How to be a Journalist

I’ve been lucky enough to have worked with some extremely talented journalists over the years. Many of them have delivered sage words of advice. Some are still ringing in my ears. For anyone aspiring to be a penniless freelancer who can only afford to live in Africa, here are some of the nuggets that helped me get where I am today…

• Volunteer for everything – family friend and journalist
• The newsroom is not a democracy – editor of The Chester Chronicle (expletives removed)
• If you go out for lunch with the proofreader, make sure lunch figures somewhere – editor-in-chief of The Chester Chronicle
• Always get the most expensive haircut you can afford – content editor of The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)
• The newsroom is not a debating chamber – deputy chief sub of The Herald (Glasgow)
• You can’t libel scum – chief sub of The Herald, while pondering whether I could label a man convicted of dealing heroin and murder as a Glasgow “crimelord”