The Writers Of Today Are The Editors Of Tomorrow

I just finished a really productive first meeting with my new mentee – most media organisations have these in place, I believe, to put more ‘seasoned’ journalists together with someone earlier in their career. In my view, it’s a two-way street between passing on advice to – and getting insights from – the younger generation.

She’s a news reporter wanting to get more into longer-form journalism and she works in the business sector. My thought was that food and hospitality is a fruitful area to get into as there are so many facets… and so many good contacts to be made.

You and I both know that what puts meat on the bones (so to speak) of a straightforward news report are colourful quotes, interesting case studies and quirky stats – and food is such a great subject for that. 

As our sessions go along, I’ll be showing her examples of where this works – but there’s also a great part for PRs to play, I believe, with ambitious news reporters to help them. If they’re pitching something to their editors on sales of red meat falling/a new social-media sensation bagel shop/brand of oat-based pasta, having a colourful character available will give them much more of an angle and a hook. And these days, they often don’t have time to find the juicy extras themselves.

I feel like at my great age I have an internal Rolodex (remember them?!) with suggestions for who to tap up for quotes and anecdotes, but the writers of today (who will be the editors of tomorrow) are at that eager beaver stage right now. Feed them and they’ll keep coming back.