HARRIET SWAIN

Newspaper

Freelance education journalist

By Ella Gauci

What is the most useful skill you learned at City that you still use today?

Shorthand – and asking for clarifcation if I don’t understand what an interviewee is talking about.

Have you ever experienced sexism in your career?

Of course. Usually – but not exclusively – from interviewees, and mostly when I was younger. My frst job was at The Evening Standard diary and part of it involved going to events and getting famous men to say stupid things. I was supposed to do this merely by being a young woman listening to them when they were drunk, so sexism was built into the role – although to my advantage. Another low moment was being handed a half-fnished pint by a man I was vox popping at a Gary Glitter concert at the Birmingham NEC and being asked to hold it while he went to the toilet.

What has been the highlight of your career?

Interviewing the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. He was worried about his English and I was worried about the whole thing – as interviewing was part of what he was famous for – but we ended up talking for a long time and it was an incredibly special experience, especially as he died just a few months later.

Who is a person you fnd inspiring and why?

Anyone who pursues journalism in a country in which journalists are persecuted.