students’ homes and teaches them regular subjects but also music, physical exercise, and keeps them in touch with their original language, K’iche’.
Esteban Biba Photography correspondent at EFE international agency; podcast host.
In the beginning, people made fun of him or thought he was a food business, but now he is greeted with affection. When hearing the teacher’s anecdotes and seeing the children’s smiles, everything bad happening in the country feels paused for a moment. 🆇
Biba documents the cultural and religious traditions of ethnic groups throughout Guatemala. He has also captured natural disasters and major sporting events.
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Location: Department of Quiché, Guatemala
Professor Gerardo Ixcoy, aka ‘Profe Lalito’, cycling with his mobile classroom
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Image: Grace Ekpu
Reporting under the African Sun: Hannah Ajala has spent the last 15 months freelancing in Nigeria
Returning to the motherland Aisha Rimi speaks to two British-Nigerian journalists on the highs and lows of working in the Nigerian media industry
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tarving orphans, child soldiers and corrupt leaders. These are just some of the images news reports tend to be flooded with when covering Africa. A continent of 54 unique nations, Africa often suffers a gross generalisation of being a place of poverty, war and disease. While this imagery tells a fraction of Africa’s story, the continent continues to be misrepresented in the media, with the individual countries’ different cultures and histories pushed aside. In comes Hannah Ajala, a freelance journalist currently based in Lagos, Nigeria, hoping to change the narrative and perception of Africa through her work. “In 2021, there are a lot of people that still need to be educated about the continent,” says Ajala. The internet connection may be crackly at times, but her passion for telling authentic African stories shines through. Speaking from a family friend’s house that she now calls home, Ajala discusses what made her leave a successful career as a BBC broadcast journalist in the UK for the freelancing life in Nigeria.
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Born and raised in London to Nigerianborn parents, Ajala is part of a growing trend of young Nigerians of the diaspora returning to the place their families once called home. Initiatives such as Ghana’s Year of Return in 2019 are encouraging a generation of African diasporans to relocate to the continent and invest in African tourism. The government-led project which tied in with the 400th anniversary of African slaves landing in the USA, saw a 45 per cent increase in visitors to the West African nation, according to the Ghana
“Journalism is a very cut-throat industry and very whitewashed” Tourism Authority. So, like other young Africans in the diaspora at that time, Ajala returned to her motherland, Nigeria. Ajala says: “The subject area that initially inspired me to make the move was ‘repats’. These are people who return to their country of origin, basically the
opposite of expats.” Reasons for returning vary among repats, as Ajala found out through conversations with individuals throughout her travels. From finding themselves, love, and career opportunities to escaping racism, connecting with their culture, and learning their native languages, she found the different reasons relatable. “I really wanted to work in Africa, starting in the west and then possibly moving over to the east, to focus on positive stories coming out of the continent,” says Ajala, who now freelances for the Media Diversity Institute. “Working in daily news is always filled with lots of negative headlines and I really wanted to switch that narrative.” As a big foodie, one of these stories involved Ajala interviewing a chef in Ghana who had cooked for the American rapper T.I. during the country’s Year of Return. Equipped with her contact book and several work opportunities already lined up, such as a BBC Minute podcast series she presented on the topic of repats, she made the move from London to Lagos in December 2019. Mapping out her first five countries, Ajala has since reported as a
XCITY / Features freelance journalist from Ghana, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Nigeria. Just a year prior, another journalist also made the life-changing decision to move to Nigeria for the benefit of shifting the narrative. Lape Olarinoye, a freelance reporter for Sky News and Arise News, shares similar sentiments about her move to Lagos back in 2018. “I wanted to focus on African journalism,” she says. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and I didn’t think it was being explored enough.” When an opportunity came up with Arise News, an international television news channel with a strong focus on Africa, she was offered roles in both Lagos and London, but chose to start in Lagos instead. Now back in the UK to start a family, Olarinoye says: “I chose Lagos due to the lack of opportunities for young Black people in the UK. Journalism is a very cutthroat industry and very whitewashed. There’s also a lot of tokenism when it comes to diversity in British media and press organisations, and I was fed up with that.” Working in Nigeria gave Olarinoye the opportunity to cover the 2019 Nigerian presidential elections and work on documentaries on mental health and suicide which are taboo topics in the country, as well as domestic and modern slavery. Despite being very familiar with Nigeria and its culture through frequent trips, there were certain customs in the working environment that took some getting used to. In a country Olarinoye describes as “obsessed with religion”, she found it was customary for her colleagues to start the working day with a group prayer. “Before Arise, I was working for another channel that used to pray together before our editorial meeting,” she says. “I was thinking, we’re in a proper newsroom, there’s no time for this here. What if someone isn’t comfortable with it or it’s not their religion?” For Ajala, the challenges of a different culture didn’t stop her from tackling one of Nigeria’s most controversial topics. In a recent documentary she produced alongside N’ihu Media, a Nigerian-based production company telling African stories across the continent, Ajala shed light on the growing LGBTQI+ community in Lagos. “I was reporting on something that is not only frowned upon in that society, but also illegal,” she says. “I was already aware of what people at the top felt about the subject, but I wanted to learn about their experiences from those who are loud and proud about being from the LGBTQ community.” Ajala adds that the headlines talking about the community often fail to centre those individuals, subsequently shaping a different narrative of what it’s like to be gay in Nigeria. Engaging with Nigerian
news can often lack human-focused stories, which she hopes to explore more of in her work. Human stories are also something Olarinoye would like to see more of from Nigeria’s media. “We need more stories about mental health,” she says. “I want to see a broad spectrum of stories to do with people’s everyday woes as opposed to heavy entertainment and luxury content, which is what we get over bombarded with.” She also has the desire to explore Nigeria’s history and culture. For a country that boasts an ethnically diverse population with hundreds of cultures and over 500
proper autonomy. It all has to go through the top. I can’t imagine Sky speaking to the Murdochs about an editorial decision,” she explains. Many news stations are also still stuck in their old ways, lacking innovation and creativity, which Olarinoye believes is a disadvantage for the number of graduates joining the industry. She says: “NTA is Nigeria’s most watched channel, being its official station. which even the president broadcasts his official messages from. But even then, they haven’t changed anything, and it still looks like they’re in the 1950s.” In spite of all this, Olarinoye would still consider returning to Nigeria to work again. “If I was to go back, it would be very strategic and not just on a whim,” she concludes. “I feel like now I have even more to offer.” As for Ajala, her time in Nigeria will come to an end in late spring as she makes her way back to the UK to continue her career. However, a permanent move to her homeland is something she too would consider in the future. In the meantime, she continues to push positive stories from the continent into the spotlight. “The more intriguing and inspiring stories that come from all these countries, the more interest and awareness should grow from people as journalism across the continent expands.” 🆇
“In Nigeria, producers or news editors never had proper autonomy”
Image: Lape Olarinoye
native languages, Nigeria often fails to explore those subjects in the media. “People tend to focus on Lagos (in the south-west), but actually there’s a lot more going on,” adds Olarinoye. “I want to see the history of the North and a side to that region not focusing on insecurity and illiteracy. We just don’t hear enough about it.” After their experiences on the continent, what are their biggest takeaways from working in the Nigerian media industry? Ajala’s biggest lesson was all about confidence. “I’m in a part of the world where I may be looked down on or looked at differently simply because I am a woman, but I haven’t let that stop me,” she says. “I’m completely out of my comfort zone but I’m still working just as I would in the West. It has not depleted or lessened my work ethic, instead it’s challenged and strengthened it in ways like never before,” adds Ajala. Olarinoye shares that she experienced bureaucracy behind the scenes and management issues which she believes are hindering the Nigerian media industry. “Ever since I worked in Nigeria, I don’t think producers or even news editors ever had Human stories: Lape Olarinoye wants more stories on people’s everyday lives
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XCITY / Features
Image: Murdo Macleod
Care homes in crisis
see her mother who’s shut inside, suffering from the symptoms of coronavirus; a final glimpse before she passes away. “I remember being very shell-shocked,” says the UK editor at ITV News. “That was the day I realised this was going to be the most traumatic story I’ve ever worked on.” Britain’s care homes have been at the centre of the coronavirus crisis. In the early weeks of April, when Brand arrived at the Lancastrian care home, an average of 400 care home residents were dying each day. In total, the number of care resident deaths from COVID-19 in the UK as of February 2021 is more than 30,000 about a quarter of all fatalities from the pandemic. Since last March, in their reporting for ITV News, Brand and politics producer Dominique Heckels have drawn attention to the human-interest stories behind the death toll figures. From hospital discharges to the lack of PPE afforded to care home staff, family reunions to care home closures, they have honed in on the people
Journalists who exposed the care home scandal talk to Jake Helm about the stories behind the death toll
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arly one April morning in 2020, Paul Brand pulled up to a care home in Lancashire. Outside the home, a woman was wiping down one of the windows. His first thought: “Wow they’re being really vigilant here, they’re even cleaning outside the windows.” As he got out of his car, it dawned on him. It was the daughter of a resident cleaning the window to
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affected by the care home crisis. Following their coverage, the pair won the political journalism award at the British Journalism Awards in December 2020. The judges cited their investigation as a “great example of empathetic and sensitive reporting in the public interest”. But in early 2020, an investigation of this extent wasn’t on their radar. Last January, after the 2019 General Election coverage had run its course and Brexit negotiations were coming to a close, the pair sat down to discuss potential stories. After some consideration they decided that, since the Conservative Party had promised social care reform in their election manifesto, they would explore the funding of care homes. Little did they know how significant a story about care homes would become. Almost two months later, when the pair began probing care home operators about funding, they hit a brick wall. With the pandemic imminent, carers were too busy battening down the hatches to discuss funding. PPE was being diverted to hospitals, forcing carers to scour eBay for face masks, and carers were falling ill.
“A harrowing and challenging report that sticks out to me” While hospitals received three quarters of the number of gloves needed from the government’s central stocks, care homes received 8 per cent. Care homes received no gowns from central stocks.
XCITY / Features
Image: Dominique Heckels
Suited up: Brand interviews a carer
Image: Dominique Heckels
“It quickly became apparent there was a major crisis unfolding,” says Brand. “And it was even clearer that virtually no preparation was going into propping up the care sector and we, as journalists, had a duty to report that.” Standing in the car parks of care homes with an extended boom pole, Brand began interviewing the families who couldn’t see loved ones because all face-to-face visits in care homes were banned. Separated by window panes, visitors wept as they said their farewells to grandparents, parents and friends – sometimes for the last time. Although more than two metres apart, Brand didn’t want to resemble adetached observer. Rather than staying silent or turning the camera off, he showed himself on-camera offering support to interviewees. “I think there would’ve been something inhumane about our reporting if we weren’t visibly offering sympathy when they were recounting tales that are quite frankly some of the worst stories we’ve ever heard.” One of those stories was Peggy’s – an 86-year-old grandmother who was read a final goodbye letter from her granddaughter by a carer named Laura, sitting at her bedside. The clip was sent to Heckels via email, in which Laura, garbed in an apron, face mask and goggles, strokes Peggy’s arm while reading the words: “We’re so sorry that we can’t be with you for your last breaths.” Traumatised and moved by the clip, Heckels and Brand built a piece around that moment and went to interview Laura in Peterborough. Normally Laura’s home loses two residents a year, but when the pair filmed her in April, up to half a dozen residents were dying every week. Unable to stop herself from crying, Laura recounts the fond memories she had with Peggy. “That piece was a 360-view of grief,” recalls Brand. “I will always remember
On location: Brand speaking to residents of Farnworth Care Home in Bolton
Laura saying ‘I miss Peggy every day’. It was the embodiment of how much care goes into care homes.” Laura’s sadness yet unyielding commitment to her role continues to weigh heavily on the journalists’ minds. “What became clear was that these people aren’t just carers for the residents, they become like family members. It was a harrowing and challenging report that still sticks out to me now. I think about it a lot,” says Heckels in a sombre tone. The logistics of filming at care homes was also challenging. At any time, care home residents have a right to privacy. But once a deadly virus started seeping through their walls, extra measures needed to be taken. The journalists passed disinfected GoPro cameras to the carers so they could film for them, or they filmed in between the crannies of doorways and windows. Editing, which is usually completed in shared vans, was accomplished over FaceTime or by lining up three cars in a Tesco car park. “It sounds ridiculous,” says Heckels. “But we wanted to ensure our reporting was safe.” Throughout their reporting, another story loomed large: hospital discharges. By late March, care homeowners began telling the journalists that hospital patients, sometimes with coronavirus symptoms, were arriving at care home doorsteps without being tested for COVID-19. Sitting outside one of the homes, a care home owner joined Brand to plot on a map how the virus had spread from room to room after a patient had been discharged from a hospital without medical notes. But anecdotal evidence wasn’t enough. They needed data. In May, the pair retrieved figures from the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) that proved the NHS had block-booked thousands of care home beds in preparation for the pandemic.
Around 25,000 patients were discharged into care homes in England without being tested for coronavirus at the height of the pandemic. By May, one in three care homes in England had declared a coronavirus outbreak, with more than 1,000 homes dealing with positive cases during the peak of infections in April. “It was rewarding to be able to prove and demonstrate the injustice that many carers were feeling,” says Brand. “While the care sector fully supported the NHS and clapped along with the rest of us, they felt they were being treated as a second class service. These were people often on a minimum wage facing maximum risk from COVID-19. In the first month, they felt completely forgotten and were grateful that someone was reporting on their trauma.” Their reporting wasn’t solely traumatic, however. In June, Brand and Heckels captured the moments families reunited with care home residents. Estranged by a screen and communicating via an intercom, visitors greeted their loved ones in glass pods. One elderly resident described the pods as “marvellous”, while a visitor named Edward, tried to hold back tears. For the journalists as well it was a muchneeded respite. “It was quite a therapeutic experience because it was the first happy story we had done in six months on the care sector or so,” says Brand. Despite the many difficulties the journalists faced while reporting on care homes, from struggling to find a toilet or food truck to crying during filming, Brand and Heckels are adamant they will continue to report on the sector. “For decades, care homes have been forgotten because they deal with death and decline,” says Brand. He concludes: “Actually, they are often very happy places with singing and dancing. But, as a society, I think mentally and literally, we are very happy to close the door on care homes. We both feel very passionately that this story will never run its course. Having finally shone a light on this sector, we need to keep that spotlight on and that door open.” 🆇
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XCITY / Features
What have foodies been feasting on during the pandemic? Madeleine Killick asks leading food writers to unlock their lockdown larders… Ed Cumming: Restaurant critic for The Independent What are the five key ingredients in your Pandemic Pantry?
Spanish Iberico ham, anchovies, oysters, aubergine and a loaf of sourdough.
What have you been cooking up during lockdown?
I’ve taken the time to make recipes that I’ve wanted to master for ages, such as proper beef bourguignon. I’ve also tried to nail the perfect chicken tikka masala instead of ordering it on takeaway.
What’s been your comfort food?
I’ve been making more and more ambitious toasties with sourdough, Nduja spicy sausage, and mozzarella. Putting mayonnaise on the outside of the bread and frying them gives the outside a golden crisp. It’s the kind of lunch that knocks you out and you have to go to bed afterwards!
Which restaurants will you be heading to post-lockdown?
I’ve missed those grand spectacle restaurants which make you feel you’re alive and in town. I look forward to going to The Wolseley in Piccadilly, where I would order a breakfast of kedgeree with a bottle of champagne.
Riaz Phillips: Food writer and author of Belly Full What are the five key ingredients in your Pandemic Pantry? Red lentils, oats, plantain, coconut milk and almond milk.
What’s been your comfort food?
A red lentil dahl by Israel Mbabazi , and a mushroom oat lugaw by Zosima Fulwell. It’s a Filipino dish of savoury oats topped with egg and garlic oil. Both dishes are cheap and utilise the ingredients in my cupboard.
Which take-aways have taken you away from the kitchen?
There’s a sushi place near me called Itto Sushi, which has become a small guilty pleasure. They have these fried sushi rolls stuffed with avocado and chicken that are incredible.
Which restaurants will you be heading to post-lockdown?
One of the small upsides of lockdown is that I hope to keep cooking at home, but I look forward to hanging out at the Trinidadian restaurant Fish, Wings & Tings in Brixton Village. I’ll be ordering their famous roti and chickpea curry.
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XCITY / Features
What are the five key ingredients in your Pandemic Pantry?
Strong white bread flour, eggs, chicken, lemon and cumin.
What have you been cooking up during lockdown?
I’ve been making a lot of cliché stuff like sourdough, sauerkraut and kimchi, but I’ve also tried to master alkaline and hand-pulled noodles. It’s a bit of an art.
Images: Nanami Takeuchi
Melissa Thompson: Food writer and columnist for BBC Good Food
What’s your ‘quarantini’?
I’ve made martinis for the first time in my life. I mix Plymouth Gin with Asterley Bros Vermouth and Angostura Bitters. I’m a double olive person!
What’s in your banana bread?
I made Milli Taylor’s Brown Butter Banana Bread, which has brown butter and rumsoaked raisins in it. Ground almonds are my secret ingredient, as they give bakes a bit more body.
Andy Lynes: Food journalist and writer for The Times, The Telegraph and The Independent What are the five key ingredients in your Pandemic Pantry? Pigs trotters, salmon, chicken, mince and bread flour.
What’s been your comfort food?
Domino’s Pizza. I would describe it as a guilty pleasure, but I don’t feel guilty about it at all.
What have you been cooking up during lockdown?
I was pretty pleased with a riff on shepherd’s pie I made with keema and Bombay tomatoes. I should have written down the recipe.
What’s your ‘quarantini’?
Nigella Lawson’s Negroni Sbagliato has been a go-to cocktail, but often I’ll just knock something up from what’s in the fridge, which has involved gin, elderflower cordial, elderflower liqueur and Prosecco.
Debora Robertson: Food writer, author and columnist for The Telegraph What are the five key ingredients in your Pandemic Pantry? Tinned tomatoes, onions, chickpeas, olive oil and lemon.
What have you been cooking up during lockdown?
I was locked down in south-west France for four months last year. I made quite a lot of classic French dishes like pork chops in mustard sauce, and sausages with lentils.
What’s been your comfort food?
Cheese on toast with a combination of cheeses. I love Roquefort, Langres or Chaource. I’m quite embarrassed at how much money I’ve spent on cheese this year.
Which restaurants will you be heading to post-lockdown?
I would be as happy as a clam with a plate of oysters, and some beautiful grilled fish from Noble Rot Lamb’s Conduit in Bloomsbury.
Which take-aways have taken you away from the kitchen?
There’s a French bistro in Highbury called Maison Patron. I’ve treated myself to confit of duck with dauphinoise potatoes. They have some great chocolate macarons with porcini mushroom truffle. 🆇
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XCITY / Features Image: Mig Kim
Shanghai’s zine scene Independent publishing is thriving in China despite state regulation writes Bea Tridimas
pages are varying shades of yellow: sunshine, cream and mustard. The magazine is bilingual, with the front pages dedicated to English text and the back to Mandarin. “Independent publishing is part of my art practice,” says Chen. “Artists around M50: The city’s creative district hosts art book fairs every year the world use independent publishing as a tool to spread he white nose of a Shiba Inu ideas and make their voices heard.” dog pokes out from a red, The practice enables creatives to have blue and magenta headdress, complete autonomy over production and graffitied onto a wall in distribution channels. In China, the desire Moganshan Road or “M50”, for autonomy holds particular resonance Shanghai’s contemporary art district. owing to the country’s control over the Nearby, a faded minion skulks away from media and publishing industries. the stern gaze of Frida Kahlo. Within the cluster of paved roads, small art studios nestle among large industrial galleries. Over one October weekend in 2020, 150 independent publishers, printers and zine creators from around the world gathered here to showcase their work at Unfold Shanghai Art Book Fair. The full scale of the independent publishing industry in China is hard to grasp due to it existing largely underground, but its growth can be discerned from the emergence of art book fairs such as Unfold in 2018 and abC (Art Book in China) in 2015, and the appearance of Chinese zines in “There are lots international magazine stores. of artists in China and it’s a good and not Independent magazine hubs Stack so costly way to start publishing your own and MagCulture stock titles such as Soft thing,” says Xiao Mei, co-founder of Little (interviews with artists and creatives); Lost Mountain Press (2018), an independent (travel); Brownie (photography); Closing publisher and press based in Shenzhen, Ceremony (photography); Little Sound China, and New York. (art); Jiazazhi (photography); and Monday Little Mountain Press produces art Off (youth culture) - all founded in China and design zines and risograph prints, between 2006 and 2019. a digital printing method known for its Mostly, the independent publishing industry is populated by artists who publish bright colours. “We basically do everything ourselves, from inviting artists to editing their own creative projects. Soft editor to printing to binding to selling,” she says. Chen, who asked to be identified only “That’s one good thing that we don’t have by her first name, works with a different to go through anyone and we have total designer for each issue. The latest issue is control to publish what we want.” distinct in shape and colour. Longer than The Chinese Communist Party regulates an A4 piece of paper, but half its width, its
T
s
Tridima Image: Bea
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all media and publications through the State Administration of Press, Publications, Radio, Film and Television. The body is responsible for administering licenses to publish, censorship, and distributing ISBNs (international standard book numbers). “It’s very interesting right now because it’s basically in a grey area. The industry is booming but at the same time it’s technically not legal to be publishing,” says Mei. “They haven’t started to knock down yet maybe because it’s not popular enough that it raises their attention.” Following a strictly artistic agenda is less problematic for independent publishers. “As long as you’re not printing things like pornography, or really talking shit about the government – as long as it’s not that extreme – it shouldn’t be too much of a problem,” says Chen. Only nudity seems to pose a risk. Mei, who is currently in New York, sends any content with nudity to her partner in China via relatives in Hong Kong who transport it over the border for her. “In the worst case, my partner might have to go have a talk with the local police officers but it’s not enough that she would go to jail.” Printers, publishers and booksellers have faced fines and jail sentences for publishing and selling books banned by the Chinese government. In 2016, four booksellers in Hong Kong were arrested by Chinese authorities for selling unauthorised books in mainland China. While independent publishing has so far evaded punishment, the risk still remains. “I think about that all the time but I still don’t know what’s going to happen because nothing has happened before,” says Gregory*, an art director for an independent culture and fashion magazine based in Shanghai. “No one knows if all of a sudden this whole thing might be shut down,” says Chen. But despite its risks, the industry continues to thrive. “I find there’s a lot of courage in it,” she says. “It’s not that free, but you still want to do it.” *Name has been changed upon request. 🆇
2020: A year of data Last year was all about numbers: the number of coronavirus cases, the number of votes in the US election, and the number of communities facing financial turmoil. As the stories behind the numbers became clouded with complexity, data journalists helped the public make sense of an increasingly abstract year. In a series spotlighting the best in data journalism, XCity speaks to the media’s leading number crunchers: John Burn-Murdoch (Financial Times), Ashley Kirk (The Guardian), and Alex Homer (BBC Shared Data Unit).
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XCITY / Features
Visualising a pandemic John-Burn Murdoch speaks to Matt Reed and Chiara Wilkinson about his whirlwind year documenting the data behind COVID-19
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graphic comparing various countries’ case numbers for Staton’s article, before tweeting the image the following day. The chart triggered a torrent of online engagement, generating over 10,000 likes and retweets to date, praising his work while also speculating as to why such valuable public health journalism was locked behind a paywall. “At the time, I was making what I thought was just a throwaway chart that gets used once,” admits Burn-Murdoch. “But the combination of that reaction, and the general sense around all of us, was this is something that people really want to see.” Twelve days after that initial post, on March 23, the page was brought out from behind the paywall to an even greater clamour. With larger audiences came greater pressures. On top of his usual working hours, Burn-Murdoch updated the chart late into the evenings while explaining the FT’s data collection and presentation methods via his accompanying Twitter thread (alongside a routine snap of his dinner). Burn-Murdoch believes that sustained engagement with its audience gave the FT primacy over other outlets’ coverage. “A really well-established data team, with a big group of developers and designers, would have probably built an interactive version on day one and walked away from it,” Burn-Murdoch explains. “That would still have been a useful tool, but I think it was the fact that we were actually posting every day, creating a little conversation around it and responding to the many questions that people had,” he says. “I think that was a big part of our success.” By the end of April, Burn-Murdoch had tweeted an updated graphic every day. His follower count had increased from around 30,000 to over 300,000, while the FT’s coronavirus dashboard had become their most visited page ever. “The first few days it was probably all going to my head a bit, but now it’s certainly a new normal,” he says.
Image: Naeblys via Getty
Image: Charlie Bibby/FT
wenty-twenty was the year that ‘the curve’ came into popular consciousness. To ‘flatten the curve’, social distancing, facemasks and quarantines became the new normal. Still, the curve prevailed and climbed to new peaks with immeasurable consequences. As information and headlines changed daily, one constant was clear: the COVID-19 pandemic is a story drawn by data. “I never thought I was going to become a sort of pandemic correspondent,” says 32-year-old John Burn-Murdoch, who joined the FT in 2013. It has been a whirlwind year for the paper’s senior datavisualisation journalist since he published his earliest articles detailing coronavirus’ growing impact. It was early spring: the global stock markets were reeling from the largest single-week declines since the 2008 financial crisis and the FT data team were charting the economic fallout. “I’d look around at 7:00pm and there would be a lot of us still in, simply because of the number of things that had come our way that day,” he recalls. “It was just getting a sense that this was a huge data story, with more stories than we were capable of.” The work was soon to intensify: one data visualisation and accompanying Twitter thread would set the course for BurnMurdoch’s next year of work. The day after Italy was placed in a national lockdown on March 10, his colleague, Bethan Staton, asked him for data to compare the UK’s coronavirus situation to the growing case numbers in Italy. At the time, the UK had a reported 258 new daily cases, compared to Italy’s 977. BurnMurdoch made up a “rough and ready”
For Burn-Murdoch, making charts which his audience can understand takes precedence over creating shiny, awardchasing graphics. “I find that by making a bar chart or a line chart, it will not just be seen, but it will be understood by far more people than making something really cool and fancy, and I think that’s really important.” On May 4, the FT’s interactive trajectory tracker went live, relieving Burn-Murdoch of his nightly graph-induced Twitter storms. However, efficient workflows haven’t made mapping coronavirus any easier. “A lot of countries just don’t have the data,” Burn-Murdoch says. “Our correspondent over in Ecuador was writing a story about coffins piling up in the streets, with vultures circling overhead – all at a time when the data coming out of Ecuador was saying cases and death figures were pretty low.” Another pitfall is becoming disoriented by abstract coronavirus charts and forgetting the human stories at its heart. How does someone who lives and breathes data humanise the statistics he’s analysing everyday? “To be honest, I don’t know how possible that is,” Burn-Murdoch says.
XCITY / Features Image: FT
Recording coronavirus: The Financial Times daily tracker shows the COVID-19 death tolls over time and continues to be updated today
“I know it’s a massive drawback to data visualisation, but that’s something I’m quite upfront about. I think certain things are just better communicated in words or in photos, rather than in charts. “Climate change is a classic example of this, where people can look and look at graphs showing global temperatures going up all day, and it’s not going to make them cancel a flight. Whereas seeing forest fires ripping through Australia, or an island shrinking in the Pacific: seeing the actual impact on people and the planet is what changes minds.” The relative twists and turns of the pandemic have unsettled a central tenet of Burn-Murdoch’s job: data itself. “There’s just loads of nuance here and as someone who works a lot with data, it shakes your whole worldview when not only does the data not answer all your questions, but the data shows all the contradictions. “I think that’s really good because it’s a bit humbling. You realise that data is not that different to anything else. Different sources will tell you different things and it’s your job to essentially interrogate them and work out what could be going on.”
To the data-illiterate, this may be news: statistics are commonly seen as a nuclear button in any argument, the definitive answer amongst qualitative conjecture. Though this revelation is no reason to lose faith in statistics, Burn-Murdoch adds: “There’s just so much stuff here that you can end up leaning more and more towards a qualitative answer. The data definitely helps, but I think the good thing is that it’s taught people to be a little bit more sceptical, in a good way, of simplistic data-driven arguments. “I don’t want anyone to come away from this whole thing thinking data is just as unreliable as anything: ‘Lies, damned lies, and statistics’. But that you should be looking at two or three sources with data, just as you’d want to see two or three sources in any story.” Being thrust into the limelight can affect people in different ways, but there are no illusions of grandeur with BurnMurdoch, whose personable nature is clear over our two days of conversation. Two days because Burn-Murdoch’s schedule is as busy as ever, squeezing in fragmented Zoom calls between his own reporting or
ring-lit appearances on national television. “The ring-light has been great – a real game changer,” he reports with a smile. The future of data journalism is equally bright. As the vaccine rollout inspires hope that the curve will flatten for good, there is an enduring respect for data’s role in the wider industry. “The audience, readers and our newsroom colleagues, are increasingly appreciative of the value of data journalism, not just as a way to make something look pretty, but as a way to actually deliver insight,” says Burn-Murdoch. “That’s something that has been great to see.” →
Cracking the Code 💻 John Burn-Murdoch created his coronavirus trajectory tracker using R to visualise the raw data, before adding annotations on Adobe Illustrator (see glossary p.58). Soon after, he used D3 to make the visaulisations websiteready. This meant coding the graphs to automatically update their datasets, rather than recreating an entire new graph.
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XCITY / Features
Mapping the
US election Ashley Kirk, visual projects editor at The Guardian, tells Chiara Wilkinson and Matt Reed how he charted Trump’s dramatic downfall
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hen Donald Trump falsely claimed victory in the 2020 United States presidential election, large chunks of The Guardian’s electoral map were coloured an unknowing shade of pink. With millions of eyes fixated on the tracker, the visual projects team added a warning to assure their audience that the states were yet to turn Republican red, and the election was far from over. Enter the waiting game. “It was a lot of sleepless nights,” says Ashley Kirk, Visual Projects Editor at The Guardian. “And it was something I wasn’t quite used to.” Kirk, 28, joined The Guardian in May 2020, overseeing all sorts of projects from simple static charts to large interactive collaborations, following five years on The Telegraph’s data desk. “Before me, The Telegraph didn’t have a data journalism team,” explains Kirk, who joined the paper in 2015. “At the start, some people thought I was some numbers weirdo in the corner.” Today, Kirk has a varied role at The Guardian where he sources, analyses and visualises data, as well as keeping tabs on all of the spinning plates his team are holding up. He was recognised in Europe’s 2021 Forbes 30 under 30 List for his visual interactive work in relation to the pandemic. Seven months after Kirk joined the paper, The Guardian’s US Election Results Tracker generated the publication’s highest-ever digital traffic, with more than 190 million page views in just 24 hours. Feeding live vote counts from the Associated Press into a pre-programmed series of graphics, the project was woven with complexities: from navigating SEO when the visualisations lacked words, to coordinating the post-election analysis
and making sharp editorial decisions to construct a narrative around the numbers. The results tracker itself was headed by Niko Kommenda, fellow Visual Projects Editor at The Guardian, while Kirk worked on the preview and analysis pieces. A key facet of their analysis page was the use of scaled arrows to represent how county votes had swung in comparison to the 2016 election: left swinging arrows for Democrats and right swinging for Republicans. “We had this big analysis page ready with data being fed into it,” Kirk says about the first day of the election. “The arrows were starting to form in the counties that were fully counted, but it wasn’t clear overall. “We couldn’t say who had won, so then it was basically several days of waiting.” Kirk had been wanting to play around with scaled arrows for a while, having seen them used by other outlets like The New York
“It was a lot of sleepless nights”
Red, white and blue: Map of the 2020 US Election results at the state levels
Image: The Guardian
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Times, so representing how Biden had won the presidency via swing states presented the perfect opportunity. “It intuitively makes sense when you’re looking at swings to use arrows,” explains Kirk. “The length
XCITY / Features Images: The Guardian
in particular areas like Florida, Wisconsin, and along the US-Mexico border. “We were seeing these numbers very early on the first night of the results,” Kirk notes. “You’re thinking at this point, ‘God, where are these people coming from?’ I spent ages looking into the turnout of a handful of Texas border counties because I thought it must be an error.” But it wasn’t: with a higher voter turnout everywhere, both parties managed to build up their bases, contributing to a more polarised election overall. “They must have had a very good local campaign and managed to mobilise a lot more people,” Kirk speculates, nodding to the utility of on the ground insight. With record reader engagement, the success of The Guardian’s US Election Coverage is evidence of the benefits reaped by pushing the boundaries of data-led storytelling. “With 2020, data has been front and centre,” says Kirk. “If newsrooms weren’t already woken up to the fact that they need people who can analyse and visualise data, they’re definitely awake now.” →
“I thought it must be an error”
“Numbers weirdo”: Ashley Kirk has been a visiting lecturer at City University since 2016
Cracking the Code 💻 The Guardian’s visual team uses different programming tools depending on the project’s demands. “If it’s a very simple analysis, there’s nothing wrong with just doing analysis in Excel,” Kirk says. “But if it’s a much bigger data set or we want to replicate the analysis, I would look at doing that in R [Studio].” Kirk feeds his data into ggplot (see glossary p.58) and commands the system to create static visualisations. He then takes the SVG of his chart to Adobe Illustrator for final annotations, before using a HTML script to take it into the website. D3 will also be used if a project is more bespoke or interactive.
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Images (L-R): Matt Reed; Wikimedia commons
of the arrow indicates the swing one way or another.” Kirk and his colleagues were sitting on the analysis page for three days before it was published. “In a way it was stressful and frustrating that we couldn’t get something out on the day, but at the same time that allowed for a better piece, ultimately,” says Kirk. “Luckily, because we have the US team and Alvin Chang [US data and visual reporter], we basically relayed the shifts.” Conversations about the visualisations began with the US editor, John Mulholland, months before Kirk joined The Guardian. The work was split across the Atlantic with the London office managing the data pipeline and the subject specialists in the New York office editing the stories. The finished results saw two, three, four, or more people working on one project: a testimony to the collaborative effort between designers, back-end coders, front-end developers and on the ground reporters. The raw data pouring in during the early counts surprised Kirk and his team, who were shocked that Trump did so well
XCITY / Features
Sharing Numbers With Alex Homer, senior journalist at the BBC Shared Data Unit, by Chiara Wilkinson and Matt Reed
I
n 2020, the Office for National Statistics alone released 961 publicly available datasets: each digit representing endless ramifications for communities across the UK. Finding a news line in the numbers can be a laborious process, and data driven stories are often the result of weeks of sourcing, analysis, and asking the right questions. For the BBC Shared Data Unit, uncovering these headlines has become second nature, with over 1,450 tailored stories generated for their partners’ audiences since they began operating in September 2017. The unit was launched as part of the Local News Partnerships scheme: a previously unthinkable agreement between traditional media rivals, born out of a pioneering conference in 2014 to protect public-service journalism. After two years of talks, an agreement was written into a Government White Paper in December 2016 detailing how the partnerships would work. Today, the unit creates and shares datasets with regional news partners across the country, ranging from private radio stations to hyperlocal blogs - and has distributed 55 datasets since 201a7. Alex Homer is a Senior Journalist at the unit, working with three other BBC staff. “The thing that’s really rewarding and interesting about this particular team is that we send partners all the same datasets and national quotes,” says Homer. He explains that partners then take those building blocks and turn them into whatever stories they think will resonate most with their local audiences. The unit began an essential data-led investigation in June 2020, uncovering that
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many councils were on the brink of bankruptcy amid swelling COVID-19 costs. The resulting story was used by over 57 partner organisations as well as being featured in BBC national broadcasts. “Our story was trying to quantify and get an idea of the scale of the challenge that councils were facing at that time,” says Homer. “It felt like Sharing is caring: The BBC Shared Data Unit upload all their data to GitHub, which is freely available to the public something where suspended due to coronavirus restrictions, we could really the unit introduced a successful series of make an important contribution to Zoom learning sessions for their news public discourse.” The team sent press partners to continue the skill distribution inquiries to every council, before creating over the pandemic. a large dataset by manually inputting This ethos of cooperation and individual replies from press offices. “It’s no transparency runs through everything the exaggeration to say it was weeks of work,” unit does: in every story they publish on says Homer. the BBC website, the methodology and Pre-Covid, the unit also took on dataset is public and is published on their seconded journalists from their partner GitHub repository. “Throughout the whole outlets across the country for 12 weeks of process, we’re almost trying to open up a training at their base in Birmingham. “It’s car bonnet, and show how the journalism a case of getting people up to a level of data came together,” says Homer. The result is a literacy,” says Homer. “We effectively have priceless resource for cash-tight local news a conveyor belt of lots of different talented publications: cutting through the numbers regional journalists who are joining us to find stories unique to communities for three months, we get to know them, across the country and distributing the and then they return to their substantive know-how in the process. 🆇 jobs.” Although in-person secondments are
Cracking the Code 💻
Glossary 🔍
At the BBC Shared Data Unit, Alex Homer begins his work by investigating a hypothesis and seeing what data is readily available - before asking public authorities and using targeted Freedom of Information requests to accumulate any other data necessary to answer his questions. When teaching seconded journalists, the unit will introduce the basics of spreadsheet analysis, pivot tables, and the coding language R, all whilst getting them to grips with data visualisation tools for their respective newsrooms’ content management systems.
🔍 R: A basic programming language used for statistical computing and graphics 🔍 ggplot: An open-source data visualisation package within R programming 🔍 SVG / Scalable Vector Graphics: A type of 2D image format used for interactivity 🔍 HTML / HyperText Markup Language: The coding language used to structure internet web pages 🔍 D3: A programme based on a more complex programming language, Javascript 🔍 CMS / Content management system: The web systems used to display articles and multimedia on a website
XCITY / Features
How freelancers fight writer’s I block Freelance journalists share their secrets with Eva Levy
riter for
gw – Contributin Anjana AhujaTimes the Financial
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t’s 2am, you’re on your fifth cup of coffee, the small light on your desk is the only thing glimmering in the whole building. You type a word, delete it, then type it again, then stop. You’ve guessed it, you have writer’s block. XCity asked four freelancers about their tips to break through writer’s block and to recall moments when they generated ideas.
Rhys Th atVice a omas – Men’s a The Fac nd freelance for dvice columnis e t The Gua rdian and Whe
n I’ll do is I have an article sp to around w eak into my Dic write, one thin g taphone herever . what’s in I teresting am and say, “Ok I’ll walk about th ay, so th about th at’ is is talk to a …” I talk about idea, and this is s it as if I’m friend ab sort of se out it. Th trying to m a a timer o i-structure. An t tends to give s om o n myself w my phone for fi ther thing I do is e v r s write ran ite literally anyth e minutes and m et ake ing. I mig dom wo rds type stuff h down, an , but I try to con t even wall. stantly d that ge ts me th rough th e
Polly Smyth The Guardia e – Freelance journalist n, andTribun e magazinefor Vice, Alongs
ide w essential shop riting, I work as a shop assistant in an which was op of the pieces I’m most prou en during lockdown. On e at work in D d of came to ec m to give him h ember. I was serving a cu e when I was is st let go for lik change and he held my omer, I went e 15 seconds hand and didn . Th sorry, it’s just ’t en he said, “O th h I’m really person in so at I live alone, I haven’t touched anot long.” I was ve her about it a lot. ry embarras se I casual touch thought about how sad d and thought it w of that he had in a worker was the only hu as that the man contact months. I en for Tribune ab de out “How Cov d up writing an article Carers”. id Turned C ashiers into
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XCITY / Features
Storming the Capitol The inside story on how the ITV News team captured history in the making, by Frankie Lister-Fell
Illustrations: Instagram @l.ttle.joys Image: Wally Gobetz
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XCITY / Features
E
yes streaming from tear gas, ITV producer Sophie Alexander was wedged among the teeming mob just outside of the Capitol building in Washington DC when there was a huge push of people from behind. “I couldn’t breathe. I thought, ‘If they don’t get through those doors, I’m going to be crushed to death,’” she recalls. The rioters did get through those doors, smashing glass windows and wooden entrances with chiselled metal spears cloaked in American flags. What followed marked a sinister moment in the history of the United States, one which the ITV team were the only broadcasters there to document. Two SD cards, three crew members and 84 minutes of raw film later, ITV’s exclusive seven-minute package of the Capitol insurrection on 6 January 2021 has gained them international acclaim and over 11 million Twitter views, as well as placing the team as red hot favourites to win at next year’s Royal Television Society’s Television Journalism Awards. Alexander, correspondent Robert Moore, and cameraman Mark Davey were the only news team who managed to get inside Congress when around 1,000 pro-Trump protestors stormed the Capitol to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election. The riots stunned the world and left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer. “We’ve never come across a story that has gone global so quickly, and I think that’s true for ITV News’ history too,” Moore reflects. Over the course of his expansive career, the award-winning TV journalist has served as ITV’s correspondent in Moscow and has covered multiple wars from the Balkans to the Middle East. But even he has never had such a big reaction to a story before. “What’s changed in reporting over the past 30 years is that things that are powerful now go viral,” he says. “News at 10 is my daily priority, but as broadcast journalists, we need to welcome that our bulletins will be amplified on social media.” Moore’s daughters, much to their excitement, first saw a version of his report on TikTok; his wife saw it in a retweet. But how did the trio pull off such an exclusive scoop? Washington DC is filled with journalists. Why were they the only TV crew inside the Capitol? Here’s what happened. On the morning of 6 January, Moore, Alexander and Davey arrive at the south side of the White House at 9am (2pm UK time). They’re there to capture the Trump rally for ITV News, scheduled for 6.30pm GMT. When Trump calls the presidential vote a “fraud”, his enraged supporters gather to “stop the steal”, as they
emphatically chant. After filming vox pops with Trump’s supporters, Moore takes the camera’s memory card back to the bureau to package the footage for the evening broadcast. “Mark and I stayed because Trump, unpunctual as ever, hadn’t come on stage yet. He was an hour late,” Alexander recalls. The duo leave the rally early to gather footage of the crowd marching towards the Capitol. “That’s when I got a message from a contact saying a fight had broken out on the steps of the Capitol,” Alexander says. They start speed-walking towards the congressional building and hear two loud booms: tear gas fired by the police. Wading through thousands of protestors towards the sprawling white building, recognised by many as the symbol of American democracy, Davey and Alexander notice that a gallows with a noose has been erected. Its wooden perimeter frames the Capitol in an ominous glare. Alexander thinks: “Okay, this isn’t just a march anymore. It’s turning into something really quite dark.” She rings Moore and, miraculously, the call goes through. In crowds like these, signal strength is a rarity. During the rally earlier, it took them half an hour to meet up with Moore because they struggled to find each other. Sprinting from ITV’s bureau at 2pm EST, Moore is already on his way when Alexander calls him. The bureau is 10 minutes from the Capitol, so Moore, seeing the expanding horde of people, ditches his bike and weaves through the crowd. The air has changed. He’s eager to get to the others and is worried he won’t find them. A policeman stops Moore on Pennsylvania Avenue. No one, including
ensure they remain together. “Sophie held my jacket for about an hour. In a crowd like that, you just have to,” Davey adds. Tear gas bombs land around them as he captures the smoke and chaos on camera. They notice rioters vomiting from the tear gas. “I was pretty lucky,” Davey recalls, “Everyone’s eyes around me were streaming. Sophie had contact lenses in, which makes the effects much worse.” Caught in the epicentre of the madness,
“If they don’t get through those doors, I’m going to be crushed to death” and with a temporarily blinded producer, Moore does his first piece to camera. He’s surrounded by the “mainstream media’s worst enemy”, who are armed with medieval spears, spiked flag poles, baseball bats and a plethora of “improvised weapons”. Wasn’t he scared? “The biggest concern for us was the fear that the Capitol Hill police might open fire on the insurrectionists and mix us up with them,” Moore says. Davey agrees: “The short answer is no, I wasn’t frightened. We were threatened by people, but I didn’t feel threatened.” Over the course of an hour, protestors demonstrate aggressive behaviour such as demanding to know who the crew were with and smacking Davey’s camera. One particularly antagonised insurrectionist lunges and screams at Davey. Stunned, Davey asks him simply, “What’s the matter?” This question startles the man. He explains he’s infuriated that the police are macing veterans, an act of treachery in his eyes. But most of all, he just wants an outlet for his anger and to be heard. “There have been many occasions in the past where I’ve been frightened,” Davey concedes, but 6 January was not one of them. His veteran career includes covering trouble spots around the world, from the Second Intifada to riots in Venezuela and The Troubles in his native Belfast. Despite everything he’s done, Davey associates the Capitol riot with what he witnessed during The Troubles. “It’s the almost innocuous moments of the protestors laughing and taking selfies, and then the next minute we learn that someone has died.” Alexander, on the other hand, switched from being a print journalist at the Daily Star to an ITV producer just three years ago. She’s done a one-day riot training course. Two years ago. In Gravesend, Kent. “There was never a moment when I thought, ‘We need to get out of here,’” she says. “Apart from when I believed we →
“We’ve never come across a story that has gone global so quickly” the press, is allowed past. The policeman momentarily looks away and Moore slips past, ducking as he runs. With another stroke of luck, he quickly finds the others outside of the Capitol building. Standing on Congress’ steps, Davey gets some high-angle shots of the crowd. He sees masses of people disappearing into an opening, in the awning over the inauguration stage. “I thought: ‘Where are they going? Because they’re not coming back,’” Davey says. Lurching towards the doors of the Capitol, the ITV team cling to each other to
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XCITY / Features Image: Sophie Alexander
Alexander that day. When protestors – about 10 in total – approached them asking who they were with, the team used their British and Irish accents to talk them down. “We’re here to just document history,” they told them. “Robert’s pieces to camera were so important,” Davey says. “We had to get the protestors’ voices. That’s what made the coverage distinctive. But it also showed the rioters around us that we’re listening to them. Their biggest obsession is that they’re not being heard.” One aggrieved Trump supporter summarised the mood of the mob: “We respect the law. We’re good people. The government did this to us. We want our country back,” he tells Moore. Davey had another accidental trick up his sleeve. “I dressed like a Proud Boy,” Davey explains, “I have all these clothes from military bases in Afghanistan. Stuff you buy when you’re bored. As it happened, I had cut my hair very short too. I was a virtual A mob gathers: Pro-Trump rioters contesting the 2020 presidential vote on the steps outside of Congress skinhead. In a general way, I think I blended in.” provide an incredibly valuable 24/7 service. were going to be crushed.” As a producer, His camera is more inconspicuous than But there is a drawback to that. They’re less the safety of Moore and Davey is her you might expect too; it’s not immediately agile and less able to plunge into breaking utmost priority. obvious Davey is with a news crew. He uses newsgathering,” Moore elaborates. At 2.15pm, the trio bursts through the a Panasonic GH5 – a small DSLR camera He has no doubt that his competitors splayed doors of the Capitol, following the with interchangeable lenses. Though, that would have done just as they did if they moving, whooping crowd deeper into the didn’t stop one bearded insurrectionist were able to, but all of them were already building. “straight from the Appalachian Mountains” on air, or about to be. Reporting live in “We didn’t hesitate for a second. It was from whacking Davey’s camera with a the throng of such a dangerous crowd obviously a historic situation (this was the flagpole in protest (the camera survived). would have been a risky decision. What if first time anyone has stormed the Capitol Alexander also carries a wired boom someone got hurt? since 1814), and we all felt we could handle microphone, distrusting radio mics in Moore adds: “When I entered Congress the risk,” Moore recalls. “Experience this type of situation where helps with that. But so do basic other reporters’ radio mics journalistic instincts: you go where could interfere. They used this the story takes you, so long as your for Moore’s interviews with life isn’t in danger.” the protestors – “Why are you Inside, it is clear to Moore that storming Congress?” he asks them the police aren’t going to use the plainly – weaving the wired mic heavy-handed tactics inside the in between the heaving masses halls of Congress that they used of rioters flooding the Capitol’s during the Black Lives Matter rooms. protests last summer. At 3pm, Moore leaves, sprinting Alexander also didn’t hesitate it was 7.13pm in London. Siobhan Kennedy to the bureau, a 10 minute walk away, to on entering. “I didn’t ask the London office edit with Adam Blair for the News at Ten. from Channel 4 News was exactly on air at for permission. It would have just slowed Alexander and Davey stay inside gathering that time, talking to Jon Snow or Matt Frey us down. The bureau knew we were going more footage. The police finally mobilise or whoever in the studio. She was in no in. On that occasion, we had to work on and take control of the Capitol’s four position to abandon that live conversation instinct,” she says. entrances. and jump into the crowd. So we were lucky Later, they would discover that they They end up in the crypt – a circular, in that sense.” were the only news team inside the Capitol. column-filled room directly beneath the A similar reason explains the absence of Moore credits this to the bulletin structure Capitol’s rotunda – with 100 die-hard of ITV News, and that the cards fell in their American broadcasters. The extent of their pro-Trump protestors. The National Guard newsgathering is small compared to their favour that day. arrives, having been deployed by former live reporting and discursive studio panels. “Other British networks are deeply vice president Mike Pence. Davey and Other facets helped Moore, Davey and committed to live broadcasting; they
“It was a buzz and a high like I’ve never had. I couldn’t believe it. It’s incredible to be part of history ”
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XCITY / Features Image: ITV News
Pieces to camera: ITV’s Robert Moore reporting on the riot from within the teeming crowd, just before the Capitol’s doors were smashed down
Alexander are caught in the middle of a standoff between the Guard and the rioters. “There were people everywhere. It was so chaotic. The police were pushing us, the protestors were pushing us and at one stage Mark and I were knocked to the floor,” Alexander recalls. Shortly after, they are ejected from the building by the National Guard, and they speed back to the edit suite to add final clips to the package. “We share the same building with Channel 4,” Alexander explains. “They
congratulated us when we made it back. That’s when we realised. Sky hadn’t gone inside, nor the BBC, CNN, NBC, ABC, Fox. We were getting loads of complimentary emails from journalists and editors around the world, congratulating us on our scoop. It was really only then that I was like, ‘Oh right, this is a big deal.’” After only three years of working in television journalism, and at just 31 years old, Alexander is still trying to get her head around this highlight in her early career. How did she feel after returning safely to
the edit suite? “It was a buzz and a high like I’ve never had. I just couldn’t believe it. It’s incredible to be part of history.” The success of the team’s efforts that day was a reaffirming moment for broadcast journalism. “In a world where everyone’s filming on their phones, there’s still value in having a professional journalist to provide some context, a little neutrality and a degree of objectivity,” Moore says. “As we say in television news, let the pictures tell the story.” 🆇
Image: Associated Press
Inside Congress: Donning a furry hat with horns and holding an American flag wrapped around a spear, rioters clash with police inside the Capitol’s halls
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XCITY / Features
Rebooting sports reporting Matt Reed speaks to some of the biggest names in the game about how an industry built on cliches continues to innovate
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I don’t really watch it for that. I watch it for sonic wallpaper. For someone to say something that will cause a little green light to go off in my brain that goes, ‘Yeah, I feel the same.’” As a pundit for BBC Sport’s swimming coverage, five-time Olympian Mark Foster strives to deliver a similarly welcoming
Anatomy of a footballer: The footballing body as told by commentators
voice. “You want someone watching their TV to think they’re in the pub having a conversation with you,” says Foster. “It doesn’t need to be question after question; it just has to flow.” If casual, clichéd conversation is as welcome as ever, how does sports media keep innovating? The past two decades have seen granular statistics and tactical analysis take over sports journalism. “All sorts of companies
offer us statistics now,” says Cotter. “But you’ve got to evaluate whether it means anything.” The popularity of The Athletic – which reached one million paid subscribers in September 2020 after its launch in 2016 – was built on a progression towards in-depth analysis, using statistics and jargon for a sport-obsessed audience. “Tactics writers and these advanced data analysts are the next generation of sport journalists,” says Hurrey. “They have a real uphill battle to get this language into the mainstream, but it is definitely happening.” Simultaneously, at the BBC, Cotter and Foster present to those who may be watching a sport for the first time. Both agree that simplicity is key for a lay audience. “I could use swimming terminology, or a cliché, but people won’t understand,” says Foster. “So you always keep it simple.” This battle between in-depth analysis and simple explanation marks the line sports media must tread to keep both new and old fans onside. For Cotter, the datafication of sport has caused commentary to suffer, and the artistry of a simple line has become lost in information. “Now, there seems to be a fear of silence,” he says. “There has to be an avalanche of stats. Inevitably, a lot of this is from America where they are stat mad. Figures have a very important role to play in providing context, but sometimes all the viewer wants is to sit and take in the event with a bit of a breath and enjoy the atmosphere. The silence is your friend, don’t be afraid of it.” One of the last bastions of free-toair sports coverage in the UK is through the Olympics, where a minimum of 200 hours is dedicated to public broadcasting. For the BBC team reporting on this summer’s games, the looming threat of COVID-19 means broadcasting from Manchester instead of Tokyo. Amid a fresh outbreak of coronavirus cases in Japan, it is uncertain whether events will play out in front of a domestic crowd, assuring this Olympics will be like no other. Nonetheless, the tenets of sports journalism will remain the same, with the odd cliché destined to be spoken. “It’s about being authentic,” Foster summarises. “People see through it nowadays anyway, so speak your truth, whatever that might be.” 🆇
Image: James Edgar / Adam Hurrey
o catch a glimpse of the first modern-day Olympics in 1896, the public had to wait months for silent newsreels shown in cinemas. Since then, sports media has scaled exponentially, with today’s coverage broadcast live and on-demand in more than 200 countries. For all the decades in-between, one ideal has rung true: “It’s not the winning but the taking part that counts.” This year’s re-scheduled Tokyo 2020 games mark the 125th anniversary of that original Olympics, when its founding father Pierre de Coubertin uttered that now hackneyed phrase. The mass expansion of never-ending sports coverage has ushered in a unique sphere of journalism, teeming with clichés and idioms. Athletes perpetually stand on the start line, ready to give ‘110 per cent’, or ‘blood, sweat and tears’, to win ‘at all costs’. How do sports journalists and outlets keep the reportage of invariably similar events fresh? Tasked with providing metronomic rhythm to the millions watching at home, Andrew Cotter has been commentating on sport for almost 25 years. Having started at regional radio station Scot FM in 1997, he is now one of the BBC’s most recognisable voices for rugby, golf, and Olympic coverage. For Cotter, clichés have held a continual presence in sports media because of their enduring relevance. “All sports go through the same passages of play, the same rhythms, every time,” he says. “In golf, a six-footer is not a new thing, so it’s finding different ways of describing the disappointment or the joy – but sometimes using clichés is unavoidable. If it sounds natural and seems like the right thing to say at that time, it doesn’t matter if somebody has said it 1,000 times before.” He adds: “It’s vowels, like the ‘i’ in fire: ‘he’s on fire’. The sound and rhythm of words are everything to me.” It is because clichés are so relatable that audiences refuse to grow tired of them, despite the originality media companies may desire, according to Adam Hurrey, writer and editor at The Athletic. “Everyone’s obsessed with insight,” says Hurrey, author of book-turned-podcast Football Clichés. “Punditry is ‘under pressure’ to produce original insight, but
Image: FITV
Island Life
Image: FITV
Just another day in the office: Oliver Thomson films pengiuns for Falkland Islands Television
From the Isle of Wight to the Cayman Islands, Chiara Wilkinson meets the journalists taking remote reporting to the edge of the globe
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or many journalists in the past year, the newsroom buzz has been replaced by a caving claustrophobia triggered by an entrapment within four walls and a quivering internet connection. With reporters backed into bedrooms, interviews have been reduced to fuzzy Zoom encounters and conversations traded for flat email exchanges. But oceans away from the metropolitan media centres, the
concept of ‘remote reporting’ is nothing new. Island-based journalists serve some of the most geographically isolated communities on the map, while remaining tightly embedded in their own bubbles of readers, sources, and stories. XCity speaks to English-speaking island journalists from all corners of the globe to find out how they have served their communities in a year like no other. →
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Orkney: Leah Seator, editor of The Orcadian Image: Leah Seator
Population: >22,000
Orkney is a windswept archipelago of about 70 islands, sandwiched between the tip of mainland Scotland and Shetland. “There are no trees here because they just can’t survive,” says Leah Seator, 39, editor and agony aunt of The Orcadian newspaper. “They say that you can experience all weathers in one day, and that’s very true.” The paper reaches about two thirds of the households on the islands. “Paper day is Thursday, and it’s almost a big event in itself,” she says. Originally from Northern Ireland, Seator moved to Orkney aged six before taking a journalism course in Edinburgh and starting as a trainee on The Orcadian in 2002. “I didn’t plan to stay here,” admits Seator, who originally wanted to be a musician. “But at the time, the music scene really took off. We had a new nightclub and got big acts coming regularly. That’s one of the benefits of journalism in a small community – if any celebrity visits, you’re
going to be right in the scene.” The Orcadian was nominated for a 2020 Press Gazette British Journalism Award for breaking the story that the chief executive designate of NHS Orkney, Iain Stewart, had been regularly travelling to the Scottish Highlands during the first lockdown. At the same time, the local NHS health board had been refusing to work with the paper to report testing or case figures. “Why did we only have five cases, when in Shetland, there were massive outbreaks and people were dying?” says Seator. “The less transparency, the more the public became unnerved and frightened.” “For a little newspaper like this, the nomination was crazy, but there is a reason for that,” she says. “The story really brought about significant change in Orkney as to how the pandemic is publicly perceived and handled. After it broke, there were calls for the chief executive’s resignation, which as a journalist, you do not take lightly. But we knew we had a real duty to get good information out to people.”
Cayman Islands: Andrel Harris, crime reporter at The Cayman Compass Image: Andrel Harris
Population: >64,900
“Cayman is probably a perfect microcosm of the wider world,” says Andrel Harris, 30, an eighth-generation Caymanian born and bred at his home in George Town. “You’ll find a little bit of everything in Cayman: there’s something like 150 nationalities melted right here in all three islands.” Harris is a crime reporter at the weekly national newspaper, The Cayman Compass. In December 2020, he broke a story about an 18-year-old student who was sentenced to four months in a Cayman prison after breaching their COVID-19 restrictions when travelling from Georgia, USA, to visit her boyfriend. “My phone would not stop ringing and my emails kept blowing up:
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every US agency wanted an interview,” he says. “Unfortunately, it’s become the biggest story of my career.” Reporting in a small community does not come without its challenges. “Sometimes when you do a story, you’re going to see that person at the family reunion the next week,” Harris confesses. “And so it’s particularly difficult for journalists here to maintain the highest of ethical standards without burning bridges in a very small community. It’s a delicate balancing act that you might not have to experience in a larger market.” “And unfortunately, there is this thing called Cayman fame,” he laughs, admitting that sometimes he struggles to buy milk in the supermarket without strangers noticing him.
Following the story and Stewart’s resignation, the health board finally established a transparent working relationship with the paper. “All tests and case figures are published now straight away, and the board answers questions within seconds,” Seator says.
XCITY / Features
“Where the Isle of Wight leads, Britain follows,” barked Matt Hancock during a press conference in May 2020, launching the trial for the NHS contact-tracing app on the 26-mile-wide island. It was the first in a chain of headlines which saw the island progress from a low-risk coronavirus area for most of 2020, to a full blown lockdown at the beginning of this year. “People are very anti-mainlanders at the moment,” says Darren Toogood, editor and publisher of online news platform, Island Echo. “People are resenting anyone ‘coming over and bringing the virus with them,’ and are very angry with the council and ferry operators for allowing that to happen.” Toogood, 27, has lived on the island for his whole life and describes himself as a “true caulkhead”. Speaking from his home in Ryde after a thirteen-hour day of reporting, he says: “As soon as I hit the sea,
that’s the end of my patch.” The varied landscape of built up towns, rolling hills, and stretches of seaside, is home to a largely aging population. “A lot of people say that the Isle of Wight lives 20 years in the past: we’re still waiting for a Nando’s,” Toogood says. “It is challenging at times. I’m reporting 21st century news to an audience that’s still learning to adapt.” Toogood started off as a photojournalist aged 16 before setting up Island Echo in 2012. “You can’t have a big exposé every week, because there’d be no one left in office to expose,” he chuckles. “My thinking with Island Echo was to bring a Sky News approach to a very small, rural community. It’s just normal news for the normal man, but it’s never boring.”
Oliver Thomson’s beat involves covering elephant seal births and enjoying cups of tea with penguins on the beach – not quite your traditional local reporter material. But for Thomson, 26, who travelled more than 8,000 miles from his home in Yorkshire to take up his new job, it’s all part of Falklands Islands life. “Apart from 14 days of quarantine on arrival, it’s business as usual here,” says Thomson, who arrived in the capital, Stanley, just in time to avoid the UK’s first national lockdown. “Pubs are open, you don’t have to wear a mask, and you can handshake.” Thomson is a broadcast journalist at Falkland Islands Television (FITV): the sole broadcasting TV service for the archipelago. FITV produces a weekly programme highlighting local news as well as a behind-the-scenes podcast and ad-hoc shows for special occasions. After working as a sports journalist in Halifax, it was a career move fuelled by a thirst for adventure. Thomson had always wanted to work and travel, so when he saw an ad for the role on Twitter, he jumped at the opportunity – and
it’s hardly surprising that he decided to extend his contract for two more years after a successful twelve month run. “A couple of weeks ago, I saw a royal penguin on the shore,” he says. “They are native to Macquarie Island off New Zealand, so I don’t know how it got here.” Thomson says that the 1982 conflict between Argentina and the UK still blemishes the Falklands. “It took nearly 40 years for the final landmine to be lifted at York Bay and the beach to be opened,” he says, reflecting on his coverage of the landmark event in November. “People were in tears, and it was a big moment - not just politically but emotionally.” Since the island has such a small population, Thomson’s relationship with sources is more intimate than in larger patches. “UK media is more of a get the news, get the headline, interview the person for 10 minutes, sort of thing,” Thomson says, explaining how he now often sits for a coffee with interviewees. “It’s more friendly, because who knows – next week, you might be interviewing them about something entirely different.” 🆇
Image: FITV
Falkland Islands: Oliver Thomson, broadcast journalist at Falkland Islands Television Population: >3,300
Illustrations: Chiara Wilkinson
Population: >141,600
Image: Island Echo
Isle of Wight: Darren Toogood, editor of Island Echo
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XCITY / Features
Reporting the Black Lives Matter protests
Two Black journalists tell Aisha Rimi how they covered last year’s protests against police brutality in London and Washington DC
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Image: Daniel Henry
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here were a few things that really came together,” Daniel Henry says. “Working with an all-Black team, covering the biggest civil rights protests we’ve seen in a generation and feeling as though the world was changing around us. It was just astonishing.” Eight minutes and 46 seconds. That is all it took for all corners of the world to erupt as people took to the streets to protest last summer. From New York to Seoul, millions marched to seek justice for the death of George Floyd and to show their opposition to racism and police brutality, all amidst the coronavirus pandemic. In the days following Floyd’s death, Westminster was flooded with protestors chanting “Black Lives Matter” as demonstrations continued to spread across the country. Daniel Henry, a BBC journalist and documentary maker, reported from the centre of the protests in London. His BBC Three film, Fighting the Power: Britain After George Floyd, which first aired in July 2020, explores how the UK responded to the murder of Floyd. By following the protest organisers and examining the UK’s own history of police brutality, the film also looked at the harsh reality of this country’s relationship with race. Reporting on 6 June, Henry was at the centre of the biggest protest of that week in Parliament Square. Organisers told The Guardian they expected 20,000 protesters, but a lot more turned up in support. As demonstrations sprang up across the world, concerns were expressed about mass crowds gathering in the middle of the pandemic at a time when the death toll in the UK had just surpassed 40,000 people. For journalists like Henry, this was too big a story to miss. “I took the relevant precautions and did what we were supposed to do – mask up and gloves on,” says Henry. “But I think
On the ground: Daniel Henry reporting from the protests in London
Image: Antar Hanif
Capturing the movement: Malika Bilal taking photos of protesters in the heart of Washington DC
that the adrenaline at the time completely took over and I’m glad it did. I’d been trusted to cover the biggest story of the year and I was excited by that responsibility.” “Breathtaking” was how Henry described the sea of people and talking to individuals who had come from all over the country to respond to the tragedy. But things turned sour at the next protest he covered. On 13 June, the farright turned up mob-handed and things turned violent. After spending the day surrounded by the energy of crowds of people who wanted to see change happen, Henry was shocked by the turn of events. “I didn’t think I’d see the far-right take over central London in my lifetime,” Henry says. “It’s the stuff that my uncles talk about, you know, ‘The skinheads came out, and it was a scrap.’ I almost couldn’t believe what I was witnessing.” George Floyd’s death wasn’t the first time the world witnessed an unarmed Black man killed by a white police officer in the US. Yet this particular case captured the world’s attention in a manner unlike ever before. Why were these Black Lives Matter protests covered on a different scale? “There are a couple of reasons,” says Henry. “Number one, the desolate images of George Floyd being killed and the fact that everybody saw it. Then COVID-19 and people being at home added another layer. Often these things are just issues to our community, but this was different. Everybody saw it and was moved by it.” Despite the Black Lives Matter protests and movement garnering much attention online and in the mainstream media, many expressed their doubts as to whether the protests would create lasting change or whether, like so many before, engagement
would fizzle out after a few weeks. As a result of the protests, the media industry was under a glaring light to address its ongoing diversity issues. This time, however, it felt as though concerns about the media’s diversity problem were finally being heard. One year later, how much has changed? “I think [the industry] cares and is aware, but there hasn’t been much definitive action. Obviously, COVID-19 is a part of that,” says Henry. “Things have changed in what the public expects to see and hear on their screens and read too. As a result of that, things do change, but there is still work to do.”
“I’m not able to take off the journalist hat; it’s so integral” Malika Bilal, host of Al Jazeera podcast, The Take, describes reporting from the centre of the protests in Washington DC on 30 May as “exhilarating”. “I don’t necessarily mean that positively,” she adds, “but there was an electricity in the crowd”. Despite the worry of catching coronavirus in the back of her mind, Bilal felt compelled to report live from the protests. While she may not have actually been sent to report on the situation, being a Black woman and knowing how police brutality can affect her community made her feel “intimately connected and involved” in the story. “I went out there on my own volition, my job didn’t send me. I’m the host of
podcasts and I interview people who go to those things, but I don’t actually have to go to them myself. But I felt like I needed to and had to be there,” adds Bilal. An experienced protest reporter, having previously covered the 2011 uprisings in Egypt, last year’s unrest was like none Bilal had encountered before. “I’ve personally not been to a protest in the US where I’ve been met with tear gas or ones that got violent like this,” she says. “It was shocking standing outside the gate of the White House lawn, and then suddenly being hit by a wave of police officers steadily marching towards you and spraying [tear gas] indiscriminately in the middle of the pandemic.” During those summer months, the news cycle was relentless, exhausting, and overwhelming for everyone, journalists included. The video of Floyd’s death and his screams of “I can’t breathe” were heard all around the world as snippets played on news programmes, and the video was shared countless times on social media. For Bilal, the experience between attending the protests as a civilian and as a journalist were not much different. “Unfortunately, there really never is a difference for me. Even when I’m going to something in my personal capacity, I’m not really able to take off the journalist hat, because it’s so integral,” says Bilal, who started her career 15 years ago. “I’ve been a journalist for so long, so when I go to things like a protest, I’m here to report. Even if it’s not going to go on to my organisation’s website or the TV or radio, I’m still there as someone who’s bearing witness versus someone who’s chanting slogans and holding signs, just because I think it’s a slippery slope.” →
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Image: Associated Press
Mass crowds: Despite the pandemic, thousands of protestors came down to London in support
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Image: Daniel Henry
he says. “That kind of connection go away until there’s true equality and As a reporter who has both a personal and kept everybody feeling good and kept justice in this world. But it was difficult.” professional investment in the story, it everybody’s mental health feeling positive, Daniel Henry says that being can be difficult to separate your multiple even when stuff was happening around us.” identities. For Bilal, a Black Muslim woman surrounded by an all-Black team helped While issues affecting their communities him to stay positive. “We were able to based between LA and Washington, the are increasingly brought to the forefront, bounce off each other, relate and share, situation is multilayered. “I haven’t ever felt for Black journalists like Henry and Bilal, and ask ‘Are you sure you’re OK today?’” like I had the luxury to separate them,” she the future looks promising says. as they move forward in Her multiple identities, their careers. Henry says: however, do greatly benefit “On a personal level, [the her reporting on such film] definitely opened stories. “What I add to my some doors, which is what coverage is a unique layer of you want. You want to be understanding and empathy, able to deliver work that which comes across in how you’re proud of, that helps I report the story,” says Bilal. you move to another stage “It doesn’t mean that I’m in your career.” biased, but rather I come As for Bilal, she says: with a viewpoint that I’m “I feel a renewed sense of going to be honest about urgency and a renewed my experience. That doesn’t sense of purpose. And also, preclude me from being I feel more justified.” able to tell the story justly A year later, the hype and fairly and in a way that around the Black Lives everyone can understand Matter movement may have where all sides are coming died down in the media. from.” But with the conviction As a journalist, Bilal of Derek Chauvin on 20 was also caught up in the April, the police officer intense and challenging who murdered Floyd, time for many Black people many people believe that in the US. “It was an the trial’s outcome could overwhelmingly sad time. I be attributed to the sheer think I used my journalism amount of media coverage hat as my way to see of the protests. While there through it. I felt like I had is still a way to go to ensure a little bit of power because true equality, there’s no I’m out here reporting on it, denying that the events and asking people to share of last summer sparked a their stories,” she says. “I reawakening of issues that know that those feelings are were often sidelined. 🆇 never going to completely Dream team: Daniel with director, Eddie Hutton-Mills, and producer, Sophie Fuller
Zing Tsjeng
Image: Chris topher Bethell
Vice UK’s trailblazing executive editor speaks to Kay Leong about nurturing young talent and amplifying Asian voices
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XCITY / Features
wo days before I am to interview Zing Tsjeng, editor of Vice UK, a 21-year-old gunman went on a murder spree at several massage parlours in Atlanta, Georgia, killing eight people. Six victims were women of Asian descent. The shooting was part of a rising tide of anti-Asian racism that has been escalating since the beginning of the pandemic. It is something that both she and I – as Singaporean immigrants in Britain – have sadly experienced. The news weighs heavily on our hearts, and it is in this context that our interview takes place. “The way the media reported the shooting makes a case for why we need diversity in newsrooms,” Tsjeng says. As executive editor of the British offshoot of Vice, the 32-yearold is one of the few people from the East and Southeast Asian community who holds a top spot in the British media. She cites the fact that while most American publications wavered on declaring the crime as racially motivated, one of Korea’s biggest dailies, the Chosun Ilbo, was able to report eyewitness accounts of the gunman declaring his intention to kill all Asians. “It took a Korean paper, with Korean reporters on the ground, to actually speak to eyewitnesses and do the
journalism that American newspapers weren’t doing,” she said. Across the pond, UK newspapers reported the incident as it was relayed to them by news wires – without explicitly mentioning the racially motivated nature of the crime. Some notable exceptions included the BBC, which focused on the Asian American community and their fears after the shooting. Championing voices from underrepresented communities is at the heart of what Tsjeng does. Prior to her current job, Tsjeng worked as an editor at Broadly, an online publication launched in 2015 by Vice which centred on women, gender and identity, and which was absorbed into the main company in 2019. Is she disappointed that there is no
now part of mainstream reporting.” But that doesn’t mean that she can’t continue covering these issues. At Broadly, she worked on the "Unfollow Me" campaign, investigating the links between stalking and violence, and calling for the introduction of a stalkers’ register. At Vice, she has worked on "Recognise Me", a series amplifying the trans community, and supporting the Gender Recognition Act. “It’s really important to me that these voices get heard, that these stories are given respect and sensitivity,” she explains. She expands on the social media treatment of the victims in the Atlanta shooting, with people commenting that they did not get their “happy ending” – a joke stemming from the stereotype that Asian-American women in massage parlours must be prostitutes. “When people in these communities are not represented in the news, politics or media, it creates a climate in which they can become a cheap joke.” Other groups that Tsjeng is keen to champion are university students and young people – naturally, as Vice is a left-wing youth publication. Twenty six per cent of the platform’s audience is under 24 years old, according to Vice Media Group. As a young person, I know first-hand how overlooked my demographic can be, so I ask her why
“When people are not represented in the media, it creates a climate where they can become a cheap joke” longer a dedicated space covering these issues? Yes, but in a way, she’s also thrilled: “Broadly was a victim of its own success. As it became more obvious that there was a hunger to read about women’s issues and stories, more outlets devoted resources and time to covering them. I am thrilled that gender equality and LGBTQI+ stories are
Uncovering colonial history: A still from Tsjeng’s Empires of Dirt shoot Image: Vice
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XCITY / Features a Brit Award, which was in part due to Tsjeng’s journalism. Sawayama failed to qualify for last year’s Mercury Prize, another award organised by the British Phonographic Industry, as she only held indefinite leave to remain and had no British citizenship despite having lived in the UK for 26 years. The eligibility rules were changed this year, after Tsjeng’s interview with Sawayama on Vice resulted in the creation of the viral hashtag #SawayamaisBritish and widespread coverage from other publications. Britishness is coincidentally the basis of Tsjeng’s BBC Sounds podcast United Zingdom, which ran from March to May last year. United Zingdom saw Tsjeng, who moved to the United Kingdom when Pandemic Podcasting: Tsjeng recording United Zingdom at home she was 16, traverse the UK know very much about it. If people did in search of what Britishness engage with history, they would realise how entails. Talking to everyone from an truly multicultural Britain is.” Essex councillor to a Glaswegian poet, Like other journalists who have she concludes that Britishness is hard to attempted to uncover the dark underbelly define and is hardly monolithic, and that perhaps Brits are still attempting to define it of British Empire, Tsjeng has faced her fair share of backlash. She’s received themselves. personal attacks on her ethnicity and The subject feels especially pertinent nationality, has been called racist names, during our chat, which occurs amid and has experienced “straight up sexual ongoing conversations of a ‘culture war’ in harassment”. How does she cope with which people debate about how heritage the trolls? “I always remind myself that institutions should recount British history if they’ve left a comment on your profile, and why the incumbent government is so you’re basically living in their heads rent attached to the Winston Churchill statue. free. If you engage with them, it makes it “To me, there’s almost two versions worse. Just block and go.” of Britishness being experienced. There’s I wonder if she has ever felt exhausted, Britain as it’s happening on the ground, as journalists of colour often feel the people’s lived experiences, and for some emotional toll of reporting on marginalised communities. She sighs and says: “I’ve never found it exhausting until this week. Especially as an Asian woman, you don’t get to see yourself represented in the news very often. And then to suddenly be overrepresented because there’s been a media and politicians, an idea of Britain horrendous murder – emotionally, that’s that is this jingoistic, imperial history of a quite a lot. You think about the shooting great empire.” and go, this could be someone I know. Or it Empire is something Tsjeng is well acquainted with, both because she was born could be me.” As our conversation comes to a close, in the former British colony of Singapore Tsjeng takes a minute to check if I am and because of her latest Vice video series, doing ok, amidst the outpouring of grief Empires of Dirt. The series reveals the that the shooting has unleashed. I am fine, unsavoury history of empire, exploring I say, though it is sometimes difficult to stay how institutions like universities, the sugar on top of news that affects you so viscerally. trade, and the tobacco industry are tied She smiles at me, in understanding and in to colonialism and slavery. She explains solace, and I log off, feeling a little lighter further: “I think that the nostalgia for than before. 🆇 empire only exists because people don’t
Image: Zing Tsjeng
engaging young people is so important. “If you don’t get young people interested in journalism and current affairs, you’ll lose them along the way. We always think it’s important to try and tell young people that your stories matter, your voices matter.” Indeed, Vice has consistently covered the impact of the pandemic on young people, reporting from campuses around the country as students are barricaded in halls, their mental health devastated. And it’s also why younger journalists can always find a home in Vice: “It’s essential to our editorial stance and to stay connected to our readership that we commission people who can talk to our readers, not down to them.” The publication’s ability to connect to their readership is evident in its massive social media reach. Vice UK, for instance, has 437k followers on Twitter and 328k followers on Instagram. And this following only enlarges when you look at the entirety of Vice Media Group which has bases in 35 cities across the world, from the United States to Indonesia. Its digital global audience reach is 380 million and it has amassed 1.8billion views on its YouTube network. All this is made possible by advertising and external funding, such as the $250m cash injection from a consortium of investors including billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros in 2019. Tsjeng is optimistic about the future of youth media outlets. “There’s a generational change, as young people are more politically minded. They’re going to look for media outlets that cater towards their interests and what they care about,” she says. This also involves “meeting your audience halfway” and as people are so technologically connected, focusing on digital journalism. That’s another thing Tsjeng is optimistic about. In spite of bleak industry news, such as the closure of HuffPost’s UK newsdesk, she believes that the pandemic has emphasised the importance of unbiased and factual digital journalism. Without it,
“It's important to tell young people that their stories matter, their voices matter” “all kinds of charlatans and nonsense end up filling the dead air”. For Vice, developing their digital journalism also involves being the first to hop on apps like TikTok or Snapchat. It’s not surprising that Tsjeng supports this evolution – after graduating from City with a master’s in Magazine Journalism in 2012, she worked at independent fashion magazine Wonderland as online editor and subsequently was brought into Dazed as digital news editor. A recent career high for Tsjeng came earlier this year when Japanese-British pop artist Rina Sawayama was nominated for
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XCITY / Features
Online orgies, virtual dating, and webcamming From advice columnists to technology writers, the pandemic has changed the way journalists write about sex, Chloé Meley reports
H
Image: @florence.illo/Instagram
ow do you write about intimacy at a time of social distancing, about dating when candlelit dinners in cosy restaurants cannot happen, or about love when people trapped together keep falling out of it? From fast-track romances to virtual dating to accidental cohabitation nightmares, people have attempted to forge, spice up, and salvage relationships in completely new ways over the past year. For sex and relationships journalists who chronicle these shifts, the pandemic has been a complete game-changer. At first, it required some readjusting. As the world shut down last year, sex and relationships writers became unable to use their own dating misadventures and sexcapades as content fodder, while opportunities to hear about others’ anxieties and desires also became rarer. Rachael Davies, 24, writes about sex and relationships “with an LGBTQ slant” for publications such as The Breakdown and Lady Science. She usually generates ideas by attending LGBTQI+ events and talking to people within the community – which she could no longer do while housebound. “It’s been tough, now that the whole
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networking side of my job is gone.” But while she struggled to find inspiration in the beginning, Davies quickly adapted. She noticed a growing interest in the topic of masturbation in lockdown and saw an opportunity to write about it with her community in mind. This January, she published a piece on The Sex Blog about gender-neutral sex toys, some of which were designed specifically for non-binary people. Of course, solo sex is not the only thing on editors’ minds. First-person stories –
maintaining friendships, as well as about dealing with family tensions – two types of relationship put under significant strain by repeated lockdowns. Unsurprisingly, pieces that explore the digitisation of dating and relationships – including the rise in online orgies, virtual reality dating, and webcamming – are also in higher demand than before. “For example, OnlyFans has dominated the landscape of the sex and dating discussion,” says Andy Jones, 36, referring to the content subscription service popular with
“OnlyFans has dominated the landscape of the sex and dating discussion” ranging from scandalous to relatable – have been very popular since the start of the pandemic. From “I broke lockdown rules to have steamy car sex with a woman I met online” in The Sun to “Quarantine made me resent my husband – and myself ” in Harper’s Bazaar, editors have become well aware of the attention-grabbing potential of lockdown diaries. While some anonymously confess their urges and emotions, others prefer to seek advice. “I’m always amazed at the role of the advice columnist and how people can’t discuss their issues with their nearest and dearest but can with a stranger,” says Guardian Weekend columnist Annalisa Barbieri, 55. This role has become even more important during the pandemic, as people are facing new interpersonal challenges that they may not be able to discuss with their loved ones. And those challenges are not exclusively romantic, Barbieri notes. She has seen an increase in emails asking for advice about forging and
sex workers. Jones is a freelance journalist who regularly writes about sex and relationships and had two dating columns in thelondonpaper and Grazia Australia. “That’s led to a lot more awareness around porn addiction, and also discussions around the commodification of sex,” he adds. New conversations around the opportunities and pitfalls of digital intimacy have popped up, creating lucrative avenues of research for writers. Freelance journalist Oli Lipski, 27, covers these new digital possibilities. For publications such as Sex Tech Guide, she writes about all the ways in which technology can help us reconnect with both ourselves and others, including smart sex toys for long-distance couples, sexual wellness apps that help people isolating together rekindle the spark, and sensual audio guides for solo listening. “The intersection of sex and technology was definitely more of a niche before the pandemic. It’s now become a lot more mainstream as people have grown more isolated,” she says. The shifts in how people connect with each other have provided sex and relationships writers with brand new cultural and technological trends to explore, as well as the opportunity to address the anxieties, hopes and desires of a nation staying at home. Even in the most unusual of circumstances, sex and relationship journalists remain as resourceful as the people they write about, and as adaptable as the society they report on. 🆇
XCITY / Features Image: AP Photo/Hussein Malla
Reporting the Beirut Blast
Journalists living in Beirut reveal how their patch was rocked by one of the world’s largest non-nuclear explosions, by Emily Stearn
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t was a balmy evening in August 2020, and Abbie Cheeseman was chatting on the phone in her apartment, 600 metres from Beirut’s port. As she spoke with her mum in Wales, a video on Twitter caught her eye. There was a fire raging in Beirut. Wandering to her balcony, she peered towards the port but saw nothing unusual. “I didn’t think anything of it,” she recalls.
She had just enough time to walk inside before an explosion sent her flying. Glass shattered overhead, the blast’s force making shrapnel of her possessions. “My next memory is everything submerged in dust. I couldn’t find my phone. But I could just hear my mum screaming,” she says. “I still don’t know how I’m alive.” As the rubble settled and streets lay showered with glass shards, a panicked
aftermath began. Screams engulfed the city. In a TV interview just hours after the blast, Marwan Abboud, the governor of Beirut, found himself at a loss for an explanation and broke down in tears. But it was 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, stored in a warehouse for six years without adequate safety measures, that triggered the lethal blast at 6.08pm on 4 August. One of the most explosive →
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XCITY / Features Image: 9 News Image: The Telegraph YouTube
Beirut blast: Martin Chulov and Abbie Cheeseman report on the explosion
compounds in the world, it killed at least 207 people, injured over 6,500 and left 300,000 homeless. The damage reached Beirut’s airport, six miles away, while the explosion was felt and heard 150 miles away as far as Cyprus. Ten months since the explosion that shocked the world, journalists living in Beirut are still trying to make sense of what happened. But how did they react to something so devastating on their doorstep? And how did they balance being at the heart of the story and reporting on it? Richard Spencer, Middle East correspondent at The Times, was in his study, 700 metres from the port, finishing a 300-word piece for the home news desk. At 6:07pm, the floors beneath him rumbled. “Then,” he recalls, “literally as I hit the full stop, the explosion blew me across the room.” His flat was destroyed, his laptop shredded into three parts. Amazingly, he was spared injury. After locating his glasses and rushing to check on neighbours, he emerged on the street. An hour later the desk emailed asking for his copy. “Of course, I completely forgot about the piece,” he says. “They said: ‘Why haven’t you filed? It’s past the deadline. Please file copy now, it’s holding up a page.’” Surrounded by devastation, he dug the piece out of the cloud on his phone and filed. As a foreign correspondent, reporting from the scene of a crisis often comes with
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The aftermath: Beirut’s flattened port five days after the disaster
the job. “It wasn’t the nearest I’ve come to death,” Spencer admits. His career includes covering wars in Libya, Iraq and Syria. Since arriving in Beirut in September 2019 after completing the Interactive MA at City, Cheeseman, a freelance reporter at The Telegraph and NBC News, has reported from across Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan. But how do you go about reporting a crisis when you’re left picking up the pieces of your own home?
“It almost felt like I was a stranger to my own experience” “This was different for me,” says Martin Chulov, The Guardian’s Middle East correspondent, who was sitting at home 1.7 kilometres from the port when the blast hit. His career at The Guardian spans 16 years, covering crises across the region. “My family was directly involved and that sparked a whole different series of instincts. It was a very primal thing: protect them, look after them, then do your job.” Spencer agrees: “The one thing you don’t expect is that you’re actually equally as affected by a story in exactly the same way as the people in whose society you’ve kind
of camped in. And that stupidly, in many ways, caught me completely by surprise.” Two days after the blast, Chulov appeared live on the Australian channel 9News. To introduce the interview, they broadcast a two-minute package showing several visuals of the explosion. “I was watching on my phone with ever widening eyes,” he says. “I hadn’t actually seen some of the footage and it almost felt like I was a stranger to my own experience.” For Cheeseman, her first reaction was to head towards the explosion site to begin reporting. While all correspondents are equipped with protective equipment, no one yet knew what they were walking into. Her gas mask was a 20-minute drive away at her partner David Enders’ home. An experienced correspondent of over 15 years, reporting from war zones for organisations including Vice News and Al Jazeera, he urged her to return to his home where they could devise a plan of action. “Thankfully he was thinking far more rationally than I was,” she admits. Driving down the highway from central Beirut, she sent voice notes of her experience to the team at NBC. Once at Enders’ home, she began delivering dispatches for NBC and The Telegraph, before returning to her flat the following morning, to report from the ground. “This was a massive point for my mental health. It took me a really, really long time to get my head round it,” she says. “I ran away
XCITY / Features Image: AP Photo/Hussein Malla
initially. That’s not what journalists do. Journalists should run towards things.” Experts later reported that the red clouds still hanging over Beirut following the blast were likely to contain toxic nitrogen dioxide and ammonia gas, released when the ammonium nitrate exploded. Both are serious health hazards. The blast also presented a different dilemma. Reporters are trained not to cross the line between newsgathering and becoming the heart of the news story. “It’s against what you think you should ethically be doing as a foreign correspondent,” says Cheeseman. But for Spencer, the answer was simple. The blast wasn’t an act of war or a natural disaster. “This disaster is the result of chronic corruption,” said Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab, four days after the blast. It was a preventable tragedy born of negligence – such a large quantity of ammonium nitrate kept inside a port warehouse without necessary safety measures. On the night of the blast, speculation around its cause was still rife and as tweets surged, so did the rumours. After following a false lead, Spencer spoke again with his desk. Then his neighbour emerged from her house, screaming. “Her grandfather was on the top floor and needed to see rescue workers. So I ran up with two other guys and got this elderly man in his 80s, who was bleeding
and obviously very shocked, out into a chair,” he recalls. “It was actually at this point that I felt this is the story. You could just see there were thousands of injured civilians. You knew there were going to be hundreds of deaths. The personal and the story very quickly merged into one and being at the centre of the story on this occasion is the best place to report it.”
“You knew there were going to be hundreds of deaths” Cheeseman wasn’t as convinced. “Obviously, it makes sense because people in the UK are going to be interested in British journalists that are there. It’s a way of making the story more reachable to an audience,” she says. “But it hadn’t crossed my mind at all until I did a TV interview that first night, when they openly asked me about my experience. I was really confused by this and kept trying to bring it back round to the Lebanese people. Lebanon is on its knees, it’s collapsing and it physically collapsed. The concept of being the story was deeply weird and uncomfortable.”
And this wasn’t her only trial. As a freelance journalist, she had an endless supply of media interest. “I ended up taking on way too much,” she admits. While aftercare is standard practice for those on news desks covering traumatic incidents, Cheeseman missed the support network a staff job can provide. “There were certain things that I needed to talk to people about,” she says. “But I couldn’t tell them what I was working on, because we were all going after the same stories.” It was only once she took her first day off, two weeks after the explosion, that the emotional trauma of what she’d experienced hit. “It was the first time I’d actually cried since the blast,” she recalls. “I saw somebody tweet about their German Shepherd, who got so scared by the blast that it had jumped off the balcony in fright and died. This tweet thread just completely broke me. There was just so much tragedy.” It is the tragedy of the situation that Cheeseman, Spencer and Chulov all emphasise, despite the personal challenges they faced. Ultimately, they were all there, as reporters and as residents, to document this catastrophic event. “Reporting is done by empowering the voices on the ground here,” Chulov says. “If this cannot lead to a reckoning, which forces some kind of natural justice and willingness to change, then nothing can. An apocalyptic moment such as this must be transformative.” 🆇
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XCITY / Features
“Do me the justice of writing my story accurately” How does it feel to be interviewed by a journalist? And what could journalists do better? Anna Barry and Elizabeth Gregory find out
I
Image: Sophie Davidson
nterviews are more than a tool for a journalist: they are the essence of the profession. Successful interviews can hold power to account, share experiences and provide a voice for the marginalised. But they can be a risk for the interviewee, who is asked to trust the journalist to present their experiences accurately and to use their words in the way they were intended. This balance can be a fraught one. To consider this relationship, XCity speaks to four professionals from different fields. Reliving their own interview experiences, they talk about the interviews that have stayed with them – and the ones they would rather forget.
The Author Image: Richard Townshend
The Politician Bob Blackman has been the MP for Harrow East since 2010 and the Executive Secretary of the Conservative 1922 Committee since 2012.
Have you ever been disappointed by a question? I was interviewed by a local journalist before I was an MP, as the leader of the council. They asked me a question and I misspoke; I got my facts wrong. When I got off the call I checked the facts, phoned them back, and told them I needed to correct myself. They said they were going to publish it anyway and put me on the front page, and I haven’t spoken to them since. Smart journalists know not to do this. It’s stupid, because we ended up just cutting them off. If you mess people around, don’t expect to talk to them again. Another time I was on the Victoria Derbyshire show on the BBC because I’ve done a lot of work with the homeless and they were running a story on homelessness. I turned up and they asked me about sanctions, even though I was there to talk about homelessness. They tried to turn me into the wicked, evil Tory who’s treading down on poor, unfortunate people. I didn’t want to play that game. Journalists are far better off being honest.
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Rebecca Watson is author of little scratch, which has been longlisted for the 2021 Desmond Elliott Prize, one of the UK’s most distinguished awards for first-time novelists.
Do you remember your first interview as an author? The book came out in the US in August last year, so it was actually during a heatwave. The interview was over the phone so I left the flat because it was even hotter inside than out and I went and sat in some shade, sweating. I remember the interview questions being good, but I think that with it being my first interview, I was very nervous and kind of struggling to speak in full sentences. The interviewer was Monica Heisey, who’s an author and comedian. She was really fun, so that helped. Having a personality on the phone really engages you. Have you ever been disappointed by a question? My worst interview was a live radio interview. The interviewer clearly had it set in their mind that little scratch wasn’t actually fiction. And so the whole interview I could hear her pushing back and trying different approaches and angles, as if I might suddenly decide it was a veiled biography and give her a confession. It was really strange and also just made me feel quite uncomfortable. What constitutes a good interview? The whole interview cycle for little scratch has been during the pandemic. I haven’t done a single in-person interview, everything has been on Zoom or over the phone, which I think is instantly harder for the interviewer. I think it’s quite important in interviews to start by asserting a level of comfort and engagement – kind of settling your ego, to be honest. I think often authors, including myself, are very nervous, or insecure creatures who just need to be told that their writing is sound, and then they’re ready to engage critically in whatever you want to talk about. Then I think it’s about asking questions that are specific and direct.
XCITY / Features
Image: Courtesy
Image: Women in Film and TV
“If you mess people around, don’t expect to talk to them again”
The Playwright Janice Okoh is a screenwriter, playwright and radio dramatist. Her 2020 play The Gift was shortlisted for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize 2021.
What does it feel like being interviewed? I always wonder if the publication is going to twist my words or show me in a bad light. If you say something you regret and ask them not to include it, I’m never sure if they will, and you feel deceived when you don’t know the publication’s angle. I don’t feel safe. I think journalists should be upfront about what they’re after. Maybe there should be something signed between interviewer and interviewee. Have you ever been disappointed by a question? This is specific to being a Black playwright. Say there are three Black plays going on at the same time, I’ll be asked if the industry is becoming more inclusive. And no, nothing has changed. People love saying that the times have changed because they’re looking for an angle. There’s a lack of acknowledgment for racism. They never ask, “Why aren’t there more Black plays?” It’s always, “The tide is changing.” I find that tedious. But they don’t listen, that’s their narrative. That’s what makes people happy. What constitutes a good interview? I love when they know a lot about me. Sometimes a journalist will say, “This is your first play,” and it’s not. They’ll call me a new writer, because it’s exciting. But I have 10 years of radio experience. It’s also clear when they haven’t researched the topic they’re asking about. I know they’re busy but it seems shoddy. On Front Row for BBC Radio 4 the guy pronounced my name wrong. I didn’t correct him because I was so aware I was on air. I kick myself now that I didn’t but I will next time, because it will happen again. You don’t want to feel aggressive, but it was upsetting. They said next time they would get it right, but I’m not going to go on Front Row again. If it was someone they respected they wouldn’t have messed it up, so just treat people with respect. What’s your best piece of advice for a journalist? Don’t tell a playwright what their play is about. If someone has created something, say what you think it is about then ask for clarification. Don’t assume.
The Activist Shani Dhanda is a multi-award-winning disability specialist. She founded the Asian Disability Network and created the Diversability Card, the official discount card for people with disabilities in the UK.
Do you remember your first interview? I had just joined the charity Scope as a role model. They were doing an awareness piece about the lack of employability facing disabled people, highlighting the fact that there are a lot of disabled people that want to work, and can work, but aren’t getting that opportunity. I shared my experience of how I had applied for over 100 jobs before removing any mention of my condition, after which I was invited for my first interview. The story just sort of grew legs and it was in every piece of media. I never expected that to happen. That’s when I realised how powerful someone’s story can be and how far your voice can travel. I think it’s really important that journalists respect the language that the interviewee is using. I’m sometimes having to relive quite traumatic experiences, and if I’m doing that at my emotional cost then at least do me the justice of writing my story accurately – not from a sense of pity. What makes a great interview? If you’re going to suggest a phone call, ask if someone’s got any disability needs and if you can do anything to make that experience more comfortable. What if the person is deaf, for example? A phone call might not be the best method of communication for them. So instead of putting the onus on the interviewee, why don’t you take the initiative? That’s a really good tactic. And I don’t think anyone has ever really asked me that. Could you tell me about the best interview experience that you’ve had? I really enjoyed my interview experience for British Vogue. I felt that the end piece was just incredible – I didn’t have to go back and make any amends, she listened to everything I said, she used my language. The piece was about every bit of my life, like my culture and my religion. It was really quite an intersectional view. 🆇
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XCITY / Features Image: Madeleine Killick
State of racism in the UK media I
Aisha Rimi and Kay Leong speak to six journalists who took a stand against the Society of Editors’ statement denying bigotry in the media
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about slitty eyes, even if secretly we rather enjoyed them”. This statement caused uproar, resulting in a petition on Change.org asking for it to be retracted. The petition has since been signed by over 60,000 people. Racism isn’t always so overt. Just two days after Lamb’s piece, senior BBC journalist Tom Hourigan caused a Twitter furore by pitting the George Floyd verdict against the story of the European Super League. Many were outraged by the insensitivity of his nowdeleted tweet, and the way a Black man’s death – one that symbolised violence against Black people globally – was exploited for Twitter entertainment. Hourigan apologised and deactivated his account temporarily. What does this mean for journalists of colour in the British press? XCity speaks to six signatories of the open letter about the state of racism in the UK media.
Image: Twitter @TomHourigan
n April, the Press Gazette revealed that two thirds of journalists it surveyed believe that the UK media is bigoted or racist in some way. The same survey highlighted that two in five journalists have either experienced or witnessed racism in the newsroom. This survey was a result of the Society of Editors’ (SoE) controversial statement that the UK media is not bigoted, which was made in response to Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex’s explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey. Just three days after the SoE statement, 250 journalists of colour published an open letter criticising it, saying it “does a disservice to journalists of colour and shows an institution and an industry in denial”. The issue goes beyond facts and figures; multiple incidents have shown that racism permeates the industry. On 18 April 2021, The Sunday Times Chief Foreign Correspondent Christina Lamb wrote that Prince Philip offended “people with gaffes
Tweet and delete: the controversial tweet in question
XCITY / Features
Haroon Siddique Senior reporter at The Guardian I was very upset by what I thought was a kind of hastily conceived, very defensive statement [from the SoE], without giving any real thought to the issue of racism within the industry. To make such a blanket statement is frankly ridiculous. The statement does not represent the views of journalists of colour in the industry. That was the reason I decided, with some others, to put together the open letter. It was passed around by word of mouth – to get that number of signatures in such a short time says a lot. There is often a very different treatment of people from ethnic minorities or people of colour by the press. Before Meghan Markle, we saw the way the press unfavourably covered the news that footballer Raheem Sterling had bought his mum a house. Sometimes skin colour is mentioned when it’s completely irrelevant, usually in negative stories. This wouldn’t happen with a white person. There is also the way Black people’s experiences are framed. Black musicians, for instance, are always framed as, “if they weren’t a singer, they would have been in a gang, or they had no other options”. You don’t get the same thing with white musicians or footballers.
Image: Haroon Siddique
I’m aware that there are lots of things going on to bring in people of colour, and other sorts of underrepresented groups within the British media. However, if you go to the senior levels, where people have the power to make decisions, there, people of colour are still very few and far between. We need to see more people of colour at the decision-making levels where they influence papers and the way that content is framed. It shouldn’t be just a tick-box exercise, we should be helping them progress within an organisation. The SoE still seems to be dragging its heels over this statement. It would be really refreshing if they acknowledged the problem. Acknowledging a problem doesn’t get rid of it, but it does help. It lays the ground for change. The key is improving the representation of people from underrepresented backgrounds higher up in organisations, and getting them involved in decision-making processes.
Shaista Aziz Freelance journalist The SoE statement was a dereliction of duty from a high-profile group of editors from across senior media platforms, particularly during a global pandemic which has disproportionately impacted Black people and people of colour. It also shows you how out of touch so many people working in the British media are with the reality of what’s happening in this country.
Image: Chris Parkes
We have a mainstream media that’s been condemned by the United Nations for its derogatory, racist and dehumanising treatment of asylum seekers and refugees, which has formed the mainstream narrative that most people consume around these issues of borders and immigration. If you analyse the language, terminology and imagery of certain stories that have been covered in this year alone – COVID-19, Meghan Markle, the government’s race report, pulling down of statues, “Kill the Bill” and more – you can see how the British media in large proportions is baiting racism and gaslighting the victims and survivors of racism. A lot of journalists of colour are still consigned to only reporting about race and very siloed issues, even though race is not a siloed issue. In some corners of the media landscape, we’re starting to see some editors begin to understand that race and intersectionality have to be covered across the board. As journalists of colour, we’re always encouraged to talk about what is perceived to be our unique personal experiences. Giving anecdotal evidence of the way racism manifests in newsrooms and in the media cultures is kind of a distraction. Instead, we need to focus on the empirical evidence that’s there before our eyes. I think we move forward as a country by firstly admitting that racism is real and that it manifests every single day in many different forms, the most dangerous and pernicious being structural racism. The wellbeing and the mental and physical health of journalists also needs to be prioritised. Then we need to educate ourselves in this country about its history and how Britain became “great”. →
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Stephen Bush Political editor at New Statesman In the past year alone, we as an industry have uncovered institutional racism in the Home Office, institutional racism in the Labour Party, institutional racism in Pontins holiday parks. Are we really suggesting that we think we alone are so good that literally nothing that we’ve ever done, at any point in the past year, has been influenced by racism? It’s just a ridiculous sentiment. Image: Stephen Bush
I think racism manifests itself within the industry in that we all are likely to, if we leave ourselves unchecked, recruit in our own image. And when your image is as monochrome as our industry often is, that means you miss stories, and you assume a kind of common language. The narrowness of our focus means that newsrooms don’t reflect the diversity of the country we cover. This lack of diversity in our industry becomes problematic for the handful of us who make it through, because when we write something, it gets presented as the opinion of all the people like us. I found that when I write something, it can feel like people will take it as “Oh, here’s what the Pope of mixed-race people has declared”. It’s racist, and it feels quite stifling. I’d actually just quite like to be able to write my opinion without feeling like I’m speaking on behalf of people like me. A very simple solution to increasing newsroom diversity: don’t hire people in your own image. Ask yourself: in what ways is this person like me, in what ways is this person not like me? If we all in British media who have hiring responsibilities start from the perspective of “I should hire someone who has a different accent, a different gender, a different skin colour, a different hometown from me”, the problem will fix itself quite quickly.
Keme Nzerem News anchor and reporter at Channel 4 From the royals interview, Meghan revealed that she had suffered quite deeply and disclosed a mental health problem. In that moment, sympathy was the correct response. I found the SoE statement deeply upsetting as it spoke to a wider problem around the way Black and brown people are written about routinely, which manifests itself in other ways.
There’s also an unfairness and imbalance in the language that is deeply pejorative when we talk about migrants. For me, the word is really dehumanising. Why do we call British people that go and live in Malaysia expats, but we call people from Syria, Zimbabwe or Bangladesh, who are coming here to make a better life for themselves, migrants? Story selection and tonality combines to create a negative description of value that is placed on Black and brown people, and that is not fair. There’s only one editor of colour amongst the broadsheets and that’s at the Financial Times. So the more we can get better representation at senior levels, the more story selection improves, and the more we can have better discussions around what kind of language is appropriate to use in 2021.
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Image: Andy Commons
Racism and bigotry manifests itself in the media through story selection. It’s also about the tonality of those stories. I look at stories that I covered in the past such as the Sarah Everard case and the Soham murders, and I’m convinced that one of the reasons they became so big is because the imagery that went around was of soft, innocent white girls. There are many examples of Black people who go missing and meet terrible ends, but we don’t cover them in the same way.
XCITY / Features
Joseph Harker Deputy opinion editor at The Guardian
Every sector of the British economy has admitted that it has a problem with racism, but the British press seems to be unique. If the SoE’s board combined can’t agree that there’s an issue, then it really shows how deeply embedded the problem is.
Image: Helen Powell
For the SoE to say there’s no racism in the British press goes against the experiences of Black and minority journalists, not to mention how the press vilifies minorities. It worries me that they have still not retracted the bold statement.
I think using the word bigotry can be used as a get out clause for people because it’s easy to deny. No one is saying that people are burning crosses or calling people the “n-word” on a daily basis in national newspapers, but there are lots of ways in which racism is apparent, such as in the way stories are chosen. Recently, there was a case of a teacher in a school in Batley, West Yorkshire, who showed his class – which included Muslim children – a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad. This is deeply offensive and blasphemous to Muslims. The head teacher apologised and the teacher was suspended. What was a very small story made it onto newspaper front pages because the images of Muslims protesting played to this agenda of extremism, intolerance and bigotry among Muslims “not accepting our British way of life”. It’s disappointing that we’re still having conversations about the need to engage and include minority voices as these were the same ones we had at The Guardian 20 years ago after The Macpherson Report revealed the police were institutionally racist. But it was also clear then that the entire national press was institutionally racist in the way they operated. I began the Positive Action Scheme, which gives Black and Asian aspiring journalists experience in a national newspaper, so they’re better prepared when applying for jobs. I also want to see journalists of colour shaping the agenda and making those changes and then bringing in more people to change the discussion.
Michele Theil Freelance journalist and host of The Diversitea podcast It was really disappointing to see a body that is supposed to represent us say that the press is not racist and bigoted when there is a lot of clear evidence that it is. Racism might not always be malicious, but it manifests as ignorance in the way certain communities are treated and represented. And this ignorance exists only because that is the way the media has been for so many years. Racism is in the headlines not just about Meghan Markle, but also in the representation of the refugee crisis and knife crime, for example. Image: Michele Theil
Recent evidence of this is the Sarah Everard case, in comparison to missing people of colour, such as Blessing Olusegun and Richard Okorogheye. The national coverage of their cases was not anywhere near the scale of Sarah Everard’s. It’s not that she doesn’t deserve the level of recognition that she got, but you have to wonder why that is. Unfortunately, the media landscape that we are in right now is all about clicks. It’s all about views. I firmly believe that this country is institutionally racist, and there’s generally just not a consensus that people care about headlines that relate to people of colour. So white editors will say, “Oh, that’s not newsworthy enough, it won’t get enough clicks or views, so we won’t cover it”. When everyone above you is white, and they don’t understand your personal experiences, they don’t understand you as a person of colour, and they don’t understand why you might want to cover a story that is important to an ethnic minority community. The result is that journalists of colour feel very isolated, marginalised and uncomfortable within the newsroom. It feels like we don’t matter, that we’re not allowed to give a voice to the communities that we want to support, that we do not have anyone backing our corners. This is especially so for younger reporters, who might feel that they risk losing their jobs if they stood up and advocated for something. And they might not dare to do so because they need that stability to pay rent and bills. I know a lot of people have left journalism because they feel like there’s not a place for them. We need more editors of colour, so they can direct the news agenda. And if one publication does that, others follow. That’s how journalism works. 🆇
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A tragedy cloaked in numbers: covering the pandemic Isabella McRae and Rhiannon Jenkins speak to the UK’s leading health journalists about the relentlessness of coronavirus reporting
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hen reporting in a warzone, you’re stressed,” Clive Myrie says. “You’re under fire. You haven’t got the equipment you need. That’s exactly what you had at the Royal London Hospital. “You’re under fire because you’re getting patients coming in all the time. That didn’t stop. You’re running out of PPE, and there’s a constant worry that you might get the virus.” The BBC presenter
and former foreign correspondent recently won Television Journalist of the Year at the 2021 Royal Television Society Journalism awards. Myrie was given unprecedented access to the coronavirus wards at the Royal London Hospital for the first time in May 2020, and then in the depths of the UK’s second wave in January. “I felt it was important to bring it back down to real people for the public to understand that every number on a board
Image: Harriet Dennis @harriet_designs
we’re pointing to in a newsroom is a human being. It’s a life that’s gone.” Myrie remembers announcing the first 10 UK coronavirus deaths on the news, and then 20. Since the mortality rate has soared above 100,000, the scale is now incomprehensible. “It’s a tragedy cloaked in figures and numbers. The human meaning is difficult to get across.” While filming in the Royal London’s morgue, Myrie was reminded of when he visited a mortuary in Mexico for a film on drug gang wars. It was a shock to see as many dead bodies in his own backyard in peacetime. He spoke to the hospital’s senior mortician, Hannah Leahy, who found the second wave devastating. It was a conveyor belt of bodies. She had bottled up her emotions because people do not want to talk about death. When Myrie spoke to her, she broke down. “There was a sense that we were on their side, trying to tell their story,” Myrie says. “There was no sense that we were there to stitch them up, or put out some kind of political message. No agenda, apart from: tell me your story.” Telling the stories from the front line of the coronavirus battlefield felt surreal – even for journalists with years of experience reporting on the horror of an intensive care unit. →
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XCITY / Features Emily Morgan, ITV News’ health editor, had reported from ICUs before, where she was used to seeing four to five people with the occasional one on a life support machine. At the height of the pandemic, however, she was walking into ICUs containing 40 to 50 people – with more than half on ventilators. “I was overwhelmed by shock and humility for the staff who were working there,” she says. “I think the shock came from seeing so many ill people. I’m talking about severely ill people on the edge of life.” Morgan felt the need to take time off to look after her mental health. “There is nothing better than stepping away from the job for even a week. That has made me feel immeasurably better.” But this cannot erase the trauma she has witnessed. “I think I will suffer the effects of the shock of seeing so many ill people in one intensive care unit for some time,” she says. “Whether it will affect me forever, I don’t know.” Few health journalists were given access to hospitals, but the horrors of the pandemic have affected them all. Denis Campbell, The Guardian’s health policy editor, recalls speaking to the son of a doctor who had worked at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading. The Guardian article claims that the doctor had warned the hospital management about a worrying lack of PPE, but his pleas were “in vain” and he died of coronavirus. XCity contacted the Royal Berkshire Hospital for comment but have yet to receive a reply. Campbell has since worked on several stories with the doctor’s son about his grief, raising awareness of the challenges faced by front line workers. “It was emotionally jolting to speak to someone who had lost their dad. The fact that he had suggested we talk, and that I knew he was actively keen to highlight what had happened to his father did help. “But it’s still raw and challenging to speak to someone who’s recently lost a relative, particularly in those terrible circumstances.” This is just one of many tragic stories that Campbell has told during the pandemic. Reporting became so intense that he took consecutive Fridays off. “I found myself getting to Wednesday evening and dreading that I still had two more long, intense, high-pressure days to get through before the weekend arrived. I’m quite a robust and resilient person but I needed those short weeks to stay sane.”
Campbell is not the only journalist who has found the last year difficult, as 45 per cent of the National Union of
“I found myself getting to Wednesday evening and dreading that I still had two more long, intense days to get through”
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Journalists’ members admit to struggling with their mental health over the course of the pandemic. Campbell says: “It’s tedious working on your own without being able to chat or check in with how each other are feeling.” As a trained doctor, Deborah Cohen from BBC Newsnight is used to talking about death and dying. But even she has found it hard to cope with the relentlessness of reporting on coronavirus, especially with the uncertainty of data. At the beginning of the pandemic, scientists told Cohen that 600,000 people were going to die in the UK if the government didn’t lock down – it was going to be worse than World War One. But she refused to report this statistic. “I said no because I was scared by that figure,” she says. “I didn’t know where it had come from. I didn’t know what the calculations were. I had no idea whether the figure was true or not. How would I explain to the general public how scientists had arrived at this number? I couldn’t.” The pressure to get the facts right and call out misinformation was intense for many journalists, especially for those who
had never reported on health before. As the pandemic struck in early March, Theodora Louloudis found herself planning The Telegraph’s coronavirus podcast within a three-hour conversation. It would run daily, and Louloudis would produce and present it. She would not work on anything else. “I really wasn’t able to switch off,” Louloudis says. “I would be replaying the week’s shows in my head and panicking and re-googling things and re-checking things. It felt like I had a tangible impact on people’s health.” Every conversation was about coronavirus. Friends saw her as a
XCITY / Features source of news. Social media was flooded with pandemic noise. Amid the ever-changing coronavirus news, she felt a responsibility to listeners. “For the first time in my career, I was talking to people who were in really horrible situations. While I felt incredibly lucky to feel relatively safe at home, those stories definitely stuck with me. I was pleased to tell them, but I didn’t leave work at the door because there was no door to leave work at.” But, as Anna Collinson tells us, it was also an adjustment to be in the office when the rest of the world was confined to their homes. Collinson joined the BBC health team for the first time last March, having been at the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme until then. The world was
“This isn’t the end. We’re nowhere near the end” already gripped by coronavirus, and the roads were uncannily quiet. Collinson had worked on health stories before, but this was different. “It was a brilliant opportunity for me,” she says, “and I was very aware of that. But you’re also aware that everyone has the news channel on, and they’re hanging on your every word.” Over the last year, Collinson has covered the human impact of the
pandemic, interviewing traumatised NHS workers, taxi drivers, and women giving birth during lockdown. There were days when she came home crying and felt overwhelmed, but Collinson remains upbeat. “I have a purpose,” she says. “It’s not about me, it’s about them. It’s my job to get that story out there. Whatever I feel pales in comparison to what they’re going through.” Collinson will never forget the darkness faced during the pandemic, but there are brighter memories too. As she talks about the start of the vaccine rollout, and the excitement of the patients and nurses, it brings a tear to her eye. “This isn’t the end,” she says. “We’re nowhere near the end. This is hopefully the beginning of the end.” 🆇
Images: Harriet Dennis @harriet_designs
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Q&A with
Hugh Pym
From interviewing patients to filming in PPE, the BBC health editor speaks to Victoria Miller
What has been the most challenging aspect of reporting the pandemic? Interviewing some of the families of those who have lost loved ones, especially those who never got a chance to see them. Understandably, families want to mark and celebrate their loved ones’ lives and it is a privilege to talk to them. It can hit home as I realise just how traumatic the experience was for the person and their family. Interviewing patients in the wards has been challenging but a very important part of the coverage. The patients are brave; they are struggling but they want to speak to us. The team has to make sure that the patient isn’t under too much strain because their breathing can be laboured. You have to gauge when to continue and when to stop. I also take my hat off to the camera crew and wider team who do an amazing job of filming in PPE in intensive care. Hospitals are very busy and crowded places. The team has to have the right kit and sanitise everything before and after filming. Everything has to be worked out; there are no second chances.
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How do you think this pandemic has changed or will change the way health is reported? It is hard to tell what health reporting in the future will look like, but what I do think is that health and science journalists are, and quite rightly, being recognised for their expertise. The pandemic will dominate news for months to come and such expertise will be needed, even as the pandemic starts to slow down. By then, I imagine the news will focus on reflections from the pandemic. Questions such as: what the government did right; what it did wrong; was lockdown too harsh? Health and science journalists will be required to present the data and facts of just how much strain the NHS was under, and how some hospitals were very close to being overwhelmed.
“The patients are brave; they are struggling but they want to speak to us”
Image: BBC
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ugh Pym, BBC News health editor, has become a familiar face over the past year. In recognition of his coverage of the pandemic, he won the Charles Wheeler Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcast Journalism in November 2020. XCity spoke to Pym about the challenges of reporting COVID-19 and what the future of health journalism might look like.
How can health journalists use digital platforms to convey health messages and reporting to younger audiences and future generations? It is really important that media outlets ensure that their digital offering is compelling and captures the imagination, but what captures the imagination can often be unpredictable. Two years ago, I was reporting at Royal Bournemouth Hospital. The team got some great access to the pressures that staff were under during winter, and one of the things they were doing very well was triaging. There was a triage nurse who sent patients to the right places. The system worked well. We interviewed the nurse for the news bulletin. The digital team then asked us what we had to make into a video. We handed them our footage and they created a 1min 15sec clip of the triage nurse. They headlined it ‘The Bouncer Nurse’ and it got a huge response. It was picked up by the Daily Mirror and a few other papers. It was unpredictable, but it demonstrates that you should never underestimate the power of a compelling idea, told simply in a brief amount of time. 🆇
The power of print Meet the indie, print-first magazines that launched during the pandemic. Frankie Lister-Fell hears why four UKbased publishers ditched digital for paper and ink
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rint is dead!” cries one camp. “Long live print!” cheers the other. It is a discussion in journalism that rears its hackneyed head every year. And a year where advertising revenue evaporated, newsagents closed, and printing presses paused is certainly no exception. In February, The New York Times reported its print advertising revenue fell by 39 per cent in 2020. Condé Nast’s former chief operating officer Wolfgang Blau predicted that “the impact [of this crisis] will be greater than 2008”. Bauer Media announced in May 2020 that it will be closing, selling, or merging 10 of its print titles. It did not seem like the opportune year to launch a new print magazine. But that has not deterred some plucky publishers. Sixty US print titles were launched last year, and across the pond, new, niche magazines are filling the gaps. Creative director of London’s indie zine shop MagCulture Jeremy Leslie has noticed “a rise in new print launches over the past six months”. Who are these new publishers on the block? Are they the start of a radically different print culture emerging out of the pandemic, and why did they choose print? One such publication is Fear Naut, a biannual magazine. “I find that I don’t really read stuff online just because there are so many other distractions,” Tilly Bungard explains, beaming into her webcam from her 45ft narrowboat docked in Clapton, east London. Bungard, 26, is the co-founder of Fear Naut, a magazine created by women and non-binary people living on London’s waterways. It launched on 6 June 2020. With bespoke illustrations accompanying each story, Fear Naut’s carefully crafted design and thoughtful pieces are conducive to the creative possibilities of the artistic women in its pages. In a past edition, the magazine included a how-to guide for making a reusable sanitary towel alongside poetry and personal stories such as a three-part adventure of one woman’s voyage around Europe in a lifeboat. “Someone even reduced their PhD down to article-size for a piece on the gentrification of London’s moorings,” Bungard says.
It was Bungard’s close-knit community of creative boating women that inspired her to make Fear Naut. Also on the editorial team is fellow boater Estelle Morris, 31. Morris runs a printing studio, Duplikat Press, where she prints Fear Naut using a risograph printer. Risograph uses the same principles as screen printing, but it is all housed in one machine, and looks like an 80s photocopier. Morris explains the process, while her terrier Winter jumps up at her for attention.
“You’re never going to make money by creating such a niche online magazine” “You print one colour for each page at a time, letting it dry between the layers. Some prints don’t work out, so you always print 10 per cent more than you need. You’re left with very tactile paper. Each layer is slightly misaligned – some people love it for that, others hate it. It’s more eco-friendly than traditional printing.” Holding Fear Naut is part of the experience. Every page is unique. It is designed to be savoured. After the success
their readers live in the Midlands, North England, even the US. A lady in Burgundy, France stocks Fear Naut on her book barge. “We’ve had quite a lot of men buying it too which is nice,” Morris adds. Fear Naut was instigated in lockdown. But for freelance journalist Iain Akerman, 49, his annual magazine Discontent was scheduled to be released in the first quarter of 2020 after two years of planning. It was disrupted by the pandemic, and then the explosion in Beirut where his reporters were based. Discontent covers the revolutions in Egypt, Palestine and Lebanon to promote justice, freedom and social reform. It is a homage to the revolutionary magazines of 1970s Palestine and Lebanon. Akerman was particularly influenced by Al-Hadaf, a publication by the socialist organisation Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The magazine was edited by author Ghassan Kanafani until his assassination in 1972. Wanting to do these radical mags justice, it was important for Akerman that the people on the ground, who are part of those revolutions, wrote the bulk of Discontent. “It’s a magazine about the Arab world. As a Brit, I don’t want to come across as some kind of Orientalist,” Akerman says. COVID-19 travel restrictions meant he could no longer fly to Beirut where he initially wanted to print Discontent. “The people I’d hoped to commission to write for the magazine were dealing with the trauma of continued violent protests and the pandemic. It was such a difficult time for them,” Akerman says. He pushed the release date back to September 2020 and his writers updated their stories. But then a store of ammonium nitrate at the port in Beirut exploded in August, and with it, the one magazine store in Beirut that Akerman hoped to stock Discontent. “I thought: shit, I can’t bring out a magazine without having any reference to the blast”. After more adaptations, Discontent was finally published in January 2021. Throughout all the challenges, Akerman was never tempted to publish it online: “I want Discontent to be a boutique publication, a collectible historical document."→
“As people of colour, we're often only asked to write about ethnicity, but Juice is much more open than that” of their previous issues, the duo hopes to expand the next issue. They had less than 20 pitches from hopeful contributors for their first edition. For their third issue, they have had 43 so far. The appetite for life on the water extends beyond London too. Just 10 per cent of their sales come from Londoners. Selling copies through their Instagram profile and the Duplikat Press website (their second issue has now sold out), the rest of
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XCITY / Features Image: Discontent
Image: Fear Naut
r price: £10 Cove Pages: 38 t: 19 x 25c Forma m Circulation of most recent issue: 15 0 Stockists: Dup likat, Rare Mags, RiverKnits, Th e Book Funding: Laun ched a GoFundMe w hich raised £480.
He chose print for practical reasons too. “If you want to pay your contributors, people who are really struggling, you need money. You’re never going to make money by creating such a niche online magazine. Because of the mag’s content, people won’t want to advertise with you anyway.” This decision paid off. Within the first ten weeks, Akerman had sold 256 out of 500 copies. He intends to publish one issue annually for the next ten years. Evelyn Miller, 19, shares a similar perspective with her magazine Juice. Their inaugural edition, which launched
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cm 17 7 x 24 ost : s red fm ges : 1 ab’ cove Pa rmat on o 500 r F Fo ulati sue: ack, age, was n the w l o t i s l c g i i S r Ci ent ists: re, V intin ople ry”. N d. c e e r t re tock ultu : P r p us ain S agC ding enio a ind sust s di lfn M Fu “two s me is se by ion’ tent reg scon Di
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last November, got great feedback, but she notes that: “not paying contributors was the one criticism we had. So we’ve been applying for funding from heritage grants and the Arts Council.” Juice is an annual print magazine created by and for South Asian people, with women’s voices at the forefront. Alongside Miller are co-founders Adeeb Abdul Razak, 24, and Raeessah Patel, 21. Due to lockdown, Miller has only met Patel once – they managed to create their magazine from their bedrooms. Razak and Miller first came up with the
title over WhatsApp. “We were thinking about what reminded us of South Asia; what was fluid,” she says. “We settled on ‘Juice’. The colours of the mag are very much inspired by the canned mango drink Rubicon.” Reading Juice, it is easy to see why the team went with print. The warm, vivid pages are akin to a sunset. There is a glossary at the back explaining terms like Gurdwara (Guru’s portal or abode/ places of worship) and desi (of the homeland). Each issue has a new theme; they are considering ‘mind and body’ as the mag’s
XCITY / Features Image: Juice
Image: The White Room
next subject. “As people of colour, we’re often only asked to write specifically about ethnicity, but Juice is much more open than that,” Miller explains. Like Juice, Marthe Lisson’s biannual – but looking to be quarterly – music magazine The White Room (TWR) is also an exploratory identity project that launched on 12 December 2020. It seeks to answer: how do women respond to music? “I was frustrated by how few women music journalists there are. I want to know how different women’s perspectives on music are. At the moment we don’t know
Cover price: £9 Pages: 80 Format: A4 Circulation of most recent issue: 100 Stockists: juicedroplet.com Funding: Raised £1,500 through an online crowdfunder.
because there aren’t enough female music journalists out there,” she says. TWR began as a radio station in Lisson’s native city of Frankfurt, Germany, back in 2017. Its name is inspired by Cream’s 1968 song, “White Room”. For Lisson, 33, choosing print was a nobrainer. She enjoys the whole production process. “TWR is something that people will keep for a while, that they can put on their bookshelves. Producing it biannually gives people more time to read it and to listen to the music discussed in it.” Despite the hurdles, these independent
Illustrations: Instagram @l.ttle.joys
Cover price: £15 Pages: 130 Format: 16 × 24 cm Circulation of most recent issue: 200 Stockists: MagCulture, Chener Books, Newsstand Funding: A mix of self-funding and a kickstarter on social media that raised £2,594.
publishers have enjoyed success with their inaugural editions and show no signs of stopping. In some ways, the pandemic has provided perfect conditions for enjoying print. One Fear Naut reader, Zoe, said: “Today’s low mood has been counteracted by the fact Fear Naut exists. I’m grinning so hard right now.” Fatigued from endless screen time and a bombardment of news notifications, there is something special about sitting down with a wadge of glossy paper and unplugging from the frantic world. 🆇
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XCITY / Features
Annie: Lord of dating The sex and relationships journalist tells Sophie Ward how she became British Vogue’s freshest voice
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“Some people ask for opinions on men they’re dating and I’m like, ‘I wish I knew’” Waldron’s neck chain in TV series Normal People, it is clear that Lord’s au courant voice is engaging a younger generation of readers. “Olivia Marks [Features Editor of British Vogue] messaged me saying that Vogue was thinking of having a dating column and asked if I wanted it,” Lord recalls. “I was like: ‘YES!’ It was very lucky.” But it was not luck. Lord had been on Vogue’s radar since 2019, when Marks slid into her DMs after reading a heartwrenching break-up piece she wrote for Vice and identifying an opportunity to use her fresh voice to appeal to the crucial Millennial/Gen Z audience. After initially
sending off a round of unsuccessful article pitches upon Marks’ request, it was perseverance that led to Lord becoming a regular freelance columnist at one of the world’s most iconic magazines at the age of 25. As of May 2021, Lord has written a fortnightly column for Vogue for almost a year. She has plunged deep into topics such as women asking for what they want in bed, sexting, and the subconscious desire for approval through having a boyfriend. Unlike the old-school dating columns that tell you how to give a good blowjob or keep a man, Lord is more likely to question whether she even wants a man in the first place. But how did she go from a student journalist to the freshest voice in sex and realtionship journalism in five years? Lord started writing on a whim while studying Philosophy at Newcastle University in 2012. After listening to the classic spiel about joining a shedload of societies, she stumbled into writing a sex and relationships column for her student newspaper, The Courier. While she’d never previously considered journalism as a career path, the column sparked something in her: “It was really fun and I thought being a journalist could be quite a cool job. I don’t know if I would have picked it knowing how difficult it was in that first year, though.” The young graduate soon embarked on the tea-making, paper-shredding journey of →
Image: Annie Lord
or many young journalists, writing for Vogue is but a pipe dream; the ungraspable pinnacle of magazine journalism. However, for 25-year-old Annie Lord, the Carrie Bradshaw fantasy is a reality. UK women’s glossies have had a tough time in the past five years. Lucky, More!, Look and InStyle have all folded under the shifting landscape from print to digital. Marie Claire made the decision in 2019 to discontinue print editions and live in the cyber realm. The challenge to remain relevant to a digitally savvy readership is becoming increasingly difficult. As women’s online platforms such as Refinery 29, Salty and gal-dem have gradually taken over traditional print titles for younger audiences, the content we are seeing is more progressive than ever. Suddenly everyone has a voice, and the traditional tropes of women’s magazines – once characterised by the circling of celebrity cellulite and sex tips focused on the male orgasm – are no more. When British Vogue first considered a dating column for their online platform, it is no surprise that the bright-eyed, bushytailed Lord came to mind. With almost 10,000 followers on Twitter and 3,800 likes on a tweet of her Vice article about Connell
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as keeping up with digital trends. Lord is among the fresh young voices that editors are scrambling for right now; but is there a downside to bagging yourself a role straight out of Sex and the City? Lord says that sometimes people knowing every intimate detail of your life can get embarrassing. Notably, her Dad read an anecdote about pleasuring herself with a showerhead. “Every time I had a shower at home I made sure I was really quick,” she giggles with her head in her hands. She thinks there’s a cognitive dissonance between the intimate material she writes and the fact that people (including her friends and conquests) actually read it. She says it’s not so much the sexual content of her pieces that makes her cringe, but the “sentimental, soppy stuff ”, especially when her mates rip her to
“My Dad read an anecdote about me pleasuring myself with a showerhead” Alongside Lord, younger freelancers like Chanté Joseph, Bolu Babalola and Faima Bakar are challenging the status quo of the content in women’s mags. It is now normal for young women to talk about their sexual pleasure with pride, or criticise the reinforcement of beauty standards. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is a real hunger for women’s magazines to actually uplift women. The publications that are surviving are the ones that have noticed this, as well
shreds on the group chat about it. When jotting down her innermost thoughts and feelings about mourning a relationship or developing feelings for a friend, Lord tells herself that she will take out the most emotional parts before the final published draft. The thing is, she never does, because that’s what makes her work so relatable and compelling. A self-proclaimed attention seeker, Lord thinks she would quite like to step out from
Image: Instagram @l.ttle.joys
unpaid internships and was left feeling disillusioned. She recalls having a “really depressing” conversation with someone who said: “I think you probably have to do a year of internships before anyone lets you do anything.” After sending many emails to different publications, and just as Lord was ready to hang up her boots, she was offered a paid internship at Vice. This was a turning point in Lord’s career. She was actually expected to write rather than just dilly-dally around the office: “When I pitched to people after that, I had loads of different articles to send them. I didn’t have evidence to persuade people I could write before.” She also received invaluable advice from Vice’s Editor, Jamie Clifton: “He told me it’s good to have a niche because then people will come to you if they want a piece on a certain topic.” Having found her niche in sex, love and dating, Lord has seen first-hand just how beneficial this can be. It’s been four years since her internship at Vice, and Lord has freelanced for various titles such as Dazed and Confused, The Independent and the New Statesman. In response to our concern that freelancing could get lonely and boring, Lord reassures us: “It’s just s*** that you don’t get a Christmas party.”
behind the keyboard and become a media personality in the future. À la Dolly Alderton, she says she would want to make a name as a writer rather than becoming a glorified influencer. However, when it comes to crossing over into the territory of advice columns, Lord thinks her attempts could misfire: “I’m really clueless. Some people message me asking for opinions on men they’re dating and I’m like, ‘I wish I knew.’” Lord is one of us; a young journalist who is trying to pave her way in a field that can be disheartening at times. Speaking to her gives us hope that if she can make strides in this industry, then so can we. 🆇 Additional reporting by Eva Levy.
Annie’s tips on how to extinguish writer’s block: I have set hours that I know I work best in. I’m way better in the morning than the evening so I tend to work from around half seven until half three, with an hour for lunch. If I’m struggling for inspiration, I force myself to free write without stopping and try to bash out a paragraph. When I look through the paragraph after, I find maybe one part that’s good. Beware of Googling weird things when you’re stuck for ideas. Often when I do that I get all headache-y and the screen goes into this blur where I can’t tell what’s good anymore. If ideas aren’t coming to me, I talk to friends (at the pub when they’re open). I try really hard not to go: “That’s a really good article idea!” during conversations, but I do occasionally. If you think of an average article idea, asking another journalist’s opinion can be really helpful. They might suggest a slightly different way of doing it and it becomes a good one.
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XCITY / Features
An idiot’s guide to Clubhouse
Watch out, there’s a new kid on the social media block. This is your go-to guide to find out what Clubhouse is, how it works, and how journalists can use it, by Isabelle Gray WHAT IS CLUBHOUSE?
The audio-only app was launched in April 2020 by California-based tech stars, Paul Davison and Rohan Seth of Alpha Exploration Co. At first, it was mostly used by tech investors. As the app grew in popularity, a more diverse range of people began to join. As a result, rooms that were previously tech-focused expanded to permit new topics including pop culture and politics. After a year being accessible only to Apple users, on 10 May the app launched for Android, beginning its roll out in the US. To actually use the app, you must be invited by a current member who will send you a link to activate your account.
Currently, members have 1-2 invites to share with new people. As you spend more time on the app, Clubhouse will give you more invites to distribute. The audio format means Clubhouse ‘rooms’ are like listening to a live, informal podcast, with the added option of sometimes being able to join a conversation yourself. You can follow celebrities (such Drake or Estelle), and your friends, who you can find by linking to your contact list or Facebook. You’ll be notified when those you follow start a ‘room’. According to Social Media Today, Clubhouse had over 13 million downloads as of 16 March 2021. Some 3.5 million of
those downloads took place in the first two weeks of February 2021 when Elon Musk tweeted to announce his Clubhouse talk with Kanye West on 10 February, and later requested to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin via the app on 13 February (he’s still waiting for a call back from the Kremlin). The app’s popularity briefly soared in China in late January, allowing for unfiltered public discourse on sensitive topics such as the human rights abuses of Uyghur Muslims and the Hong Kong protests. However, on 8 February, China banned Clubhouse for being ‘noncompliant’ with Chinese internet regulation policy. →
Image lett to right: Heisenberg Media, The Come Up Show, David Shankbone, Marc Lozan, Press Service of the President of the Russian Federation Clubhouse: Come join the gang
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XCITY / Features WHAT’S IN IT FOR JOURNALISTS?
Clubhouse is popular among journalists, with members including freelancer and social media executive at BBC Three, Nikki Onafuye, who runs #TheJournoRoom. Recently featured in The Huffington Post, #TheJournoRoom is one of the many ‘clubs’ that members can join to access regular ‘room’ chats. Onafuye describes it as a “safe space for Black journalists to be themselves and share their experiences/ contacts/advice in the industry”. Aaron Akinyemi, a multimedia journalist for the BBC World Service, also enjoys the app. “Clubhouse is a great way to find potential stories, contributors and collaborators, and for exploring different
ROOMS
After joining the app, you first select topics you’re interested in such as philosophy or beauty. The app then takes you to the ‘hallway’, where it will recommend various ‘rooms’. You can also use the explore page which lists a range of different topics. A ‘room’ is essentially a conference call about a particular subject. For instance, ‘World Book Day: Become a Bestseller’.
CLUBS
A ‘club’ is essentially a community of people with a similar interest. For example, for art enthusiasts, there’s a club called “The Contemporary Arts Club” with 14.5k members. A ‘club’ can host numerous ‘rooms’ within that ‘club’. The ‘club’ can host both public and exclusive ‘rooms’. This is handy for journalists because ‘clubs’ are a great way of finding case studies. For example, if you were writing a piece about women entrepreneurs and their use of social media, you could go to Clubhouse and search the phrases ‘women’ and ‘business’. You might land on the ‘club’ “Womxn In Business”, which has over 190k members and describes itself as a community “committed to empowering diverse women in business”. ‘Clubs’ are helpful in finding rooms under a specific topic that happen on a
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‘Rooms’ usually have between 1-6 ‘hosts’ who will moderate the conversation and be the focal point of discussion. Each ‘room’ is divided into speakers and an audience and has a capacity of 5,000 people. As an audience member you are able to listen in on conversations or even ‘raise your hand’ to ask to become a speaker – the hosts may then accept this request. These conversations are live and are not normally recorded, so once they’re done, they’re
networking and learning about journalism, especially in ‘rooms’ set up to combat transparency [issues] in the industry or just provide tips and info for journalists and writers,” Ezaydi says. “I definitely think journalists should have some knowledge of the app, especially as it keeps getting bigger [because] discussions and debates that inform a lot of journalism will move onto that platform.” If you’ve managed to get an invite, now it’s time to figure out how to use it. If you are still without an invite, search ‘Clubhouse invite’ on Twitter. Many people are offering invites to anyone who wants one. So, how does Clubhouse actually work? gone. Clips from ‘rooms’ are also being used for multimedia purposes. Elon Musk interviewed the CEO of Robinhood on Clubhouse, and The Financial Times used a clip from the interview on their news briefing podcast. Currently, recording and reusing clips requires explicit permission of both Clubhouse and each speaker. Otherwise, recording is prohibited.
regular basis. Ezaydi explains how when writing a piece about representation politics for Bustle, she found ‘rooms’ on Clubhouse discussing that very topic. “Listening to so many different views and opinions about the role of identity politics was so useful in shaping that piece,” she says. Image: Rawpixel, Clubhouse, Github
CONCLUSION
Clubhouse has its pitfalls, with many criticising the app for its lack of regulation. Rooms that have come under fire include those advocating anti-Covid vaccine rhetoric, despite the vaccines being proven safe for use. There is some speculation that the end of lockdown restrictions will affect how much people use the app. However, Bloomberg tech columnist Tae Kim has nonetheless asserted: “I have little doubt once Clubhouse opens up to the general public, its user base can grow into the tens of millions. The social media giants should be concerned.” 🆇
multimedia strategies to reach greater audiences,” Akinyemi says. He explains that he notices a surge in his social media following when he speaks in a ‘room’. Akinyemi believes the app is “here to stay” and that “the journalists who are on the outside of this new development will be on the back foot”. Clubhouse is becoming a place where journalists can network and grow their personal brand. It is also useful for finding multiple perspectives on a story with just a few clicks. Shahed Ezaydi, deputy editor of Aurelia magazine, an online publication championing the voices of marginalised genders, is a regular user of the app. “I’ve found it useful when it comes to
XCITY / Features Image : Photo/Andy Wong
Have you Reddit?
A user’s guide for journalists r/TheDonald and r/pizzagate aside, the front page of the internet has a lot to offer culture journalists. But becoming a “journo Redditor” entails responsibility, relevance and respect, writes Nicola Blackburn
T
he past two years have seen some serious breaches of ‘rediquette’. In January, QAnon believers stormed its forums, or subreddits, to incite the storming of the Capitol. As the pandemic infected the world, conspirators infected Reddit claiming, in turn, that 5G was infecting us all with coronavirus. Add to the mix a bizarre viral story or two and the site’s alien mascot seems fitting. Meanwhile, journalists reporting on cultural trends are ditching Facebook groups and Twitter’s #journorequests to turn to Reddit, in search of ‘normal’ people to speak to. James Ball, global editor of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, has visited Reddit daily for 12 years. Vice culture editor Emma Garland does the same. And with one in four UK internet
users aged between 15-35 using Reddit last year, they’re on to something. Bolstered by anonymity, Reddit’s 430 million monthly active users represent an increasing sample of society who will say
video game retailer could break Wall Street? You’ll find densely populated subreddits to back you up. Such openness makes Reddit a treasure trove of willing - and authentic - sources for journalists. For Amelia Tait, a freelance features writer, Reddit feels “old internet” compared to other social media platforms. “Why would you write, ‘I’m looking for a woman who’s addicted to eating chalk’ [on Twitter],” she says. “When you could just go on the addicted-to-eating-chalk subreddit where people are already talking about their experiences?” The site hosts an abundance of contemporary culture which, for David Levesley, news and features editor at
“Why would you write, ‘I’m looking for a woman who’s addicted to eating chalk’, when you could go on the chalk-eating subreddit?” what they want to say – and be who they want to be. Need to prove in a pitch that ‘space elevators’ are nearly a reality, or that a
GQ, makes using Reddit “like pounding the pavement for modern reporting”. But although its communities and →
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XCITY / Features subcultures occupy 2.2 million subreddits, Reddit’s coverage in the media follows a predictable thread. One BBC article from October reads: “Scrolling down the front page [of Reddit] in 2020 has looked a lot like this: anti-maskers, dangerous driving, racism, a little green sprout with a wooden sword, terrible politicians.” For Emma Garland, it was coverage of the GameStop affair that exposed why being a journalist in 2021 demands an understanding of Reddit – and why many lack one. Explainers or anonymous first-person pieces were rife (“My husband has been playing with GameStop shares. Is he being ridiculous?”). If you want to become a ‘journo Redditor’, there are right and wrong ways to do so. Here’s an ‘ELI5’ (Explain It Like I’m Five – a classic subreddit).
1. Use Reddit for fun
Unfortunately, you can’t just make an account and start posting. Subreddit moderators (‘mods’) won’t warm to a member whose posts begin “I’m looking to speak to…”. It’s not how the ‘community’ ethos of Reddit works: as a subreddit member, you’re expected to enrich it. Moreover, Reddit’s points system makes it impossible to post if you’re not a historic
“Journalists are the prey. They want to catch you, they want to get you to write something stupid” user. Users earn ‘karma’ when they upvote or downvote a post and comment – and only with a certain amount of karma can you create your own posts. The mods of each subreddit set this required amount. How does one increase their karma? Essentially, dress to impress. From Reddit itself: “Being on-topic, relevant, funny, interesting or engaging are great ways to earn comment karma.”
2. Remain anonymous (most of the time) It’s best to make an anonymous username (Reddit can generate a random one for 94 |you). It’s a means of separating your more
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“Ensure they ‘feel like you’re not going to f*** them over”’ personal interests from your professional presence online. Ball might like a post on r/AmITheAsshole or r/Relationships when he’s having a scroll with his junk food, but he doesn’t want colleagues to spot his engagement there. Instead, it’s best to be a ‘Lurker’ and only interact with potential interviewees through Reddit’s private messaging system. Here, you should identify yourself.
Ball cautions against it. Within these communities, he says, “journalists are the prey. They want to catch you, they want to get you to write something stupid or to write something helpful for them.
6. Don’t be a tourist Journalists tend to dip into Reddit when it produces something viral. For Levesley, this relative disinterest in Reddit is sinister. “Journalism for a long time has garnered clicks by publishing ‘people swing (have open relationships)!’ or ‘people have threesomes!’ or ‘trans people exist!’” he says. He sees such reporting as somewhat “othering’” Redditors: “It’s in and of itself problematic, to ogle at weirdness.”
3. Show online “sauces” the same respect as in-person sources
“Whether you’re into data visualisation, dodgeball or Dogecoin crypto, having an active presence on Reddit is an asset”
4. Don’t take Redditors at face value (so to speak)
For all its cultural insights, there are the timeless wacky Reddit stories that journalists love. Tait’s favourite is the subreddit r/MandelaEffect, full of hundreds of flabbergasted Redditors claiming to have seen a particularly elusive film. “The movie that doesn’t exist and the Redditors who think it does”, her 2016 headline in the New Statesman reads. Ball wrote about the viral Reddit theory that Australia doesn’t exist for The Guardian in 2018 – “one of the wackier nice ones” he’s come across. For Garland, a woman’s lengthy rant complaining she’s sick of her boyfriend constantly talking like Tony Soprano remains a favourite. Whether you’re into data visualisation, dodgeball or Dogecoin crypto (yes, the cryptocurrency inspired by a dog), having an active presence on Reddit is an asset for journalists if used well. Just don’t forget to check out its silly side which, r/TheDonald and r/pizzagate aside, gets a unanimous upvote from journalists. 🆇
Amongst some healthy scepticism towards the media, you can expect to find Redditors eager to chat. The key, David Levesley suggests, is to make Redditors feel comfortable and ensure they “feel like you’re not going to fuck them over”. Levesley says to potential interviewees for his GQ pieces – particularly those associated with marginalised groups or unfamiliar beats – “I really want you to tell me if I’ve got this wrong”, “I’m very willing to learn” and “I’m aware I’m coming in as an outsider”.
Anonymity facilitates lying and according to Ball, Redditors with a flair for fiction are rife – making it even more difficult to verify online sources. To work around this, Amelia Tait almost always conducts phone interviews with Redditors and only uses the platform to make initial contact. For less serious call-outs – to enthusiasts of a particular television programme, for example – journalists can scan a source’s OC (‘original content’) to check they’re who they claim to be.
5. Avoid extremism For journalists reporting on the ‘darker’ subreddits, Reddit complicates another familiar dilemma: do I publish if it runs the risk of perpetuating a harmful message?
7. Embrace the silly side
Image : AP Photo/Ng Han Guan
Walled out of China Kay Leong and Bea Tridimas explore how coronavirus, the Xinjiang crisis and Hong Kong’s national security law have changed the country’s media landscape
O
ne minute, Sophia Yan, The Telegraph’s Beijing correspondent, was receiving text messages about bridesmaid dresses from friends, and the next, information about hazmat protective suits was pinging into her inbox from her work colleagues. It was early 2020. She was due to join a bridal party in Canada later that year, but fate had other plans. A mysterious disease had appeared in China, one that would dominate her life for the rest of the year and lead to her winning the Marie Colvin prize at last year’s British Journalism Awards. With a worldwide death toll of over three million and rising, coronavirus went on to dominate the news agenda in 2020 – as it still does in 2021. As the world battles
No entry: Chinese authorities restrict journalists’ access to information and places, such as the Wuhan Institute of Virology pictured here, during the COVID-19 outbreak
the virus, China has increasingly turned attention to clamping down on media freedom. A new security law in Hong Kong and ongoing surveillance of journalists reporting on Xinjiang has already inflamed the relationship between the Chinese government and journalists. With the pandemic, over a dozen journalists from Western media outlets were expelled from the country last year. Others, such as Bloomberg reporter Haze Fan and Australian journalist Cheng Lei, have been arrested in relation to the pandemic. Both remain in detention. Before the Chinese government started tightening their grip on journalists, covering the outbreak was already plagued by uncertainty and unpredictability. “This was different from a war zone. In war, you
know what risks you’re walking into,” Yan says. “But this, I was entirely unprepared for. It was just happening and unfolding in the moment.” No one knew then how deadly coronavirus was, nor whether it could transmit from person to person. Yan first heard about the virus from a small government press conference announcing there was a “mystery illness” in Wuhan. They likened it to pneumonia, gave no further details, and insisted everything was under control. “China doesn’t have a great track record with transparency, so whatever the government is saying, we always have this question of whether it’s true, real, or accurate,” says Yan. This lack of information was all too familiar for journalists there, but it certainly exacerbated their anxieties on →
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XCITY / Features the ground. What kind of stories were worth taking potential unknown health risks for? As the virus proliferated, Yan and other journalists worked tirelessly to cover the confusion. Elsewhere, protective supplies like masks and sanitiser ran out, while those who could evacuate the country fled in hope of returning when the chaos died down. Yan, who is still in China, recalls thinking: “My family in the US was clearly worried about my wellbeing, and I held my head in my hands, thinking, ‘What is happening?’” Over a year later, Yan still hasn’t seen her family since the start of the pandemic. Beyond concerns for their own health, reporters worried about how the virus might impact access to sources too. “People are afraid to talk to foreign media due to a physical fear of being infected,” Yan says, citing the “propaganda” put out by China criticising the poor coronavirus response of countries like the UK in contrast to its own. “Even though I am ethnic Asian, once they find out that I’m an American working for a British paper, they think that I pose some sort of coronavirus risk.” Prior to the pandemic, journalists already struggled with finding Chinese citizens or experts to speak to. Afraid of potential repercussions or police intimidation, sources are reticent to speak publicly. Difficulty accessing sources has perhaps never been so prevalent as it is in Xinjiang, China’s westernmost province which has been at the centre of numerous investigations into the persecution of Uyghur Muslims. “I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t dare to speak to anybody out in the open, because you don’t know what’s going to happen to that person,” says Sui-Lee Wee, a New
York Times China correspondent. In 2020 she was nominated for the Pulitzer prize with her New York Times team for their investigations into human rights issues in the region. During her last visit in 2019, she says she was followed everywhere, detained, had her phone searched, and even prevented from taking photographs of trees. “I’ve never been so surveilled before in China.” This surveillance and silencing of sources has worsened in the pandemic, as the government has clamped down on expert sources such as doctors, scientists and academics, according to both Yan and Wee. Areas where a journalist may uncover revealing information or locate possible sources, like crematoriums or cemeteries or the Wuhan market where the virus originated, are also heavily guarded. All this points to a suspicion shared by China correspondents and bureau chiefs that the coronavirus has been used as a convenient excuse for the government to tighten its grip on the media. “Under the guise of public health, they tell us, you can’t be here or you can’t do this interview,” Yan says. The atmosphere towards foreign reporters is especially hostile amidst a backdrop of worsening diplomatic relations between China and the West. In March last year, the majority of American nationals working for major US papers were either stripped of their visas or expelled from China as a result of the virus exacerbating tensions with the US.
“Both sides saw [the virus] as an opportunity to blame the other country,” says Jonathan Cheng, China Bureau Chief at The Wall Street Journal. When he started his job in 2019, he had 15 news reporters under his wing. Now, there are just four. According to him, any journalist working for a foreign outlet is seen as potentially trying to harm China’s interest. Chris Buckley, chief China correspondent for The New York Times, also found himself stripped of his visa last March. Now living in Sydney, the Australian national felt “caught up” in the US-China spat and is unsure when he will be allowed to return to the place he has called home for the best part of 30 years. He says: “We’re all in limbo at the moment, we don’t know how long it will be.” “Journalists unfortunately have been used as pawns in these larger diplomatic spats,” sums up Yan. For instance, authorities have failed to offer clear reasons for the seemingly random detainment of Fan and Cheng, in December 2019 and August 2020, only stating that they have endangered national security. Adding to this, the refusal of Beijing to renew press credentials or relax travel restrictions for those with foreign journalist visas has had a chilling effect, sending the message that foreign journalists are not welcome. The disproportionate response to what is actually a fairly small cohort of foreign correspondents is part of Beijing’s efforts
“The propaganda machine has stepped up its attacks on the foreign media”
Siege on democracy: The National Security Law is the latest infringement on Hong Kong’s autonomy. In the past years, citizens have protested their freedom
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Image: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
Silence in Xinjiang: Journalists take photographs outside an alleged re-education camp in Xinjiang during a government organised trip
Image: AP Photo/Kin Cheung
to control the narrative coming out of China, according to Yan. This has gotten worse under the premiership of Xi Jinping, where no story is considered apolitical. “Previously, there were stories we could do that weren’t considered so sensitive. It’s become really clear that almost no subject is exempt, in the eyes of the Chinese government,” explains Yan. Wee, who has been reporting for 10 years in China says it has become much harder to cover stories in the past two years. Even finding an expert for a topic as harmless as pigs proved impossible. “There is no incentive for anybody to speak to a foreign reporter and the propaganda machine has just stepped up its attacks on the foreign media.” But it is not just foreign reporters who have faced silencing in recent years. According to data published by the Committee to Protect Journalists, at the end of 2020, there were 47 Chinese journalists serving sentences for coverage that contradicted the government’s official narrative. Some of these journalists were imprisoned for their coverage of the coronavirus and Xinjiang. The government has begun to tighten its grip in Hong Kong too, with the introduction of the national security law in June 2020 which, among other things, criminalises subversion and collusion with external sources and permits those suspected of breaking the law to be put under surveillance. “It has scared most of our sources both in Hong Kong and in China,” says Shirley Yam, the former vice chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association. Hong Kong has operated as “a swindle to mainland
China for decades”, where sources would come to Hong Kong and share information freely, which they were unable to in mainland China. “Now, under the national security law, they will come with the assumption that it will not be very different from the intimidations or the scrutiny that they face in China.” The new law allows suspects to be searched or put under surveillance without a court warrant. But what is most concerning, says Yam, is how ambiguous the law actually is. “Under this national security law there are no clear rules or guidance, so what sort of precaution can you take?” Yam fears that reporting conditions in Hong Kong will only get worse. Wee also thinks that foreign reporters will face more restrictions when applying for permission to work in China in future, “They’re making it harder for any foreigner to get into China and they’ve made it clear that foreign journalists need not apply.” Although she voluntarily left China for her home country of Singapore during the pandemic out of concern for her health, she is still waiting for permission from the government to return. It is uncertain how long it will take to reinstate the American and Australian journalists who were stripped of their visas last year. What exactly these expulsions mean for the future of reporting in China is
unclear. “It’s an incredibly important place for the world to understand and when journalists aren’t there on the ground that understanding is lacking,” says Buckley. But with the Biden administration now governing the US, the future of US-China relations might improve. “It is possible that there is some room for cooperation and journalism could be one area that they agree to at least have a truce,” says Cheng. So far, the new president is taking time to settle on policies towards China, although he is expected to be less extreme than his predecessor and more vigorous than Obama. Cheng is also optimistic that the Winter Olympics, to be held in Beijing in 2022, might also ease conditions for reporters. During the Beijing Olympics in 2008, foreign journalists in China were allowed to move freely around the country for the first time and organise interviews without being accompanied by a government official. While it is unlikely that reporting conditions in China will improve any time soon, it remains a country of many intrigues and many stories. As the superpower is set to overtake the US as the world’s largest economy by 2028, it is more vital than ever to understand its complexities. “China can sometimes at some level look like a still pond of conformity, but that can be deceptive,” says Buckley. “Beneath that surface there’s lots of layers of opinion and emotion and sentiment that are there even if they’re not directly discernible from the surface.” 🆇
“Journalists are used as pawns in these diplomatic spats”
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XCITY / Features
Top of the pods: Kitty Chrisp chats to podcasting pros for their top tips on how to make a journalistic podcast stand out from the crowd
W
hether you are bumbling up the M1, squeezing onto the Northern Line, or taking yet another bloody stroll, if you are anything like me you will be accompanied by a little voice in your ear. It may talk you through a twisted web of conspiracies one day; Russell Howard’s dream dessert the next; and the world of F1 at the weekend. Podcasts are the friend I always wanted. Minimal effort, maximum entertainment. And I am not alone. Today, Apple hosts over two million podcasts – an increase of around 150 per cent from 2018. In spring 2020, 18 per cent of UK adults called themselves podcast listeners, up from 14 per cent in 2019. Comedy is currently the most popular genre in the US, with news and true crime podcasts also flying off the virtual shelves. Top of the pods on Apple’s UK chart at the moment is British Scandal by Wondery – a new investigative podcast. Chris and Rosie Ramsey’s Sh**ged Married Annoyed;
Image: David Bebber
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a light-hearted romp of a podcast by this fabulous Geordie couple, is also topping the charts, currently sitting at number two. The Guardian’s Today in Focus has historically led the way for daily news podcasts since it began in 2018 and sits within the top 20 on Apple’s charts today. Luckily, Theodora Louloudis, The Telegraph’s podcast editor, believes the industry’s peak is a few years off. “Once podcasting monetisation becomes less Wild West, when people work out what they can and should be charging for advertising, I think you will see more podcasts, not fewer,” she says. Unfortunately, no one has the foggiest idea how to hit the top of the charts – and no, it isn’t based on listenership. Apple’s secret algorithm is very much a mystery to podcasters everywhere. Matt Chorley, host of The Red Box Politics Podcast from The Times, confesses he would “be on a yacht” if he had the aswer. However, there are some key ingredients which can give your podcast the potential to be at the top. Just because everyone seems to have a podcast,
this does not mean everyone is doing it well. But with so much competition, how do you transform your podcast from a donkey into a Grand National winner? XCity turned to four of 2021’s leading podcast-making journalists for some answers. We asked Basia Cummings, presenter of Tortoise Media’s The Slow Newscast; Chris Warburton, podcast presenter for BBC 5 Live; Matt Chorley, presenter of The Red Box Politics Podcast; and Theodora Louloudis, editor of The Telegraph’s podcasts.
Basia Cummings: Taking the slow approach with Tortoise Media’s The Slow Newscast
So, why all the podcast hype? Louloudis says podcast listeners are uniquely engaged. “The completion rate – for most of our shows anyway – is much higher than some other forms of journalism, at 80 per cent.” Warburton stresses that podcast audiences are in it for the long haul. “You might be with them on the tube, in the car, on a walk or whatever it may be, you are the only voice in that journey. It is a much more intimate relationship.” “Intimacy” is the buzz word which crops up repeatedly in conversations with the experts. So, like a Bridgerton sex scene, how do you make a podcast intimate and gripping? Just be yourself That well-worn piece of advice is relevant here: the dreaded ‘just be yourself ’. “The ability to be yourself on air is massive,” says Warburton. After deciding to take up the mic in a U-turn from years of producing audio, he remembers it was hard to find his authentic on-air self, but one day it just clicked. With a background in stand-up comedy, Chorley uses humour to cut through political jargon. “If everyone can get the joke, then they are sort of halfway there to understanding,” he says. Even in The Slow Newscast, which tackles meaty, investigative topics, Cummings agrees. “It is important to get a sense of the person as well as the story,” she says. “You have to be human, you have to open up a bit.” Podcasts are slicing through radio drawls and opening journalism up into a friendlier space. Louloudis recalls the old days of recording The Telegraph’s weekly politics podcast, Chopper’s Politics, in a London boozer. “Listening, you did feel like you were sitting down with the presenter and a pint of the good stuff,” she says. But not too much! In a quest for naturalness, Chorley used to conduct his interviews with politicians on a walk in the park. But this can go too far, he warns, remembering when Jeremy Hunt requested a running interview instead. “I ran three miles around central London with a rucksack on and a fluffy mic. Listening back to it, it does sound like a sex
XCITY / Features
a masterclass Image: UBC Learning Commons
“Listening back, it does sound like a sex tape because there’s a lot of huffing and puffing”
tape because there is just a lot of huffing and puffing.” Having since learnt from this mistake, Chorley perfectly encapsulates what a successful news or political podcast is all about. “You want people to listen to it because they want to, not because it is their medicine and they should really take it.”
And who are the voices? Once you have your ideas, Warburton advises that voices should be next. Who are the strongest individuals to help you tell the story? “Your characters will sell the thing,” he says. Cummings agrees. “Where in print you need to have a really strong introduction, let the story unfold and work in the detail, in podcasting it’s much more about character,” she says. “You might want to hook in guests with a clever twist,” recommends Chorley, in relation to high-profile guests. He uses the example of “Lessons in a Landslide: Tony Blair”, an episode about the 1997 election, where Chorley managed to secure Blair through his angle. “If I had said I want to talk to Tony Blair about why he hates Jeremy Corbyn, he probably would have said no. But I was asking stuff like, how did it feel when you became prime minister, which no-one ever asks.” Unsurprisingly in the podcasting world, big names do pay dividends. While you are scrambling a measly 1,000 listens on your podcast about meeting a real-life alien (with evidence), Justin Bieber could record himself impersonating kitchen appliances and gain millions of listeners within the hour. But as Chorley says, keep plugging away. “If the thing you are doing is good, it will gradually build.” What about structure? But before you can build an audience, you have to build an episode. “To begin to put pen to pad is really tricky,” says Warburton. He recommends having an idea of structure, but be flexible. As any journalist will know, one long interview which goes down a mad rabbit hole can change
Matt Chorley: Chatting politics with TimesRadio
a story. The biggest pet peeve for Chorley is when podcasts preamble about the weather, how the podcast came about and where you met your co-host. “Get to the meat of the thing and just get on with it,” he says. And making it sing? With structure comes post-production. “How are you going to make the whole thing sing?” asks Warburton. “Post-production turns something that could feel quite pedestrian into something that is emotional, well-paced, really sophisticated and funny,” says Cummings. “Pacing, rhythm, voices and music; there is an interplay between all of these things.” And the audio must crisp, too. Louloudis, a self-confessed perfectionist, edits out around 70 per cent of the “ums”. She would also rather cut an interview short to ensure the recording is clean. “Spending 15 minutes setting up audio and having 45 minutes of material is much better than spending five minutes setting up and having 55 minutes of tinny, echoey audio.” So why should you bother? Cummings believes there is power in transparency. “It’s not easy to find out how a journalist does their job unless they’re very open about it. Podcasting allows you to open up that world. And I think that’s really powerful.” For Louloudis and The Telegraph, podcasts act as a window shop to their journalism. She notes how podcasts are less headline-driven and have more space for depth than print, so they end up being more naturally balanced as a result. As Chorley quips, with “the risk of sounding like Alan Partridge”, podcasts are not regulated in the same way as radio or even newspapers, so looping people into a story is far more important than going in with a harsh angle. “Now everyone is doing long reads, because there is a recognition that starting from the beginning and telling a story is powerful. The same is true with podcasting,” he says. If you are feeling shy about dipping your toes in the world of podcasting, do not fret. Louloudis explains that the biggest challenge faced even by seasoned print journalists when starting out is overcoming nerves. “Some of the presenters who only know the medium through their children feel intimidated by it,” she says. It is all about confidence – so what are you waiting for? Go and grab yourself a personality, a fluffy mic, a Z-list celebrity and press that little red button. 🆇
Image: TimesRadio
What’s the heart of the story? Congratulations! You are officially the captivating and funny friend at the pub. But how do you make your new friends stick around? “The main thing, as with anything, is ideas,” says Warburton, who has an exceptional knack for slinging a curve ball on familiar stories and making them fresh. Getting to the heart of the story that you are trying to tell is crucial, he says. In his podcast Beyond Reasonable Doubt?, Warburton explored Kathleen Peterson’s murder – the contested case of whether or not her husband pushed her down the stairs. While the Netflix show The Staircase focused on the alleged killer, Michael Peterson, Warburton and his team honed in on the life and death of Kathleen instead. “His story
has become a bit of a circus over the years. People who were close to Kathleen respected that and were far more willing to talk,” he says. When it comes to these more investigative podcasts, Cummings would agree. “Unless you are rigorous about the storytelling you can slip into what my boss calls ‘a trip around the bay’,” she warns. This is when the main questions are not really answered.
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Essential virtual Britain’s top broadcasters reveal to Ed Cunningham their best advice for interviewing in the digital age
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s the lighting right? Is the camera angle too low? Is your underwear drying on a rack behind you? Thanks to the pandemic, the ability to conduct a successful interview over Zoom, Teams, or Skype has become an essential feature in a journalist’s toolkit. With many journalists looking to continue remote working even after social distancing restrictions are fully lifted, the virtual interview is here to stay. So who better to ask for essential tips than some of Britain’s most respected broadcast interviewers?
Dermot Murnaghan, News presenter, Sky News “It’s best to allow for those gaps, those technological glitches, because the tendency on live television is to want to fill dead airtime. You ask a question, you don’t get an instant reply, so you dive straight in again – you get a verbal clash. It’s the equivalent of two people walking down an empty pavement and you get the old, ‘I’m sorry’ tango to get past each other. It’s best to ask that question and wait for the reply – unless, of course, they’re on mute.”
Gillian Joseph, News presenter, Sky News “If at home, carefully survey your background for any embarrassing detritus that may give away more about yourself than you would like to. Position the camera at the correct height with enough headroom and don’t forget to unmute. Make sure any dependents are fed and watered to avoid disturbances and if there is any casual traffic make sure they’re clothed.”
BC
Robert Peston, Political editor, ITV News “Position your laptop, smartphone, or tablet on the tallest pile of books you can and then tilt it 20 degrees towards you. We all look better as seen from slightly above. The tragedy is I only worked this out as lockdown was ending.”
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Cathy Newman, News presenter, Channel 4 News
Illustrations: Eleanor Cowell (@eljoart) and Becca Challis
interview tips “Pre-record the interview and then edit it down so you’re not under time pressure and therefore can let the interviewee answer without having to interrupt. Interruption is tricky when you’re interviewing virtually, as there’s always a delay.”
Jonathan Rugman, Foreign affairs correspondent, Channel 4 News
Laura Kuenssberg, Political editor, BBC News
“The same rule which applies for face-to-face interviews: the reporter must look presentable and sit up straight! Otherwise the television camera filming ‘reverse’ and ‘cutaway’ shots in our Channel 4 News ‘Zoom room’ catches said reporter thinking he is still at home and looking like a mess. Not much can be done about not having a haircut for three months though...”
Put your computer on a pile of books, sit back, and don’t peer into your camera. That way you won’t look like a giant, looking down your nose!” BC
Geoff Cutmore, News presenter, CNBC “There are some obvious dos. Do focus on depth of shot and good lighting. Do be prepared for tech failures – adapt, apologise and move on. Do expect the unexpected; the sound or a guest could drop out at any time. And do give the same energy to your laptop camera as you would give to a camera in a studio. And finally, don’t forget the journalism.”
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On comedy, the ‘culture wars’ and reclaiming the ‘trans issue’ by Patrick Sproull
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s one of the few prominent trans media figures in the UK, journalist and author Shon Faye is used to talking about the “transgender issue”. Having written for The Guardian, VICE, and The Independent, Faye has been a go-to source for perceptive analysis of contemporary trans activism for the past five years. But if you ask her, Faye is first and foremost a comedian; one whose side career as a stand-up has been put on the backburner by the pandemic. “I primarily see myself as a humourist,” she tells me. “That’s the kind of writing I would probably do if I weren’t trans and didn’t feel like writing about trans issues was my main gig. “Pre-COVID, I used to do stand-up comedy but obviously nobody’s doing stand-up now and TV isn’t being commissioned in the same way. In many ways I’m quite glad I wound up doing serious political non-fiction, because at least right now people are still buying books.” Faye’s media profile has continued to grow over the past five years. Her sharp, wry commentary, honed by appearances
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Image: Paul Samuel White
Shon Faye
XCITY / Features about and why.” In 2018, The Telegraph ran a headline claiming that “The tyranny of the transgender minority has got to be stopped”, while The Daily Mail warned of being “Terfed out by the ‘Trans Taliban’”. In the same year, The Times said that “Trans extremists are putting equality at risk”. The increased hostility of anti-trans headlines coincides with the quadrupling of reported transphobic hate crimes in the past five years in the UK, according to BBC research. The Transgender Issue exists therefore “to counter that perception of trans people”. “I realised that a few comment pieces in The Guardian weren’t going to cut through,” Faye explains. “And that I needed a bigger platform. A book is a much bigger platform and you’re much more in control. What I’ve seen other authors of political non-fiction do in this country is change the media conversation by bringing out a book.” Faye explains how that the ‘conversation’ is out of touch with minorities, offering her interpretation on how it has moved against trans people. “The issue with British journalism is that it’s very closed-off, very Oxbridge, very private school,” she says, citing the Sutton Trust’s 2016 survey, which concluded that 51 per cent of Britain’s ‘top 100’ journalists were educated in private schools, compared to just 7 per cent of English pupils.
“There’s a media consensus about what ‘trans issues’ mean that’s so far removed from what actual trans people care about” misinformed, according to Faye. “I wanted to call my book The Transgender Issue because it sounds like the sort of [book] people who aren’t already convinced might pick up,” Faye says. “It’s signalling: ‘This is the book you need to read.’ “But the real reason I reappropriated the ‘trans issue’ is because 90 per cent of the time when people in the media talk about ‘trans issues’, they’re talking about cis people’s issues with what trans people represent to them. When you speak to trans people, the fact that they can’t secure employment is a huge problem, or the fact that trans health care is so bad in this country because of years and years of being on the waiting list [for trans health care] will negatively affect your mental health. “The whole purpose of this book isn’t to argue about these culture war issues, but to say that actually, the media debates have been really, really unhelpful, and these are the actual issues that trans people care
“It’s a closed world which means that journalists often all know each other from mixing at dinner parties,” she says. “That has produced a problem because there’s now a consensus that has been reached in the media about what we mean when we say ‘trans issues’ and what the ‘trans discussion’ is. This consensus is so far removed, I would say, from what actual trans people care about.” An example of this was when gal-dem political editor Moya Lothian-McLean appeared on Sky News in February to discuss her research into transphobia in gender-based sexual and domestic violence. Midway through the interview, LothianMcLean was asked by the interviewer, Niall Paterson, about an NHS Trust using the word ‘chest-feeding’ in addition to ‘breastfeeding’ on their website. Lothian-McLean quickly shut down the question for its irrelevance to her work. “What happened with Moya was so
Image: Allen Lane Books
on Newsnight and Novara Media, led her to sign book deal with Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Random House UK, in 2019. This September, she will publish The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice, a clear-eyed look at the reality of trans people’s lives in 2021. Her publisher’s blurb states that Faye will cast her eye over “work, family, housing, healthcare, the prison system and trans participation in LGBTQIA+ and feminist communities, in contemporary Britain and beyond”. “There isn’t a book in Britain that I’m aware of written by a trans person that analyses the material conditions of trans people’s lives in the UK,” she says. “I think it’s good guidance for any author to write the book you wish existed already, and that’s what drove me to write The Transgender Issue – because it doesn’t exist.” However, as far as the 33-year-old Faye is concerned, this may be her first and last book. “My publisher is very determined that I will continue to write other books, and maybe I will, but at the moment I don’t want to write anything. This is like my definitive word on trans stuff – at least for this stage in my life.” Faye christened her book The Transgender Issue for good reason: “It really irritates me how a lot of journalists refer to the ‘transgender issue’ offhandedly, like it’s a huge ‘culture war’ that’s getting people ‘cancelled’. It’s reductive and it’s a huge abstraction of the reality of trans people’s lives, who are still hugely discriminated against in Britain.” The title is a Trojan horse to sway the
lazy,” says Faye. “She was on to talk about something really, really serious, but because everything’s about clips, [the interview became] about getting engagement, about getting people really angry.” Faye explains that there is a historical precedent in the press around LGBT+ issues. “There are articles you can find in the media about the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 1990s, and clearly there was a consensus against gay men in particular that doesn’t exist now,” she says, referring to headlines from 1985 such as The Mail on Sunday’s “Britain threatened by gay virus plague” and The Daily Star’s “Kiss of death!”. When asked how younger progressive journalists and trans allies can navigate the current media industry, Faye explains that “it’s really important for younger journalists to build up networks”. “I just did a diversity inclusion panel for The Guardian and the reason I did that is because there were loads of journalists who came to that who wanted to know more about how to be an ally,” she says. “Often the ones that come to those sessions aren’t the ones that need to be there [because] they’re not senior people, they’re younger people. “But those younger people will one day be the senior editors, so it’s almost like campaigning for the future. I guess you can’t change the here and now, but you can change it when young people get more senior in this industry.” The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice will be published by Allen Lane on 2 September. 🆇
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Bea Tridimas speaks to journalists about social media’s role in stifling press freedom
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Tumultous Turkey: The 2013 Gezi Park protests saw a rise in social media use as national news platforms stopped broadcasting news of the demonstrations
n July 2019, journalist Burcu Karakaş posted a cartoon by the Syrian artist Moustafa Jacoub on Twitter. It shows the Turkish flag, deep red, but its moon has grown teeth and threatens to gobble up a family of refugees who flee from its bite. “After I shared that I got death threats, rape threats,” says Karakaş. “They said to the Turkish police ‘this woman is a whore, she should be in jail’.” Karakaş was not worried, however. She covers human rights for the German news outlet Deutsche Welle’s Turkey bureau and regularly receives abuse for her writing. She cannot avoid being critical of the government, she says, and being called a “traitor” is a necessary consequence. Shortly after posting the cartoon, Karakaş received notification that she was being investigated by the press prosecutor for humiliating Turkish society. Later that year, in September, she testified at the prosecutor’s office. She was lucky. The investigation did not develop into a case. Between 2014 and 2019, 128,872 people were investigated for the crime of ‘insulting Turkey or its President’. Criminal cases were filed against 27,717 people and 9,556 were convicted, according to statistics released by Turkey’s Ministry of Justice.
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“Almost all these people were given sentences because they expressed their ideas or opinions on social media,” says Hikmet Adal, multimedia reporter for independent news platform Bianet. Under article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code, a person convicted of ‘insulting the President’ faces a prison sentence of between one and four years. However, in practice those who are facing the charge for the first time may receive a suspended sentence or have to pay a fine. Over the past ten years, Turkey has competed with China for the unenviable position of jailing the highest number
“It can put you in danger, but at the same time, it can save your life” of journalists in the world. In 2020, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) found 37 journalists were in prison in Turkey, ten short of the 47 journalists who are behind bars in China. The imprisonments are a reflection of state insecurity. Since 2016, every
journalist imprisoned in Turkey faced anti-state charges, according to the CPJ. The Bianet Media Monitoring Report recorded 23 journalists being sentenced in 2020 on charges of “insult”, “being a member of a terrorist organization”, “aiding the organization as a nonmember”, “propagandizing for a terrorist organization” and “espionage”. Between October and December 2020 alone, at least 130 journalists faced trial for violating the Turkish Penal Code, Anti-Terror Law and National Intelligence Organisation Law, among other security laws. Sixteen journalists faced trial for “insulting the President” during this same time period. Imprisonments of Turkish journalists have fallen in recent years, from a high in 2016 when 86 journalists were being held by government forces or serving sentences. But this does not mean that the Turkish media suffers less repression from the state. The increasing number of journalists and regular citizens jailed for their social media activity represents a new phase in Turkey’s crisis of free speech. In August 2020, President Erdoğan introduced amendments to Law No. 5651, Turkey’s internet law. The new measures require social media companies to open
Image: AP Photo / Vadim Ghirda
“A fire burns in Turkey”
XCITY / Features offices in Turkey and to censor content within 48 hours of receiving a court order. Companies which do not comply face advertising bans and, in more extreme circumstances, bandwidth restrictions that prevent traffic to the sites. In March, Twitter, which has 13 million users in Turkey, announced it will set up a legal representative in Turkey after being fined 10 million lira (about £890,000) in November 2020 and receiving an advertising ban in early 2021. Facebook, YouTube and TikTok introduced legal representatives at the beginning of the year. Once, social media offered a space for Turkish citizens to speak freely. Now, it has become yet another tool for censorship and repression. “It’s a two-sided thing,” says Karakaş. “It can put you in danger, but at the same time, it can save your life.” Twitter, in particular, first became a favoured platform for Turkey’s independent press during a series of demonstrations in 2014. The protests initially started in objection to the construction of a shopping centre in Gezi Park, Istanbul. Soon, they developed into country-wide demonstrations, as the violent state response to the protests contributed to a feeling of discontent with the country’s increasing authoritarianism. Yavuz Baydar, editor-in-chief of independent news outlet Ahval, says the protests were a “threshold test” for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who felt threatened by the scale of the movement. Consequently, he persuaded the main Turkish television networks not to broadcast news of the protests. Independent media organisations began to use digital platforms and social media to share news of the demonstrations. It was the first time media outlets live tweeted from an event, says Gürkan Özturan, the executive manager of
Dokuz8, a digital news platform born out of the protests. “The impact of social media was that they could reach a much larger audience without the interruption of the distribution lines that are owned by the state,” he says.
“When journalists use social media they write their own indictments”
Image: AP Photo / Emrah Gurel
In the wake of the protests, between 2014 and 2018, most of Turkey’s main newspapers and television networks were bought by pro-government businesses, leaving a small and heavily regulated depository of independent outlets. About 95 per cent of Turkey’s media is directly or indirectly controlled by the state, says Baydar, who calls pro-state ownership the “main tumor” of the industry. According to the Media Ownership Monitor produced in partnership with Reporters Without Borders and IPS Communication Foundation, more than 70 per cent of media owners in Turkey are affiliated with the ruling party. Digital outlets and social media are less easily controlled, although independent news continues to face regular censoring, intimidation, or is simply shut down. Baydar runs Ahval from offices in London where he can avoid regulation from Turkish authorities. The site operates via a VPN since access to the platform has been banned in Turkey. Ahval’s online site receives about 150,000 unique views per day. He says they mostly reach their audience through their social media pages on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and podcasts available on Spotify, YouTube, and a mobile app. The Dokuz8 offices were raided multiple times in the Kadikoy area of Istanbul before being shut down. Özturan says when they moved to a new location two streets down, the police were circling the building before he had even learnt the new address. Today, digital media continues to be a major force for Turkish journalists and citizens to speak out. In January, students at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul protested the government appointment of a
Student protests at Boğaziçi University: President Erdoğan denounced students as terrorists during three months of protests at Turkey’s biggest university
university rector. The new audio-chat app Clubhouse became a vital way for students and journalists to share information as social media was increasingly scrutinized by authorities. “This was picked up almost immediately by the folks in Istanbul,” says Baydar. Clubhouse is now the most downloaded app in Turkey. “There is such a big need for this type of communication,” he says. Digital media continues to offer “new possibilities, ways of thinking, new creativities”. Although, with the introduction of social media regulations in August, he is uncertain how long platforms like Twitter and Clubhouse will last. In addition to impending access issues, social and digital media has already become a place for state censorship. “The problem is, when they access a platform, they will have nothing valuable to see,” says Özturan. As of October 2020, Turkey had blocked access to 42,000 Tweets and 140,000 URLs according to the Freedom of Expression Association, an NGO operating in Turkey. The sheer amount of content removed from online is not just reflective of how the state seeks to control what Turkish citizens say or read, but how vulnerable they are to surveillance. Özturan says that friends of his have unfollowed him and independent news platforms on Twitter after facing pressure from employers. He says they have missed job opportunities for following “traitor organisations”. Özgür Ögret, the Turkey representative for the CPJ, says that when journalists are detained by police, their social media accounts are searched to see what evidence can be used against them. “In Turkey, when journalists use social media they may very well be writing their own indictments.” But, for many, social media remains a vital platform for free expression in Turkey. Karakaş believes there is no alternative. In light of the new law, she says: “I think people just have to fight for their rights.” Baydar is concerned that YouTube will become the government’s next target after the company appointed a legal representative to the country in response to the social media law. “Once a ruling power takes the path to an autocracy then it is almost impossible for this power to return to normalcy. History doesn’t show us any exceptions,” he says. Özturan, too, has a bleak outlook for the future. His concerns, however, are more global. “Once we tolerate injustice or oppression in one area, then we can legitimize any kind of oppression anywhere else,” he says. 2020 set a record high for the number of journalists imprisoned worldwide, with 274 journalists in jail as of December 2020, according to the CPJ. Solidarity with Turkish journalists will save journalism elsewhere, Özturan hopes. “If there is a fire in Turkey, this is going to burn in Europe. This is going to burn in the rest of the world too.” 🆇
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“I was voiceless” Refugee journalists share their stories An inspiring project gives refugees from across the world a chance to restart their media careers in the UK, writes Isabella McRae
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lost everything,” Osama Gaweesh says as he remembers his first months in the UK. “I lost my wife, my children, my friends. Everything was lost suddenly. I was alone, and the Home Office put me in limbo in Ipswich. It was a dirty house. An animal can’t live in this house.” Gaweesh, now 36, was a dentist and political activist in Egypt. He spent 18 days protesting against the Hosni Mubarak regime in Tahrir Square, Cairo, in 2011. “They were the best days of my life,” Gaweesh says. “There was a lot of passion. It was a pure experiment for us — sleeping in the streets, eating anything we could, and demonstrating every day until Mubarak stepped down. When he finally did, it was like a dream.” Two years later, Gaweesh’s name was put on an assassination list. His house was seized, and his dental clinic was burned. He was forced to leave Egypt for Turkey. Gaweesh met regularly with Egyptian activists in Istanbul, and they secured funding for a TV station called Mekameleen. After presenting leaked
recordings of Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, which were reported by the media worldwide, Gaweesh became a highprofile broadcast journalist. He was offered a job in Istanbul with Al-Hiwar, an Arabiclanguage TV channel which broadcasts in London and is regulated by Ofcom. But in 2018, Gaweesh had to leave his
“I lost my wife, my children, my friends. Everything was lost suddenly” home again. On his way to London for a holiday with his wife, having left his two young sons in Turkey with his parents, he was stopped at Istanbul airport. He was listed as a terrorist by the Egyptian authorities, and the security officers said he should be extradited immediately. Gaweesh pleaded with them, until he was told he could go to London but would never be allowed back to Turkey. His only
option was to claim asylum in the UK, but it would be 14 months before it was granted and he could apply for a family reunion. Gaweesh struggled with depression for some time, before deciding he had to make the most of the opportunities here. He emailed 35 local and national publications to talk about his experiences as an asylum seeker, but only The Guardian replied and published an interview. Gaweesh volunteered at BBC Radio Suffolk for four months, and then his life changed in 2019 when he discovered the Refugee Journalism Project (RJP). Founded in 2016 by Vivienne Francis, the project supports refugee and exiled journalists to restart their careers in the UK. A lecturer in social justice journalism at the London College of Communication (LCC), Francis has also worked at the BBC and The Voice. “There’s been a discussion around representation and diversity in the media
Image: Nick Marcenaro Torres
Refugee Week Illustration: Produced by MA Illustration students at UAL when the project’s participants were working with The Guardian Foundation
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Imag
a career here. “I plan to be an international journalist, not only writing about the Middle East, but also writing about national issues here.” This year, the project has fellows paid by major organisations, including Bloomberg and Reuters. Francis says: “With the nature of the industry at the moment, it’s difficult to get paid placements. To be able to provide those opportunities for them will make such a difference to their employability.” A committee of journalists, staff at the LCC, and refugees oversees the RJP. Daniel Trilling, a committee member and journalist who writes on migration and human rights for The Guardian and the London Review of Books, says: “Some people will want to use their media skills to talk or write about the experience of being a refugee, but other people won’t at all, because what they want to do is be journalists.” For Abdulwahab Tahhan, the opportunity to network with journalists was his most valuable experience at the RJP. Tahhan grew up in Syria, but he was forced to leave for Turkey when he became wanted by the Assad regime. He was a fixer for journalists, and worked on a documentary, The Suffering Grasses, about Syria. It won eight international awards and was screened across the world. After he had made k e: Nic
res
o Tor enar Marc
“I struggled to find anybody to give me the chance to talk” enough money for a student visa, Tahhan left for England and claimed asylum. “When I arrived in the UK, this was the first time where I had a space to think outside of war. Even though it was not a war zone in Turkey, I was surrounded by other Syrian refugees. You see people suffering, and amputees. You’re constantly reminded of war.” Tahhan was struck by the quietness of his life in Southampton, and noticed that he could hear birdsong at 3am. He thought he would find a job in the media, but he had no references and there were gaps in his CV. “I got rejected over and over again,” he says. “I was really
Image: Veronica Otero
for a long time,” Francis says. “I’ve always wanted to explore ways that I can do something tangible to address these challenges that we talk a lot about, but we really need some practical solutions.” This inkling of an idea could only become a reality when Francis secured funding from the LCC and the George Soros-backed Open Society Foundations. This year, the project is also funded by the Google News Initiative. The RJP takes on new participants annually, and runs networking events, mentorships and workshops, some in collaboration with The Guardian Foundation. They have had three cohorts so far, and have recruited approximately 70 participants from across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Throughout the pandemic, all of the project’s practical support has continued online. The organisation checked everyone had access to the internet and a suitable device, and they loaned one of the participants a laptop when they were facing problems with their computer. Working remotely has extended their reach to journalists in different parts of the country and across the world. For Gaweesh, who is now based in London, the project was an incredible experience. He says: “As a refugee, all we need after we get our refugee status is to rebuild our self-confidence, to overcome the frustration, the depression, the hard experiences, and language barrier.” In February, Gaweesh’s article on exiled Egyptians was published in The Guardian, and he now dreams of building
disappointed, especially with the quality of reporting that I saw. A lot of reporters would go to Greece, Turkey or the Mediterranean to cover the refugee crisis or Syria. They don’t even speak the language. They don’t know the culture.” The only work he could get was as a cleaner in Southampton. Later, he was given a job at Starbucks, and he was happy there, but journalism was in the back of his mind. After joining the RJP, Tahhan got involved in networking events and mentorships, and worked as a visiting lecturer at the LCC. Every year, the project engages participants with teaching experience. Francis says: “It’s really important that the conversation around diversity happens inside the classroom.” Members of the RJP talk to students about their experiences working as journalists in their own countries, contributing to a valuable conversation about representation in the newsroom. While working as a researcher, Tahhan started attending podcasting workshops. In Refugee Week last year, he launched Integrate That!, a podcast about refugees, by refugees. Recorded on his phone, because he lacked the podcasting experience to secure funding, Integrate That! gives refugees the chance to tell their stories through their own voice. Each guest chose the subject of their podcast episode. “It was very friendly,” Tahhan says. “We laughed a lot, and they talked about something they thought is missing from the coverage of refugees. That’s why it was interesting.” The media has to acknowledge its lack of diversity, Tahhan says. “How can you learn if there are no people to represent refugees in the newsroom?” Tahhan and Gaweesh are experienced journalists but, without the Refugee Journalism Project, they might never have found opportunities in the British media. “For a time in Ipswich,” Gaweesh says, “I was voiceless. I struggled to find anybody to give me the chance to talk. Now, when I find an opportunity to give that chance to other people, for voiceless people to express themselves, it is amazing.” 🆇
RJP workshop: Taken at the Guardian Foundation in London
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First job in journalism? Get help with the cost of starting out. The Journalists’ Charity’s first jobs fund offers support with the cost of relocation, accommodation, transport and work-related equipment. Depending on your circumstances, you might be able to get financial assistance to help you at the beginning of your career. To find out more, or to apply, scan the code or visit our website.
journalistscharity.org.uk/apply
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XCITY / Features
Spilling the Royal-tea
From Megxit to Oprah: Sky News’ Rhiannon Mills tells Ella Doyle about the evolving relationship between the royals and the press
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hen Rhiannon Mills landed a job as Sky News’ royal correspondent, she expected “nice hats, corgis and horse racing”. That was six years ago, and since then, we’ve seen three royal babies, one royal wedding, Meghan and Harry’s royal departure, an explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey, and the recent passing of Prince Philip. When I meet Mills on Zoom, she is in a hotel room. “I’m so sorry,” she says, “You get me in my hoodie.” She laughs that her work-life balance has been steadily depleting since the pandemic. “They can just ring you up and go, ‘Can you do the live in ten please?’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, I was just about to get into my pyjamas.’” She adds, “That’s the problem with telly. You have to try and make yourself look a bit respectable.” Mills joined Sky as a general reporter in 2010, before becoming the royal correspondent in 2015. “When I first took the job, people were still slightly obsessed with William and Kate. But I took an
interest in Prince Harry, just because I thought, ‘Where is he going?’” She secured her first broadcast interview with Harry for Sky in 2015. But the prince’s advisors had a prerequisite to fill for the interview to go forward – he would remain standing up. “They said, ‘Well, he’s not going to sit down, but he will perch, or lean on something.’ They had a thing about him sitting down. It was really odd.” In the interview, Harry confessed that he’d love to have children and settle down.
friendliness but there is always a sense of distance between the reporters and the royal family. And that’s the way it should be, really. I want to be able to report on them in the way that I feel I need to, and if that means sometimes I have to be critical, then that’s fine.” She does describe the royals as “disarmingly normal”. They’re nice to talk to, they ask her about her honeymoon, they make self-deprecating jokes. “Maybe it’s a very good tactic for disarming journalists,” she muses. But on 8 January 2020, in what has become known as ‘Megxit’, Harry and Meghan left their royal duties behind, making headlines ever since. On Sunday 7 March 2021, in what is one of the biggest royals stories this side of the millennium, the couple sat down with Oprah to tell their side of the story, watched by 11 million people in the UK. I ask Mills if she slept. “I tried to go to sleep on the Sunday and failed. So I got in a taxi, went to our main office, turned on the telly and waited for the interview of the decade.” Sometimes the →
“The Sussexes have been stamping their feet like teenagers.” “I did the interview and it went out on TV. Then, because of the time difference, I went to sleep. When I woke up in the morning it was everywhere. Completely viral. So yeah,” she shrugs. “That was a good one.” After six years of close reporting, would she call them friends? “Within this job, it’s not friendship,” she says. “There is a
Image: Rhiannon Mills
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XCITY / Features Image: Rhiannon Mills
Image: Aaron Chown/pool photo
Just married: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex riding into the sunset
A locked-down affair: Mills interviews Prince Charles on Zoom
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given them their own platform,” she says. And it’s true – the royal family have 4 million followers on Twitter and Harry and Meghan have 10 million on their Instagram, though they haven’t used it since their departure. Their social media accounts give them, like any other celebrity, direct access to the public: Prince Philip’s death was announced by the palace on Twitter before it had hit Mills’ inbox. So what does cutting out the middle-man mean for the press? “My argument is that on social media, in a way, they’re preaching to the converted,” Mills says. “People follow their accounts if they are already fans and supporters of the royal family. But as we know, they are a taxpayer-funded institution. The whole point is that they need to stay relevant and connected. And I would always argue that the traditional media still has a role to play within that.” The next story, she tells me, will be whether or not Harry will fly in from California to unveil the Princess Diana statue on 1 July at Kensington Palace. “They’re probably the most famous family in the world. So if you do get a news line out of them, if you do get an interview, even if you have a story like the Meghan and Harry story blow up, they’re enormous stories. So it’s a lot of fun.” But the front-page stories aren’t the only thing keeping her in the job – it’s also her passion. “I think it’s also an important job to do, because they’re an institution that needs scrutiny,” she says, adding: “There are still people in this country who don’t necessarily believe that we should have a hereditary monarchy. And so that in itself makes it an interesting situation to report on.” 🆇 Image: Rhiannon Mills
with. And was that a missed opportunity, ‘hype’ around an event is bigger than the actual event itself. In fact that’s exactly what that the royal family wasn’t malleable enough to kind of shift a little bit to those at the palace had told Mills – they incorporate them?” On the other, she says, expected the Oprah interview to add to the it is felt that the Sussexes haven’t tried to mass of existing Meghan and Harry press adapt within the institution: “They’ve been coverage, and disappear into the headlines. stamping their feet like teenagers.” “But then I watched the trailer,” she says, Mills notes there are several factors at “and I thought: this is huge.” She describes the “gasps from different sides of the newsroom” as the interview played out at Sky. What followed was a statement from the Queen that the family were “saddened” to hear Meghan’s story. But Mills says this kind of response isn’t standard practice. “The days before, I’d spoken to someone within the palace, and they said to me that it’s going to take something very extreme for us to comment,” she says. “And as soon as I heard those allegations, I just thought, well, this is not going to be a moment where ‘never complain, never explain’ is going to cut it. They’re going to say something.” According to Mills, Prince Philip’s funeral only a few months later shows the occasional normality of the royals. “Some family occasions are easier than others. Whether it’s a wedding, a christening, or a funeral, families are expected to get together. And unlike our family occasions, the eyes of the world are watching. “I did a piece about how Prince Philip was seen as a real pioneer when the Queen became queen,” Up close and personal: Mills interviewing the royal ‘pioneers’ she says. “Looking at the royal family now, you think, well, who are the pioneers now that are going play in the changing relationship between to carry this institution forward and make the royals and the press – the tabloids, sure it remains relevant?” for example, and perceptions of privacy Mills refers to Meghan and Harry’s “divisive” departure. On one side, the public have had a huge influence since the more “deferential” age of the Queen’s succession. support them: “They were able to connect But social media seems to prevail as the with a demographic and an audience that the royal family hadn’t been able to connect biggest contributor. “Social media has
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Fleet Street Tales Old hacks look back
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ournalism is one of the few professions where age is an asset: contact books are larger and writing is sharper. XCity meets four of the UK’s longest working journalists to find out about a life lived on a deadline.
Trevor Kavanagh, 78, started on local newspapers before working in Australia between 1965 and 1978. He returned to the UK and joined The Sun on the industrial beat. He was made political editor in 1983, a job he held until 2005. In that time, his exclusive stories included Princess Diana’s divorce and Tony Blair’s planning to hold a referendum on joining the Euro. He is now an associate editor for The Sun. What do you make of the decline of the local newspapers that you started on? When I started at the Surrey Mirror, the staff at head office would have been as big as some minor national newspapers today. I think we have lost an enormous resource by not having local newspapers covering the very fundamentals of our democracy: how local government works, how town planning is done, how major trials are conducted. How does our political era compare to the 1980s? The big difference between now and then is that the cabinets and shadow cabinets of whichever party that was in government were full of big individual figures who were more or less household names. You’d be
Image: The Sun
Elizabeth Gregory and Nicholas Harris speak to four of the UK’s distinguished veterans about a lifetime in the Fourth Estate
The Iron Lady: Trevor Kavanagh meeting former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1986
hard pressed to find one or two in today’s cabinet, let alone the shadow cabinet. The changes that took place in the Labour party from when Thatcher took over from Callaghan until Tony Blair came in were momentous, thunderous occasions as a result.
enough for one person to sit in. And if Gordon Greig was in one, you would know if he was onto a big story by the number of cigarettes he’d smoked. If it was a two or three cigarette story, you’d know it was a splash that we’d all have to chase into the night.
Advice for younger journalists? Firstly, get your shorthand up to scratch. Some people think tape recorders will do the job, but you need an accurate note when it comes to a quote that can make or break a story. Secondly, read all the papers so that you know what’s in them and you don’t duplicate. And lastly, steadily and incrementally build a good contacts book and justify that by not letting your contacts down.
Geoffrey Lean, 73, is one of the world’s longest-serving environmental journalists. He began his career in January 1970 aged 22 at The Yorkshire Post. He has since worked at The Observer, The Independent on Sunday and The Daily Telegraph, winning numerous awards for his work.
Any regrets in your career? Many – and I’m not going to say which, but I will say I owe an enormous debt to the sub editors of The Sun. There were times when I’d wake up at 2am and think, “Oh God, did I really write that?” and I would pick up the paper and it wasn’t in. Someone along the line with very fine judgement had decided not to run it. I’m very pleased those never saw the light of day. Best old Fleet Street anecdote? There was one particular reporter called Gordon Greig who worked at the Daily Mail. In the House of Commons press gallery there was a bank of phone boxes down one side of the lobby area, just big
What was your first big splash? In 1972, Yorkshire was one of the worst places in the country for river pollution. Ronald Toms from the Yorkshire River Authority, his staff and I set out to expose the main polluters. We quickly bumped into the law because under the Rivers (Prevention of Pollution) Act 1961, it was forbidden to print about the effluent on pain of imprisonment. But there was a loophole: you couldn’t say anything about the effluent, but you could comment on the state of the river. Within a year of publication, 21 of the polluters had started clearing up. That was really a great grounding. What were newsrooms like when you began your career? When I went to The Observer, I was →
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What was the hardest piece you ever had to write? In early 1971 I had a routine operation, and it went wrong. I was given a one per cent chance of survival. I was in a coma for two or three weeks which I remember very vividly indeed. I had a thing called rhabdomyolysis, where all your muscles dissolve. I was quadriplegic for six months. I wrote a piece about it for The Observer when I recovered, which was really quite an experience. Do you have any regrets? I did not win a couple of newspaper campaigns in the nineties and the noughties, where I fought on air pollution causing asthma in children. I thought they’d be sure-fire – after all, so many people have or know children with asthma – but for some reason they just did not attract support. The death of [nine-year-old Lewisham-based] Ella Kissi-Debrah really brought it home: if I’d succeeded she would, presumably, have lived. Simon Jenkins, 77, is currently a columnist for The Guardian and Evening Standard and the author of multiple volumes of popular history. His first job was at Country Life in 1965, after which he worked on The Sunday Times Insight team before editing the Evening Standard in late 1970s and The Times in the early nineties. He has since held positions outside of journalism, including chairman of the National Trust.
How integral were newspapers to British journalism in the 1970s? Today, a newspaper is almost a commentary on last night’s television or radio news, whereas it was the opposite then. I remember when the Evening Standard had to close down for a while because of some union row, and the BBC saying, “What the hell can we broadcast?” And during the great strikes in the 1970s when some newspapers weren’t being printed, great chunks of the British Establishment didn’t know which way to turn because they relied on the daily newspaper. That’s completely gone now. How do today’s newspapers compare? In the ‘old days’, quality newspapers were about journalism of record, and huge sections of The Times were taken up with Hansard and court reports. When I look back at old copies of The Times and The Manchester Guardian and so on, they were dreary. There was no humour and no personality, and the press was serious and staid in the same way British society was. I think now they’re much more aggressive, much more argumentative. Columnists are far more important – they’re by far the best-read part of a modern newspaper. On the whole, newspapers are much more lively, much brighter and they try much harder than they used to. What’s your proudest accomplishment? The thing I’m most proud of is my longstanding interest in planning, architecture, and championing a civilised urban environment. When I was at the Evening Standard in the 1970s, we saved many buildings in Covent Garden and the City just by publicising the outrage of pulling them down. Those were terrible days in the mid-seventies, and I do think the press played a major part in stopping it. Any regrets in your career? I was offered Washington once in the early seventies by David Astor for The Observer and didn’t take it up, which I slightly regret because I think being a foreign correspondent is a totally different professional activity. It’s a difficult job: you’re away from home and you’ve got to try and interpret a foreign country for a domestic audience.
Image: George Taylor
He scores: Nick Owen commentating at the 1982 football world cup
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Best old Fleet Street anecdote? When I arrived at the Evening Standard, one old guy took me up to the roof of the building to show me the hutches for carrier pigeons. They weren’t using them by the time I was there, but when he became a journalist that was how we got
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suddenly amidst these amazing legends who David Astor recruited, like Colin Legum and Mark Frankland. These were really great people – great brains, great journalists. So working with them and being accepted more or less as an equal was a great privilege. I’m not saying it wasn’t a struggle – I was trying to get stories that people didn’t feel were stories. I think until I was 68, I worked 100-hour weeks. My very first Friday on The Observer, my wife came and picked me up at one o’clock in the morning in the car and I remember her saying: “It’s not going to be like this every weekend is it darling?” It was. I never finished before midnight. But I’m not complaining. Very rarely does a journalist get the chance to establish a new specialism.
the football scores as there were too few telephones! Nick Owen, 73, began his career at the Doncaster Evening Post on July 21 1969, just as Neil Armstrong was making history 240,000 miles above the earth. After becoming a radio producer for the BBC, Owen moved to television and has worked as a sports reporter and presenter for ATV, TV-am and ITV Sport. One of the UK’s first presenters of breakfast television, Owen was the co-presenter of TV-am’s Good Morning Britain between 1983-1986, and of BBC One’s Good Morning with Anne and Nick between 1992 to 1996. Today Nick Owen is a presenter on BBC’s Midlands Today. What was it like to work as a journalist back in the early 1970s? Everything was so different. If you went out on a story, and you interviewed someone, you’d then go to look around for a phone box to ring the office and tell them what was going on. Earlier in my life as a newspaper reporter, we always went to the pub at lunchtime, had a few pints, then went back to the office – it’s unbelievable now that we did that sort of thing. What was the most difficult piece you have ever had to report on? One of the most difficult things I had to report on was the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974. Twenty-one people died and nearly 200 people were injured. Do you have a standout or most memorable television memory? It is difficult to single one out. There were memorable interviews and memorable events, such as hosting the Olympics in 1988, and the football World Cup in 1990. It was great fun interviewing Cher at The Savoy Hotel one afternoon. It was always a joy to chat to Elton John. Ringo Starr was hilarious. We had the Bee Gees on the breakfast sofa one morning and that was terrific fun. My greatest memory is of interviewing my all time hero, Eric Morecambe of Morecambe and Wise. Do you have any regrets? I wish I could have had more selfconfidence in my earlier days doing broadcasting. People always told me how relaxed I seemed, but I was paddling like hell underneath. 🆇
Simplifying Politics Simple Politics is political journalism for the Instagram age. Sorcha Mondon speaks to its founder, Tatton Spiller is undoubtedly a risky business, so the regulation of tone was something that needed to be taken into consideration. The tongue-in-cheek voice of the posts is all Spiller, giving the account a sense of personality which makes it less formal and intimidating than the spaces of political journalism in newspapers and on Twitter. But can Simple Politics’ content creation be called political journalism? The founder did a brief stint interning as a journalist at The Observer and Square Mile magazine but thinks the work done by Simple Politics occupies a space of its own. “It’s not a politics project and it’s not a journalism project,” Spiller says. “I like to call it a communications project. Journalism is much cleverer with words.” The easily accessible content was especially helpful during the early coronavirus daily briefings last year filled with lots of data and jargon that a lot of people struggled to understand. Simple Politics made big gains during this uncertain time, with an increase of 485,000 Instagram followers, with many relying on the daily posts to understand the constant changes
Image: AP Photo / Matt Dunham
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atton Spiller was working as a secondary school teacher at St George’s School, near Kent, when he suffered a breakdown that forced him to go part-time. This was just before the May 2015 General Election, so Spiller, frustrated by the inaccessible jargon and constant policy changes, decided to create a website offering easily digestible information on the British electoral sphere. He aptly named the project “Simple Politics”. Six years later, the site now has 598,000 followers on Instagram and 212,392 on Facebook. Spiller says the original site “couldn’t be more different from what Simple Politics is now”. He was initially against creating an Instagram account, believing his page was getting enough traction on Facebook and Twitter, but was persuaded to set one up by a colleague. Instagram, now Simple Politics’ most followed social, is the right fit for the accessible content created by Spiller’s team. Each 75-word post on Simple Politics’ Instagram seeks to give a brief overview of often complex political changes. One post explaining the ever changing coronavirus guidelines in an easy-to-read graphic racked up to 26,000 likes thanks to the ease of sharing on the platform. But the simplification of politics
in regulations. Spiller said: “The government documents on the regulations aren’t actually laid out that badly – it’s just people didn’t know they were there because there has been such bad messaging. People just wanted to know what was going on – they didn’t need scaring.” With the UK reopening, people spending less time on their phones, and (hopefully) a less chaotic political landscape, what does the future of Simple Politics hold? “When there are no restrictions and Simple Politics is posting what’s going on in the House of Commons, tweaks to policy, bill changes – how many people will stay with Simple Politics is a big question mark,” said Spiller. The Simple Politics team are expecting big losses, but the charismatic founder vowed they would “keep doing what they’re doing and roll with it”. 🆇
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Salty or sweet? Four film critics tell Jake Helm how they swapped the silver screen for the flat screen
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inemas – remember them? The rooms with the large, high-definition screens, comfy red chairs, perfectly placed surround sound speakers and the smell of fresh popcorn? The pandemic has
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left cinephiles confined to beds and sofas to watch the latest blockbuster, causing attendance at British cinemas to fall from 176m admissions in 2019 to 44m last year. Film critics have also been stuck at home and forced to transform their living rooms
into multiplexes. Four of the UK’s leading film critics reveal to XCity the home cinema set-up that’s got them through lockdown and what they miss about the silver screen.
ctor ini-proje in. anything ack. I do have a m o d to m roo hile b only one ndent ghrey. show a w risse Lou ritic, The Indepe dio flat, so there is ad won off a TV la C : e m C Na my d ll stu Chief Film a Finlux very sma ed. Job title? hoice? I live in a my TV, which is films in b y c ays watch herbal tea. lw a Room of or device? Usuall I so bed, n up of Televisio use when I can. at in my flat is my And probably a c to se s. y le to tr b ? ri a I lf o t rt yse sD tha mfo tos, alway ices. I talk to m e only co Seat? Th s or drinks? Dori be weird to admit f my poor life cho o k it c e a v ld n ti s u a o y ic d An In r? W . Film is be a sofa. a set-up. r shushe your own n o o Talker o our home cinem t sound and may he Apartment. d b to T y en olating jo Describe ema set-up? Dec y or Billy Wilder’s Birds of Prey. be ’s a very is It ? o ? in ic B c ould not ic m i’s e m m pand Drea pande . There sh a Waitit is e e ik v th th a si g T h lu ? g in c r u Go-to film has got you thro film criticism du on. pen and in that it’s o t ati What film e you learnt abou hen it’s a convers ? All I hope for is w v ke What ha s most interesting criticism look li heard. it be t lm e a fi s ic f y o eir v alwa ture o es the fu eserves to have th o d t a h d W s on who limitation
Name: James Dyer Job title? Editor-in-chief (digital) at Empire. Room of choice? The front room as it’s quite literally the only TV in the house. Television or device? A 65” Philips Ambilight TV with 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos sound sys take this stuff seriously). tem (what can I say? I Viewing buddy? I watch alo ne when possible. I don’t like Seat? A supernaturally com distractions. fortable Multiyork (may the y rest in peace) sofa that I’ve still going strong. had for 20 years. It’s Sweet or salty popcorn? Sweet – I’m not a psychopat h. Any other snacks or drinks ? Yes, all of them. And gin ger beer. Talker or shusher? Never talk. Anyone who does is ban ished immediately. Describe your home cinem a set-up. Immersive – I nee d to feel like I’m in the mo Dream cinema set-up? A vie. ten-storey IMAX screen wo uld be nice, if a little imprac Cinematic guilty pleasure? tical. Nuns on the Run. What film has got you thr ough the pandemic? No one movie in particular, but I did every Marvel movie during the first lockdown. dive into a rewatch of What have you learnt abo ut film criticism during thi s pandemic? That being sep feels like losing a limb. arated from the cinema What does the future of film criticism look like? Smalle streaming. I certainly respect r release windows between theatrical and giving people the option to watch films where they cho streaming at home is more ose to and for many, affordable and more practic al than heading to the cinem need to be seen theatrically. a — but some films really
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Name: Ja n Job title? e Crowther. E Room of ditor-in-chief, To tal Film choice? In the blinds m closed an y garden shed/offi d the pho to be distr ce. With n a Televisio cted when watchin e off. I don’t want n g Nolan wo or device? MacBo a film if possible. uld not b ok Pro. C e hristophe Viewing impressed r bu . with the T ddy? No one. I m o is the foyer tal Film team so w s seeing a film aft e can disse Seat? Sofa erwards. ct it in Snacks? always. A you’re ask nice glass of red w in ine. Pinot Talker or g. noir if shusher? Describe A b so lutely y lacking w our home cinema no talking ever. hen I read se home cin about Ge t-up. Somewhat em orge Cloo ney’s Dream c a situation. in Dolby surr ema set-up? Red ve o room, loc und sound, proje lvet cinema seats, ctor, soun kable doo dproof r. Go-to film Dancing. ? If I have to say ju st one, it’s Genre? C Dirty o Cinemati uldn’t possibly cho c guilty p ose only o leasure? What film ne. H Any of Lu has got you throu ard Target. ca Guada g gnino’s film h the pandemic? when you c What ha an’t go anywhere. s. It’s like travelling ve during th you learnt abou t fi is pretty we pandemic? That lm criticism ll fi buzz and remotely, but it’s n lm festivals work o substitu shared co mmunity te real thing experienc for the . e of the What do es like? Hop the future of film efully mo re diverse criticism look and egalita rian.
Illustrations: Charlotte Rawlings
Name: Ali Plumb. Job title? BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra’s film critic, interviewer guy and in-house nerd. Only the first part of that is what’s on my contract, I confess. Room of choice? My lounge, because that’s where the TV is. Television or device? TV – a Samsung. Viewing buddy? Should she be interested, my wife. Just the two of us in our little flat. But only in the evenings, because of that pesky ‘work’ malarky. Seat? A sofa. Any comfy sofa. Sweet or salty popcorn? I like a mix of both to be honest, but as ever it’s hard to eat quietly. Talker or shusher? At home, we’ll pause and talk, at cinemas, not so much. Describe your home cinema set-up. I wouldn’t describe it as a “home cinema set-up” at all. It’s a TV on a stand in front of a sofa in a lounge. I don’t really have the space to dream any bigger than that. Dream cinema set-up? I wish I had an actual cinema – in the basement of a lovely multi-million pound town house. Sofa seating, proper projection booth, the works. If you’ve ever watched The Sopranos, something like Tony’s. Go-to film? Recently I’ve been recommending reliable, newer stuff. The Peanut Butter Falcon is my most tried and true winner on that front. Genre? I like ‘talky’ films, so I’m a sucker for a courtroom drama. Cinematic guilty pleasure? Is loving The Rock something to feel guilty about? What film has got you through the pandemic? TV has been more of a help, rewatching favourites and sharing old boxsets with my better half. What have you learnt about film criticism during this pandemic? Comfort is king. What does the future of film criticism look like? YouTube reviews - and all video reviews, essentially - will become top dog for a good while, numbers-wise. But there will still be space for all formats, for all tastes, be it a spoiler-filled written critical analysis in a broadsheet or a series of witty one-liners dashed out on Twitter.
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GB News: A new dawn for British broadcasting?
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n early February, #DontFundGBNews was trending on Twitter. The hashtag was part of an advertising boycott launched against a mysterious new broadcasting project chaired by ex-BBC frontman, Andrew Neil. Although the launch date of GB News is still unknown, the media channel has been the subject of much controversy. Some commentators fear it is an attempt to undermine the BBC, others see it as the British version of America’s Fox News. But those working for GB News promise that it will bring something different to the current market by giving a voice to all corners of the UK. In contrast to the BBC’s bulletin-led, rolling news network, GB News plans to air 6,500 hours of presenter-led debates per year. Its USP? “Anti-woke” programming. Laid out in a Sunday Express article by Andrew Neil in February, GB News will challenge the national conversation that the former Sunday Times editor argues “has become too metropolitan, too southern and too middle-class”. Neil will be hosting his own nightly show, containing “Wokewatch” and “Mediawatch” segments. In March 2021, XCity spoke to some of the faces behind the new channel and its objectors to gain an exclusive insight into what GB News might mean for the future of the UK media landscape. With £60m of financial backing led by US media group Discovery, Inc., that also funds the Discovery Channel, the first mutters about GB News were heard in autumn last year. Months later, a social
media campaign called Stop Funding Hate launched the advertising boycott. Stop Funding Hate was created in response to a surge of anti-migrant frontpage newspaper stories published in the runup to the 2016 Brexit referendum. Richard Wilson, co-founder, previously worked for Amnesty International before taking on the campaign full time. Wilson worries that introducing a debate-led, “Fox News-style” television channel will fuel greater polarisation in UK politics. “One thing that was really clear from when we launched our Twitter action was that thousands of people were concerned about this,” Wilson says. The campaign was picked up in the advertising trade press and looks to publicise GB News’ first advertisers when it airs, to raise awareness of brands supporting the channel. “We work by engaging with advertisers to challenge problematic media in a way that doesn’t require the state to do things,” Wilson says. “I thought it was preposterous,” says John McAndrew, director of news and programmes at GB News, speaking about the advertising boycott. McAndrew was previously a top executive at Sky News and
“We’re the new kids on the block, we’re the underdogs”
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Image: TV: Jazella via Pixabay, Logo: GB News
Will Andrew Neil’s new anti-woke TV channel be the UK’s answer to Fox News? Chiara Wilkinson finds out
has also worked for the BBC, ITN, and NBC. “If we live in a world where people are threatening to cancel you without having seen a frame of output, they’re making the case for us. They’re making the case that our home for free, fair, nondivisive journalism and debate is needed.” McAndrew says that GB News will be “arguably the biggest thing that’s come along since Sky News launched in 1989”. “We’re the new kids on the block, we’re the underdogs,” he says. “There seems to be a lot of excitement and discussion about what this channel is going to be.” In January, GB News launched a recruitment drive for 120 journalists, aiming to build a network of daily frontline video contributors across all regions of the country. Among the staff announced are ex-executive editor of The Sun, Dan Wootton; Sky News presenter, Colin Brazier; and 24-year-old political commentator, Inaya Folarin Iman, who stood as a candidate for the Brexit Party in Leeds North East in 2019. The same month, Martin Fletcher,
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Image: Simon Frederick, Unsplash
than a fortnight after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Esther Kezia Thorpe, freelance media analyst and podcaster at Media Voices, shares Fletcher’s concerns. Thorpe worries that the arrival of GB News could edge the UK towards ending up “like the US, with incredibly polarised political channels vying for outrage and attention”. “We’ve seen firsthand the enormous damage channels like Fox News have inflicted on political discourse, and it’s not difficult to see the UK going down the same path,” she says. McAndrew doesn’t deny the similarities between Fox and GB News. “There’s been a lot of comparisons with American networks as to what we’re doing,” he says. “Which I sort of get, because they have multi-headed programmes where guests are invited in for free and fair discussions. What I think American networks generally do very well is that they have a confidence about them.” But Fletcher worries that GB News’ debate-style programmes will emulate the extreme viewpoints aired on Fox to further politically divide the UK. “All the pressure is going to be on these stations to disseminate opinion rather than facts, to entertain rather than to inform,” he says. “What these new stations may do is take wokery and use it as their weapon for generating outrage among older people.
“Anti-woke is not a banner anyone should be launching media under” former associate editor and foreign editor at The Times, wrote an article for the New Statesman calling on the public to resist the “Foxification of the British media”. Suggesting a link between the rise of Fox News and far-right Trump supporters, Fletcher expressed concerns about the arrival of GB News and another new broadcasting project – Murdoch’s News UK TV, which has since been scrapped for not being financially viable. Fletcher’s article was published less
People who, by and large, have more time to watch television.” Peter Houston, freelance media journalist and fellow podcaster at Media Voices, was also disappointed by GB News’ ‘anti-woke’ branding. “Anti-woke is not a banner anyone should be launching any media under,” he says. “It’s meaningless, populist nonsense engineered to attract and inflame a demographic that believes we are fighting some form of culture war.” When asked how GB News plans to engage a younger demographic, McAndrew emphasised that the platform will be a news discussion and opinion channel for the “whole of the country”. “What we’re trying to challenge here is any kind of groupthink,” he says. “Some of the most interesting discussions I’ve had with people have been people who have worked in local journalism. They’re embedded in their communities, and they get that disconnect between the London metropolitan elite and whatever their friends, their mums, or their uncles are talking about.” GB News’ narrative of disconnect captures something of the zeitgeist: on 18 March, the BBC announced a historic move to relocate key jobs and programmes from London to Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Glasgow and Salford, in an attempt to bring the channel “closer to its audiences”. Fletcher doesn’t buy GB News’ grassroots branding. “Andrew Neil is a creature of London,” he says. “And now he’s coming along and presenting himself as some sort of outsider.” Fletcher is convinced that the “shoutiness” of GB News is part of a ploy to undermine the BBC – winning over viewers by airing news that is more entertaining. “The danger is that the BBC comes to → Image: © BBC, Use courtesy of the BBC Photo Archive
Image: Broadcast
Andrew Neil: Ex-BBC frontman will be hosting a “Wokewatch” programme on GB News
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“The danger is that the BBC comes to be seen as bland, boring, balanced output”
Image: Rebecca Hutson
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down BBC News and more about if GB News can actually establish itself at all.” Thorpe and Houston were more sceptical about the future media landscape. “Our general feeling is that the arrival of GB News will damage debate full stop, not just the BBC,” says Thorpe. “Not because it’s more entertaining, but because it will try to feed the perception that the BBC doesn’t reflect ‘real’ Britons.” Meanwhile, McAndrew explains GB News’ debatestyle programmes will “give people the space and time to make their point”. “They will be an area away from the conventional news coverage where debate can happen,” says McAndrew. According to The i in April, comedian Andrew Doyle will host a weekly show on GB News called “Free Speech Nation” with a variety of guests, and Simon McCoy, current presenter of Afternoon Live, will leave the BBC to bring a rival show to the new channel. “It’s no bad thing to want to entertain – and Ofcom is empowering what we do,” says McAndrew. Whittock explains that if GB News pushes an openly right-wing news agenda, it will fall on the regulator Ofcom to keep it in check. “Ofcom has a lot of challenges at the moment,” he says. “There is a lot of debate around how well it is fulfilling its remit and how well it is regulating the market. If any news channel does start pushing a radical news agenda, the big challenge for Ofcom will be what it does about it.” Ofcom has levers that it can pull – such as rescinding broadcasting licences or fining the channel - depending on the offence. But online news is not thoroughly regulated, so if GB News focuses on breaking stories online, it could in theory follow a more rightwing news agenda. “It’s then up to Ofcom to decide how that is impacting the content on the channel,” says Whittock. “All of this stuff will be answered when the channel goes live.” McAndrew, however, assures me Head of digital: Rebecca Hutson is building GB News’ social media empire that GB News will be be seen as bland, boring, balanced output,” Fletcher says. “It can’t compete in ratings with strident and shrill commentators from the left or the right, stirring things up. So in that sense, there is a real danger that [these new channels] will undermine the BBC and the BBC won’t be able to respond.” He outlines a 2004 blueprint released by a shortlived Eurosceptic think tank called The New Frontiers Foundation. Run by Dominic Cummings at the time, the blog called for the end of the BBC in “its current form” to advance the Conservative Party agenda. “It was so prescient, it sort of foretold what was going to happen,” he says. While many details about the new channel remain a mystery, Jesse Whittock, insight editor of Broadcast Magazine, was able to provide some perspective on the current UK broadcasting market. “For the established news channels, another competitor is obviously a concern,” Whittock says. “But it’s an open market and there is no cap on the number of new channels you can have.” He is confident that the BBC - along with Sky News, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 - will be able to retain their consistent ratings. According to Whittock, GB News’ estimated £25m annual operating budget is relatively small for a news channel. “People run news operations at different degrees and varying budgets, but it’s really hard to create a full new channel at any sort of significant level.” Whittock explains it will be vital for GB News to find a loyal audience for attracting advertisers. “It’s very hard to demand the sorts of money you need from advertisers to run a really well-resourced news channel,” he says. “A big challenge - and where I think it’s going to really struggle is actually finding an audience in the first place. The way the industry is looking at it is less about whether it is going to shut
The ‘Foxification’ of UK media? GB News has been compared to Fox News in America
fair and impartial. “We believe in having all sides of the argument represented,” he says. “We’ll have social media guidelines for our staff, and I want GB News social media activity to take place on GB News social media platforms.” Part of the channel’s populist strategy is a strong social media voice. Rebecca Hutson, GB News’ head of digital, is masterminding the channel’s “massive digital operation”. I speak to her in March, the same day that Piers Morgan announced that he was leaving ITV’s Good Morning Britain after comments he made about Meghan Markle. When I ask Hutson if she could confirm any of the rumours that Morgan might be joining GB News, she laughs off an answer: “He would be very expensive.” Hutson explains that she aims to carry through the channel’s personalityled programming to GB News’ digital operations. “Across all the different touch points that we can, whether it’s emails, social media, virtual or real life events, we will be fostering debate,” she says. “I think that is a real opportunity because sometimes news can make you feel like you’re told the figures or told the story. Then you’re at home, shouting at your boyfriend about Piers Morgan or whatever, but there’s nowhere for that opinion to go. Whereas we’re very interested to hear you shouting – and then using that for story generation.” As Fletcher and the hundreds of people tweeting #DontFundGBNews continue to theorise, speculate and shout about what the new channel might mean for the future of UK media, GB News remains relatively silent. On 8 April, they launched an official website and invited people to register online. On 28 April, it broadcast a test signal on channel 236 of Freeview and YouView TV services. “Shaking things up is good,” McAndrew says. “My sense is a real desire for something like this and we think that will build its longevity. This is just the start.” 🆇
“We’re very interested to hear you shouting and then using that for story generation”
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How Bellingcat is reinventing investigative journalism Cameron Henderson talks to Eliot Higgins about being monstered by Putin and producing “Netflix-style” documentaries
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Image: Eliot Higgins
n December 2020, Vladimir Putin gave his annual press conference from his residence at Novo-Ogaryovo on the outskirts of Moscow. He used his speech to forcibly deny Bellingcat’s claims of Kremlin involvement in the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and dismissed the investigative organisation as a front for foreign intelligence agencies. Nearly three thousand miles away, Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins was watching the Russian leader’s
“It wasn’t like I started blogging thinking I’m going to be journalist” address from his sofa in the East Midlands town of Leicester. This was not the first time that Higgins and his team of online sleuths had become a thorn in Putin’s side. In 2018, they revealed the names of the Salisbury poisoners who attempted to assassinate the defector Sergei Skripal using the lethal nerve agent, Novichok. In 2014, they identified the Russian vehicle that shot down Malaysian airline flight MH17 over Ukraine. Bellingcat is transforming the field of investigative journalism through ‘open source’ investigation – searching online for images and video footage – and ‘geolocation’ – using satellite imagery to verify the location of these sources. In February this year, Higgins released his Eliot Higgins: The online sleuth plotting his next scoop
book, We Are Bellingcat, which outlines the organisation’s investigative methods. “It’s really no more difficult than if you were going on holiday and needed to figure out where your hotel was,” says Higgins matter-of-factly. Although Bellingcat is renowned for its investigations into Russia, Higgins’ pioneering use of open source reporting began in late 2010 when he started posting links to footage from Libya on The Guardian’s Middle East Live Blog under the pseudonym, Brown Moses. Working in administration for a refugee charity at the time, Higgins had no formal training in journalism or military intelligence. But using nothing more sophisticated than an Asus laptop, he spent his days poring through hundreds of online videos so that he could upload the latest information. “It wasn’t like I started blogging thinking I’m going to be a journalist,” he says. “I thought, ‘this is probably less annoying to my wife than
“If it’s coming from social media, we can’t use it” playing computer games.’” An introverted child with a lifelong enthusiasm for technology, Higgins describes himself as an “early digital native” and explains how this gave him an understanding of the information that was available online if one could only connect with the right people. As for his interest in international affairs, he speculates it stems from having his→
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Image: Hector Lewis, hec123@rocketmail.com
five or six people built a timeline of the missile launcher’s movements in the lead up to the tragedy. Based on the positions of shadows in images of the Buk posted on social media, the team estimated the time at which the photos were taken and used satellite imagery to work out where the missile had been fired from. After discovering distinctive markings along the side of the Buk, they were then able to identify images of the missile launcher posted on social media in the weeks preceding the launch and plotted its journey across Russia, originating from the 53rd Air Defence Brigade base outside Kursk. Although Higgins insists that all it takes to get started with open source investigation is the ability to do a Google search and look at satellite imagery, Bellingcat’s awareness of how to plug into diverse online communities is what gives it an edge over conventional publications. “They don’t have a clue about this stuff because they spent 20 years of their lives being serious people, whereas I spent 20 years Military killers: Screenshot from Anatomy of a Killing, the BBC Africa Eye investigation that exposed the posting memes on internet identities of Cameroonian soldiers who executed four civilians forums,” he says. teenage years bookended by the Gulf War and the invasion of Iraq. During the Arab Spring, Higgins became frustrated by the media’s coverage of conflict zones. He felt it was ignoring valuable information from online sources. “They had this default position: ‘If it’s coming from social media, we can’t use it,’” he says. “I’d figured out if you use satellite imagery you can geolocate [images and
Image: BBC Africa Eye
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video footage].” One of his early major successes with geolocation came in late 2014. On 17 July, three days after Bellingcat was launched, Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was brought down over Ukraine, killing 298 people. In the aftermath, a number of images and videos began to circulate online claiming to show a Russian Buk missile launcher. By compiling this information, Higgins and a core team of
XCITY / Features He points to the WikiFeet community – an online community for people with foot fetishes. They were able to prove within minutes that a photo supposedly depicting US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s feet in the bath was, in fact, a fake. “They’ll recognise anyone’s feet,” he chuckles. The goal of Bellingcat is to expand the field of open source investigation. For Higgins, this means both teaching people the core investigative skills as well as building the Bellingcat network. Training workshops for journalists and the public make up about a third of its income and successfully migrated online when the pandemic struck. Run as a foundation, Bellingcat receives grants from a number of organisations including the National Endowment for Democracy. Through them and the Open Information Partnership, Bellingcat is building networks in parts of the world that could benefit from open source investigation but cannot afford the organisation’s prices, such as Kyrgyzstan. A far cry from the business models of most publications, Bellingcat tests the limits of what constitutes journalism. “Primarily we’re an investigative organisation,” says Higgins, referring to its process of ‘identify, verify, amplify’. The first two of these
involve open sourcing and geolocation. The third, however, can be a whole range of things, from journalism to NGO activism or reports for court cases. “We have more of an advocacy element to what we’re doing than most media outlets,” he says. Over the next year, Higgins plans to expand into different regions and diversify the topics Bellingcat covers. Having received several awards for its podcast
“I was just some guy off the internet telling people about Syrian chemical weapons” series on the MH17 investigation and having collaborated on BBC Africa Eye’s Royal Television Society award-winning documentary, Anatomy of a Killing, Bellingcat plans to launch a production company in May to make “Netflix-style” documentaries. The first of these will be about the “Wagnergate” case in Ukraine – a failed Ukrainian intelligence operation in which 33 suspected Russian mercenaries from the “Wagner” private military
company were lured to Belarus in July last year. Higgins hopes the documentaries will expose Bellingcat’s work to a wider audience. He is also keen to teach school children the basics of open source investigation. “It can be very empowering knowing that you can be part of the discourse from a young age,” he says. Engaging with open source investigation has certainly given Higgins a sense of identity. “Gripped with anxiety” as a child, he speaks candidly about the sense of trepidation he felt when Google flew him to a New York conference in 2013 to talk about his methods. “I was just some guy off the internet who was now telling people about Syrian chemical weapons,” he says. “I’m still not a fan of doing public speaking,” he admits. “But because I love my work so much, I had to keep on doing it.” Despite winning multiple awards and, earlier this year, becoming a Sunday Times best-selling author for We Are Bellingcat, an occasional nervous giggle lets slip that a part of Higgins remains the introverted child who “spent far too much time on the internet”. But as the digital age continues to reshape journalism, both in terms of where stories are found and the skills needed to write them, introversion may well be his greatest asset. 🆇
Three alternative media publications that buck the traditional news cycle
Air Mail
The Pudding
Tortoise Media
Curated Newsletter
Data Visualisation
Slow News
Air Mail is a weekly international magazine whose packaging evokes the golden age of print, but which arrives as an email newsletter. Co-editor Alessandra Stanley, the former chief TV critic for The New York Times, explains that subscribers are paying for the combined expertise of her and Graydon Carter, the founder of Air Mail and former editor of Vanity Fair. While the majority of Air Mail’s 1.5 million monthly page views come from readers based in the US, its international audience is growing with subscribers in England, France and Italy. Stanley suggests the £10 monthly newsletter, founded in 2019, will appeal to a slightly older audience “who travel”, “have some money” and “want to read about beautiful villas”.
The Pudding produces online ‘visual essays’ comprising original data sets, ‘scrollytelling’ and interactivity in order to analyse culture and communicate insight. Founded in 2017, the site went viral in late 2020 for an AI bot it trained to roast readers’ Spotify listening habits. Without ads or a subscription wall, The Pudding is able to remain profitable through Patreon, a paid membership service which provides access to exclusive content, and its sister organisation, Polygraph, a visualisation agency that takes on projects for hire. This relationship enables The Pudding to operate with editorial independence. Rather than worrying about which projects get the most clicks, senior ‘journalistengineer’ Ilia Blinderman explains The Pudding’s goal is to produce stories that are “cool, fun and interesting”.
Tortoise specialises in ‘slow news’. Senior editor Ceri Thomas explains that the news industry is often geared towards “shorttermism and a feeling of clickbait”, whereas Tortoise aims to deepen understanding on a smaller number of stories. The online publication also aims to bridge the ‘power gap’ between editors and readers by hosting open editorial meetings called ‘ThinkIns’. Thomas describes these as “the engine of our journalism”. By enabling its 80,000 subscribers to sign up to editorial meetings, Tortoise proposes that for £10 a month, members can influence the content it produces. The team has been able to reinforce its principle of editorial openness by hosting ThinkIns remotely during the pandemic. “Suddenly we’ve got people from Kenya and Hong Kong joining in,” says Thomas.
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A new model for music journalism Following a year of crowdfunding and industry shifts, Ed Cunningham looks at how independent music publications are changing the game
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Image: emines24. Wikimedia Commons
popular music. It provides news, features, reviews, interviews and regular columns, attracting five million monthly visitors. It is also independent, after founder and editor-in-chief Scott Lapatine bought
Image: Paul Hudson, Flickr
“At least we’re fully responsible if it all goes bust”
Image: digboston, Flickr
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ven before the pandemic, the 2020s promised dire times for music journalism – especially for an older generation of writers and publications. Q Magazine’s circulation dropped from over 200,000 in 2001 to just under 30,000 in June 2020. Indie site Drowned in Sound went on hiatus in 2018, survived only by its beloved online community message-boards and archives. NME, after a decade of dwindling sales and influence, made its print edition free in 2015 and went totally online in 2018. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the decline of traditional music journalism. Stripped of advertising for gigs and festivals and facing huge distribution issues, Q published its final issue last July, while Mixmag and Kerrang! both paused physical production completely. But the pandemic has also accelerated something else – a restructuring of the industry towards new models of income and engagement. Stereogum and Loud & Quiet were among those that turned to crowdfunding to keep themselves afloat during COVID-19. Both publications previously earned all their revenue from advertising – a model proven unsustainable when advertisers pulled out at the start of the pandemic. Contributors to Stereogum’s compilation (clockwise from top): Sharon Van Etten, Moses Sumney, Car Seat Headrest Following crowdfunding campaigns, they attempted to restructure their business models towards more sustainable sources of income. Stereogum is an online music publication that specialises in all kinds of
XCITY / Features Skinny, similarly looked to back the site from Billboard Media crowdfunding to make up early last year. for less advertising due to the “We became independent pandemic. At L&Q, however, a couple of weeks before the Stubbs is keenly aware of lockdown began, so it was tricky the temporary nature of timing,” Lapatine explains, speaking crowdfunding support. from his house in Connecticut, “One thing COVID did is it US. “Now we’re fully in charge of made a lot of people rally behind our own destiny, at least we’re fully things in a positive but abstract responsible if it all goes bust.” way,” he says. “I just hope But Stereogum hasn’t gone bust. people remember that things In the search for funds to keep them you like need to be supported. (and their freelancers) working as Everything shouldn’t be free.” usual, Stereogum’s five-person team At Stereogum, Lapatine have learned to become fundraisers, echoes the need for structural advertising salespeople and merch change. “We would love to get vendors, as well as experts at to a place where we don’t care SEO, social media, graphics and too much about the state of multimedia. Indeed, Stereogum advertising,” he says. Despite not only survived the pandemic its five million monthly visitors but laid the groundwork for how remaining constant (as they have independent music journalism can for much of the past five years), re-fashion itself for the new decade. Stereogum currently earns Last June, the site embarked Subscription drive: Loud and Quiet since last year’s fundraiser, around half of what it usually on a fundraising campaign with including anniversary zine. would through advertising. crowdfunding site Indiegogo, An ongoing redesign is enabling offering T-shirts, private Zoom Lapatine to re-angle his business model last April, L&Q founder Stuart Stubbs parties, and influence over site content. away from advertising as a primary revenue launched a paid subscription campaign to The fundraiser’s main incentive offered stream. “I don’t think anyone expects entice readers into financially supporting supporters an exclusive compilation release advertising to get better,” he says. “Basically the magazine in the long term. Reducing called Save Stereogum: An ‘00s Covers every publication now is attempting to the number of issues per year from eight Comp, featuring dozens of covers by some bring in some sort of user revenue. to six (albeit increasing their length from of the biggest names in contemporary “We’re aiming to roll out a membership 60 pages to 80), he bundled bookmarks, indie. platform over the next couple of months. curated playlists and commemorative zines “What crowdfunding really enabled us It will be some combination of exclusive into a £50 yearly subscription package. to do is buy us time to turn the business content, newsletters, bells and whistles with During the first lockdown, L&Q’s into something sustainable,” Lapatine says. user profiles.” circulation dropped to 20,000, with most As a result of the fundraiser, Lapatine has Plenty of publications are finding a more of those being sent out with mail-in orders been able to keep his small team employed, reliable source of income through Substack from record shops. Stubbs set a target of upkeep his network of freelancers, and – a newsletter distribution platform 1000 subscribers – £50,000 being enough follow-through with a redesign of the site. that delivers content directly to paying to fund the magazine for a year – and that Promoted across the industry, by the subscribers’ email inboxes (though many target was reached in August. end of August Stereogum raised $370,000 newsletters are free) and offers writers A year on from its subscription drive, (£265,000) of an initial target of $250,000 simple curation and easy monetisation. Stubbs points out that the pandemic forced (£179,000). The crowdfunding campaign Music-focussed newsletters such as the him to realise that L&Q’s old business was a remarkable show of solidarity experimental-leaning Tone Glow, hip-hopmodel was unsustainable. from indie artists, music journalism and oriented Cabbages and rock critic Robert “COVID has done us a favour, really,” Stereogum’s readers. The number of backers Christgau’s Xgau Sez have all thrived on he explains. “It took us so long because eventually totalled just over 11,000. the platform; while L&Q uses it to host we were afraid of being seen as this failing ‘Midnight Chats’, a podcast interview series. thing – not really knowing that everyone was in the same boat.” Even post-pandemic, When the old editorial team of Q launched The New Cue newsletter on Substack in when gigs and music shops reopen, L&Q February this year, it seemed like a decisive plans to push subscriptions as its main moment for a shifting industry. revenue stream. “Our goal is to get enough But changes to music journalism subscribers so that we don’t have to be extend beyond simply a change in format. dependent on advertising,” Stubbs says. “Whether you have a paid newsletter or Jordan Bassett, commissioning editor otherwise, I think we’re beyond the days of NME, was unaware of the crowdfunding where you could get a job just purely campaigns of Stereogum and L&Q. Even writing. There’s so much more to it,” so, he notes a wider trend of consumers reIn the UK, London-based Loud and Lapatine says. “The lines are so blurred valuing things they enjoy. “At the moment Quiet also launched a crowdfunding when it comes to job responsibilities – that’s there is a sort of altruistic feeling in the campaign during the pandemic. An sort of the way it is now. air – people want to support, buy merch, independent music magazine with a focus “I’ve had to learn so much over the past buy peoples records,” he says. “The real test on young, emerging British artists, L&Q year,” he says, with a chuckle. While music will be if people continue to do that post was given away free before the pandemic at journalism’s old guard falters, sites like pandemic.” gigs and in music shops, with a circulation Stereogum – smaller, independent, more Making the most of that altruism, of 32,000. All of its income came from adaptable and with a dedicated readership plenty of other music and arts publications, advertising. – could be the bedrock of a new era. 🆇 including the likes of Crack and The When those advertisers dropped out
“Things you like need to be supported. Everything shouldn’t be free”
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XCITY / Features Image: Camilo Jimenez for Unsplash
The fight against social media abuse Eloise Feilden asks victims of trolling what can be done to stop online harassment against journalists
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leanor Halls had her first runin with online trolls as a staff writer for British GQ in 2017. Following an article in which she compared the musical stylings of rising star Cardi B to female rap mogul Nicki Minaj, Halls became the target of a Twitter rampage. Fans of Minaj made calls to her editor attempting to get her fired, threatening to reveal her address and put the lives of her family at risk. Halls pictures these fan bases as a “faceless mob”, whose passion outweighs reason or decency. “There is this mob complex, where because everyone else is doing it you lose all sense of responsibility and accountability,” she says. “I don’t think they even realise the impact that they’re having, because 2 million other people are saying the same things and toeing the same lines,” Halls explains. “Little do they know receiving a death threat in your inbox is terrifying, and is not lessened just because you’re getting tons of them.” Now associate culture editor and music editor at The Telegraph, Halls
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believes that the industry’s transition towards digital journalism has increased the threat of abuse faced by music journalists. Halls compares early supporters of The Beatles with today’s very different fan culture. She explains: “With Beatle-mania it was actual people going to gigs who would
“Receiving a death threat in your inbox is terrifying” never have the nerve to say these things to a person’s face. “Now you can hide behind a Twitter avatar and say all these things that make you feel powerful for 10 minutes.” Levels of online abuse targeting journalists have risen significantly in recent years. In 2020, 80 per cent of regional journalists reported that their experiences of abuse had worsened significantly since
their careers began, according to research by Newsquest Oxfordshire. Abuse ranged from accusations of fake news, personal remarks about appearance and racist comments. The vast majority – 84 per cent – said not enough was being done to tackle this harassment. While social media platforms have become essential for the dissemination of news, the media’s increased reliance on them creates a space in which readers can respond, prompting a free market for abuse and harassment to take place. A National Union of Journalists (NUJ) safety report published in November 2020 found that 51 per cent of journalists experienced online abuse in the past year. Distrust and dislike for the media remains rife less than a decade after the Leveson Inquiry, as journalists are continually attacked for carrying out their jobs. John Cross, chief football writer at The Mirror, believes not enough has been done to tackle online abuse. He recalls one instance of trolling in which personal and family details were referenced, leading Cross and his employers to involve the police. “The police came round and took a report, but I felt nothing was done. I didn’t feel that they were particularly interested, and never heard a word more about it.” Despite this incident, Cross views his presence on Twitter as an “increasingly
XCITY / Features have realised that climate change really is a Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general genuine global threat whatever they might secretary, describes reported incidents have thought, and a lot of them have gone of online harassment as “the tip of the quiet,” he says. iceberg” and fears that “harassment and Online abuse and harassment may have abuse has become normalised”. decreased for some, but its overall rise According to another NUJ official, continues to endanger press freedom. the national survey from November The government action plan for the was designed to alert the government safety of journalists is set to begin by taking to a longstanding and increasing issue, stock of the scale of current abuse, with the encouraging them to “take seriously Home Office issuing a call for evidence of what was happening to our members and threats and attacks, both on and offline. the chilling effect this level of abuse was While recording the level of harassment having on the freedom of the press”. and abuse will provide While Johnson’s an understanding words, and the steps of the scale of the outlined in the action problem, at its core is a plan, suggest a desire concern for recognising to protect and uphold and respecting good the rights of British journalism. journalists, this pledge Denied the freedom has been undermined to explore topical and by the actions of controversial issues for government ministers. fear of backlash, journalists fail as a public Arj Singh, HuffPost’s deputy political watchdog. Distrust and disengagement editor, received a public dressing down with mainstream media underpins the from Leader of the House Jacob Reesrising level of online abuse, threatening not Mogg in March after writing a story based only journalists lives but the value of the on leaked recordings of foreign secretary press as a whole. Dominic Raab. Described by Rees-Mogg For Halls, social media harassment’s as “either a knave or a fool”, Singh was greatest threat is to quality journalism. chastised for his “poor-quality online “Some people won’t review certain albums journalism”. because they know if they give an honest Singh describes Rees-Mogg’s critique review the fan bases will make it hell for as a “baseless attack” on HuffPost’s them,” she says. “Everyone’s got the same reporting. What followed, however, was somewhat unexpected. “I was actually very opinion online now because everyone is terrified to deviate from the accepted line.” surprised to see that there was barely any This comes as no surprise to Halls. She online backlash,” says Singh. “The vast, explains: “To be vast majority of comments I received on treated like Twitter, for example, were supportive and that online positive.” and have One of the five key objectives set out your byline in the government’s national action plan weaponised aims to improve public recognition of the against you, value of the press. Singh’s experience sits it’s enough in stark contrast with these promises made to put you on 9 March, as government officials like off writing Rees-Mogg continue to bring journalists for life.” 🆇 into disrepute. For some, conversing with the public has become an essential part of the job. Roger Harrabin, environment and energy analyst at the BBC, views social media as a necessary platform to critique news broadcasters. He says: “I believe that the BBC is a publicly funded body and therefore we are accountable to our audience for what we write. It is absolutely legitimate for people to contact us on Twitter to complain about what we write, or to thank us, or to criticise us, or to say that we’ve made mistakes.” Reporting about climate change means Harrabin has experienced his fair share of abuse from climate sceptics. Unlike the majority of his colleagues, however, Harrabin’s attacks have tempered in recent years. He believes that his trolls are aware that they have “lost the battle” on environmental issues. “Climate sceptics Eleanor Halls, associate culture editor at The Telegraph
“Journalists are becoming more unpopular than estate agents”
Image: Paul Grover
important” element of his role. “I’m definitely being encouraged to be on it,” he says, “there’s no getting away from that.” This increased reliance on social media is coupled with the rise in online harassment. With a lack of support from public bodies, journalists and media organisations are left to deal with the consequences. Describing journalists as an “unpopular breed”, Cross views the public’s dislike of the media as a problem which is getting worse. “It’s becoming the most unpopular industry, even ahead of estate agents,” Cross adds. In response to this rising level of online abuse, the UK government launched an action plan for the safety of journalists on 9 March. Together with media organisations including the NUJ, the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ), the Society of Editors and the News Media Association, the government’s department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and the Home Office aim to tackle the growing dangers faced by the UK press. “Freedom of speech and a free press are at the very core of our democracy, and journalists must be able to go about their work without being threatened.” These were the words of Boris Johnson as he introduced the government action plan, which details five key areas that need to be addressed to better protect the media.
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Facebook groups, webinars, and online mentoring have made freelance life a little easier over lockdown, reveals Chloé Meley
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n March 2020, Laura Oliver, a London-based freelance editor and writer for publications like The Guardian and The Times, reached out to fellow freelancers on Twitter to share her worries about the impact the pandemic was going to have on their work. A few writers responded and hopped on a Zoom call for an hour. “There was solace in having that conversation,” Oliver recalls. “We realised we wanted to carry on chatting, to check in again.” That is how the Society of Freelance Journalists was born, one of the many initiatives that have sprung up over the past year to offer support and advice to freelancers. From Facebook groups, to online masterclasses, to podcasts, freelance journalists have found new ways to rally together while stuck at home. With her three co-founders, Oliver wanted to create a space “to support one another during these very strange times”. There was a demand for it, as membership rapidly grew to 1,300 freelancers. Through a free-to-access Slack channel, members voice their concerns, vent their frustrations, and share tips on managing the “feast or famine” nature of freelancing. Money is a recurring topic of discussion. In February 2021, journalism.co.uk surveyed 20 UK freelancers and found that 60 per cent of them had struggled to pay the bills during the pandemic – mainly due to cancelled projects and smaller commissioning budgets resulting in less commissions. A handful had even considered quitting freelancing altogether. To deal with this dire financial situation, the Society of Freelance Journalists’ members share practical information on negotiating rates, dealing with late payments, and finding other avenues to subsidise their income.
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Freelancers worried about money also turned to podcasts. Lily Canter is a journalism lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, a freelance journalist for publications like The Telegraph and Metro, and the co-founder of educational project Freelancing for Journalists. She launched her podcast series with co-host Emma Wilkinson in March 2020 – tackling topics like fighting for fair pay, home-schooling during lockdown as a freelancer, and supplementary income. “From the podcast, everything snowballed,” she recalls. Soon afterwards, Canter and Wilkinson were asked by journalism.co.uk to run a training course
experience interns with established journalists who have a spare bedroom in order to make those internships accessible to those who cannot afford a flat in the capital. During the first lockdown, as internships were either cancelled or moved online, PressPad turned into PressPad Remote, a programme of free masterclasses, Zoom mentoring sessions, Q&As with industry professionals, and one-to-one pitch and CV clinics. “There should be no impediment to people picking up new skills and networking, and we very much want to enable that,” explains founder Olivia Crellin. The rise in online events has made
“It’s important that we don’t forget the insights we’ve gained during lockdown” on freelancing, aimed both at freelance journalists struggling to adapt and newcomers who had just lost their staff jobs. In Spring 2020, they also created Freelancing for Journalists’ Facebook group, which currently has 3,500 members. Camila de la Parra is one of those members, as well as a regular podcast listener. She started freelancing in August 2020, and is now part of several online groups for freelancers. “I started from nowhere, so it’s been very helpful to have these resources,” she says. “They helped me steer my career in the right direction.” While new projects like Canter’s and Oliver’s gained traction, organisations that predate the pandemic also had to adjust their services. PressPad is a social enterprise designed to alleviate the burden of undertaking unpaid work experience in London. It pairs up prospective work
information about freelancing much more accessible, a positive effect of the pandemic for Crellin. “It’s important that we don’t forget some of the insights that we’ve gained during lockdown. We shouldn’t be slipping back into our old ways,” she says. Although networking is now much easier, freelancing is still tough. Being your “own IT department, finance department, and admin department”, in the words of Oliver, often means that the boundaries between work and life are blurred, even more so when you can’t leave your home. Online groups, mentoring events and webinars cannot solve all of the hurdles of freelance life under lockdown. But by providing opportunities for freelance journalists to seek advice and connect with each other, these initiatives are helping the industry’s lone wolves come together at the time they need it most. 🆇
Image: Paola Ascanio
Freelancers unite
XCITY / Features
Trading places: careers beyond the newsroom Fancy a career change? Shauna Lewis, Charlotte Colombo, and Isabelle Gray show that journalists can find fulfilment elsewhere
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Publishing
f you search “careers for English Literature students” on Google, publishing and journalism roles are often at the top of the list. While both industries share a love of words and storytelling, book publishing is like journalism in slow motion; the dopamine hit of getting a story out takes years, not hours. So, what is it that attracts some journalists to make the sidestep into publishing? Joel Rickett, managing director of Ebury Publishing, Penguin Random House’s non-fiction division, says he had been “torn, in that classic English Literature student way, between publishing and journalism”. After enjoying his work experience placement at The Bookseller during his Periodical Journalism master’s at City in 1999, he was offered a job as a junior reporter and left without formally graduating. During his time at The Bookseller, he freelanced for The Guardian, The Times, and the BBC. “Journalism teaches you to be like a chameleon,” Rickett says. “I had to wrap myself into different forms to get the best out of my interviewees and I think that really helped with giving me a range and the ability to publish across different kinds of subjects later on.” After developing his niche in culture and arts journalism, Rickett wondered, “What’s next for me?” Having looked at nationals, there were no publishing reporter roles and he did not want to return to news reporting. In 2008 he was approached by Penguin and joined as editorial director of its Viking division. There, he published Jennifer Saunders’ My Life in Laughs and also launched Portfolio Penguin in 2010. The latter is now a leading business book imprint in the UK and USA, and has published titles such as Sophia Amoruso’s #GIRLBOSS. Since then, Rickett says that his roles within publishing have been invigorating
and the work ultimately more rewarding. “The books that I’ve published, they may have sold 10,000 copies compared to an article I wrote which got 100,000 views,” he says. “But, those 10,000 people were paying £20 each whereas the 100,000 who viewed the article didn’t pay and may not have read it.” Undoubtedly though, journaliststurned-publishers often miss their former storyteller role. Kelly Ellis, publishing director at HarperNonFiction, says: “Writing is my first love and I really miss it. I’d never miss an opportunity to go back to the writing. I have a slight fear that I might have lost it.”
restructuring pieces to make them flow more smoothly. Though Ellis admits that editing is often crammed in around daily admin. “On a typical day I’ll have a few meetings which range from the acquisitions meeting – where we talk about new projects – and a separate editorial meeting for more informal idea generating. We have to do some editing and sometimes it can be a battle to set enough time aside for that because the manuscripts come in quite regularly.” Would Ellis trade her job back to journalism ? The answer, for now, is no – and she has plenty of encouragement for journalists looking to make the move. “As an editor with a journalistic background you can be very selfstarting in your projects, books and acquisitions,” Ellis says. “You don’t have to rely on literary agents presenting you with a project. It gives you an edge. You’ve got an eye to identify a good story and the skills, ways and means of tracking those stories down and getting in touch with people.” →
“Journalism teaches you to be like a chameleon”
Image: Instagram @l.ttle.joys and Icon: Yoteyo from the Noun Project
Graduating from City in 2005 with an MA in Magazine Journalism, Ellis caught the “tail end” of the golden age of women’s magazines, writing for that’s life! and Love It! Ellis says: “I think I went down the journalism route because that was something that seemed more accessible in a weird way.” It was the diminishing popularity of women’s magazines which motivated Ellis to transition into publishing, and in 2010 she joined Ebury Publishing as a commissioning editor. From publishing Katie Piper’s memoir Beautiful to Patrick Hutchinson’s Everyone Versus Racism, Ellis says she has found a sense of freedom within her publishing role at HarperNonFiction. “I was previously writing for one reader of a certain demographic [at that’s life! and Love It!]. In my job now, I can do all kinds of books for all kinds of readers: age, gender, race.” Many of us see the role of a book editor as a dreamy one: reading through pages of thought-provoking writing every day, adding insightful comments, and
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ith digital advertising expenditure hitting £15.6 billion in the UK at the end of 2020, it looks like the ‘digital marketing age’ everyone has been talking about has well and truly arrived. The explosion in online marketing has meant the demand for copywriters – especially those specialising in web copy and search engine optimisation – has never been higher. According to the commercial writers’ association ProCopywriters, the reported average annual income for full-time in-house copywriters saw an 11.5 per cent increase from £43,092 in 2019 to £48,043 in 2020. While copywriting has become an increasingly lucrative career path, it is arguable that journalism’s earning potential has stagnated. According to a survey by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) in 2018, the annual salary for journalists has remained at £27,500 since 2012. For Ella Jackson, former social media executive and Class Book Reviews commissioning editor at The Times Educational Supplement, her salary as a journalist was a significant factor in her switching to full-time freelance copywriting. “Journalism is a gruelling and underappreciated industry,” she says. “I loved my job for a long time, but the long hours, low pay, and militant work style began to be too much.” Now, as a freelance copywriter, Jackson noted that as well as higher earnings, she also has more flexibility: “Copywriting has let me fall back in love with writing – I get to play, take risks, be creative, and all to my own schedule.” In terms of earning potential, freelance copywriting once again trumps freelance
Image: Mahendra Kumar via Unsplash
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Image: neonbrand via Unsplash
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Copywriting
journalism. While the average day rate of a freelance copywriter is £379, freelance journalists can expect a day rate ranging from £150 to £170. The average rate for ad-hoc commissions, according to the National Union of Journalists, is around £90.
“Copywriting has let me fall back in love with writing” This is why, for freelance journalists like Rachael Davies, who writes for Metro, Euronews and National Geographic, copywriting is the perfect side hustle. “Copywriting is more stable because you can secure ongoing contracts and work more easily,” she explains. “It’s rare, at least in my experience, that a journalistic publication is going to commission a certain amount of articles every month for a set amount of time reliably, especially for a young freelancer, whereas a copywriting client will.” When Davies first started freelancing, copywriting amounted to an estimated 90 per cent of her overall income. Now it’s 50 per cent of her
income. “As I was learning how to pitch and establishing myself as a journalist, copywriting gave me income security so I could focus on working on my ideas and building relationships,” she says. Davies earns £0.50-£1 per word through her copywriting work. By contrast, she estimates that she makes approximately £0.20-25 per word for journalistic pieces. This is why, even after becoming more established in the industry, Davies continues to pursue copywriting alongside her primary career as a freelance journalist. Many people don’t realise that to get started in copywriting, you don’t need any tailored qualifications or training. Research in 2019 by ProCopywriters shows that only 46 per cent of copywriters have completed copywriting specific training, such as online courses or degrees. Many of the skills of a good copywriter are the same ones that make you a good journalist: writing, research, an eye for detail and, most fundamentally, the ability to tell a good story. For Alice Murray, a senior content specialist at Clickthrough Marketing, the skills she learned as a journalism student at Staffordshire University are “invaluable” in her current career as an in-house copywriter. “The interpersonal skills and confidence I developed as a journalism student have definitely contributed to my career progression,” Murray says. If you want to refine your skillset and pursue your passion for writing outside of the journalism sphere, copywriting might be the career for you. 🆇
XCITY / Features
Q&A with Jem Collins
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ourno Resources is a website filled with free tools for journalists, including industry advice, a list of freelancer rates, and a jobs board that features 30-50 new roles a week. XCity sits down with Jem Collins, founder of the platform, to chat about job hunting, alternative journalism careers and how much you should charge for freelance gigs.
jobs board actually didn’t come until a little while later, mainly because I had no idea how to build one. It became increasingly clear that a jobs board was what people wanted, and I also didn’t think that the other jobs boards had high enough standards on things like salary transparency.
It’s amazing that a site made to help the job-hunting experience easier has now become a job for you in itself. How How did you approach job hunting before do you turn over revenue to make this launching Journo Resources? possible? My ethos for job hunting has always been Yeah, it’s wild isn’t it? Who’d have to try and stand out. When I applied for thought that it could be a job when I a video role at Politics.co.uk they only made a website in my bedroom. Though wanted a CV and cover letter, but I also put together a short pieceith to digital cameraadvertisingI would stress it isn’t currently my full time billion job, as much as I would really love explaining why I was the expenditure best person hitting £15.6 be. In for the job, overlaid with some myat the end it in theof UK ofto 2020, it the last year we turned over which I think is incredible previous videos. Anotherlooks time, like I gotthe an‘digital £19,000, marketing considering interview at Time Out by making my has been age’ everyone talking that it started from nothing. That comes from a few buckets – we sell CV look like has the well magazine, down to the about and truly arrived. adverts and have deals with other job millimetre.One My consequence flatmate was of really the baffled explosion injob online websites as to why I was measuring magazine marketing is that thethe demand for copywriters – where we get paid for referrals, getsearch donations from members, and we with a especially ruler. That’s always my one piece of copywe those specialising in web and get annual sponsorships. At the moment advice engine – whatoptimisation small thing can younever do tobeen higher. – has there’s me, a staff writer for two days a stand out? You don’t have to go overboard, According to the commercial writers’ association week and various freelancers. but youProCopywriters, need somethingthe to reported make people average annual remember you.for full-time in-house copywriters saw income an 11.5 per cent increase from Did this time looking work inspire £43,092 in 2019for to £48,043 in you to 2020. start Journo Resources? The motivation starting Journo Whilefor copywriting has Resources in 2016 was just the complete become increasingly lucrative as absence at the time kind of that advice a career path,ofit any is arguable on howjournalism’s to break into the industry. earning potential has This has become astagnated. lot betterAccording in the somewhat What are the attractive aspects of past few butcarried at the time there to years, a survey out by the was National Council journalism roles like nowhere listed all graduate(NCTJ) inalternative forwhich the Training ofthe Journalists 2018, copywriting and SEO? How can schemes one place, forfor example, or was theinannual salary journalists has remained at journalists sell themselves to these roles? putting£27,500 together practical since 2012. advice. The All these roles are about finding a better way to tell a story. Whether you’re writing marketing copy or even a product description, you’re using those fundamental skills to get someone engaged with the top line and sell them the story of that product or brand. You develop a critical eye for it, and it means you have a range of experience that allows you to tell a story in many different formats. If you’ve ever worked as a journalist, it’s actually the outlets you’ve
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“All these roles are about finding a better way to tell a story”
Journo Resources in numbers: 📱 Fifty per cent of jobs advertised are journalismadjacent, e.g. SEO and social media 🖱 These positions posted on Journo Resources have a click-through rate of 15-25 per cent, with the standard rating being about 25-30 per cent 📑 Overall, the site has about 60,000 visitors a month, alongside its weekly newsletter that has over 10,000 subscribers already worked for that can hold a lot of weight. Saying “I did some tweets for the local paper” comes with brand recognition and you can lean on that to show you have an “established in”. I’d always say to come with some examples of your writing when applying for jobs. This doesn’t need to be direct examples of copywriting for SEO, but more so having concrete examples that show you’re a good storyteller.
Image: Jem Collins
What rates of pay should people expect in content-based roles like copywriting or SEO? Generally, you’d expect rates in copywriting and writing for SEO or social media to be better than you’d get in journalism. So I think you’d be looking at about £25-30 an hour for your time. That translates to a minimum day rate of about £200 to £250. How can Journo Resources help people interested in these roles? We always try to list a real mix of opportunities on our jobs board, where we include journalism-adjacent ads because the skills are very transferrable. We also recently launched a webinar series “Side Hustlers’” with talks from journalists who also do copywriting or video editing on the side. This allows those who are interested to get information from people actually in these roles currently, which can be really helpful. 🆇
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Where are they now? From war reporters and international editors to magazine columnists and lifestyle writers, we bring you 69 alumni profiles
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XCITY / Listings
By Chloé Meley
By Anna Barry
What skills did you learn at City that have been most useful to you throughout your career? When I started at City, we were still using typewriters. Can you believe that? One of the exercises we had was simulating the way an old-fashioned newsroom works, with pieces of information that arrived over teleprinters rather than on screens. Having to create a story out of large amounts of what seemed to be disparate facts, which were distributed in physical form around your desk, was a very good skill to learn. It was a much more complex business building up a narrative back then, and it taught us to think about news as little building blocks that need to be constantly reassembled.
What is the most difficult piece of work you have ever had to do? I was working at BBC Radio 1 and was called up at 2am after Princess Diana’s car crash. It was challenging having to set the right tone for the audience when the whole nation was in shock. I was in the office in the early hours and took over the network to break the news. At times of crisis it’s very important that the BBC gets it right. It’s so easy to put a foot wrong.
🔎 Spotlight / Fake news What do you think are the best tools at a journalist’s disposal to tackle fake news? Honestly, the truth is the best tool. I think the most important technique is actually being face to face with somebody, trying to find out what’s happening on the ground rather than relying on what is being said on Twitter. You have to be extremely sceptical and extremely nosy.
🔎 Spotlight / Technology How has technology, from the last 10 to 15 years, changed the face of journalism? Beyond recognition. At City, when I was reporting, the first thing I had to do was find a phone box. Now, of course, that is such an alien thing. But what’s more interesting is what’s coming next. There is research to suggest that children’s brains have been wired completely differently to your generation’s. Everything you currently know is going to be out of date, and that’s exciting. Technology has democratised journalism and allowed for so many voices. It’s never been easier for talented people to get their voices heard.
Emily Buchanan 🎤 Radio 1982 Presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme By Shauna Lewis
Image: Jeff Overs, BBC
Where do you think the industry is going next? How do you see journalism growing and adapting? People are concentrating on scraping data and reassembling data, instead of faceto-face reportage. It’s connected to cost. I was very fortunate to be able to work at a time in Fleet Street when cost was not a problem. I’ve hired a jet in the past to get to a story, and I’ve arranged helicopters. This is not happening anymore, and the danger is that it produces dull, reprocessed stories. It’s important to reinvent the idea of up-close, personal journalism.
Who is your dream interviewee? I’d like to talk to Chris Whitty, to get behind the façade he presents at press conferences. He needs to keep his cards close to his chest because of the nature of the work he does, but it would be a great interview for someone one day. History will judge the last 12 months, and I would like to ask him what our biggest mistake was. It will be interesting to find out what really happened.
1970 - 1980
If you weren’t a journalist, what do you think you would be doing? I have an insatiable curiosity, so I’d do something that satisfies my desire and ability to get to the bottom of a puzzle. It could be a policeman, maybe an archaeologist.
Image: City, University of London
Richard Evans 📜 Diploma 1981 Senior lecturer at City and former BBC journalist
Image: Nick Fielding
Nick Fielding 📜 Diploma 1979 Freelance investigative journalist
What skills did you learn at City that have been most useful to you throughout your career? Phoning people up is one of the hardest things to do when you start out. It’s like how do I phone someone up? How do I just start asking questions? But to pick up the phone and talk to people is still the best way of making a connection. At City, I was able to get through all the mistakes and mishaps of interviewing. It was such a valuable experience. What is something you wish someone would have told you about the industry when you started out in journalism? I got my previous job at the BBC World Service because I actually listened to the output before I went and talked to them. Whenever you are going for a job just make sure you’re really interested in the output of the place you go to. Don’t just talk about yourself, talk about what they do. Also, you must have ideas. Everybody is looking for ideas, so they have to feel like you have ideas you will want to put into the role. Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? A programme called The Disposables which was about the violence against the underclass in Colombia. ‘Underclass’ is a horrible word, but it focused on social cleansing. I was proud to bring about awareness of that and it was a really tough assignment; six weeks spent under the bridges and in the sewers of Colombia.
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By Simone Fraser What got you into journalism in the first place? I started writing for the student paper purely because I was still very into music and it was a good way to go to gigs for free. Then I discovered you can eat food for free by doing restaurant reviews. It was completely self-serving.
1980 - 1990
What is the most interesting element of your job? The bit I love is going abroad and covering some of the big stories around the world and meeting people in extraordinary circumstances. I see my journalism as a kind of campaigning, and it all has a human rights element to it: whether that’s writing about disability, or refugees, or immigration, or medical safety issues. It’s a combination of trying to push things that I believe in, but also getting to learn about the world.
🔎 Spotlight / Cancel Culture How do you think cancel culture has affected journalism? I find it really interesting to watch what’s happening, particularly in American newspapers, where there is a clear generational divide between an older guard who believes very strongly in free speech, and a younger generation who just see certain things as unacceptable. I’m always very sympathetic to people who are trying to fight racism, bigotry on gender, or sexuality or disability or whatever. But equally, I’m a liberal, and I’ve come from an age where I believe very strongly that people should be able to say anything. So, I’m observing rather than intervening, but watching it with great interest.
Richard Klein 📝 Periodical 1985 Head of Documentaries at Plimsoll Productions By Cara Laskaris
Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? I find it hard to pinpoint one thing in itself, but I am really pleased with the way that BBC Four was when I was in charge. I’m very proud that we created a place where people came and didn’t know what they were going to get, but they knew tonally it would fit with what they were interested in. One of my mantras there was: “I’m not going to tell you the whole truth, I’m going to tell you a truth.” The whole truth is a dictionary or an encyclopaedia. But a truth is your considered, intelligent, clever, witty take or prism onto that. You can have several of those in your head about the same subject. I love that idea. It’s a perspective. So I’m very proud that we really nailed that on BBC Four. What’s one piece of advice that someone gave you when you were starting out that has really stuck with you? I often say to people who are looking to start now: don’t be too fixated about what it is you think you want to do, just follow things and pivot around. I had never heard of commissioning when someone called me and said: “There’s a job going, are you interested?” I got it and discovered that what I was really good at was helping other people. I’m a facilitator, an editor and a curator rather than a maker in my own right. The key is that you’re doing what you like doing. That’s what you’ll be good at.
🔎 Spotlight / Cancel Culture How do you think cancel culture has affected journalism? I wonder whether sometimes these expressions are just new terms for things that happened before. People were always trying to shut other people up. It’s not as though people don’t think things, they just don’t say them. You’re often better having a conversation and agreeing to disagree than harbouring thoughts you can’t say and then getting antsy about it. You also potentially get a rather divisive line between two sets of journalists. All journalism inevitably comes with a political position, but the attempt to at least strive towards some kind of impartiality and allowing other views is surely our job. If you can’t, because you feel threatened by attempts to shut down the conversation before it starts, I don’t think that can be very healthy.
By Victoria Miller What got you into journalism in the first place? I had no family background in journalism, but I discovered it when I went to university. I studied English at Bristol and it was during a freshers’ fair that I discovered student journalism and started writing for Bacus, Bristol University’s student paper at the time. Within weeks of writing for them, I realised that I wanted nothing more than to be a journalist. What was the last piece of journalism you read that you loved? I see outstanding journalism every day so it is hard to pick but, earlier this year, The Times had a long feature about the rise and fall of the rugby player Danny Cipriani by Matt Dickinson. It was beautifully written, revelatory, and compelling. Even if
you aren’t a rugby fan, it was an outstanding piece of journalism. Image: News UK
Tony Gallagher 📰 Newspaper 1986 Deputy editor at The Times
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Image: Richard Klein
Image: Ian Birrel
Ian Birrell 📰 Newspaper 1985 Contributing editor at The Mail on Sunday
What one piece of advice would you give to young journalists? I would say two things. Firstly, do not be afraid of rejection. When I started my career, I wrote to every single morning and evening paper in the country; I was willing to work anywhere so long as I could work on a newspaper. I received a lot of rejections and eventually found work writing for Southampton’s Southern Evening Echo. Not everyone walks into a graduate trainee scheme but that doesn’t matter. What matters is the determination to get that first opening. Secondly, never be afraid of asking the stupid questions because the seemingly stupid or innocent question can often elicit the most revealing response.
XCITY / Listings
By Kay Leong What got you into journalism in the first place? It was never, in my case, a burning desire to write. At school there was a student college newspaper and it just seemed to be a really fun and interesting way to ask people questions about what they were doing in a very simple form. It’s an excuse for me to explore issues and to pursue my curiosities.
In terms of the most difficult for me and my welfare – as in, the hairiest – was the time I got quite badly beaten up by an East Timorese militia, narrowly followed by an episode when my vehicle was surrounded and attacked by a mob of Iraqi Sunnis as I covered the 2003 invasion from Iraq. We later found two bullet-holes next to the petrol tank; in the melee, we hadn’t heard the shots being fired.
What got you into journalism in the first place? I grew up in Doncaster in a working class family; my mum was a cleaner, my dad worked for the national coal board, and I’d never met a journalist. But I was good at English and read a lot from a very early age. I went through a career advisory guide, and it said that if you are good at English, you could be a journalist. That just stuck in my mind. After studying English at Sussex, I applied to City and got in.
What is the most difficult piece of work you have ever had to write? When Greece was about to crash out of the EU in 2015, I was sent to Athens to interview Yanis Varoufakis, the finance minister at the time. I’m not a financial expert; I find economic stories quite difficult, so I had to do an awful lot of reading around the subject. What was good about it was that I had to explain a lot of concepts to laypeople like me who are not financial experts. For journalists, it’s important to be able to take complicated sets of information and turn them into something people can understand. What one piece of advice would you give to journalists just starting out? Read everything – don’t just read things you agree with. Don’t close your mind because your ideas in one area are often inspired by something you’ve read elsewhere. And read at least one national newspaper in some form every day. If you don’t, you’re in the wrong job.
🔎 Spotlight / Cancel Culture How do you think cancel culture has affected journalism? I think that it has made people self-censor and made people quite cowardly. On matters like the gender debate, which is very toxic, it’s only people who are established in their careers that are able to express what are, in Twitter terms, controversial views. I think young journalists should be brave and say what they think. There’s no point wandering around being a journalist and telling the accepted truth. Find your own truth.
Image: Sarah Womack
What was the most difficult piece of work you’ve ever had to write? Covering the horrors faced by the Rohingya under the hands of the Burmese army in the Rakhine State was difficult. It is in those places of great suffering, where in order to convey the story you really do need the voices of people on the ground. And people have the absolute right not to trust you. There are no simple set of rules; you have to use your instincts to know what’s appropriate.
By Cameron Henderson
1980 - 1990
What is the most interesting element of the job? Until February last year, I would’ve said it was jumping on a plane to cover stories in countries and corners of the world that many people would dream of going to on holiday, or even going to war zones. But of course that has changed. Still, it’s the sheer variety of what I’m covering, and talking to the array of contacts that I’ve made. One day I can be covering the WHO investigation in Wuhan, and another day, the coup in Myanmar.
Janice Turner 📰 Newspaper 1987 Columnist and interviewer at The Times
Image: Janice Turner
Philip Sherwell 📰 Newspaper 1987 Asia Correspondent at The Sunday Times
Sarah Womack 📝 Periodical 1987 Group head of external relations at the Priory Group By Cameron Henderson
What’s one piece of advice that someone gave you when you were starting out that has really stuck with you? Tony Bevins, former political editor of The Independent, once told me in terms of story-getting: “There’s lots of ripe fruit hanging out there, you just need to shake the tree.” He was spot on. What skills did you learn at City that have been most useful to you throughout your career? One day we were sent out to find a news story and told to come back and write it up for a 4pm deadline. It taught you self-discipline, curiosity, pressure, being competitive, how to get on with complete strangers – everything really. All skills that are useful to this day.
Image: Amanda Mustard
What is the most difficult piece of work you have ever had to write? I covered the Victoria Climbié inquiry. She was a child who died at the hands of her great-aunt and her boyfriend. It was incredibly distressing. The inquiry produced 108 recommendations to overhaul child protection. How have you used your journalism skills in the field of PR? Understanding how the media works is invaluable, as are media contacts. This includes knowing what makes a story, as well as the importance of timing in news and the intro. When it comes to issue management, it’s helpful to know instinctively where the journalist is headed, and to constantly remind yourself who the reader is. News organisations have a very strong understanding of their audience.
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Image: John Devlin
Alastair Dalton 📰 Newspaper 1988 Transport Correspondent and columnist for The Scotsman By Shauna Lewis
1980 - 1990
What skills did you learn at City that have been most useful to you throughout your career? Shorthand. It has a real advantage, particularly when you have to turn something around quickly, because you can instantly look back and grab quotes. Until recently, I didn’t tape or record anything. What’s one piece of advice that someone gave you when you were starting out that has really stuck with you? I’m still learning this, but check everything. Never assume anything. It is so easy to think you know something, write it, and then find out you’re wrong. Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? I’m pleased with our coverage of the Queensferry Crossing, a new bridge near Edinburgh. We’ve broken various stories on it, such as traffic levels and ice causing cables to fall and damage vehicles, which then led to the bridge’s closure. It was good to have that story first because there have been a succession of closures since, which nobody had expected.
By Anna Barry What’s one piece of advice that someone gave you when you were starting out that has really stuck with you? Never pitch a story without having the first three paragraphs in your head. This was the advice of Paul Vallely, news editor at The Sunday Correspondent when I first did national shifts. What is something you wish someone would have told you about the industry when you started out in journalism? It’s your job to look after the paper and stick to its established ways. They work. It’s not the paper’s job to look after you. Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? The Mail on Sunday: “Heath Accuser is ‘A Satanic Sex Fantasist’” and “A Satanic Injustice – the Heath Dossier”. These two articles formed part of an exposé of Carl Beech, who made claims about a VIP sex abuse ring, wrecking lives and denigrating the dead – including the late Edward Heath – before being imprisoned for 18 years.
Image: Vikki Eccles
What got you into journalism in the first place? No one in my family is a journalist, but I remember my parents getting the paper and I always read that avidly. I then got involved in the school newspaper and later the Edinburgh University paper The Student. For me, it was something about always wanting to break the news to people.
Nicholas Pyke 📝 Periodical 1988 Deputy Features Editor at The Mail on Sunday
🔎 Spotlight / Trust in the media How do you think that the Hacking Scandal and Leveson Inquiry has changed the landscape of journalism in the UK in the last 10 years? The Leveson Inquiry has persuaded people that newspapers are a filthy conspiracy. This is frustrating because papers work to high standards in difficult circumstances. There are lots of well-meaning people who think a Fleet Street paper should be a printed version of the BBC, or something like it. All very earnest, all subject to a test of public interest – determined by judges living in agreeable houses in Hampstead Garden Suburb or the Cotswolds. Who’s going to spend hard-earned cash on that?
By Rhiannon Jenkins What got you into journalism in the first place? I won an award in The Guardian when I was a student at Bristol for a magazine we set up called Wayzgoose. I was going to train to be a barrister, but I switched to do an MA in Journalism at City – the best thing I ever did. I think I would’ve been a terrible barrister! What I love about journalism is that you can do so many different things. You can go to so many places and you can do so many different jobs, which you could never do as a barrister.
Image: Chris McAndrew
Alice Thomson 📰 Newspaper 1990 Columnist at The Times
What’s one piece of advice that someone gave you when you were starting out that has really stuck with you? Katharine Whitehorn, who was one of the first woman columnists, said to me: “Don’t ever say no to anything when you’re starting out.” What is the most interesting element of your job? The interviews are fascinating. Whatever happens in the world, you often get to meet the most fascinating people involved in the story. With COVID-19, we’ve interviewed all the scientists in Germany, the US and Britain about the vaccine. You feel incredibly privileged to meet those sorts of people. What is the most difficult piece of work you have ever had to write? My mother’s obituary. And when I was in Bosnia during the war, I found interviewing rape victims difficult.
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By Elizabeth Gregory
Image: John Arlidge
John Arlidge 📰 Newspaper 1991 Senior writer at The Sunday Times (London) and Condé Nast (New York)
By Simone Fraser
What’s one piece of advice that someone gave you when you were starting out that has really stuck with you? “Nobody reads the second paragraph, so punch them in the face in the first.” Kelvin MacKenzie shouted that at me when I started out, working news shifts on The Sun before going to City.
What got you into journalism in the first place? When I was about 16 and living in Northern Ireland, I took exception to a match report about my football team in one of the Sunday newspapers because it was awful and quite patronising. I was so incensed that I wrote a sarcastic letter to the Sports Editor pointing out what I felt was wrong with it. I was mortified when they printed the letter in the next Sunday newspaper. People in school thought it was hilarious though, and then my ego was like, “Oh, I like this.”
Who would you have at your dream industry dinner party? Walter Burns and Hildy Johnson, because anybody who has seen His Girl Friday knows that they are the best journalists. I love their tenacity. They never let go. The film is a fantastic romp and if you don’t want to be a journalist by the end of it, then there’s something wrong with you. What is the last piece of journalism that you read that you really loved? A piece in The Atlantic on the Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 by William Langewiesche. It is a gripping, detailed account of a compelling mystery, with some great on-the-ground reporting. It’s insanely good. Well written and with a great headline. You know you’re going to want to read something called “Good Night. Malaysian Three-Seven-Zero”.
What’s one piece of advice that someone gave you when you were starting out that has really stuck with you? It’s about being endlessly tenacious, keeping going, constantly being interested, and never assuming something is dull; because once you absorb yourself in it, it never is. Curiosity will stand you in very good stead.
Image: Francesco Guidicini
By Eloise Feilden
What skills did you learn at City that have been most useful to you throughout your career? You were expected to go out and find stories, which felt intensive in a way that an English degree wasn’t. It had a different rhythm to it, so it was a good half-way house between an arts degree and the world of work. City gave me an incredibly good grounding for the industry. I felt very well-prepared when I went out into the world.
🔎 Spotlight / Technology How has technology and the way that news is now consumed affected the way journalism is made? I believe wholeheartedly in the power of the story. My career is in proper old-fashioned features journalism, and there is nothing like absorbing yourself in a really good long form piece of journalism and coming out the other side slightly changed or better informed. I don’t think that is ever going to die, it just comes out in different ways. Great stories will come out, and there will be a way to tell them, whatever the medium.
Who is your dream interviewee? I’d have to say Muhammad Ali. You always hear the stories from the 1970s and 80s, when he was at his prime with the Rumble in the Jungle and some of those fights. You’d speak to some of the boxing editors, there’d be four or five of them sitting around in his hotel or by the pool and it would just be him regaling them with little songs, how the fight was going to go, just some great comments.
Image: Pete Oliver
What is something you wish someone would have told you about the industry when you started out in journalism? I graduated into a recession and I felt I just had to get a job. I wish that someone had said to me you can do anything. It’s such an amazing career in that way that it can take you to so many different places; don’t feel like you’re just on a train track in one direction, because that’s not how it needs to be.
Where do you think the industry is going next? How do you see journalism adapting? You have to be able to write quickly to a deadline, but also be very comfortable putting stuff online. A lot of sporting figures also choose to speak directly through social media, so you have to stay on top of that.
1990 - 2000
What is the most exciting piece of work you have ever written? It was a 2009 piece called “The Golden Smile” about Goldman Sachs. It was nearly two years after the global financial crisis and Lloyd Blankfein, then chief executive, half joked to me that bankers do “God’s work”. Those two words went around the world in a heartbeat. Graydon Carter, then editor of Vanity Fair, even wrote two editor’s letters about “God’s work”. It was just two words of a 10,200 word long piece, but they continue to follow Goldman Sachs and Lloyd Blankfein around.
Harriet Green 📝 Periodical 1992 Editor at The Observer magazine
David Anderson 📰 Newspaper 1992 Football and Boxing Correspondent at The Daily Mirror
🔎 Spotlight / Technology How has technology, from the last 10 to 15 years, changed the face of journalism? It is multifaceted now. You can’t just write for print – you have to do the whole range. Newspaper sales are declining month by month, so we have to boost our online presence.
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What got you into journalism in the first place? My first job in the media was a paper delivery route. Before delivering them each morning I used to read the newspapers – all of them. They opened up a world beyond the place I lived and inspired me.
1990 - 2000
What is something you wish you knew when you first started out? When you are looking for a particular career path, don’t panic - it will all work out if you want it to. In the beginning, it’s okay to choose the thing that feels right but isn’t necessarily your destination. Whether you want to be a storyteller or an editor, it’s important to build a solid foundation in the core responisibilities of journalism. We need to understand what our audience wants, how to craft stories, and how to deliver them. Who would you have at your dream industry dinner party? George Orwell is a huge hero of mine. I would be interested in knowing what Orwell makes of the world of podcasts and social media. To represent modern-day journalism, I would invite Emily Maitlis, Newsnight presenter and host of BBC’s Americast, and my former colleague. Also, Esther Webber, who uses Twitter as well as any journalist.
🔎 Spotlight / Technology How has technology, from the last 10 to 15 years, changed the face of journalism? The one thing that has changed the journalism world drastically is the smartphone. It has changed the way information is gathered, consumed, and therefore the way it’s told. I was issued my first mobile phone in 1997-98, early in my career, so I have seen how fast things have moved since then. Today, with our socials, journalists can gather information from all over the world. Journalists in the field are also able to live stream on their mobiles.
Victoria Harper 📝 Periodical 1993 Features director at The Telegraph By Victoria Miller
Image: Victoria Harper
By Samyama Kolhapuri
Image: Jonathan Paterson
Jonathan Paterson 📝 Periodical 1993 Senior news editor at BBC
Who would you have at your dream industry dinner party? If I had to go back in time, I would love to have a big old drink with Martha Gellhorn. I have read all her books and a lot of her work. She was my guiding light and she had that wonderful spirit for adventure. It wouldn’t be a sit-down dinner, it might be more of a bar crawl! Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? When I was associate editor at Grazia, we launched our “Mind The Pay Gap” campaign and, because of that campaign, every company in the UK with over 150 employees now has to report on their gender pay pack. It was a huge amount of work but the idea that you can galvanise people and get them behind an initiative, and effect change, was really exciting and something of which I am proud.
🔎 Spotlight / Cancel Culture How do you think cancel culture has affected journalism? The fear of being cancelled has made journalists more wary of what they can and can’t say. Cancel culture can create a culture of fear and this fear has, at times, been a barrier to free speech. Journalism is the fourth estate, and we should all defend that and allow others to hold opinions even if they aren’t opinions you agree with or are even offended by. If you shut down such opinions, you are not encouraging debate or discussion which is crucial for a healthy democracy. Within the parameters of the law, we should have a culture rich and mature enough to entertain the reality that there are people who think differently from us and if we don’t entertain that, then the world will be a much blander place.
By Eva Levy What’s one piece of advice that someone gave you when you were starting out that has really stuck with you? Don’t cover general news, cover the subject you have a passion for, even if it’s a niche area. It really holds true. I’ve covered boxing, mixed martial arts, sports and the Paralympic Games for 30 years. It has involved politics, campaigns, a lot of fun stuff, and travel too.
Image: Gareth A. Davies
Gareth A. Davies 📰 Newspaper 1993 Sports writer and broadcaster at Telegraph Sport
What is something you wish someone would have told you about the industry when you started out in journalism? It’s not so much about talent – though talent is very important – as stamina. That applies very much to print journalism. In radio, voice, knowledge and being present and aware of captivating your audience should never leave your mind. On TV, brevity is always your friend. Overall, be different and be persistent, but not pushy. It’s an important distinction. What got you into journalism in the first place? I grew up travelling the world with my parents. But being out in Beijing during the student uprising in Tiananmen Square in 1989 after graduating was an eye-opener. I had been there a year and it was fascinating to witness. I ended up reporting and writing on the events.
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By Jake Helm Who is your dream interviewee? Martin Scorsese. I have interviewed him but not for a while. Actually, he might be the wrong person to talk to – he’s very old fashioned. It’s probably more important to talk to the younger ones; the head of Netflix or something. But Scorsese has seen it all, done it all, and doesn’t give a monkey’s anymore. He would be perfect. What got you into journalism in the first place? I needed something to do. It wasn’t that I didn’t know what I was doing, I wanted to be an actor and I just didn’t know how to do that. To have a course at City that gave you a chance to see if you liked living as a journalist seemed a real boost. Within about three weeks at City, I knew that was what I wanted to do.
By Nicola Blackburn
What is the last piece of journalism that you read or listened to that you really loved? I loved Robert Moore’s dispatch from when the Capitol was being stormed and John Sudworth and the BBC’s work on the Uyghurs. I think John has done wonderful work in methodically exposing the scale of cultural repression. I think Milly [Amelia] Gentleman’s work on the Windrush stuff has been amazing. There is a brilliant podcast called 13 Minutes to the Moon, which is a wonderful example of the long-form work you’re seeing now on podcasts. Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? I’ve been very motivated by the work I’ve done on Brexit. I’ve been a foreign correspondent for 12 years: four in India, four in China, and three and a half in the US. When I was in the US, I reported the culture war there like it was an alien place. Then I came back to cover Brexit and discovered that the UK was in the grip of its own culture war - and still is. What is the most difficult piece of work you have ever had to write? I covered the 2012 Obama re-election. By results day, I had been on the road for weeks and was exhausted. I got a call from my editor saying that he was going to clear the front page for me to write 1,800 words on what Obama’s re-election meant for the US. I was so tired, but there it was the next day, on the front of The Daily Telegraph. I’m used to writing under pressure, but that was tough!
How has technology and the way that news is now consumed affected the way that journalism is made? There have always been echo chambers, but Facebook, Twitter – these platforms accelerate and deepen them. The truth has become a fungible commodity, and it’s increasingly difficult to have a facts-based conversation because all the facts are framed by whether you’re a Leaver or a Remainer, a millennial or a boomer.
Andrew England 📰 Newspaper 1997 Middle east editor at the Financial Times By Elizabeth Gregory
Image: Jason Solomons
🔎 Spotlight / Cancel Culture How do you think cancel culture has affected journalism? Having written a book on Woody Allen, I’m pretty close to cancel culture. I think it’s very anti-journalism. While journalists should see both sides, cancel culture is the clamour from one side or the other. It continues to erode the rich tapestry of life. I worry about being cancelled for liking the wrong film or director for example. It doesn’t allow for nuance, but then again, I might be cancelled for saying that.
1990 - 2000
🔎 Spotlight / Technology
Image: Andrew England
What is the most interesting element of your job? Adjusting for the new tomorrow. I don’t know what it is, what it’s going to be, what films are going to be, or what cinema is going to be. Everything’s changing. Podcasts and radio are changing the industry and the BBC too is in flux. The journalism landscape is being disrupted. I’m always trying to make sure I’m relevant and able to jump onto whichever new media is popular.
Peter Foster 📰 Newspaper 1996 Public policy editor at the Finanical Times
Image: Peter Foster
Jason Solomons 🎤 Radio 1993 Film critic and presenter at Totally Wired Radio, BBC Radio London, BBC News and The New European
Who would you have at your dream industry dinner party? I would bring together a bunch of us who were starting out as foreign correspondents in Nairobi around 1999-2000. Journalists like Declan Walsh now at The New York Times, Paul Harris at The Guardian, James Astill at The Economist, Matthew Green at Reuters, and Adrian Blomfield at The Telegraph. Then I would include someone like Bob Woodward for gravitas. That would be a fun evening. What is the last piece of journalism that you read that you really loved? It was a Financial Times article called “Inside the Brexit deal: the agreement and the aftermath” by George Parker, Peter Foster, Sam Fleming and Jim Brunsden. It’s just a brilliant piece of reported journalism about a huge issue, the consequences of which we will all have to live with.
What is the most exciting piece of work you have ever written? It was after being in Tahrir Square when Mubarak’s resignation was announced. That was the time when I called my mum and said: “Watch the news, this is why I became a journalist.” My colleagues and I knew we were watching something incredibly special. We had been there throughout it; we had seen the highs and the lows of that revolutionary period. So when it was finally announced on a big video screen in Tahrir Square, that explosion of joy and euphoria was incredible to witness. I ran back to my hotel and it was so emotional and powerful that the piece wrote itself.
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By Narzra Ahmed
What got you into journalism in the first place? Actually, my first degree was in Psychology. Somehow, I felt that I needed to have a broader effect. With Psychology, you speak with one person or a group of people. With journalism, it’s mass communication. What I’m doing is having an impact on people’s lives. I wanted to share my knowledge and what information I had been digging out from others.
1990 - 2000
If you weren’t a journalist, what do you think you’d be doing? Either a psychologist or a priest, because my approach is very human. I want to be around people. Who would you have at your dream industry dinner party? Tim Sebastian. I am a big fan. He is a great TV interviewer. He does not settle for anything less than what he thinks is the truth or the facts. Of course, Larry King, but he just died. Oprah Winfrey. From Egypt, I would say Yusuf Idris (he is also dead). He is a short story writer, but he used to be a columnist at the Ahram.
Ben Falk 📝 Periodical 1999 Freelance journalist, content writer, editor and lecturer at City By Carina Murphy
What is the most interesting element of your job? Having the chance to meet people I would never meet ever in everyday life. The bizarre expanse of humanity you get to meet as a journalist is the most fascinating part. What’s one piece of advice that someone gave you when you were starting out that has really stuck with you? Don’t be afraid to stick your hand up. I was working in a job where I went to a morning meeting. I used to sit there quietly, then one day they asked if anyone wanted to interview the cast of Cold Feet, and I just put my hand up. That was my first gig – I started working in entertainment journalism because of that.
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Image: Yahoo!
Who is your dream interviewee? Kermit the Frog or Michael J. Fox. I’m an entertainment journalist, so I’ve done a lot of interviews with very famous people. For a long time, it was Harrison Ford, and then I met Harrison Ford. So now Michael J. Fox is pretty much the only person left from my favourite childhood movies that I haven’t met. And Kermit because he’s a legend, and I’ve never met a Muppet.
Kerry Potter 📝 Periodical 1998 Associate features director at ES Magazine By Kay Leong What’s one piece of advice that someone gave you when you started out that has really stuck with you? At one of my early jobs, someone told me: “Celebrities are not your friends”. With really high profile people, there’s a tendency to suck up to them, but you don’t get the best piece of work when you do so. Obviously, rapport is important, but an interview is not a normal conversation, is it? You get the best things out of people when you’re having a slightly combative conversation when challenging them.
Image: Kerry Potter
What’s one piece of advice that someone gave you when you started out that has really stuck with you? I am an Egyptian journalist, and I was very proud of what I wrote and got upset when the Ahram newspaper sub-editors changed a word here or there. I remember my older colleague telling me: “As long as it is not the Quran, we can change it,” and I learned that there are many ways to express one idea. Somebody else might have a different way of approaching the truth with other wordings and other expressions. It affected me a lot as a journalist, in a positive way. I became more flexible.
Image: Azer Sawiris
Azer Sawiris 🌐 International 2001 Helsinki-based TV correspondent at the Egyptian Radio and TV Union
What is the most difficult piece of work you’ve ever had to write? I once got sent to write about an orgy. It was a female-friendly sex party, where men could only attend if a woman invited them. It was in a country house, hired for the weekend. Everyone had loads of money, and I turned up in my crappy old car. The valet parking had to park my car in the shed to hide it from the other cars like Porsches and Lamborghinis. I’m a bit of a prude, so every time someone spoke to me, the first thing I did was to say that I was a journalist. I was just cringing myself inside out. It was so awkward, but I was equally fascinated. Who was your most memorable interviewee? Madonna. I grew up in the 80s, and Madonna was the most exciting person in the world. I was frightened of interviewing her, and she was terrifying. When she came on the phone, she said, “Oh my god, am I speaking to Harry Potter’s mum?” because of my name. When I listened to the tape back, oh my god, it was so embarrassing. I was laughing so loudly. It’s actually a pretty terrible joke that I’ve heard so many times, but it was Madonna, so I just had to.
🔎 Spotlight / Coronavirus How do you think coronavirus will change the ways newsrooms operate? I think there’ll be an issue in terms of training up younger people because no one’s coming in for work experience or internships. We’ve had a whole year of people not being able to experience what it’s like working in the office. That worries me because learning on the job is so important.
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Dominique Hines 2001 Freelance travel and showbiz reporter By Becca Challis
Image: Dominique Hines
📝 Periodical
What got you into journalism in the first place? I fell into journalism. I’d planned to do creative writing courses, but I became increasingly interested in social justice issues, particularly in disenfranchised communities and ‘the plight’ of Black women. I began pitching to Black publications, including The Voice and Pride.
🔎 Spotlight / Diversity In your view, how will the landscape of journalism change when there are more diverse voices? The landscape of anything changes for the better when everyone is represented and inclusive. But, the honest answer is this: amend your question to ‘if ’ there are more diverse voices because ‘when’ suggests the change is imminent and it is not. The reality remains that in my years in any newsroom – and I’ve worked in most – I’m often the only Black person or a so-called person of colour. This simply will not change in my lifetime, and I doubt in yours either.
Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? One very important piece was on a massacre committed by the São Paulo police in 2006. It was my first deeply reported article since arriving in Brazil the year before, and researching it really plunged me into the country’s reality. It was a story that gave a voice to people who felt local media had largely ignored them. After writing it, I finally felt I was no longer a Brazil novice. What is the most difficult piece of work you have ever had to write? Covering the ticketing scandal during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, involving the president of the Irish Olympic Committee, was pure stress. It was a complex and high-profile story, generating a huge demand for copy, and the time zone difference was working against us. Eventually, we got enough pieces in place to be able to write a well-received long read on the affair for the paper’s weekend section. I’ve never felt more drained after filing copy!
🔎 Spotlight / Fake news What do you think has led to the rise in people’s distrust of the media and the concept of fake news? We always have to be aware of our own errors. The proliferation of sources thanks to the internet, many of them operated by bad actors spreading highly partisan or fake news while attacking ‘traditional’ media, has been a huge challenge for the industry. Though central now to how journalism works, I also think the impact of social media has on the whole been negative.
Debbi Marco 📝 Periodical 2001 Freelance editor and writer By Cara Laskaris What’s one piece of advice someone gave you when you were starting out that has really stuck with you? It’s the classic ‘be nice to people on the way up’, as everyone really does move around in this industry. Often the people who were your interns will be in a position to commission you one day. This has happened to me before.
Image: Debbi Marco
What is the most interesting element of your job? I’ve gone from writing about Jamaican female drug mules in British prisons to George Clooney asking me about the origins of jerk pork (true story). As a travel writer, I’ve woken up to volcanoes outside my window and had camels transport me to the nearest cafe. There’s never a dull moment in this unpredictable industry.
If you weren’t a journalist, what do you think you would be doing? After 20 years, it is hard to imagine any other career now. I’m not sure I would have ended up in Brazil, my home, for the last 16 years, without becoming a journalist. So it is like trying to imagine a whole other life – which is probably best left to novelists.
1990 - 2000
Where do you think the industry is going next? How do you see journalism growing and adapting? Journalism is fighting the good fight. Although it’s been tricky and has changed a lot since I first started, we’re still hanging in there. I went on a press trip to Costa Rica and an Instagram ‘influencer’ referred to herself as a journalist. She said she was working harder because she had to post several times a day. But, many people are still interested in hearing from trained journalists and news organisations. I’m optimistic that journalism will prevail as it’s needed now more than ever in this epidemic of misinformation. More and more consumers realise that.
By Nicola Blackburn
Image: Tom Hennigan
After getting published, I got a real taste for it. I pitched an idea to Marie Claire, which wasn’t successful, but they fed back that I had potential and should apply to their three-month internship programme. At the time, the features editor was Katie Agnew, an ex-City student, and she suggested that I apply for the course. The rest is history.
Tom Hennigan 🌐 International 2000 South America correspondent for The Irish Times
What is something you wish someone would have told you about the industry when you started out in journalism? That you need to push yourself forward constantly. No one minds if you are pushy, provided that you always deliver good copy and keep to deadlines. What is the most interesting element of your job? Interviewing people. Whether it’s experts or real people, everyone has a story to tell and offers a unique insight into the world around us, which I always find fascinating.
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Image: Vanessa Buschschlüter
Vanessa Buschschlüter 🎤 Broadcast 2001 Latin America and Caribbean Editor for BBC News Online By Sophie Ward If you weren’t a journalist, what do you think you would be doing? I would work in the prison system in Latin America and totally reform it. I’d make it about rehabilitation instead of punishment. The overcrowding in these prisons is terrible, which has been particularly damaging in the pandemic. There’s so much violence as well – 79 inmates were recently killed in one prison fight in Ecuador.
2000-2010
Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? I wrote about Juan Pablo Pernalete, a 20-year-old Venezuelan man who was killed in an anti-government protest. I was the first journalist to speak to his parents, so I had to trust and build a relationship with them. I spent several days with them and became a bit of a therapist – bearing in mind they live in a country where grief counselling is not readily available. Not only was I the first journalist, but I was also the first person they had spoken to about the killing of their son. They cried on my shoulder and showed me pictures of Juan when he was a child. What is something you wish someone would have told you about the industry when you started out in journalism? To be flexible and not chase a specific dream. It is good to keep an open mind because a lot of posts close and new ones open all the time. When I started out, I thought it was my dream to go into television. After trying it, though, I realised it wasn’t for me. After some years in radio, I now work online, which I would never have imagined for myself. ‘Online’ wasn’t even a thing when I was young.
By Becca Challis What got you into journalism in the first place? Before university, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I didn’t grow up desperate to be a journalist. Getting into the student newspaper at Durham set me on the road. The group of people that I worked with there was so fun, so a big part of going into journalism was the great, curious people you get to work with. I also enjoyed the feeling of pulling something together out of nothing - it’s a very satisfying experience.
huge privilege - there aren’t many jobs that give you that sort of scope. Technology is also constantly evolving, so you’re never stuck writing about the same thing year after year. It’s constantly changing and challenging you to learn new things.
What is the most interesting element of your job? I’m essentially a foreign correspondent, working in California for a British newspaper, trying to explain something in print that’s vitally important to how we live our lives; the people who run those big tech companies need to be held to account. Being able to go places, meet people and ask annoying questions that other people can’t. Following my curiosity is the most satisfying part. It’s a
What is something you wish someone would have told you about the industry when you started out in journalism? The value of a good editor and a good in-house lawyer. This kind of fictional stereotype of the lone wolf reporter is very romantic, but it really is a team sport. A good editor can so massively improve your copy and challenge you to do better, and push you to go further. There’s never a point when a journalist no longer needs an editor.
By Nicola Lewis Who is your dream interviewee? The person I have most loved interviewing is Ed Sheeran. He is the most unaffected, open guy. He was wonderfully honest and genuine. I spoke to Ed in 2014 for the cover of Fabulous magazine and drove to a television studio where he was filming the Jools Holland show. One of his team popped over to me to say: “Ed wants to know if you’d like to hang with him while he has a cigarette.” It was a no brainer. Building a natural rapport with a celebrity is one of the best ways to put them at ease during an interview. Having an opportunity to observe and interact with Ed while he was relaxing with his team was priceless. More recently, I interviewed Back To The Future legend Michael J. Fox for The Radio Times, which was an equally huge honour. Like Ed, he was wonderfully down to earth, frequently hilarious and full of anecdotes. He also spoke movingly and frankly about his threedecade-long battle with MS. What is the most difficult piece of work you have ever had to write? In July 2005, a week before a girl was due to start some work experience at News of the World, she telephoned asking to meet me urgently. It turned out she was a family member of Shehzad Tanweer, one of the bombers in the Al Qaeda suicide attacks in London a few days earlier. She wanted to tell the full story about her cousin and his life. After interviewing her in London, I drove us to Leeds, where I suspected she would stop cooperating with the article once she returned home. Only she didn’t. That night, she was emailing me scanned family album photos of Tanweer. What started as a front-page story at the beginning of the week ended up being a front-ofthe-paper spread on Sunday. The story remains one of my most memorable. I could not believe that I was at the centre of one of the country’s biggest news events in history.
Image: Gemma Calvert
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Image: Tim Bradshaw
Tim Bradshaw 📝 Periodical 2002 Global Tech Correspondent at The Financial Times
Gemma Calvert 📰 Newspaper 2002 Freelance entertainment journalist
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If you weren’t a journalist, what do you think you would be doing? I’ve always thought running a pub would be a really fun job, although I’m sure it’s hard work. I do at least enjoy sitting in pubs, so maybe I would have gone down that route and had a cool little place in London. Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? A recent one was when I interviewed the comedian Tom Allen. He had been reporting at Charlton vs AFC Wimbledon as part of the Rainbow Laces campaign to raise awareness of LGBT+ involvement and inclusivity in football, so I got in touch. He’s not a huge football fan, so it was interesting to hear his views on that experience and how he felt excluded from being anywhere near football when he was a kid. It got a great response from a lot of the LGBT+ community, who I think felt validated by it. Plus, it was just great fun speaking to Tom.
I wish someone had told me back in 2003 that the industry has this severe problem. And that, if you do get your lucky break, you will be one of the very few non-white people, so it’s up to you to do your best to make a difference. If I’d known that and how much it upsets me today, I would have tried harder to create change. I now do bits of mentoring and help with our positive action scheme.
By Isabella McRae What got you into journalism in the first place? I had some work experience when I was a teenager at my local newspaper, and I just loved it. I got a massive bug for it. I then did a bit on the student paper and thought: “I could actually make a living out of this.”
Where do you think the industry is going next? How do you see journalism growing and adapting? There will always be a place for high-quality journalism. There is a shift online, blurring the boundaries between print and digital, and radio and broadcast. But I still think that ultimately, there’s going to be a place for scoops. People will always want to know what’s going on behind closed doors. I think it will adjust, but a lot of newspaper groups are already successfully adjusting. What is the most difficult piece of work you’ve ever had to write? Revealing we were about to go into lockdown was very challenging from a daily point of view because it was right on deadline. The information came very late. It was very sensitive. It’s one of those things that if you’ve got it wrong, then you’d be wrong in telling people that the nation’s going into lockdown. If you’ve got it right, you’ve got a story that’s of huge public interest.
🔎 Spotlight / Coronavirus How do you think coronavirus will change the ways newsrooms operate in the future? I think they already have changed the way newsrooms operate. There’s a realisation that you can do more things remotely. But ultimately, there is no substitute for people working together in an office. I think that’s especially important for younger journalists who are coming through. They need to be around senior people to see how they’re working. I am looking forward very much to a state where we can work in the offices again.
By Victoria Miller What got you into journalism in the first place? My mother was a journalist, and she used to work for Readers Digest in London. She talked about it in such colourful and excited tones that I wanted to do the same. I also used to read teenage magazines; I remember there was a job advertisement in Sugar for a features editor. I cut it out, stuck it to my noticeboard by my desk, and had it as a motivator. It really made me excited about finding a job in journalism.
Image: Vanessa Jolly
Vanessa Jolly 📝 Periodical 2003 Associate editor at Times2
2000-2010
What is something you wish someone would have told you about the industry when you started out in journalism? One thing that I’ve become increasingly concerned about is the lack of diversity. I remember there being 38 pupils in my class (02/03), and I was one of two non-white people. Up until recently, when we hired Jonathan Liew and Tumaini Carayol, I was the only non-white editorial staff member in The Guardian’s sports department.
Steven Swinford 📰 Newspaper 2003 Deputy Political Editor at The Times
Image: Steven Swinford
By Matt Reed
Image: Sachin Nakrani
Sachin Nakrani 📰 Newspaper 2003 Sports journalist at The Guardian
What is something you wish someone had told you about the industry when you started out in journalism? It has lived up to all my expectations but what is hard is that there is no standard career trajectory. You have to keep hustling to find your next job. A lot of it can be down to luck, happenstance and building up a natural group of contacts.
🔎 Spotlight / Diversity What can be done to make journalism, as a career, more attractive to underrepresented groups? Classically, journalism has attracted people from a certain background because it can be difficult to fund yourself initially. What we can do now, however, is provide more paid graduate traineeships. The industry is also becoming more aware of young people’s skills, such as being more digitally savvy. Employers are starting to look at those skills and the benefits that they can bring their company, rather than just recruiting those who have had the fortune of coming through a certain route.
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Emma Baker 🎤 Broadcast 2005 Freelance presenter and broadcast journalist
By Becca Challis
By Kitty Chrisp
Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? I always wanted to write for a living, but I discounted journalism until I was in my late 20s. Probably because I grew up reading the Daily Record, a Scottish tabloid. The truth is that it’s hard to pull out one piece after nearly 20 years of writing, but I was pretty pleased with my book The Sceptical Investor (2019).
What’s one piece of advice that someone gave you when you were starting out that has really stuck with you? Never take no for an answer. If you really want to do something, just go for it. Someone I was working with at the BBC was told: “Stay away from a microphone; it’s not for you.” And he said: “You know what, I really love being in front of the microphone.” Jon Sopel told me that, and he is now editor for BBC America.
What is the most interesting element of your job? I find markets endlessly fascinating. I love trying to work out what makes them tick. It’s like a giant jigsaw puzzle that you know you’ll never finish, but there’s always something new to learn. They can tell you so much about human beings – they’re like a real-time ongoing behavioural laboratory.
What is something you wish someone would have told you about the industry when you started out in journalism? Contacts build up organically over the years, not by desperately gladhanding strangers at industry events. But do make an effort to get out regularly, even if you are not naturally extroverted (most journos I know are not).
🔎 Spotlight / Coronavirus How do you think coronavirus will change the way newsrooms operate in the future? I think there will be far more remote working, though clearly, it depends on the newsroom and the publication. I think this is a good thing – writers need space, and dispensing with presenteeism will force organisations to be genuinely more efficient.
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What skills did you learn at City that have been most useful to you throughout your career? Resilience, definitely. It is an intense year, but the biggest thing I took away from City were my friends. We had a brilliant time working hard and playing hard. What is the most interesting element of your job? The live aspect is just so thrilling. The rush never goes away. It’s such a cliché, but every day is different in this job. There are times when you are in the front seat of history, and it’s such a privilege to be in that seat.
🔎 Spotlight / Technology How has technology, from the last 10 to 15 years, changed the face of journalism? We are no longer working towards a 6pm deadline. Broadcast journalism is speedier and faster than ever before. For good and for bad. I think it’s great from a consumer perspective to have access to the news as it’s happening. But we must surround ourselves with a range of views and not sit in our echo chambers. We’ve seen the dangers of that. As a society, we have to be mindful of this going forward.
David Jenkins 📝 Periodical 2005 Editor at Little White Lies By Eloise Feilden What got you into journalism in the first place? It was the free stuff – I discovered that you could blag stuff if you could self describe as a journalist, but once you’ve blagged a bit, it loses its shine quite quickly. You reach that point where you realise you need to make your slightly flailing and improvised journalism into something a bit more real. That was the decision to come to City.
Image: David Jenkins
What is the last piece of journalism that you read/listened/saw that you really loved? It’s becoming a cliché, but podcasts are where some of the most interesting work is being done right now. One journalist-led piece I liked was The Missing Cryptoqueen by Jamie Bartlett.
Image: ITV
John Stepek 📝 Periodical 2003 Executive editor at Money Week
Image: John Stepek
2000 - 2010
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What skills did you learn at City that have been most useful to you throughout your career? You have to learn the rules to be able to break them. When you are a young whippersnapper writer, you try to have your own voice, but it is often self-conscious and, in worst cases, narcissistic. At City, they accept that people have individual voices but understand that a lot of journalism is about doing things that are structured, rigorous, and conventional. The rules of writing have to become second nature until you get to that point where you feel you can break them. What is the most interesting element of your job? I love the magazine making process. With Little White Lies, one of its joys is that it is very non-prescriptive. There is no template; in a sense, you are starting from scratch every issue. The buck stops with me in terms of how the magazine turns out, and it’s fun to be able to realise something that is very personal each time.
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Alessandro Speciale 🌐 International 2006 Rome bureau chief at Bloomberg By Bea Tridimas
By Charlotte Rawlings What got you into journalism in the first place? When I was 23, before I did the course at City, I went to Bethlehem for six months and worked for the first Palestinian news agency called Ma’an. That really inspired me. If you want to change minds, then people have to be able to tell their own stories. I called up Jon Snow, who was a friend of a friend, and I said: “I’m doing journalism already, but where do I go from here?” He told me if I wanted to work in the UK, it’s pretty imperative that I have a university degree in journalism under my belt. So, that’s what I did.
Who is your dream interviewee? Bruce Springsteen. What is the most difficult piece of work you have ever had to write? Back when I was a freelancer, I interviewed women who had relationships with priests. It was a very sensitive issue, and it wasn’t easy. As much as I tried to be tactful and respectful, at the same time, you had to tell the story. The story threw a spotlight on them. Some of the women were happy, but others were not. I wanted to do right by them but doing right and doing a strong story wasn’t easy.
Nico Hines 📰 Newspaper 2006 World editor at The Daily Beast By Nicholas Harris What is something you wish someone would have told you about the industry when you started out in journalism? There’s plenty of room for everyone; broadcasting, newspapers, websites, magazines, podcasts, filmmaking, producing, editing, it’s an ever-growing list. If you want to be a journalist, you will find somewhere that suits you no matter which course you took. I would never have guessed that my natural home would turn out to be an American news site.
2000- 2010
What skills did you learn at City that have been most useful to you throughout your career? I found the other people on my course totally inspiring. We had one of the top journalists from Ukraine, who actually taught us so much, and a journalist called Shoaib Sharifi, who had been driven out of Afghanistan for his reporting on the government. It was their real-life experiences, as well as great lecturers, that really stuck with me.
What is the most interesting element of your job? When I was a kid, I heard people on the radio, and they talked about this important person who was doing this or that and what really surprised me was how the hell did they know that this guy would be there at that time on that day? Who told them? Working for a news agency, you see the backbone; you see what becomes news and what is not news, which is fascinating. The other thing is asking questions to a lot of people you wouldn’t normally ask questions to. That’s the cool part.
Image: Nico Hines
Who would you have at your dream industry dinner party? I would definitely have journalists who use humour because they would be great at a dinner party. People like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. I don’t know if you would call him a traditional journalist, but Charlie Brooker’s great, and I want my dinner party to be funny. Hadley Freeman from The Guardian, who is a fantastic columnist, is also a dear friend. I would have Maria Ressa, a Filipino journalist I interviewed. She’s quite funny, despite the fact that she is facing a six-year jail term on cyber libel charges. She spent her career trying to hold President Duterte to account, but as a result, has suffered immensely, being personally targeted by him.
Image: Alessandro Speciale
Charlie Angela 🌐 International 2006 Reporter/presenter at Al Jazeera
Who is your dream interviewee? Queen Elizabeth I. All that court gossip and intrigue: what did she think of her femicidal dad? Most influential people now are so overexposed, there’s hardly anything left to ask, but the inverse doesn’t always hold true, of course. I spent quite a bit of time with George W. Bush in Dallas. There are so many questions you’d want to ask him, but he was entirely devoid of intellectual curiosity or empathy—an empty vessel. Where do you think the industry is going next? How do you see journalism adapting? I hated it when I was on The Times and they put up the paywall. Our stories were suddenly cut off from the conversation online, but it was a necessary and important step. A whole generation had learned that journalism was free. Memberships, subscriptions and ticketed events are now on the rise, and whether you like it or not, convincing people our work is worth paying for is the key to the industry’s survival. Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? My coverage of Obama’s second inauguration for The Times. The president chose Myrlie Evers-Williams, the widow of assassinated civil rights icon Medgar Evers, to deliver the invocation at his inauguration. I travelled down to Mississippi and got a world exclusive interview with her as well as Medgar’s old civil rights comrades who were so moved by Obama’s achievement.
Image: Al Jazeera
🔎 Spotlight / Technology How has technology, from the last 10 to 15 years, changed the face of journalism? It’s so much easier to catch people who are up to no good; look at how The Daily Beast and others have identified the US Capitol rioters by tracking the videos, photos and social media updates they posted of themselves doing crimes. With skill and ingenuity, you can cross-reference that with previous oversharing online and unmask all sorts of idiots.
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like. That was always fascinating to me. Image: BBC
Kathryn Stanczyszyn 🎤 Broadcast 2007 Political reporter for the West Midlands at BBC News By Ed Cunningham
What got you into journalism in the first place? I remember trying to write a magazine for people in primary school, aged eight – that was the sort of annoying child I was. I always liked the idea of telling stories and being able to put other people’s stories out there. Part of it is just being nosy, just wanting to know a lot about other people – especially people who you wouldn’t have any knowledge of what their lives were
Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? At the beginning of the pandemic, I was following stories of people having to use sub-standard PPE. I exposed several stories about government-sanctioned PPE being sent to Birmingham that was not fit for purpose. That changed things. I had quite a few people get in touch and say thank you. That’s an amazing feeling. If you weren’t a journalist, what do you think you would be doing? If I weren’t a journalist, I’d be trying to be a journalist. There’s nothing else I ever wanted to do. It would be something involving talking to lots people every day. I’d probably be a barmaid – the unofficial reporter, hearing everyone’s stories.
🔎 Spotlight / Fake News What are the best tools at a journalist’s disposal to tackle fake news? You have your editorial experience. It’s about taking that step back and looking at what people are telling you, look at the context around it – I think that’s really important in political journalism. That editorial experience is a skill in itself that has been honed. People that aren’t journalists don’t realise that sometimes.
2000 - 2010
What got you into journalism in the first place? I can remember the moment I decided I had to be a journalist. I was going to do something more academic; I had piles of books about philosophy, ethics and world affairs. I can remember sitting in a library, opening another one of these books and thinking, “I just can’t! This is not what matters here; what matters is what’s happening in the world. I want to go and see this stuff; that’s what’s exciting. What am I doing?” I went off and tried to become a journalist pretty much straight after that. It’s an evolution, but that was the light bulb moment. If you weren’t a journalist, what do you think you would be doing? I would probably be a teacher. I enjoy taking complicated stuff and trying to translate it; that’s what underpins all of this. There’s a desire to motivate your viewers – or your kids in the classroom – to be engaged with whatever the subject matter is. Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? One of the hardest things to have pulled off was a one-hour documentary we did about working conditions in Apple’s supply chain: “Apple’s broken promises”. It involved undercover filming in Chinese factories, travelling to Indonesia to see the tin mining that goes on there (there’s tin in smartphones), and piecing together some of the supply chains and what was going on, including children working in the mines in Bangka, Indonesia. There were questions (that persist) about Apple’s supply chain promises, and we showed they were breaking those promises. Accountability motivates me. There’s a sense of outrage on whatever story you’re working on that gets you out of bed in the morning and makes you work silly hours. You invest time and energy, and you keep going until you nail it. It has to be reported, otherwise, there’s a feeling that somebody is getting away with something. It’s an attempt to remedy that.
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Michael Blair 📺 TV and Current Affairs 2007 Senior news editor, Climate at Sky News By Madeleine Killick
Image: Sky News
By Cara Laskaris
Image: Matt Bardo
Matt Bardo 🕵️ Investigative 2009 Producer at Panorama
What skills did you learn at City that have been most useful to you throughout your career? City taught me that when you’re picking up news stories, you’ve got to put yourself in the position of the audience, the viewers and the reader. You have to think about why they should care. How do you get someone sitting in their flat in London to care about a foreign story on the other side of the world? All stories are about people and, ultimately, that’s why you get people to care about it. You bring everything back to real people. If you weren’t a journalist, what do you think you would be doing? It would have to be something creative. I’ve always thought I would like to be a writer. When I started journalism, I thought real stories were interesting enough. In TV journalism you think about how to turn stories that are abstract into television.Who are you going to speak to? What are you going to film? How will you tell the story? You’ve got to solve problems creatively.
🔎 Spotlight / Technology How has technology and the way that news is now consumed affected the way journalism is made? I can’t emphasise how much technology has changed the way we consume news. The idea of people sitting down to watch the six o’clock news today is completely redundant. People can now get their news whenever they want it, and however they want it. It’s not always perfect trying to get these things right when they’re new, but the key is adapting them and being agile.
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By Frankie Lister-Fell What skills did you learn at City that have been most useful to you throughout your career? I realised that I couldn’t just sit back and let people talk in interviews, and I learned that the hard way. I went to speak to this guy during patch, and he talked for two hours. I didn’t interrupt; I let him speak and then came home and had to transcribe this horribly long interview.
What is the most difficult piece of work you have ever had to write? When the Jimmy Savile case came out, I was working at The Spectator. Having to go through the reports and read about these abhorrent actions… it churned my stomach. That, combined with this long systemic failure in British institutions, was also difficult to process and digest because it was such a widespread failure that had ruined people’s lives.
If you weren’t a journalist, what do you think you would be doing? My first career was in the film industry, so definitely something in film. I’ve always been interested in the visual side of journalism, so maybe one day I could still become a documentary filmmaker. Probably not! Who is your dream interviewee? I would really love to interview Angela Merkel one day. Maybe I could get all the goss. Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? Early on in my career, I worked for a news outlet that made some questionable editorial decisions. I was new in the industry, but I decided to leave the job because I wanted to keep my journalistic integrity intact. It is a special thing to be a journalist and you need to believe in and keep that integrity, so I’m proud of leaving.
🔎 Spotlight / Fake News What are the best tools at a journalist’s disposal to tackle fake news? I’ve done a lot of reporting at Deutsche Welle about misinformation and disinformation. You present and break it down and tell people why it’s rubbish, but the people who watch me are not the ones who take in this misinformation through their social media bubbles. It’s down to the social media giants to weed out fake news.
Alexandra King 🎤 Broadcast 2009 Digital producer/supervisor at CNN By Jake Helm
2000 - 2020
What is the most interesting element of your job? The access you get at the FT is incredible. You can pretty much speak to anyone. You’ve got unfettered access to 650 MPs, plus ministers, plus civil servants. That is such a privilege. And the other people who work at the FT are great; I’ve learned so much through osmosis in terms of markets, global politics, economics.
What is something you wish someone would have told you about the industry when you started out in journalism? There are plenty of jobs for people to do outside of being a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. In television, you might see an anchor and a correspondent, but there are dozens of people behind the scenes making that happen.
Image: Allen Wilcox
Accuracy is crucial too. I remember during copy clinic, the tutor used to haul you up in the most embarrassing way. I had this thing where I kept spelling George Osborne’s name wrong because where I grew up in Newcastle, there’s a road called Osbourne Road. And every single time, she’d pull me up and say: “Why can’t you get the man’s name right, he’s the chancellor, for God’s sake.” City was good at bashing out those silly errors.
By Sophie Laughton
Image: Ole Alsaker
Image: Charlie Bibby, Financial Times
Sebastian Payne 🕵️ Investigative 2011 Whitehall editor at the Financial Times
Ole Alsaker 🌐 International 2011 Journalist at Deutsche Welle
What’s one piece of advice that someone gave you when you were starting out that has really stuck with you? Write for pleasure; it’s easy to fall out of love with work if you don’t. Writing a diary every day is really great for that reason. Another piece of advice is that there’s a big difference between criticism and feedback. Often people who give you feedback are actually giving you criticism, and you have to learn the difference between the two while not getting derailed. What skills did you learn at City that have been most useful to you throughout your career? I learned the value of loving your colleagues, reading their work and cheering them on. Being able to respect, read, and watch other people’s work is so powerful for one’s own personal development. What is the most interesting element of your job? I love finding civilians who are able to provide immense truth and insight and powerfully capture the tone of the moment based on their everyday actions. It’s wonderful to tell the human stories of policy changes that are profoundly affecting people’s lives in creative ways.
🔎 Spotlight / Fake News What are the best tools at a journalist’s disposal to tackle fake news? Extensive reading of everything: even things that you really hate. It’s essential to follow people you disagree with on Twitter. Likewise, if you live in the US and don’t follow Fox News, you’re making a big mistake. To be a journalist, you have to get out of your comfort zone and watch things that you don’t understand or agree with and make sure you listen. We also have to keep doing great work to prove how good journalism is.
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By Emily Stearn
By Samyama Kolhapuri
What is the most interesting element of your job? I am a very curious person, and my job is the perfect excuse to always ask questions. In Afghanistan, my curiosity has helped me see so much of the country and meet people from all sides of the conflict. I get to see a very different picture of their world. I have begun to form shared feelings like the fear of rockets dropping in my neighbourhood. This is why I can advocate for them and hopefully create conversations around policy change.
🔎 Spotlight / Fake news What do you think has led to the rise in people’s distrust of the media? Afghanistan has press freedom, but in a world view, I believe the problem is ‘selective news’ – many incidents do not get communicated. Overseas, the media are selective for their audience. If a magnetic bomb incident happened in London, it would be news for weeks, but over here, it happens every day. I guess there is fatigue with the war because it’s been 40 years.
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What is something you wish someone would have told you about the industry when you started out in journalism? You need a lot of perseverance and resilience. Try to keep a work-life balance, but also give yourself a break. If you don’t, it will catch up with you.
Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? The pieces I’m most proud of are the ones where people have given me their trust. I spoke to a woman about her daughter who had taken her own life as a teenager. She hadn’t done any interviews about it before, and she was really keen to get a message out there about communication and the fact that they’d had absolutely no idea it was coming. It’s when you can actually get a message across that it means something and might make a difference. What is the most difficult piece of work you have ever had to do? I’ve done a couple of stories on economic abuse, which is the financial side of domestic abuse. That’s been really difficult, not only getting the right people to tell their story but also simplifying somebody’s story in a way that doesn’t make it inaccurate and take away from its meaning. Somebody can speak to you for an hour, but you’ve only got 20 seconds to include their voice.
🔎 Spotlight / Coronavirus How do you think coronavirus will change the way newsrooms operate in the future? What I hope will happen is that it will make people a bit more coordinated because coordination has been really difficult. I also think it will change some of the newsroom’s priorities. There’s a real need to make sure you’re representing real people from the grassroots up and getting outside of London because COVID-19 has affected everyone indiscriminately.
Bunmi Akpata-Ohohe 📺 Television 2012 Freelance researcher/reporter with Africa Today Magazine By Aisha Rimi
Image: B.F. Akpata-Ohohe
What is the most difficult piece of work you have ever had to write? It was about the attack on the maternity hospital in Kabul last year. More than 20 people were killed, most of them mothers and babies. I met several of their families, and that was really hard because they had just buried their loved ones. It was horrific. I recently reconnected with one family whose mother had died in the attack. Her 12-year-old daughter has started writing poetry about her mum. It was devastating to see how suffering and sadness continues. Image: Stefanie Glinksi
2010 - 2020
What got you into journalism in the first place? It stemmed from my love of writing, photography, meeting new people and travelling. At 16, I interned at the local newspaper. I remember walking into the newsroom, and the editor-in-chief handed me a stack of police reports to write short blurbs. On the second day, he gave me a camera and told me to cover an event. I had to get over my fear and into the practice of just doing it, and I loved it and stayed on. My dad, who is a photographer, encouraged me by buying my first camera.
Image: Katy Austin
Katy Austin 📺 Television 2012 Business correspondent at BBC News
Stefanie Glinski 🌐 International 2012 Freelance journalist based in Afghanistan
If you weren’t a journalist, what do you think you would be doing? I wanted to be a soldier growing up. I was told there weren’t women soldiers, which wasn’t true, but one day I saw a military recruitment stand in London, and I asked them if I could join. They said yes, but informed me that the next postings would be to Iraq or Afghanistan. I then changed my mind and ran away immediately.
Who would you have at your dream industry dinner party? Usain Bolt. I met him in 2012 when I was covering the London 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. I interviewed him and was really impressed. Serena Williams would also be on the guest list. I cover Wimbledon almost every year and have interviewed her before. I’d also invite Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, so I can ask him why he can’t share territory with the Palestinians. Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? I’m proud of my write-up from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2018. I asked questions of different heads of states from Africa and the Caribbean. I shook hands with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. I even told Prince Charles that I think they give him too much trouble in the UK and that he should move to Africa. He’d be welcomed there.
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Image: Rob Williams
Andrew Stuart 📲 Interactive 2012 Regional video team at Reach PLC By Isabelle Gray What is the most difficult piece of work you’ve ever had to do? The hardest thing I’ve worked on was when I was working at Manchester Evening News (MEN), and the Manchester Arena bombing happened. I was on shift a few days later, and it was so impressive how everyone had worked since the moment it happened – almost 24-hour shifts. It was good to support the team and let people sleep for a couple of hours. It was constant, horrendously upsetting, and tough. What is the last piece of journalism that you saw that you really loved? When Clive Myrie, for BBC, went into a mortuary and interviewed people working there, that was heartbreaking and so powerful. It brought home exactly what the pandemic is doing and its impact, as well as providing a more human side to the high numbers of deaths we saw – four-figure numbers every day. That work was brilliant.
By Emily Stearn
By Nicola Blackburn
Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? At ITV, we’ve recently done investigations into working conditions during the pandemic and exposed unsafe practices at the warehouses of some major companies. Just looking at how workers have been treated during the pandemic and calling out any unsafe practices has been a real highlight of the last few months.
What is something you wish someone would have told you about the industry when you started out in journalism? It would have been good to realise that everyone hates networking. I’m not someone who naturally wants to go and schmooze at parties, and I always felt uncomfortable reaching out to people I didn’t already know. I wish I’d known that once you’ve made it and someone is trying to reach out, you can help them in some way - that’s actually something you enjoy doing. Who would you have at your dream industry dinner party? Marina Hyde. I think she’s the most laugh-out-loud writer you can follow. John Bird [co-founder of The Big Issue] is one of the most inspirational figures in journalism. Lindsey Hilsum, too. Sid Lowe, who writes on Spanish football. I’d ask him about Messi, who I’m obsessed with. Beyond that, I’d invite my friend Allan. It would be good to have someone who wasn’t famous and who also thought it was weird that we had these people at a dinner party. Image: ITV
What is the most difficult piece of work you have ever had to write? Before ITV, I spent a lot of time covering the refugee crisis from the various Syrian borders, and I feel privileged to have been able to tell those people’s stories. You have to make sure you tell them to the best of your ability. I think empathy is an essential part of our work as journalists, and sometimes the temptation can be to cut off and not involve yourself too much in the story. But at the same time, you need to do the opposite in order to have these conversations and tell people’s stories in the best way possible. It can be hard to stay level headed.
2010 - 2020
Liam Kirkaldy Political 2013 Communications officer for Crisis Scotland
Image: Liam Kirkaldy
Jessica Omari 📺 Television 2012 Business and economics producer at ITV News
Who is your dream interviewee? Luckily enough, at ITV, we get to speak to most people we want to speak to. This isn’t relevant to my role, but a sit down with Britney Spears right now would be great. I think it would be fascinating. Jeff Bezos would be good too - that would probably be the more sensible option.
🔎 Spotlight / Diversity In your view, how will the landscape of journalism change when there are more diverse voices? It will change immeasurably for the better. The more people from across the country and even across the world from different backgrounds in the industry, the wider the variety of stories that will be told and the more relevant, authentic, and engaging they will be to the audiences we serve.
What is the most interesting element of your job? After spending eight years as a political journalist, I’m now able to campaign - I’m not impartial anymore. I’m able to play an active part in trying to end homelessness. It’s actually possible that Scotland could eliminate homelessness within the next few years. That’s extraordinary if you think about the progress that’s been made. It’s something that I would be incredibly proud to be a part of.
🔎 Spotlight / Fake news What are the best tools at a journalist’s disposal to tackle fake news? I don’t think that’s a problem specifically for journalism. Deliberately false news coverage is something that the government needs to act on. We’ve seen a lot of evidence over the last few years of various powerful state and non-state actors using social media as a tool to spread misinformation. It’s hugely damaging to society. You don’t need to win an argument with fake news. You just have to create confusion and doubt. There’s no easy solution, but I think it’s one for everyone to solve.
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By Jake Helm
Sophie Murray-Morris 📲 Interactive 2014 Assistant editor at Metro.co.uk
Image: Emma Powell
Emma Powell 📝 Magazine 2014 Showbiz correspondent for The Daily Mail
By Sophie Laughton What skills did you learn at City that have been most useful to you throughout your career? I think data has been the most helpful thing that I learned. Whether it’s audience engagement or understanding an FOI, being able to tell the story behind the numbers is a really important skill, and one that’s not really that prevalent in the newsroom.
What is the most interesting element of your job? Being able to talk to a massive range of people is something that you don’t get with any other job. One day you’re talking to Alice Cooper or Björn Ulvaeus from ABBA, and then the next day, you’re knocking on the door of some random person. There’s such a wide breadth of people you can come into contact with, and that’s why I love it.
Who would you have at your dream industry dinner party? The spirit of A.A. Gill. He is my favourite food writer in the world, and I was devastated when he died.
2010 - 2020
Who is your dream interviewee? I would quite like to interview Cillian Murphy because we are both Radiohead fans. I’d love to just sit there with him and fangirl about Thom Yorke.
Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? We took “Rush Hour Crush” from the newspaper to .co.uk. It’s an iconic Metro product that we turned into digital form. We actually had someone email us and say that they wanted to propose to their partner via “Rush Hour Crush”, and we organised it with the paper. She said yes! I couldn’t believe it when it all went live. It’s one of those moments in your career – I felt so lucky.
🔎 Spotlight / Cancel Culture How do you think cancel culture has affected journalism? Lots of people are now scared to write comment or opinion pieces. I used to do a lot of comment pieces, and I now think twice because I’m worried about something I’ve said being taken the wrong way. We talk to a lot of celebrities about how it impacts their careers and how comedy has completely changed because of it. I don’t think it means people are scared to go into journalism; it just prevents people from actively sharing their opinion.
By Sophie Ward
🔎 Spotlight / Technology How has technology and the way that news is now consumed affected the way journalism is made? It has made journalism more innovative and entrepreneurial – there are ways of launching products that you were never able to do before. Newsletters once only existed in a print format, whereas now journalists can launch their own Substack and fund their own careers.
Image: Roshni Patel
Roshni Patel 📺 Television 2014 Freelance news producer for ITN and Yahoo News
What skills did you learn at City that have been most useful to you throughout your career? The media law module has been the most beneficial – I can’t stress how important it is in everyday work. Part of my job at Yahoo is accepting or declining requests from the news team, and to do that, I have to be aware of rights. It really helps with simple things like knowing who to contact and accreditation. At City, they really think about every possible thing you could need in the industry and touch every base with the array of modules.
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Image: Sophie Murray-Morris
What is the last piece of journalism that you read that you really loved? I religiously read Refinery29’s “Money Diaries” – it’s a fascinating sneaky peek into people’s spending habits and salaries which is an off topic for Brits. I also always read Dolly Alderton’s no-nonsense column in The Sunday Times. I want her to be my agony aunt.
What is something you wish someone would have told you about the industry when you started out in journalism? It’s all about contacts. You need them way more than you would ever imagine. Everyone knows you have to build your network, but I don’t feel that was really pressed upon me. It sounds stupid now, but I didn’t realise how important it was to go to PR lunches, meet as many people as possible and take down phone numbers. Your contacts are where your best stories come from.
Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? Around two years ago, I worked closely with the sports team at Yahoo, and we managed to get an interview with the Liverpool FC Captain, Jordan Henderson. I’m a massive Liverpool fan, and I got to film famous sports journalist Guillem Balagué talk to him. The fact that I was in a room with the captain of my football team was just incredible. That was the highlight of my career so far. What is the last piece of journalism that you listened to that you really loved? I’ve been loving Yahoo’s new podcast with Denise van Outen and her fiancé, called Before We Say I Do (which I willingly listen to outside of work). Before getting married, they are trialling different types of relationship counselling – whether it’s laughing therapy or psychosexual therapy – and comment on how it helps or hinders them. It’s very hard to be original in journalism these days, but it’s a really unique and interesting concept.
XCITY / Listings
Lauren Clark 📝 Magazine 2015 Acting commissioning editor of Women’s Health By Ella Doyle Image: Lauren Clark
What’s the most interesting piece you’ve written? The one that left the biggest impression on me, that I absolutely loved doing, was when I was a Playboy Bunny for a piece in The Sun. When it was pitched to us, everyone else on the desk said no, but I just thought – I’ve got to do something crazy like that, because when else will I get the chance to? It was fascinating going into a Playboy club and seeing inside that world. All the Bunnies were so cool to be around, and they make a lot of money. It was really empowering; my perception was completely changed.
Who is your dream interviewee? That would 100 per cent be Meghan Markle. I would ask her about all the Royal gossip (like the Prince William cheating rumours), and all those things where you think: how did it actually go down? How did you really feel there? Oprah Winfrey’s got that exclusive now! Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? Three-ish years ago, I did a piece for Women’s Health on chronic fatigue syndrome, which my mum has. It was a really personal thing, and I really wanted to share that in the piece. It’s a condition that does get some air time, but not much, so it was nice to do that in a glossy mag. The article got a big response – it really resonated with people. Things like that are lovely.
What do you wish you had known before you started out in journalism? I wish somebody had told me that you’re always going to be learning on the job and you shouldn’t be afraid of making mistakes or getting something perfect every time. So the best advice I wish I had was, I guess - chill out! Who would you have at your dream industry dinner party? I would have Marina Hyde. I just think she’s so funny, and I could trust her to look after the entirety of the conversation.
🔎 Spotlight / Fake News What do you think has led to the rise in distrust of the media and the concept of fake news? Distrust in the media has been going on for years. I think people don’t believe what they’re reading actually reflects what’s going on. One thing that could be done better in journalism to bridge that gap is to trust readers more and not look down on them. I’ve seen it a lot where readers will bring stories to publications that get laughed off. But sometimes those are the best kinds of stories to be engaging more personally with your readers.
By Chiara Wilkinson What’s one piece of advice that someone gave you when you were starting out that has really stuck with you? Journalism isn’t about perfection but doing the best you can in the time you have. Also, always choose the hills you’re prepared to die on very carefully.
2010 - 2020
Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? When I was working at The Drinks Business, the Black Lives Matter protests started to come to fruition around June, and we found a few breweries acting as first aid centres. Whilst the piece was emotionally heavy, it was rewarding to take this niche angle as a way to discuss the issue whilst staying relevant to the sector we report on.
Max Benwell 📝 Magazine 2014 Audience engagement editor at Guardian US Image: Max Benwell
By Isabelle Gray
Image: Edith Hancock
Edith Hancock 📲 Interactive 2015 Reporter at Solar Media
What is the most interesting element of your job? Being surrounded by people who are infinitely smarter than me is definitely up there. Looking at data and being able to see how people read things online is also great. You get unfiltered insight into human psychology and social trends. If you weren’t a journalist, what do you think you would be doing? I’d probably be miserable writing copy for brands to make them sound like they could be run by humans. But in a dream world where money (or skill) didn’t matter, I’d love just to play music with people all day.
🔎 Spotlight / Coronavirus How do you think coronavirus will change the way newsrooms operate in the future? It seems like remote working will become much more common. 2020 proved that newsrooms can still function over Slack even when they’re under huge pressure from the news cycle. So it’s going to be hard to argue against people working from home if they want to.
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Image: The Guardian
Niamh Mcintyre 📲 Interactive 2017 Data journalist at The Guardian By Madeleine Killick
What skills did you learn at City that have been most useful to you throughout your career? Before City, I had no real skills. I hated maths at school, and I had never used Microsoft Excel before. Doing data at City was fundamental to my current career, as it taught me the very basics, from how to sum a column on Excel, to having a go at programming. It was invaluable and meant I had specialised skills to get onto the Google News Initiative Fellowship, which led to my job at The Guardian.
What got you into journalism in the first place? It always excited me how you can use words to powerfully shape your world. When I studied English at Oxford University, I got involved in politics and public debate. It was then that I saw the potential of journalism as a way of being involved in important issues that make a difference to people’s lives. What is the most difficult piece of work you have ever had to write? The story on ethnic minorities dying of COVID-19 at a higher rate was quite difficult. It took place before there was much data published on ethnicity and the elevated risks of catching COVID-19. At the beginning of the pandemic, government data was really poor. We were trying to approximate it from what we had. We looked at the correlation between the counties with the highest rates and the ethnicity of those areas. It was really good we did that because it was an important story at the time.
🔎 Spotlight / Technology
By Katie Bell What is the last piece of journalism that you read that you really loved? There was an investigation into the recent shortage of bucatini pasta in New York Magazine. Investigative journalism is usually quite hard-nosed and humourless (as it probably should be), but this was very funny. What’s the most interesting element of your job? Being able to represent people who aren’t normally represented is incredibly interesting. Talking to people who don’t normally speak to journalists and dealing with it sensitively develops a kind of skill you don’t normally get in other areas of journalism. And calling out the bullshit and finding out what exactly is true. Do you have a piece of work that you are proudest of? We did a big piece on the European Commission’s response to the coronavirus outbreak that was one of the biggest projects I’ve led on. From a journalism point of view, coronavirus was incredibly exciting to work on. It was universal, and the situation was changing every day. Not just for daily news but also for investigative journalism. I think it’s made the response better because people have been held to account for the mistakes that they’ve made.
🔎 Spotlight / Coronavirus How do you think reporting on coronavirus has changed the way we view science reporting and its importance in contemporary media? It’s interesting because you’ve seen political reporters battling with scientific topics, and I think there’s a new respect for people who really understand that material. There was definitely a time when people saw science reporting as geeky or niche, and all of a sudden, the value of that skill has skyrocketed. Ed Yong at The Atlantic has an incredible grasp of his material, and he’s done some of the best investigative work on the pandemic. It would be nice to see that level of specialism in other areas as well; you can’t replace very specialist knowledge with any sort of bluster.
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Maggie Baska 🌐 International 2016 News editor at Pink News By Simone Fraser Image: Maggie Baska
Ben Stockton 🕵️ Investigative 2018 Investigations reporter at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Image: The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
2010 - 2020
How has technology, from the last 10 to 15 years, changed the face of journalism? Data journalism changed news. The Guardian had the “Datablog” in the noughties, which was quite pioneering for its time, but totally different to what our team is like now. Data has shifted from being something that’s niche to something that’s increasingly part and parcel of being a news reporter. Everyone should be able to use data; it’s really important to have those skills for news now in a way that it wasn’t 20 years ago.
What skills did you learn at City that have been most useful to you throughout your career? Adaptability and the ability to listen – you need to be really reactive to what you’re doing and who you’re talking to. I think I’ve translated that into my work because I purposely try to make a really positive connection with anybody I’m interviewing.
Do you have a piece of work that you’re proudest of? I did an employment tribunal at People Management about a gentleman, who is autistic, who was working at a big organisation and getting overstimulated from the noise around him. He was asking for reasonable adjustments to his workplace, like spell-check on the computer and noise-cancelling headphones – very basic things. Any large employer can afford a pair of headphones, or Microsoft Word, or Google Docs. I got a call from his mum a couple of weeks later thanking me because no one talks about those issues. These are things that aren’t getting covered because people might not understand autism, or they don’t want to talk about it.
XCITY / Listings
By Isabella McRae Image: Andrew Crowley
What’s one piece of advice that someone gave you when you were starting out that has really stuck with you? Never let go of your curiosity. I think someone must have given me this advice when I was doing work experience as a teenager. As children, we’re asking questions all the time. I drove my parents mad. A journalist made that comparison with his job and said the key thing you’ve got to do is not forget that element.
What skills did you learn at City that have been most useful to you throughout your career? I was really forced to go out of my comfort zone. I’m a chatterbox, and I’d worked in hospitality for years, but there’s a difference between doing something because someone wants a beer and forcing yourself to go and talk to a bookshop owner. I built so much confidence doing that.
What got you into journalism in the first place? When I was in secondary school in Ireland, I always wanted to work for RTÉ, and one day a man gave a talk about a new journalism course at Dublin City University. I was really intrigued because it included a placement with RTÉ. I didn’t end up getting onto that course, but that’s definitely what got me into journalism.
What skills did you learn at City that have been most useful to you throughout your career? City taught me how to write, report, and structure a story for radio and TV. I always refer to things like “three words per second,” and I’ll always remember a lecture from Sandy Warr where she said you should never over-explain; make sure your story is well written and that people know the end of it. What is the most interesting element of your job? I think interviewing so many different and fascinating people. Last week, I interviewed a psychologist about his secret to happiness, and it was just such a nice, uplifting story. He said gratitude is important, and you should do a bit of exercise, but he really emphasised how much you need a great support network of friends. It really inspired me, and I just thought: “This is why I do my job.” I get to learn so many different things.
Ellie Smith 📝 Magazine 2018 Online writer at Country & Town House By Carina Murphy What is something you wish someone would have told you about the industry when you started out in journalism? Don’t be intimidated by people who have been in the industry a long time – you have things to teach them too.
Image: Ellie Smith
If you weren’t a journalist, what do you think you’d be doing? After I left my undergraduate, I spent three months in Tanzania and became really interested in development and women’s rights and health worldwide. That interest is what helped me to get this job. So maybe something in women’s health in the UK or across the globe. I don’t know. The world’s an oyster, isn’t it?
By Catherine Entwistle
2010 - 2020
What got you into journalism in the first place? It’s a bit of a weird story, actually. I’ve always been really into writing, but when I was doing my Duke of Edinburgh, I volunteered with my old Guides troop. The head of the troop said: “Why don’t you apply for the press pack?”. It was basically helping to make the magazine every day, and I was really lucky because I ended up doing a report with BBC Look East during that week as well. From there, it just kind of clicked.
Barbara George 🎤 Broadcast 2018 Liverpool live reporter at Local TV Ltd.
Image: Barbara George
Sarah Newey 📲 Interactive 2018 Global health security correspondent at The Telegraph
If you weren’t a journalist, what do you think you would be doing? Something in the health and fitness industry. I actually did a personal training course during lockdown, so now I’m doing that on the side too. It’s nice having a mix of a desk job and something active. What is the most interesting element of your job? In normal times, I’m lucky enough to travel as part of my job, which involves reviewing lovely places all over the world. A couple of years ago, I went on a press trip to the Maldives, which was an incredible experience. Fingers crossed, all that is going to come back soon.
🔎 Spotlight / Coronavirus
🔎 Spotlight / Technology
How do you think coronavirus will change the way newsrooms operate in the future? The importance we attach to smaller desks will change. Before the pandemic, global health wasn’t considered a leading section. Now, that’s completely changed. I’m really interested in women’s health and Ebola and malaria. I hope these topics will get more coverage to a wider audience in the future.
How has technology, from the last 10 to 15 years, changed the face of journalism? Technology has completely transformed journalism. I work in digital journalism, and even in the few years that I’ve been working, there have been so many new platforms that have gotten really big. Things like newsletters, which I didn’t even know about when I was at City. Also, social media is massive now, and brands have to expand into podcasts and other multimedia. It has meant there are so many more opportunities to tell stories in different ways, using videos, animations, and graphics.
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By Chloé Meley
Do you have a piece of work that you’re proudest of? A story I did for Reuters while on work experience there about layoffs at Deutsche Bank. It was my third day of training, and I hadn’t worked in any newsroom before. A colleague and I went to the bank to hear from the people who had been laid off, and then we wrote the piece, which did really well on the Reuters website.
2010 - 2020
Where do you think the industry is going next? How do you see journalism growing and adapting? In India, I don’t think it’s going in the right direction. Journalism here is completely ruined. The main role of the media is to act as a watchdog, and journalists should be giving out the news without any bias. That isn’t working out in India at the moment, with the government cracking down on some publications. HuffPost, for example, has recently shut down because of trouble with the Indian government. What is the most interesting element of your job? I cover the stock market and aviation, two things I’m passionate about. Aviation has always been one of my dream jobs, I really wanted to be a pilot, and now I’m covering everything that has to do with that. And then I’ve learned so much over the past year about the stock market. My job allows me to be in contact with the analysts who know when the market is going to go down or up. It’s a really fun and interesting thing to be able to do, observing and trying to guess the shifts in the market.
Rhys Thomas 📝 Magazine 2019 Freelance journalist and columnist at Vice By Charlotte Colombo
Image: Rhys Thomas
Image: Navdeep Yadav
Navdeep Yadav 💱 Financial 2019 Journalist at Business Insider India
What is the most difficult piece of work you have ever had to write? I did an opinion for Highsnobiety about domestic abuse and how men need to step up and essentially own up to the fact that most men are responsible and/or complicit when it comes to these issues. That was really difficult to write, not only because it was one of the first opinion pieces I’ve done, but also because it was a really serious and sensitive topic. I found it difficult to condense my thoughts while making the piece as compelling as possible. What’s one piece of advice that someone gave you when you were starting out that has really stuck with you? I’m still starting out, but one piece of advice that really stuck with me is someone from the pop culture specialism on the course, David Roper. He said that if you are stuck on a topic, or just in life in general, set a timer on your phone for 10 minutes and just sit there and start writing.
🔎 Spotlight / Diversity In your view, how will the landscape of journalism change when there are more diverse voices? More people will feel valued by the media, and there’ll be a more positive reception of journalism because people will actually be represented. People are so disenfranchised by the media. They don’t look at it, they don’t care about it. If you’ve got more diversity, you’ll have more interesting stories of the people bringing their own cultures and aspects to everything. That’s what makes good journalism.
By Chloé Meley What got you into journalism in the first place? I loved to talk when I was a kid, and I was very inquisitive. I was never afraid to ask for clarification, and sometimes the teachers who weren’t able to answer my questions were very dismissive. I think that’s what gave me the determination to keep asking questions.
Image: Brian’s Photo Studio
Giovanni Dennis 🎤 Broadcast 2019 Anchor for Television Jamaica
Who is your dream interviewee? Will Smith – he’s my favourite actor. I like his determination; he always bounces back, regardless of what he’s going through. I would also love to interview Vybz Kartel. He’s a Jamaican entertainer who has been convicted for murder, and he still dominates the music space right now, even in prison. He’s very, very interesting in terms of his life, his work, his music; everything about him is just extraordinary. What’s the most interesting element of your job? Being able to shine a light on issues affecting marginalised people and being able to give a voice to the voiceless. Whenever my colleagues and I are doing a story about issues affecting people, we do it to the best of our ability because we know the platform that we have. We know that people will see it, and we know that it often generates discussion and forces action from those in authority. That humbles me.
🔎 Spotlight / Diversity What can be done to make journalism, as a career, more attractive to underrepresented groups? There needs to be more people from ethnic minority backgrounds writing about issues affecting ethnic minorities. Only then will people who are marginalised be able to better relate to what is being written about them. It’s hard to have someone who’s not an ethnic minority telling you about your situation because, truly, they can’t understand and grasp what you’ve experienced fully.
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Image: Nick Ferris
Image: Jessica Browne-Swinburne
Jessica Browne-Swinburne 📝 Magazine 2019 Staff writer at the PPA By Sorcha Mondon
What’s one piece of advice that someone gave you when you were starting out that has really stuck with you? My tutor Jason always said to just pick up the phone. I get stuff done so much more quickly when I do that. I would have never done that before City, but now it’s second nature. Learning that at an early stage has been such a good thing for me. What was the last piece of journalism you listened to that you really loved? A podcast series called The Other Latif by Radiolab. It’s about a journalist named Latif Nasser who tracks down his namesake in America, who happens to be in Guantanamo Bay. It’s a hard-hitting six-part series that looks at the corruption in the American prison system and the history of Guantanamo itself. Crazy stuff! Who is your dream interviewee? Probably Ira Glass, the host and producer of This American Life, which is a radio show I listen to it in podcast form. It’s one of my favourite shows. I love the storytelling. It’s always so revealing about how we are as humans and how we react and respond to things around us. I would want to ask him why he created the show, why he called it what he did, and his favourite episodes.
By Charlotte Rawlings
What is the most interesting element of your job? I’ve ended up speaking to members of Parliament and the House of Lords almost every day, which is slightly surreal because I’m such a recent graduate. The variety of people who are willing to speak to you about what they care about is probably the most interesting thing. It’s work, but also a pleasant way to spend your time. What is the last piece of journalism that you listened to that you really loved? Recently, I listened to Jon Ronson’s podcast series about the porn industry called The Butterfly Effect. It was the first thing I consumed about the porn industry that really assessed the ramifications. It was an interesting way to look at such a powerful, important instance of modern life that hasn’t really been assessed before. It’s amazing, and I’d really recommend it. Who is your dream interviewee? It has to be Donald Trump. A sit down, Emily Maitlis-style Newsnight interview with Trump is like a journalistic fantasy!
By Kay Leong What skills did you learn at City that have been most useful to you throughout your career? City was a real confidence booster. I was never shy, but journalism felt daunting when I first started. I remember during patch, I was petrified to talk to anyone, but City keeps making you produce stuff and keeps putting you out of your comfort zone, so by the end, I was nowhere near as scared. What is the most interesting element of your job? Our publication focuses on the transition to clean energy, so we are very global-facing. It’s been really interesting looking at trends, policy and market forces at a macro scale.
2010 - 2020
Image: Ed Campbell
Ed Campbell 🎤 Broadcast 2020 Politics videographer for PoliticsJOE
Nick Ferris 🕵️ Investigative 2020 Data journalist at Energy Monitor
Currently, I’m writing a story on airports under construction and the environmental concerns surrounding that. I’m contacting people from all four corners of the globe because the story is on such a grand scale. It really feels like you’re tackling the most pressing issues of the moment. What is the last piece of journalism that you read that you really loved? The Sunday Times’ interview with Jordan Peterson was interesting. It definitely made me think, as all this talk around him is so toxic. I found their approach really interesting.
🔎 Spotlight /Technology How has technology and the way that news is now consumed affected the way journalism is made? The prevalence of social media and digital media has almost blunted journalism. Things like SEO content have people writing about things that aren’t actually that important. It’s valid information to dish out, but I think it’s only good if it goes alongside proper, important journalism. There’s obviously some fantastic journalism on social media, but there’s a lot of rubbish people put out: easily consumable stuff that people will forget about in an hour. Sometimes it’s like the chicken or the egg. Journalists and newsrooms start using social media because it gives them the opportunity to share their content, but then it runs the risk of becoming: “What is the most shareable?”
🔎 Spotlight /Technology How has technology and the way that news is now consumed affected the way journalism is made? Everything is search engine orientated. It’s all in the headline, and everything is about getting hits – this is a massive trend. We risk losing the depth and complexity that makes journalism interesting.
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XCITY / Features
Day in the life of a locked-down journo Embarrass yourself on Zoom. Cry into your Cheerios. Procrastinate. From killer pitch ideas to heartburn, Ella Doyle lives the (remote) dream 7.00
I wake up, draw open the curtains. Curtains, curtains, I think to myself. They’re like a window to the universe. I wonder if anyone’s ever written about their appeal. Perhaps there’s an expert on that. Memo to self: check for curtain expert.
8.00
I flick on Capital FM. Miley Cyrus echoes off the white tiles. Suddenly – oh god – I catch myself in the bathroom mirror. Miley Cyrus, really? A sombre face stares back at me. Begrudgingly, I switch over to the news, cursing myself. Must not enjoy music, I tut. Never enjoy music. There’s no time. “BBC News,” the radio barks. Headlines, statistics. Coronavirus, coronavirus. Must not do the BBC theme tune TikTok dance. Resist.
9.00
Time for breakfast. Cheerios. I make sure to tweet: “I love Cheerios.” That should do it. I check it 19 times before noon. Only four likes. Barry at the office always laughed at my jokes. Should’ve waited till 11, I wince, as I click the dishwasher into gear. Dishwashers, I think. I wonder if anyone’s ever written about those. There must be an expert on that.
10.30
Zoom editorial conference. Must make sure not to stare at myself. Should have removed that glass of wine on the mantelpiece. Is my right side better, I wonder, or my left? Right? Left. Definitely left. Slight tilt of the head, there we go. Wait. Did someone just say my name?
13.00
Lunch. I really think there’s something in that dishwasher feature, you know. I eat a rice cake standing up, go back to my desk, and feel the creep of heartburn from lack of chewing.
14.00
Writing, writing, writing, I love writing. Tip-tippety-tap goes the keyboard. The soundtrack to my life. Ideas flow out of me like silk. I birth words like tiny children. I watch them dance together on the page. What a lark, what a joy it is to be a writer!
15.00
I simply am not a gifted writer. I can’t write. Not a word. How did this sentence become 60 words long?
158 |
15.30
Fuck, it’s 3.30.
15.59
Sent. A minute before the deadline. That was excellent, I thought.
16.01
I think that piece is the worst thing I’ve ever written in my entire life.
18.00
Time for my evening yoga. This pose is called “the commute”: I like to perch on the edge of the bed with headphones in, whilst my flatmate sits much too close beside me. It’s been a real saviour since lockdown began.
19.00
The daily switch from joggers to pyjamas. Ah, the circle of life.
20.00
I draw the curtains. I bet The Guardian hasn’t done a curtains feature yet. Must pitch that in the morning. Image: Agnes Chapman Wills
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THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION