On 16 October 2020, BSME committee member and Vice Chair Laura Rowe virtually visited the Journalism course at Cardiff University for a guest lecture.
What We Learnt
Summarised by Megan Dickson
BA (Hons) Journalism, University of Roehampton. 2016-2019 – First-Class Honours.
As part of BSME Education in association with Readly, Laura Rowe, BSME 2020 vice chair, journalist, author of Taste: The Infographic Book of Food, and former editor of olive magazine, spoke to Cardiff University’s MA Journalism students on Friday, 16th October. Laura herself is a graduate of Cardiff University, after studying English Literature she returned as a guest lecturer, and over Zoom Laura inspired, gave invaluable advice and answered the burning questions of tomorrow’s journalists. Here is a summary of what we learnt:
As a journalist your career path will never be linear
Reflecting on her own career progression, which involved writing for the student magazine and paper at Cardiff University while she was a student, to a variety of work experience roles, to then gaining her first major role in regional magazines. She would later climb her way up the food journalism world to eventually become editor of olive magazine where she remained for five years. Laura told the students to be open and flexible. “As a journalist you are never going to have a linear career progression,” she said. “Part of what makes it so exciting is that you have so many different opportunities,” Laura added, “so be open to them. You could have a plan to stay in Cardiff or you could have a plan to move to Manchester. But, I think having that flexibility and looking at the opportunities when they come is a really good attitude to have as a journalist because it is an exciting industry so don’t limit yourself.”
Work experience should also be for finding out what you don’t want to do
“Work experience shouldn’t just be for you learning what you do want to do and making contacts, it should also be for learning what you don’t want to do,” Laura said. In her early career, Laura worked at the Treasury press office as an assistant press officer during a summer and, while she enjoyed it, decided politics or PR wasn’t for her. “Journalism is this huge, broad industry and there are so many different types of jobs, so work experience is a great way to dip your toes in to find jobs that you do like.” As Laura showed from her own career, work experience can also lead to permanent jobs if you work hard and the timing is right. Her best advice for impressing your employers during a work placement? Be helpful and make lots of cups of tea. “Make your editor’s life as easy as possible,” she said. “You need to get stuck in, be a good team player and help people out.” Laura later told the students that she once applied for a job, which she didn’t end up getting, but she was then able to get regular freelance work with the brand. She said, “It is always worth applying for jobs and brands that interest you, because even if that particular role doesn’t work out, you can make contacts and that can lead to other opportunities.”
What makes a great editor?
Laura said she was able to progress very fast in career because her journey started in local publishing and she learnt how to do a lot of things really quickly. She also said that there will become a point in your career when you have to decide if you want to become an editor or a writer. If you want to be a successful editor, you have to make the title a commercially viable brand. “It is really important to understand commercials because if you can’t make the business sustainable then you don’t have a job,” Laura said. “The job of an editor is curating all these great ideas and then making sure you tell these stories to your audience in the right way, on the right platform.”
The fundamentals of journalism is storytelling
Laura said they are endless opportunities in the industry. As an example, she shared a food photo and listed all the people involved in creating that image. “There are a lot of people that contribute to one image so there are a lot of opportunities for roles that you might not have even thought of. A journalist doesn’t just have to be a writer,” she said. Laura noted the influence of the digital era on the changing journalism industry and said that both print and digital should be influencing each other, but that the fundamentals of journalism are: “telling a good story, connecting with your audience and real attention to detail.”
Don’t start a blog unless you are serious
When Laura took over as editor at olive, it was policy they wouldn’t take on candidates for work experience unless they had a food blog (although she later changed this to make the opportunity more accessible and inclusive). Crucially, though, if you are going to start a blog, she believes you have to be serious about it. “You need to make sure you are writing and editing your copy as if it is like work, if you’re going to be showing it to a potential employer.”Laura also talked about approaching a personal blog with a brand strategy. She said: “Be authentic to you but figure out what your niche is, what your tone of voice is, why people would come to your blog and want to read it – and then be consistent! A good brand should be distinctive.”
What skills do you need as a journalist?
Laura emphasised the core skill needed to become a successful journalist is to be hard working and spoke of how you have to be driven because the life of a journalist involves long hours and you will need to network. “You will need to know what is happening in the news, you need to be reading from the minute you wake up,” Laura said. You also have to be ready for rejection. She said, “There is a lot of rejection in journalism – you need to have quite broad shoulders. You need to be confident and connect with people – even if you’re an introvert – whether you are getting a story out of them or you’re extending your network.”
Value yourself
Laura’s advice for when being interviewed for a job, was to be confident and research the brand as this will show great research skills as well as commitment. She also said that as a recent graduate or student you may not have that much experience but to show your employer that you are willing to learn and be enthusiastic. As the talk came to an end, Laura left Cardiff students with some final inspirational advice: “Don’t work for free,” she said. “Do one week or two weeks of work experience at a brand and then get paid. Get a few pieces of work published if you want, but then get paid. Never keep underselling yourself, make sure you value yourself because you are worth it.”
