Sub-Editor - Practical Publishing

Practical Publishing - publisher of such renowned craft magazines as Simply Cards & Papercraft, and Complete Cardmaking - is recruiting a sub-editor.

You'll need all the usual subbing skills, plus a 'thorough grounding' in Microsoft Office and familiarity with QuarkXPress. The job is based in south Manchester.

Apply with CV and covering letter to senior editor Diane Grimshaw at diane.grimshaw@practicalpublishing.co.uk. Deadline Tuesday 8 December.

Reporter - Brentwood Gazette

Essex Northcliffe weekly the Brentwood Gazette is hiring a reporter.

You'll need to be NCE-qualified 'or equivalent', but other than that, details are sketchy - we defy you to find something else in the six paragraph job ad that really adds to your understanding of what they're looking for. Lots of talk about having the 'tenacity to get the job done without taking no for an answer' ... you know the drill.

If you're interested, email CV, clips and covering letter to the editor Deanne Blaylock, at deanne.blaylock@gazettenews.co.uk. Deadline Friday 11 December.

Will readers pay for online news?

So, the great charging-for-content experiment starts here. Six Johnston Press titles are trying new online models from today.

The Northumberland Gazette, Whitby Gazette and Southern Reporter are to start charging for content - £5 per reader for three months of complete web access. (That's in theory - in practice, you can still read content on the Whitby Gazette just fine, unless it they've decided it will apply only to new stories, which isn't clear).

More pointlessly controversially, the Carrick Gazette, Worksop Guardian and Ripley and Heanor News are abandoning the notion of online news entirely, simply redirecting readers back to the newspaper after a one-par summary of each story.

It's not just local papers - increasing numbers of trade magazines are considering some kind of barrier, with the Health Service Journal due to put up a subscription barrier to protect its print magazine subs on Friday. And the nationals - led by Rupert Murdoch, of course - are beavering away at some kind of paying solution.

It needs to be done, of course. How to make online journalism pay is the key challenge facing the industry at the moment.

But here's why it's taken so long - and why no one's all that keen. Just like trench fighting in the First World War, we're losing the war of attitition, so we need to charge. It may or may not work, if we all do it - but what's certain is that whoever goes over the top first is going to get shot.

Good luck guys, the future of the industry depends upon you. We'll be right behind you.

Just your average jobbing journalist...

Is this how they see us? Really?

The 10,000 Words blog has had a quick rummage through some stock photography sites to see what they have listed under 'journalist' - and they came up with this bizarre selection.

It seems that stock photography picture editors think journalism is best illustrated to the wider world not by a bunch of tired-looking, basically normal people who've spent slightly too long in front of the computer - but by crazy-looking guys with comedy sideburns, and improbably leggy nubile young women. Erm... fine by us.

Poll result: Is it OK to make up agony aunt columns?

Hmmn, so our outrage at the FT was far from shared by you all then. Old habits die hard.

Quote of the Day: 29 November 2009

Roy Greenslade, in the aftermath of News of the World sports reporter Matt Driscoll's £792,736 employment tribunal award for having been bullied:

Journalists who have never worked in tabloid newspapers have no idea just how much pressure can be applied to staff. It is a major reason for the publication of so many dodgy stories, not least in the News of the World itself.

If at first you don't succeed...

After the somewhat unsympathetic reaction to young Tom Gockelen-Kozlowski's foray into journalism yesterday (reassuring to find our readers were as unimpressed as we were), we've come across another would-be journalist writing in the Guardian about their struggle to break into the industry. But while Tom is trying to waltz onto a national with neither training nor experience, Jamie Smith - who some unkind commissioning editor has decided to rechristen Jambothejourno - is taking a very different approach.

Over the course of several months, Jamie's been firing off applications, networking like crazy... and keeping at it. The column for the Guardian shows his ambition, but he's willing to learn at a local paper. And after two unsuccessful interviews, at the Congleton Chronicle and the Brighton Argus, he's still trying, learning to drive to make himself more employable.

Today he has an interview with Adfero. The high turnover, £17k salary, online news agency. It's far from his ideal job in journalism, but it's one he'd be very willing to take.

It's unfair to single out someone we've never met, of course. But Jamie, we wish you the best of luck. You deserve it.

Reporter - Guernsey Press

If, like FleetStreetBlues, you've always fancied working on an island (a proper island, as opposed to, well, Britain) then this could be for you. The Guernsey Press & Star is recruiting a reporter.

You'll need to be trained or 'part-trained', whatever that means, and it's only a short-term contract, but they do promise 'first-class facilities' at a 'state-of-the-art news centre'.

To apply, send CV and clips to cv@guernsey-press.com. Deadline tomorrow Friday 27 November.

Doorstepping your way to a job on a national

So unemployed graduate and would-be journalist Tom Gockelen-Kozlowski (now there's a name designed for SEO, if ever there was one) is trying a novel approach to job-hunting.

He's decided to spend the next two weeks doorstepping every national newspaper armed with home-made business cards in a last-ditch attempt to score a journalism job.

He writes (in a Guardian column that he secured via the same stunt):

I'm going to hit every national newspaper's offices in the hope that someone, somewhere, says 'You know what? You ain't half bad. Fancy a job?'

It might sound unrealistic – deluded, even – but if my life is a game of poker then I'm going all in. If nobody utters those magical few words by the first week of December (at the very, very latest) then my dream of wowing people with my witty, regular and paid-for prose will be put on ice. Perhaps permanently.

Now, we would never wish ill on a would-be journalist trying to break into the industry. Tom's certainly got an eye for a (self)publicity stunt, and it's true that buttonholing editors in person is a far more effective - if occasionally unpopular - way of grabbing their attention than sending out emails.

But Roy Greenslade has it right. Walking onto a national straight out of university, without training or any real experience, isn't really practical or desirable either.

There are enough unemployed or soon-to-be-unemployed national journalists scrambling for jobs at the moment, and beyond them are serried ranks of promising local reporters and sharp-skilled trade journalists. To be ready to give up on journalism aged 22 just because you haven't scored a regular gig with a national... well, it kind of suggests you didn't really want it that much in the first place.

News Editor - New Scientist

The New Scientist - bible for geeks of all kinds everywhere - is recruiting a news editor.

You'll need to be a bit of a geek yourself, with a good science degree and understanding of the subject matter. But you'll also need to be a top class news editor, with experience of managing writers and experience of both print and online.

A fuller job description is on Gorkana, not directly linkable. Apply with covering letter, CV and three clips to justine.padfield@rbi.co.uk. Deadline Monday 7 December.

Trainee Reporter - Border Telegraph

Another one north of the border - or pretty much on it, actually, because the paper in question is the Border Telegraph.

They're looking for a trainee reporter, who's already passed their NCTJ prelims, and has good news sense etc. Crucially, you'll also need to be able to drive and have your own car, and applicants should have 'an awareness of the circulation area'. Which is HR-speak for 'live locally'.

Apply via email to dromanes@cfpress.co.uk. Deadline Saturday 5 December.

So who got the BBC political jobs?

An email from a reader, who was one of probably quite a lot of people who applied for the BBC's 12 regional political broadcast journalist positions a few weeks ago.

The reader, and her colleague, both applied; neither have heard anything back yet. Now, it could be that they just didn't come up to scratch... but the BBC's love of job application bureaucracy being what it is, we find it hard to believe they wouldn't get at least an HR department rejection.

So... we thought we'd try a bit of reader interaction, public service blogging. Anyone out there know what's happening? Maybe you applied and did get one of the jobs? Or you work at the BBC and know why they've canned them/haven't made up their minds yet. Let us know in the comments or by emailing fleetstreetblues@hotmail.co.uk. - and we in turn will pass it on to the lucky reader.

FleetStreetBlues. You make it what it is.

Quote of the Day: 23 November 2009

Call girl-turned-scientist Belle de Jour, neatly skewering one of the big problems with journalism (and no, we didn't get the reference either, so it's worth clicking on the link):

There is a lot of manufacture of consent occurring... money being thrown around to chase non-stories, when the people who hold real power are still making dodgy deals in the back rooms with no fear of scrutiny (and for a lot more than £300 an hour, you can bet).

The lesser spotted pay rise: a sighting

After having their paper admit that at least some of what it prints is, well, made up, some better news for journalists over at the Financial Times.

The Press Gazette reports that the FT is to end its year-long pay freeze. It's proposing a two percent pay rise from the New Year and a new minimum salary of £40,000 for fully qualified senior reporters. Amen to that - and let's hope other papers start following suit.

(Memo to younger readers: a 'pay rise' is an incremental uplift in your salary to take account of inflation and reward longevity of service. Ask your dad.)

Trainee Reporter - Telegraph

Back in April, we reported on the dire state of trainee schemes at the nationals, so this is good news. The Telegraph is once again advertising its Editorial Graduate Scheme.

They offer graduates training over at the Press Association, and work placements throughout the Telegraph's shiny multimeeja newsroom, including News, Features, Business, Sport, Video and Design.

To qualify you'll need to be a graduate (they say you 'may have taken a degree where you have been able to use your creative and burgeoning literary skills') and have had work published in print and online. Expect fierce competition.

Apply via the Telegraph website. Deadline next Monday 30 November.

Picture of the Day: 22 November 2009

The scene in the main conference hall this morning at the NUJ's Annual Delegate Meeting in Southport, jam-packed with your hard-working representatives busy securing the future of journalism. Or not.

OK, so seeing as how its ordinary NUJ members' subscriptions that pay for delegates' travel, hotel accomodation and food, you might think they ought to have made an effort to, well, turn up... But cut them some slack. It was a 9.30am start on a Sunday morning, and it was the big dinner last night. Securing the future of journalism is thirsty work.

Senior reporter - Midlothian Advertiser

The Midlothian Advertiser, part of Johnston Press, is recruiting a senior reporter.

You'll be based in Dalkeith which is, we're reliably informed by our Scottish correspondent, an old mining town about 20 minutes east of Edinburgh. It's initially a six month contract, and they want qualifications, so you'll need your NCE or equivalent.

Apply to the editor, Jo Robinson, at jo.robinson@jnlothian.co.uk. Deadline Friday 4 December.

The FT: 'We print fiction'

This is shocking. And it's bad news for journalism that more people don't think it is. A national newspaper has finally admitted, on-the-record, officially, that it makes stuff up. And no, it's not a redtop or the Daily Mail. It's the Financial Times...

Briefly, here's what happened. The FT's writer Lucy Kellaway wrote an agony aunt column in which some of the anonymised details seem to closely match a minor sex scandal in the City last month at insurance giant Aviva.

The Daily Mail picked up on it, reporting that 'avid followers of scandal within the Square Mile quickly put two and two together and came up with. . . the Aviva triangle.'

And so Lucy Kellaway stepped in with a brief statement in which she made it clear that there was no connection to the Aviva scandal, and that she had in fact written the entire letter herself. That's OK then.

We've all been there. Who hasn't been tempted to call it a day on the vox pops a little early, 100% secure in the knowledge that neither readers nor news editor will be able to tell the difference? Who hasn't been tempted to conjure up an anonymous second source with the perfect quote that puts your killer story in exactly the right perspective?

And yes, sometimes, in some places, it happens all the time. Agony aunt columns are a regular offender. Letters to the editor, when the letters page is due and you're short. FleetStreetBlues once knew a journalist - a top-class, investigative journalist, who would never dream of cheating on one of his top-class splashes - who confessed to having made up an entire column of NIBs when he was working a local paper. In the process he got a bit carried away, and accidentally fabricated a minor crime wave in a sleepy rural village, sparking panic among the residents.

It happens. But it really, really shouldn't. As journalism struggles to come to terms with the 21st century, the one thing we've got going for us is that we print facts. And opinion, sure, but it's honestly held, up-to-date, exclusive and fact-based opinion.

The idea that in an age where the sum of all human knowledge is sitting at the end of our keyboard, members of the public will pay to pore over content - agony aunt column or otherwise - that some hack has dreamt up the day before to fill their space on the page is unrealistic, and frankly insulting.

And worst of all? It undermines public confidence in journalists when we have never needed it more. The FT employs a lot of fine journalists who write some of the best, most insightful stuff out there. This morning, there's no reason why their readers should believe any of it.

First, they came for the reporters

As the pre-Christmas job cuts at magazines roll on - staff at IPC Media are the latest victims, but we're hearing worrying rumbles from elsewhere - the fall out from Media Week's move to online-only continues.

paidContent has a detailed analysis of the Haymarket reshuffle here - but according to our man in Hammersmith, it may not have all the detail entirely right.

paidContent says: 'The company’s Campaign and Marketing titles—which are less reliant on ad revenue—are entirely untouched by this round of cuts.'

Hmmn. The way we've heard it, both Campaign and Marketing are being effectively stripped of their reporting teams. Under the new structure, each title will have an editor, deputy editor and four section editors - but none of their own reporters. Separately, there'll be a centralised 'reporting hub' of eight reporters, overseen by a group news editor.

There's no official confirmation of this, of course (and hey, this is a blog - we do enough fact-checking in the day job). But if true, it wouldn't be surprising, and is part of a growing trend in trade magazines. Just three months ago Emap pulled a similar stunt, merging the news teams of the Health Service Journal and Nursing Times.

It's not a good time to be a magazine journalist - and with 2010 budgets still to be signed off, it's probably going to get worse before it gets better.

Reporter - Kent & Sussex Courier

The Kent & Sussex Courier, billing itself as one of the country's biggest paid-for weeklies, is recruiting a senior reporter.

You'll need to be NCE-qualified or equivalent, ready and able to work in an integrated mutlimeeja newsroom, and up for the challenge of working under a new editor. Oh, and you'll be based in Tunbridge Wells. Should be no shortage of letters then.

Apply with covering letter, CV and clips to editor Ian Read at editor@courier.co.uk. Deadline Friday 4 December.

Write about football for the Guardian

We've said it before and we'll say it again - if breaking into journalism is tough, then breaking into sports journalism is really tough. So while this tip from our Blackburn Rovers-supporting correspondent is a bit of a long shot, if you're really determined to make it then it might help you get some experience.

Here's the deal. The Guardian is currently recruiting what it's calling a 'fan's network' to represent all 32 countries that qualified for the World Cup finals.

The ad for the fan's network is extremely vague - but our correspondent emailed them and was sent more info. It reads:

'Guardian Sport has today launched the 'Guardian fans' network'. The Guardian is looking to build a community of supporters for each of the 32 countries that qualify for the World Cup finals. The aim of the network is to enhance the Guardian's coverage of the World Cup, so we can point to fans' blogs and Twitter feeds around the world for every World Cup match.

Those who are selected for the network could also get the chance to write pieces for the newspaper and relevant supplements.

More information on this great opportunity for football bloggers, including details on how to apply, is available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/nov/09/world-cup-2010-guardian-fans-network

Please note, this opportunity is open to bloggers all over the world, as long as the team you support qualifies for next year's tournament. The deadline for applications is 22 November.'

So, the bottom line? If you're selected you might - and that's definitely might rather than will - get published in the paper itself.

Like we said... getting into sports journalism is tough.

Quote of the Day: 18 November 2009

Cardiff University postgrad Josie Allchin, on why even having BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones in as a guest lecturer didn't do much to illuminate the future of journalism:

There’s a reason that our lecturers seem to be telling us the same thing – nobody knows what else to add because they don’t know what will happen next.

Sub Editor - Bolton News

The Bolton News is looking for a sub editor.

You'll need to be both experienced and qualified (NCTJ NCE or equivalent). And confusingly, thanks to the magic of subbing hubs, while you'll be proofing copy about Bolton, you'll actually be living and working in Blackburn. Local journalism for local people.

Apply with CV and covering letter to editor's secretary Lisa Schofield at lschofield@lancashire.newsquest.co.uk. Deadline this Friday 20 November.

RIP Media Week

Another day, another closure.

This time it's a trade magazine, over at Haymarket. Jon Slattery has the details. Media Week was launched in 1985. Yesterday's edition will be its last.

It's not quite dead, of course. It's going online-only. But that's not the exciting fresh start which it should be. After all, look what's happening to Haymarket's other online-only titles:

Online-only brands Marketing Direct and Promotions & Incentives will be integrated into Brand Republic.

It's not particularly surprising news, of course. But even leaving aside the 18 journalists about to lose their jobs, five weeks before Christmas, there have been 24 years of blood, sweat, tears and frustration poured into that magazine, as into any other publication. Read the tributes from some of the alumni on the Media Week website.

Each newspaper, each magazine, each publication that closes deserves to have its passing marked, if only for the sake of all the journalists who ever worked on it. Let them not go quietly into the night.

Political Reporter - European Voice

One of the FleetStreetBlues team once spent some time working in the European parliament, and it's an acquired taste. Byzantine regulations, anonymous politicians, unintelligible acronyms and always the nagging question... what's the point of it all?

But if you can tell the difference between a Rapporteur and a Commissioner, and a special delegation and a special derogation, this would be ideal. European Voice, a weekly newspaper which is part of the Economist group and based in Brussels, is the European political paper-of-record - and it's recruiting a political reporter.

The job requirements are vague, the ad asking only that you can 'write clean, accurate copy', and ideally speak French or another European language. European political knowledge will be a big plus as well though.

Full details on Gorkana, not directly linkable. Apply with CV, clips and covering letter to Operations Director Anne Marchadier at anne.marchadier@economist.com.

Senior Reporter - Shropshire Star

With some journalism jobs, liking the location doesn't matter that much - the people, the job or the stories can be more important. But if you're going to be senior reporter in the district office of a rural regional paper, it's pretty crucial.

Just as well, then, that the district office in question is in Market Drayton, a pretty little market town in north Shropshire and also the 'home of gingerbread', apparently. The paper's the Shropshire Star, and they're looking forward to a fully-qualified senior ready to chase the big exclusives.

Apply to deputy editor Jon Simcock at jsimcock@shropshirestar.co.uk. Deadline Friday 27 November.

Reporter - Legal Business

Legal Business, a monthly B2B aimed at the commercial legal sector, is recruiting a reporter.

Unlike some trade vacancies, here the job requirements are very specific. You'll need 'experience of working on a title targeted at the commercial legal market', an understanding of business and commerce and a proven track record of investigative journalism.

Frankly, it sounds a bit ambitious, but if you fit the bill and you're interested, then you'll be based near High Street Kensington in central London. Full details on Gorkana, not directly linkable.

Apply with CV and covering letter to Director of Operations Mairead Keohane, at mairead.keohane@legalease.co.uk.

Reporter - The News

The News - the local daily paper in Portsmouth - is hiring a reporter.

You'll need to be NCTJ qualified with a nose for an off-diary story and 'the tenacity to get the job done without taking no for an answer'. No other real details in the ad, but if it helps, the news editor's a big fan of Britpop and the Stone Roses (ah Twitter, the end of privacy).

Apply with a covering letter, CV and three examples of your work to graeme.patfield@thenews.co.uk. Deadline Friday 27 November.

If I were a newsreader

In the brave new world of multimeeja journalism, the old boundaries aren't supposed to exist anymore. Benedict Brogan pops up on Telegraph TV. Adam Boulton writes a blog. The line between print and broadcast journalism is becoming increasingly blurred.

And yet... a fundamental divide, real or imagined, remains. Print hacks? Hard-living, socially awkard, perfect-face-for-radio types. TV news reporters? Overpaid showponies more interested in the TV bit than the news.

The stereotypes endure. Stereotypes not much dispelled by this kind of thing.

Sub Editor - Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner may sound like it's aimed at a decidedly niche market, but it's Britain's biggest-selling yachting magazine - and they're recruiting a sub-editor.

You'll need experience and the usual subbing skills - including proficiency with InDesign - but the big ask here is that you have a 'good sailing knowledge'. And, as befits a nautical magazine, you'll be based by the coast - Poole, in Dorset, to be exact.

Full ad on Journalism.co.uk (which has a new and decidedly clunky registration barrier to negotiate if you want to view the full job ad). To apply, email CV and covering letter to Andrea Janes at andrea_james@ipcmedia.com. Deadline next Friday 20 November.

The other expenses scandal

Mention the word 'expenses' to an old-timer hack, and the chances are their eyes will mist up with a wistful stare into the middle-distance. But for the new generation, taught to count every penny, there's another problem.

We've all done it - you delay filing your expenses, you lose a receipt, and suddenly you've somehow managed to end up paying for your own train fare or lunch with a contact. Somehow - incredibly - you've ended up subsidising your employer.

Well, subsidise no longer - and follow the lead of those at the top. BBC Director General Mark Thompson, we're told, 'claimed 63 times on his expenses for parking meter charges as low as 70 pence.' Can you afford not to follow suit? Not if you earn less than £834,000 pa, you can't.

Quote of the Day: 12 November 2009

Former Daily Mirror editor David Banks on why newspapers won't be able to switch off their websites (or free access to them):

'Bollocks. It's impossible. It's just not doable. What's that old song? How you gonna keep them down on the farm now that they've seen Paris? We've seen the other side, we've seen the good life. Nobody's going to turn it off, nobody can turn it off. And there'll always be someone like me - they'll turn off their websites, I'll turn on mine.'

(Spotted via Josh Halliday.)

Reporter - The Bolton News

The Bolton News - which won Scoop of the Year at the O2 Media Awards last month, apparently - is recruiting a reporter to replace someone who's been 'poached by the BBC'.

You need NCTJ prelims and 100 wpm shorthand - ideally they're looking for a senior with the NCE as well, although an exceptional trainee will be considered. You'll be writing for print and web, filming and editing video and also doing podcasts.

(The impressive 33 days holiday is worth noting too).

Apply in writing to editor's secretary Lisa Schofield at lschofield@theboltonnews.co.uk. Deadline Friday 27 November.

Welcome to the 24-hour news cycle

So here's what happened in the cosy world of Westminster journalism the other day - what still happens in some form on most days, in fact.

The Government - or the Opposition, for that matter - has a Glorious Anouncement to make. The Minister for Doing Good is due to unveil a new policy at 11am.

So the previous afternoon, journalists from all the nationals, the BBC and Sky are called in for a briefing. It might be the lobby itself, at its regular briefing, or it could be the specialists - defence, health or education correspondents, say. They write and file their stories ('the Minister for Good is expected to say...') for the next day's edition, and so come the day of the Glorious Announcement, it's trailed in all the right papers, and dissected on the Today programme.

By the time the Minister for Doing Good actually makes his Glorious Announcement at 11am, of course, it's old news, but that's not the point. The policy has been officially launched, it's been covered in the papers. Job done.

Except ... in an age of instant communication, the system just doesn't make sense anymore. What's the point of embargoes, when information can be tweeted and retweeted instantly to a waiting world? What about that strange limbo period, between the time of the briefing the afternoon before and the Minister's speech itself? The policy is out there. It might even be staring up at you from the front page of the Daily Mail. And yet it doesn't officially exist.

The lobby correspondents, or some of them, at least, are up in arms about the proposed briefings shakeup. Guido Fawkes is cock-a-hoop, crowing (on Twitter, natch) that 'Guido killed the Lobby Star'. Neither is right - the shakeup is nothing to do with blogging. But it is everything to do with the internet. The internet has turned the timing of journalism - once so rigidly tied to first edition, second edition and final - completely upside down. It is still entirely possible to have and to keep an exclusive story. Just look at the Telegraph's tight grip on the MPs' expenses scandal.

But how you break an exclusive, and how you cover non-exclusive stories, is bound to change.

Whether or not the lobby shakeup will make a real difference, or lead to better journalism, or just give Peter Mandelson a new job title, is open to debate. But one thing is certain: for years we've been talking self-importantly about the 24-hours news cycle. We're about to see what one really looks like.

Media law 2.0

The beauty of online journalism is it's just so easy. Write. Click. Publish.

The trouble with online journalism is it's just so easy. Write. Click. Publish.

How I got a job I love in journalism

A couple of weeks ago, we ran a piece by a seriously disillusioned journalism postgrad entitled 'The Price of My Soul'.

Another recent journalism postgrad, who also wants to remain anonymous, contacted us in response, and asked to share his story - a story with a somewhat happier outcome.

(And in light of the elitism debate which kicked off last time, it's worth stressing -though he didn't when he submitted it - that the author of this piece was educated in a comprehensive and his parents live on a council estate).

+ + + + + + + + + + +

I’ve always aspired to be a high achiever and three months ago I pulled off one of the greatest accomplishments known to man in the modern world – I got a job as a trainee reporter.

The media, particularly newspapers, weren’t in a particularly good position during the boom years with circulations and ad revenues falling across the board. And now the boom is over, the industry is having a particularly bad credit crunch with redundancies, cutbacks and closures the main subjects being discussed in publisher’s boardrooms.

It took me over 11 months to find a job after I’d completed my postgrad. Meanwhile I was working long hours for scant reward in catering and my daily routine involved looking for jobs on Hold the Front Page, Journalism.co.uk, All Media Scotland, Gorkana and a few other sites daily with the added bonus of reading the comic that is the Guardian Media section every week all to no avail.

Continually finding nothing, I was about ready to give up and go into something else until I had an interview for my present job and then, miracle-of-miracles, got the call-back I’d been longing for.

And now I love my work. Never have I experienced such job satisfaction and I’m truly grateful didn’t throw in the towel when I felt tempted. However, I’m not resting on my laurels. In spite of my love I know I could end up on the scrapheap if circumstances change just a little. I’m going to make sure that if that happens I'm qualified and experienced enough to work in another field. Hopefully though this will be just insurance.

Back in the summer I would have written a post like 'The Price of My Soul' that appeared here last month. I thought the career I’d dreamed about for so long would never happen. But I now know that it is still possible to break into journalism. It’s harder than it has ever been, and I’ve had to alter my career expectations somewhat but I now believe I have a future in the media.

And I found my job on FleetStreetBlues. Proof that if you aspire to become a journalist this is the best site to be on.

Routes into journalism

The bad news is, there's no easy answer, no silver bullet... But if you're a trainee/student journalist desperately wondering how you're going to break into the industry - and a lot of you are - then this careers Q&A over at the Guardian might be worth checking out.

Reporter - Spalding Guardian/Lincolnshire Free Press

How's this for honesty in a job advert? The Spalding Guardian, we're told, has 'its nose above water with sales', and the Lincolnshire Free Press is 'close behind'... which means what, exactly? That it's head is not above water?

Regardless, a job is a job, and journalistically at least the ad's heart is in the right place. 'We positively love it when our stories are picked up by the nationals,' it says.

They're after a senior reporter, so you'll need to be qualified, but otherwise there are no specific job requirements. Local knowledge likely to give you an edge though.

Apply with CV and covering letter to editor Jon Buss at jon.buss@jpress.co.uk. Deadline Tuesday 17 November.

Reporters - Bureau of Investigative Journalism

This is a corking job ad. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a not-for-profit initiative set up earlier this year which won a £2m grant from the Potter charity foundation, is hiring investigative reporters. (It's so new it doesn't yet have a proper website, or a logo for that matter - we came up with that magnifying glass all on our own...)

They want significant and sustained investigative experience, but they're not fussed what kind of journalist you are exactly - print, online and broadcast are all welcome. What's important is that you have the practical skills needed at the business end of investigative journalism - FOI experience, how to trawl through financial data, a sound grasp of media law and languages would help too.

The ad doesn't specify, but from what we've read it seems likely you'll be based out of City University in north London.

Full details on Gorkana, not directly linkable. Send a CV and covering letter, with INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST and your name in the subject line, to jobs@tbij.com. Deadline Sunday 29 November.

In praise of... Paresh Patel

For journalists out and about, it's always been an occupational hazard. Once outside the safety of the newsroom, anything goes.

Sometimes, tragically, journalists are kidnapped, beaten or shot. Not often, though, not in Britain. But abuse - verbal, occasionally physical, is far more common. For some reason, a notebook-carrying suit trying to do vox pops in the rain is just an irresistible target.

So, BBC reporter Paresh Patel, on behalf of abused and hassled journalists everywhere, you have our thanks. The video's on Youtube, and as 'smelliottbobelliott' says in the comments: 'That reporter has skills.'

The last mark-up

Last week, the publishers of Canada's largest newspaper, the Toronto Star, announced that they were in negotiations to contract out up to 100 union editing jobs, almost a third of the newsroom.

Amongst those hardest hit, predictably, were the subs - but one has apparently decided to hit back in the only way he or she knows how: by returning the memo announcing the 'Voluntary Separation Programme' in a blizzard of red ink.

Here it is (click here to see it at full size).

It's pointless, of course, and a bit depressing, but we can only hope, on behalf of journalists facing redundancy everywhere, that seeing it widely circulated really pisses of the powers-that-be at the Star. Hell hath no fury like a sub-editor scorned...

A letter to the editor

Here at FleetStreetBlues we've received a fair few emails in our time (fleetstreetblues@hotmail.co.uk, since you ask), but we've never had a letter before.

OK, so it wasn't actually posted, but then it couldn't have been, because we've never published an actual address, and the post doesn't really work anymore anyway. But it's still quite definitely a letter to the editor - it begins 'Dear Editor'.

Nov 5 2009

Dear Editor,

Just stumbled across your site.

Crisply written and with good insights.

Glad you rumbled and 'outed' that snare for many, the predominance of utterly non-journalism related job ads (not to mention Polyfilla editorial matter), in the Guardian so-called 'Media' pages. I remember some time ago that they even
eccentrically slotted Manchester catering industry jobs as space-filling endpieces in the print edition's sits-vac Media ads section. Aromas of a free lunch?

Good on yer !

I could go on at length. Your job-search basics guide was a jewel. Long overdue.

Name and address withheld

Trainee Reporter - John O'Groat Journal

We're constantly aware that we don't advertise enough jobs up north - well, it doesn't get much more northerly than this.

The John O'Groat Journal and Caithness Courier, two local newspapers based in Wick, perched on the coast in far northeast Scotland, are hiring a trainee reporter. A journalism degree or NCTJ qualification is ideally preferred, and you need to be a driver - in fact, you need to be a bit of everything, with online skills, a willingness to take pictures and even an 'interest in sport' all plus points.

Write with a CV and clips to:

Karen Steven, Editor
North of Scotland Newspapers
42 Union Street
Wick
Caithness
Scotland
KW1 5ED

Deadline Wednesday 18 November.

FOI Friday

It's always exciting to come across a brand-new proper journalism blog, and this one, by David Higgerson, comes highly recommended.

David Higgerson, it turns out, is head of multimedia at Trinity Mirror Regional, and it's true that there's a distinct whiff of multimeeja in some of his posts. (We also couldn't help like him a little less when we found out how damn senior he is).

But don't hold that against him. He writes - and we mean this in the nicest possible way - like a grunt reporter, and he's very much a 'proper' journalist. There are some great local paper tips and tricks scattered throughout, with our favourite - and the undoubted highlight of the blog as whole - being 'FOI Friday'.

Through a quick Google News search, David picks out each week ten great stories uncovered through use of the Freedom of Information Act, and gives a short summary. It's an entertaining read, great inspiration to submit that FOI request you've been meaning to do all month, and a mine of ideas to nick.

This week's roundup of stories gleaned from FOI requests includes a 99-year-old burglary suspect (in the Bristol Evening Post), Calderdale Council caught out in a blatant lie over the cost of some publicity bookmarks (the Halifax Courier), and the simply genius idea of obtaining police call-out data to draw up a list of the town's roughest pubs (respect to the Crawley News). Who wouldn't want to read that?

OK, so in the broader scheme of things these are small stories, but they're good stories, and they're fresh stories. If you're a local newspaper reporter - or any kind of journalist in fact - be inspired.

And hope that in 20 working days you too make David Higgerson's roundup...

'First, find the 'On' button...'

This, from Nursing Times online editor Gabe Fleming, made us laugh:

Can newspapers survive without agency copy?

The Tribune chain of newspapers in the US - which includes the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune plus a host of other papers less familiar to British readers - is to try going without Associated Press wire copy for a week.

PaidContent.org reports:

To make up for the AP’s absence, Tribune is having its various papers share more articles. In addition, Tribune will run selected stories from multiple other sources, including Reuters, the Washington Post, New York Times, Agence France Presse, Global Post, Bloomberg, McClatchy (NYSE: MNI), and CNN, which started its own wire service last year, though editors were initially underwhelmed by the offering.

Now there's a possibility - as the PaidContent.org story itself acknowledges - that this could be at least partly a negotiating gambit to try and get more favourable rates from the Associated Press. But if not, it could be a sign of the future - and a worrying one at that.

Using wire or agency copy is itself a cost-cutting measure - gone are the days when the Daily Express, say, would have an extensive team of roving foreign correspondents. So in theory scrapping it is a good thing for journalism - but somehow we don't think that the LA Times will be hiring legions of reporters to cover stories in person.

No, this is just a further sign of the terminal financial decline of US newspapers. And when they have to cut their own cost-cutting measures, you know things are bad.

Subbing theology

Overheard a few days ago in a newsroom somewhere in Britain. Remember, subs always have the final say...

'Do we really capitalise H in He when we’re talking about God? Is that our style?'

Editor - The Engineer

Technology and innovation fortnightly trade magazine The Engineer is recruiting a new editor.

You'll need to be an experienced journalist with a track record at a 'senior editorial level' on a magazine, newspaper or - interesting this - website. A science/engineering background is not essential, but you 'should be confident dealing with technical information when necessary'.

It's a Centaur publication, so you'll be based in central London. And while we can't vouch for the job itself, the ad has it right when it says your first job will be to lead an 'experienced and enthusiastic' editorial. We've heard good things about them...

Full ad on Gorkana, not directly linkable (and annoyingly, there's nothing yet on Centaur's own website). Apply with CV to sean.marshall@centaur.co.uk.

Editor - Lowestoft Journal

The Lowestoft Journal - an Archant paid-for weekly on the Suffolk coast - is looking for a new editor.

You'll need a passion for local news, excellent all-round journalistic skills and pretty much the only talent publishers are really looking for these days - 'the vision to harness the opportunities of the digital age and grow newspaper sales'.

For an application pack (yep, old-school papers still inflict them even on potential editors), contact the editor's PA Jane Chadwick at jane.chadwick@archant.co.uk. Deadline Tuesday 17 November.

Advertise on FleetStreetBlues

So, FleetStreetBlues is still small, but perfectly formed.

Last month we had a record 8,000+ unique visits, nearly all from bona fide UK journalists. We're read on an average day by over 250 journalists or trainee-journalists. We're followed on Twitter by 300 across the country. And they're all looking for jobs.

Where journalism jobs are concerned, let's be clear, our independence is sacrosanct. We will fight to the death for our right to slag off a boring trade magazine job or warn you about the dangers of journalism in rural Wales. But we're tired, we're hungry and when it comes to PR jobs, we're willing to sell our souls. Very willing.

So if you work in HR for PR, listen up. On a strictly one-ad-a-week basis, we're open to offers to plug your job. Cash. Freebies. You name it, we'll consider it. Email us today at fleetstreetblues@hotmail.co.uk with what you'd like to plug and we'll get back to you.

Entertainment reporter - Bang Showbiz

OK, so you could be forgiven for reading this job ad with a healthy dose of scepticsm. One, they cram in a plug for work experience and marketing positions into what's meant to be an ad for a journalism job. Two, they promise, without a hint of irony, 'limitless opportunities'.

And three? Well, you'll be working for a guy called Rick Sky. Cynical hacks need not apply.

But then, this is celebrity, showbiz journalism, where the rules are different. The agency's Bang Showbiz, based in London, and the job requirements for the reporter they're hiring are simple - you need local newspaper or agency experience and a 'passion for showbiz and news gathering'. Fluent German or Japanese is a bonus.

What can we say? We're still deeply sceptical, but then we're not celebrity journalists, so what do we know? If you're braver than we are (or just more desperate), apply with CV and clips to managing editor Rick 'With a name like this I could only managing a celebrity news agency' Sky at ricksky@bangshowbiz.com. Deadline TODAY.

Angry people in local newspapers

As the purse strings draw ever-tighter, some local news publishers have been known to muse why - in this brave new world of citizen journalism and easily-available digital photography - local papers need photographers. Wouldn't it be easier - oh, and by the way, cheaper - just to have the readers citizen journalists send their own pictures in themselves?

Such thinking is, of course, wrong on a number of levels. But it's particularly wrong in that it ignores that key skill bred in all local newspaper snappers from an early age - getting the perfect 'angry' shot.

Fortunately, a classic website has been set up to celebrate just that skill. Angry people in local newspapers is a piece of straightforward, does-what-it-says-on-the-tin genius.

There's angry groups of parents...




There are angry, determined closeups...


And there's a whole lot of angry pointing, mainly at potholes...




Incidentally, the one thing the site doesn't let on is that, in these days of budgetary cuts, it's not just the perfect angry shot photographers have to go for. In our experience they're generally asked to get a smiley shot as well, just in case, so it can be stuck in the archive and pulled out for use six months later when the school complaint/anti-dog turd campaign/pothole protest ends in unexpected victory.

See publishers? Can't beat that value for money.