DANIEL GLYDE Television

Certified Life Coach; Freelance Video/Television Producer and Director; Communications Expert and PR Consultant

By Emily Smith

What’s your best and worst memory from the course?

My best was easily being shown around BBC Television Centre very early on. I walked in there and thought: ‘I’m going to work here.’ Worst of all is probably being chased down Camden High Street by two shop security guards with a tripod and camera under my arm. We were just trying to get some GB’s for something we were working on.

If you were starting again as a journalist today, how would you go about it? What would you do differently?

If I could go back again I would do it earlier. I didn’t go to City until I was 28. I’ve always been a journalist, always been a writer, but I do wish I’d done my postgraduate course at City sooner.

What is the main challenge to journalism in current times?

I think the diffculty now is that everyone’s a bloody journalist, aren’t they? I think it’s the fake news thing, it’s very diffcult to stand out in a world full of clickbait. Being able to tell genuane, authentic stories, whilst making them sexy enough to cut through all the platforms is hard. I think now it’s so much more of a crowded marketplace so the challenge is directing people to well thought out, longform content.

What is something you wish someone would have told you about the industry when you frst started? Don’t be exploited! Know your worth early on. You have to put yourself out there and do a bit of work for free to get yourself known but be careful not to cross a line where you’re only working for free and being exploited. Don’t put your job before your personal wellbeing.

What do you listen to when you’re working hard?

I don’t listen to music whilst I’m working. I do, however, use a lot of meditation apps that have background music or binaural beats. I use binaural beats to wake me up sometimes –they’re two frequencies that work alongside each other to stimulate your brain in different ways.

Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met?

Dustin Hoffman is probably the most famous Hollywood actor that I’ve met, but I’ve also met Westlife loads of times.

Kelly (Fabulous celebrity editor and City alumna) and I love Westlife – we’ve gone to the pub with them! They did the News UK Christmas party one year and it was surreal.

Do you do journalism full time and do you think journalists get paid enough?

I’m freelance and have been for 11 years. Freelance rates are actually falling, so I can’t say much for staff writers. Rates aren’t even remaining stagnant. I do journalism full-time but I’ve recently started doing pharmaceutical work as well. I work from home, my husband works away, and I have two kids. I very rarely feel like I’m striking the balance but I feel like that’s the nature of freelance – famine or feast. We have to work late into the night, doing crazy hours and working at crazy speeds. It’s very unpredictable in terms of workload, so busy periods of freelance on top of normal life can happen. It’s not uncommon for me to work over the weekends as well. Purse strings are being tightened and everybody has to make cuts in order to try to keep their jobs. They’ve been tightening for such a long time, you wonder how much tighter it can get. When I frst went into journalism there was a lot more money in it but now there defnitely isn’t the same.

Do you have any family members in the industry?

No, I am not a nepo-baby, no media family. It’s probably even harder to get into the industry now than when I did.

I was lucky to start at a time when you could still get in as a trainee. It’s why I went to City – I knew it would open doors and help me get a foot in the doors.

What do you think is the main challenge to journalism in current times?

I think a lot of people no longer want to engage with news, opinion, or comment pieces. They get all of their information from social media instead. The lack of engagement with what journalists do is a big issue (although there are loads of other problems). If social media is there to give journalistic information, what are journalists here for?

Have you ever negotiated your salary?

Since I’ve been freelance, I’ll certainly try to negotiate rates if I think they don’t match with what I’m being asked to do. I’ve been doing this a very long time, I know what stories are worth and I’m not willing to settle. I’ve been doing real life journalism since 2006 and have an idea about which places can afford to give a little bit more. If we as journalists don’t value our time, work and craft by selling it for too little, we’re contributing to the downward spiral.