Journalism

To  get you started here is the first exciting and very handy batch of interview summaries and more can be read at the SECOND PAGE OF INTERVIEW SUMMARIES!

Rafael Epstein – Investigative journalist (THE AGE)

How Rafael started:  

• He saw a career counselor and they suggested journalism

• He was rejected twice from RMIT and completed a  Science Degree and most of an Arts degree at Melbourne University instead. He was unorganized and submitted most of his work late. He also worked for the local Australia Israel Review when he was at uni

• He applied for a cadetship at the ABC (1000 other people applied) but he knew a bit about the person sorting the CV’s and how to approach him. He wrote a brightly colored cover letter (which he feels was ashamedly arrogant in hindsight), however it seemed to work with this particular recruiter. He had a very limited folio to take, except for 2 radio shows from RRR, some uni articles and some unpaid contributions to a small magazine. Despite this he received the cadetship and stayed with the ABC for more than fifteen years. There he worked on differing stories and obtained very diverse experience from working in Europe, The Middle East, East Timor, Indonesia, the 2006 World Cup in Soccer and the Federal Election in Australia in 1998. He is now an established investigative journalist after working on several breaking stories (including reports on the gangland wars in Melbourne and the Mohammed Haneef case) and currently works for The Age.

TIPS AND TRICKS 

• Never stop calling people
• Build up contacts and never loose them
• Subscribe to press releases  
• Speak to lots of people even if it leads to nothing a lot of the time
• Read shit you’re interested in
• If you really want to win a Walkley, it will come to you but its bad motivation for chasing a story  
• Every journalist is investigative, but as an investigative journalist you have more space
• Through Rafael’s experience with his ‘gangland wars’ reports, where he was under considerable pressure to release his sources, he emphasizes that as an investigative journalist it is critical that you do not get a reputation that you will disclose your sources.
• If your stories anger a government its not neccesarily a bad thing 
• After winning a Walkley award for this story, he acknowledges that the Government pressure did contribute to being nominated for the prestigious award
• Tips for breaking stories, is to closely read transcripts and find facts that have differences or faults in them, which can be your points to address. Rafael also suggests that you need to pick your areas of interest and set up processes to enable you to find breaking stories in those areas. Such as with Rafael’s current interest in Defence, he subscribes to the press releases from that department and stay informed on issues and find when ‘facts’ are differing. “You sometimes need to speak with lots of people and it may lead to nothing” and if you have a story make sure you get it out anywhere you can, radio, your blog, send it to someone you know in the industry.
• Being an investigative journalist also means there is less collaboration between writers, as the competition is fierce and very aggressive from some papers. People are constantly chasing stories
• “Breaking stories are gold in the newsroom”.
• Always question the validity of your story and check your facts and whether it is “ verifiable enough to publish”.
• Confessions are a part of human nature, people like talking so find people to back up your story, check if the document you are using is real and never stop calling people. Rafael’s number one tip is to build up your contacts and never lose them!
• In a competitive industry if you say no to your bosses too often they will stop asking you to cover certain stories or areas of interest
• But he confirms the point, “it is a great career”.
• The changing climate in journalism with online media and 24 hours news cycles does mean that you no longer have slow days waiting for breaks; you have to constantly seek stories. “We are living in the midst of a Revolution”. Rafael comments that reporters such as Nick McKenzie (also at The Age) are constantly on their phones and email investigating and finding stories.
• When queried about balancing a family and journalism, Rafael admits that it is challenging, especially for women, but regular hours can be managed once your career is established and he states, “if you want to do it, it is fun, exciting, fast paced and if you get bored easily it works well because you simply change stories.

Is Investigative Journalism dying? No, certainly not with The Age or ABC. The Age added Rafael into their team of 3 without having a position available and the Sydney Morning Herald have at least 3 or 4 ongoing investigative journalists.

Reading advice: See http://journalism-research.blogspot.com/2010/06/review-flat-earth-news-by-nick-davies.html for information about Nick Davies’ book on the current state of journalism or “churnalism” as he calls it.

Catherine Deveny: Freelance Journalist, author of several books and comedian

How her career at The Age began and ended:  

• She asked for work at The Age after working on ROVE and other freelance jobs. She was offered a temporary column commenting on TV for 4 weeks with the last column centered on the Logies (which she has done every year since). At the end of this she was offered an ongoing column and later this was moved to the ‘opinions’ section – where she was for over 10 years. Here she wrote controversial commentary on the TV industry and other topics as she states, “all I can do is tell the truth.”
• When she was offered a job in the opinions section and she said, “I’m just a suburban mum”, which the editor at the time replied “perfect, the suburban perspective “. At which Catherine continued, “but I don’t even read the newspapers, I skim the headlines from international papers online”, and the editor replied “perfect, the global perspective”. Catherine jokes, “yeah the suburban, global perspective, a real niche market.” This job turned into ten years writing a column at The Age. Throughout that time, she was spoken to about swearing on Twitter and asked to “stop ranting” – which Catherine highlights is a term only used for women. Later she was also banned from writing about the Catholic Church or atheism (she only wrote 12 out of 600 columns on Atheism, which The Age or perhaps their vested interest in the Catholic Church, led them to a decision that this should be banned). She was also banned from writing on Anzac day and what it represents (but a man was allowed to write on it in the same week Catherine had requested to air her opinions, in the opinions section about what she thinks Anzac Day stands for and how if Political Leaders want to start wars they should be prepared for them and their sons to be on the frontline). She also had a fairly long-standing pay dispute after her wages were cut by 40% for performing the same tasks. Thus, Catherine believes her Twitter case from the Logies was the perfect excuse for them to sack her. She started her writing at The Age with the Logies and ended with it the same commentary (and contributing factors) leading to her sacking. “The Age was leaned on very heavily by the Catholic church to have me leave” since her recent stand-up show on Atheism and her ban from talking about religion and pedophilia cases in the Catholic Church in Mildura”

What should upcoming writers talk about if the current environment is so fearful?

• Well don’t write about Bindi, Rove, Anzac Day, Atheism, corporate white maggots or the Logies…
• No do. Write from your heart, the truth is a rare delicacy, people want to hear the truth, edit it later if you need to get it published but never edit yourself when you’re writing, write from the heart and be able to sleep at night.
• #EWF Sing from your heart, write what you fucking want to write. Be brave.
• Do stuff for love, do stuff for money, don't do anything for neither -
• In order to get good work, do good work. 

Other commentary on Twitter and the future of newspapers and journalism:

• In case people didn’t know Twitter is an opt-in, opt-out application.
• Corporate maggots are running a fear campaign at The Age and there is a corporate and Catholic control of the newspaper.
• This incidence has had positive impact on her and a negative impact on her colleagues. Catherine comments that writers are running scared at the moment in relation to Twitter – they don’t know what to write and how to write now, with the fact that freedom of speech is gone in this application, which is used, largely by comedians and writers.   (No right to be offended: twitter link to audio)
• Newspapers have vested interests in corporate enterprises – this affects everything they do and when they start loosing money the hidden agendas come out more. They are struggling with social networking tools, which have gone over their heads.
• Newspapers run by issues with gender, class and relevance deprivation. “The state of newspapers is like watching a house you lived in go to ruins. Australian mainstream media is being run by middle aged, middle class, white men who are desperate to hold on to the power and continue their ‘prefect club’ in corporate Australia.”
• “When the GFC hit, old media realized they were on their way out and men at the top are lining their pockets with money while cutting jobs and the pay of the writers, who are being managed by a fear campaign.”
• Journalism was once a carefully crafted trade, however, bloggers have changed this and now you cannot write and not be ‘in it’ (particularly the comedic, social commentators who write). Journalists are so under the pump that they cannot even learn the craft like they used to in downtime as they are constantly racing for next story or Australia’s great writers are going into spin (politics).
• Mainstream media in print and TV is being run by fictious “mainstream audience”, like “imaginary nana in the sky that they blame their content decisions on”, content produced for the LCD’s (Lowest Common Dominators = Hey Hey its Saturday viewers)

Where to now?

• “I’m going to move to an independent publisher online, where I can now talk about exactly how things are, things The Age told her she couldn’t discuss. A media source, without the corporate maggots or robots”
• “I don’t always agree with myself either but I’m not scared of a rigorous debate”

Herald Sun Journalist, David Hastie

*Information from his presentation at the Industry Day, through MEAA in May 2010

How he started:

• He tried 3 times for a cadetship and finally received one at The Herald Sun. Following this period a job opened in the Real Estate section. He did not know very much but believes you learn more in one week at a paper than 3 years at university. Last year he worked in a position at the New York Post, as a reward for his ‘Young Journalist of the Year’ News award in 2008.  

TIPS AND TRICKS

About the Industry:

• Cadetships involve long hours and often include terrible jobs but you need to keep the faith and persist.  
• Newspapers are different commodities now with different deadlines and different types of editors. Redundancies are ongoing and if someone resigns now they do not get replaced, with the work being reshuffled around remaining staff.  

How to get a job

• Don’t pigeon hole yourself 
• Never been harder than now 
• You may want print media but take anything & anywhere in media to begin 
• Get published: community newsletter, community paper, student magazines = anything, it all counts 
• Take rejection and be persistent: He tried 3 times for a cadetship then got one.  
• Call newsroom and offer to do any job: answering phones, photocopying, all the “shitty jobs” can lead to a writing job. When a job opened up, he got it
• Learn more in a week at a paper then 3 years at uni
• Cadetships – last year 0 at Herald Sun, 3 @ The Age, ABC always a few
• Know your product, know each paper and their differences, know what you want to do there and know what you can give to the paper
• It’s very hard…cadets work long hours, terrible jobs (like death calls) and shitty pay but keep faith and persist
• Changing times: different commodities, different deadlines, and different editors. Current redundancies don’t get replaced, everyone does everything but also means there are fewer specialized staff, so if have a story on areas not regularly covered pitch it
• If you have a story, ask to speak with the Chief of staff and have a coffee = everyone is interested in breaking a story
• Cultivate contacts
• *Read papers EVERYDAY
• Read journalists you like and copy their style
• NO EXCUSE FOR BAD COPY – write well
• Never been harder but can be a positive element – those who are proactive and persist will get jobs
• Call paper and ask for a job, regularly, it will work
• Keep rejection letters and look back on when you have a job and are successful
• Don’t think you’re not good enough (without being cocky)
• You can move through the ranks once you are in a media company but you need to be proactive and constantly come up with stories.
• You need to be critical, that is what you sign up for with being a journalist
• You will get abusive letters and phone calls so you cannot be too precious. The Chief of Staff may also rip shreds through you if they are under pressure so don’t take it personally.  
• You need to back up your stories with facts and prove your point. You can get the FOI documents from the government, which can help with writing on these issues.
• If you have information, get it out there.
• To be a freelancer is hard: need reputation but need to earn a living too – get published, get name out then think about being a freelance. You also need to focus on a specific area and niche subject such as environment or business. Also it is worth noting that the Real Estate lift out only used freelance writers now due to the decreased numbers in full-time staff. However, it is the freelancers that are first to go in down times in the economy so be prepared for this. Also David suggested that TV was easier to start as a freelancer than print media, such as the sports report on a Sunday night.

Ninemsn Reporter: Jay Savage

*Information from his presentation at the Industry Day, through MEAA in May 2010

How he started:

• He completed a Media degree at Melbourne Uni
• He did not get much work published (as he wasn’t motivated towards Journalism then)
• He got a break with an internship in Beijing as a copy editor for China Daily. This allowed him to work with lots of other journalists and learn tips and tricks from them. This also opened up connections with other colleagues and increased his motivation towards Journalism. He also gained a list of contacts for publishing work and started writing small articles such as reviews and cultural articles. This improved his writing skills massively. He then moved back to Melbourne and started sending out his CV. He received no responses and realized he had to do more than send out CV’s as everyone does this. His advice is to get a list of contacts, get to know the key names and pester them to show your commitment. 6 cadetships were open at Ninemsn and he was lucky to get one of them. This meant he had to move to Sydney, which was hard on intern wages but he worked hard and is now back in Melbourne on normal wages.

TIPS AND TRICKS

• Get published at uni and locally = essential for jobs
• Work overseas – good experience, meet contacts
• Get contacts for publishing work
• Write small stuff, reviews, cultural articles – improves writing skills
• Have to do more than send a CV – everyone sends CV’s
• Get a list of contacts, get to know key names and pester them / show commitment
• Be active in journalism community
• Get your voice out
• Look at journo’s that are doing good work and work out why and how
• Apply to local paper, pitch stories (good or bad) just pitch
• Always take a pitch to an interview – a story that you could write
• With a place like Ninemsn they always promote internally before even looking externally

Jesse Hogan, AGE Sports Reporter

*Information from his presentation at the Industry Day, through MEAA in May 2010

How he started:

• Jesse tried lots of things on his path to being a sports journo
• Did lots of unpaid work for uni newspapers, radio news and covered local games for community papers (in the Leader Group). Did get any money but build a good profile
• Received an online internship at The Age

TIPS AND TRICKS

• Write a list of journo’s you like and why: style, contacts, type of stories (press galleries vs. celebrities)
• Break away from the group
• Get a work placement (it is not structured and you can show you are ready to work). Try and get something published (even a small story). Step up and don’t tag along.
• There is a fine line between arrogance and confidence. Step up but don’t act stuffy.
• Don’t get snooty about where you start. Small regional work is the best.  Editors think this work is better because you do everything at small places.
• Don’t bluff your way through in you’re a novice.
• While conducting interviews in a new area (i.e. when he started in Business reporting) acknowledge that you don’t know everything as people appreciate honesty. But you do need to know some common terms and use them.
• Such as with his work in Sport, you need to not get overly impressed with ‘stars’ – stay focused and not too friendly as you will need to write the truth if they do something controversial or have a career slump
• Must be multi-skilled (online formats, TV and Film)
• Be proud of your work and get angry if you see a spelling mistake in published work – it does matter and you need to be passionate.
• Have to do death knocks on grieving families. The job of a journalist is not glamorous. Sometimes it is hard to tune out but you need to remain respectful to interviewees such as this. The Chief-of-Staff can demand that you go back and interview grieving people and if you say no, you may loose future work. Jesse was asked to go to a family who is grieving and ask them not to talk to anyone other reporters, but he did not do it. You need to be careful that you don’t go into any job with a negative attitude and look at the positive (such as helping families talk about issues, letting them grieve)
• Adjust portfolio to the job you are going for: i.e. 300-500 words on hard news stories for The Herald Sun compared with longer articles and features for The Age.
• For new stories you need to think outside the box and find something different i.e. local sporting heroes, Olympians who are working at McDonalds. Find people you can contact and talk to someone who knows someone. Write about things that happen around you.
• Get a job as an editorial assistant (although these jobs have reduced). But these sorts of jobs are perfect to learn and get noticed. You sit right next to the Editor and the Chief-of-Staff and you conduct research and other jobs that can lead to stories. Jobs will come to those who are known. 

AND MANY MANY MORE CAN BE READ AT THE SECOND PAGE OF INTERVIEW SUMMARIES.