Journalism lecturer Tom Hill lets us know the key qualities that make up a good working journalist
Tom Hill
After 13 years as a TV journalist, Tom Hill changed direction to lecture in journalism at Bournemouth University. Currently he is teaching Entrepreneurial Journalism as part of their Mix-tape Media MA course. He also runs Up To Speed, a journalism training company. Tom tells us how teaching allows him to learn continually, often from his own students.
What inspired you to become a writer?
As a child I always enjoyed reading and I was always interested in people and their stories. Like many journalists, my first dream was to be a novelist and I was always intrigued by the potted biographies of writers printed in the front covers of their books.
I noticed that people like Jack London had worked as a gold prospector, a longshoreman and an oyster pirate before turning to writing. I tried to follow in his footsteps, but only managed to add kitchen porter, bus boy and wild oat puller to my CV.
At university I studied Social Anthropology and in my final year Michael Buerk’s reports from Ethiopia for the BBC inspired me to pursue journalism as a career.
Did you receive any formal journalistic training?
Yes. My first newspaper sent me away on day release to take the National Council for the Training of Journalists’ Certificate in Journalism, but I also learned a great deal through feedback on my writing from my editor John Tanner and from many sub-editors over the years, who managed to improve my prose. I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to David Hutchinson, my history teacher, who drilled us all in writing essays.
How did you find your first job in the media?
I wrote to a newspaper in North Wales to ask if they had any work experience opportunities and someone handed in her resignation during the two weeks I was there.
Where are we likely to see your work?
My writing is now confined to my blog, which is about journalism and the education of journalists. You can see it at http://uptospeedjournalism.com
Do you specialise in a particular writing topic or genre?
I write about journalism, because that is what I now teach and I hope that my blog can offer help, encouragement and context to people interested in becoming journalists.
How did you come to be a lecturer at Bournemouth University?
I was looking for a new challenge after 13 years in daily television news. Working at the university offered a chance to apply my knowledge and experience in a different way.
Over the last eight years I have also learned a great deal from the people I have taught. Students were ahead of everyone else when it came to texting and Facebook and one of them showed me a new iPhone application only yesterday.
What does Entrepreneurial Journalism mean to you?
Creativity and the ability to come up with ideas, resilience and dogged determination in making something out of those ideas - these are qualities that successful entrepreneurs and good reporters share.
In a world where platforms for speedy and effective communication are expanding every day, there are opportunities for professional journalists who understand the bottom line in business as well as the top line of a story.
This isn’t just a theory of mine. I have been running Up To Speed, my own journalism training company, for three years and so I have the opportunity to reflect on this every day.
What are the biggest challenges of being a journalist?
One of the biggest challenges for most journalists I know is in finding a work-life balance. That’s not just because it’s a 24-7 world that never sleeps. It’s because once you are hooked on chasing stories and seeing your name in print or on the screen - it has a habit of taking over.
What are the biggest perks?
It sounds like a cliché to say that no two days are ever the same, but there is a lot of truth in it. There are also huge ego boosts - like press boxes at football grounds, press galleries in parliament, press benches in court, press copies of new books and press tickets to premieres.
How do you divide your time between writing and teaching?
I’m lucky because most of my teaching is about writing for television, newspapers or the web. I tend to do that during the day. Writing for my blog tends to happen in the evenings or at weekends.
What has been the highlight of your career so far?
The letters I, T, N come together in the word WITNESS and in 1997 I witnessed a remarkable year while working at ITN. It was a year in which there were two important weeks in Britain’s history - the untimely death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the election of the first Labour Government in 18 years.
What advice would you offer an aspiring writer?
Read, write, believe in yourself and never give up when you’ve found a good story.
Related posts:
- Debbie Willimott lets us in on how being a work experience monkey at Marie Claire started her journalism career - Debbie Willimott is a freelance writer who contributes regularly to...
- Editor and writer Alexandra Shakespeare tells us what she’s learnt during her years of working journalism jobs - Alexandra Shakespeare is a magazine editor and journalist with 12...
- New freelancer Emma Daly explains the need for determination in finding journalism jobs - Emma Daly has been published in The University of Reading's...
- Journalism jobs - and why journalism is such a tough profession to get into - As the recession hits the UK journalism job market hard,...
- Stuart George describes the pleasures of being a wine journalist - Stuart George is a freelance journalist specialising in wine, art,...
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment