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Gissa Job
So I know no-one wants to read yet another post about the future of journalism but it's something I've been thinking about a lot recently. In particular the future of one particular journalist. After four years reporting on this part of the world it has come to my attention - and possibly the reader of this blog - that it is easy to become cynical and jaded, rejecting charity or peace initiatives in Somalia, or Darfur, or Kenya, because I know they won't make any difference (because I reported them in 2005,6,7 - when they didn't change anything then). Time to find somewhere that freshens my eyes.
I had been hoping that one of the many newspapers to which I contribute would by now have offered me a new posting, shipped my stuff and generally eased me up from stringer to staffer - or some point in between. But three-and-a-half months after I applied for a job with one of my papers, and with no word on any decision, it seems that maybe it is up to me to start again somewhere else.
And why nail my colours to the mast of an, erm, sinking ship anyway? We all know newspaper circulations are dropping every day and more and more people are taking their news from the internet - maybe from a newspaper website or maybe not.
I'm already writing for a clutch of different papers, the odd website and doing occasional bits of radio. Busy days are very busy and the money is enough to live off. My blog, Twitter account and Facebook profile have all brought in work and generated ideas for stories (all right - allowed me to pinch other people's ideas), so why would I want to give up all that for a staff job with a proper business card?
I guess one answer is credibility. Some people never seem comfortable with my yahoo email address. And who's to say I'm a proper journalist? But then journalism is not a profession (despite the protestations of my American colleagues) and all you really need "are rat-like cunning, a plausible manner and a little literary ability", as Nicholas Tomalin once wrote.
Another is that I like being associated with newspapers that have a history and a sense of their place in society. When I turned up in rough Glasgow housing estates, the fact that I was the man from The Herald counted for more than my specs and English accent. But then I suppose that's just me being sentimental.
So while I have no intention of passing my hat around to fund reporting trips, I appear to have found myself pursuing what might be the future of journalism. Now I just need to work out where that might be.
10 Comments
| October 21, 2008 11:31 AM
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I'm not a failure. I'm f@*!ing good at what I do. Didn't come here to change anything - except for my bank balance and profile. No, the point is that I need to change my view of what journalism is. I still set my store by what gets in a newspaper. And that's an out of date view. I'm a newspaper romantic at heart and I need to get less sentimental.
| October 21, 2008 11:48 AM
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Cynicism: the new guise of romanticism.
| October 21, 2008 11:53 AM
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Oh, I'm cynical about everything other than journalism. Then I get very romantic. Like all hard-bitten hacks. Sometimes after a sherbet or two
| October 21, 2008 4:29 PM
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This kind of thing makes me think I got out at the right time. From one of my old stomping grounds...
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=42283&c=1
| October 22, 2008 7:11 PM
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I resent your jibe at us Americans. After all, wasn't it Hunter S. Thompson who wrote: "Journalism is not a profession or a trade. It is a cheap catch-all for fuck-offs and misfits--a false doorway to the backside of life, a filthy piss-ridden little hole nailed off by the building inspector, but just deep enough for a wino to curl up from the sidewalk and masturbate like a chimp in a zoo-cage."
That'll cheer you up!
| October 22, 2008 9:47 PM
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Rob, no doubt you are aware of the potential growth of commercial activities and developments in Southern Sudan. Surely there are opportunities for British journalists on the ground in South Sudan to report to an international audience on the latest developments, commmerical opportunities, future growth, property issues, upcoming elections and the security situation, especially relating to international investors' point of view. It seems to me Juba would be a good place for a journalist such as yourself to establish a base, with the aim of becoming fluent in Arabic and, if possible, Chinese. Many visitors at my blog Sudan Watch regularly search for business news from South Sudan, Juba in particular, and any news about oil in Chad and Sudan and its borders. In my experience, such news is hard to come by, especially from an English born journalist with a credible background and track record such as yours. If you haven't already seen it, check out this link to BBC World Trust and see how radio is expanding in South Sudan. Also, in my sidebar at Sudan Watch are links to the latest opportunities in Sudan via the UN that attract a lot of visitors at Sudan Watch and sister site Congo Watch. Stay positive and strong, your great experience, qualities and skills are definitely needed in many places, especially ones like Juba where reporting restrictions aren't so heavy. Best of luck and keep us posted as to how you're getting on. Let me know if I can be of help on anything.
http://www.k2-media.org/jubapost/go/advert.php?recordID=23
| October 23, 2008 6:10 AM
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That's a very good point about Sudan. I've been trying to research Sudan's pipelineistan - gas, oil, war, politics, business - and the amount of reliable information in english is piss-weak.
| October 23, 2008 8:45 AM
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Thanks for the thoughts all. Ingrid, this will disappoint you immensely but I just don't think I could hack Juba for long periods of time. You're right that there are lots of opportunities there right now and there is money to be made by people who take them. But life is just too tough there right now for a wimp like me
| October 23, 2008 10:54 AM
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Good and interesting blog Rob but you need to rein in your ego just a wee bit.
What do you think?
Rob Crilly in Jerusalem
Rob Crilly is a freelance journalist based in Jerusalem writing for The Sunday Telegraph and The Daily Mail. He spent...
Your job is not to change things. If it were, you'd be a failure. But so would every journalist here. And I would say that you are very far from a failure. You've been at this twice as long as me in Africa specifically, and in general, well, let's not talk age... But I guess if you don't like what you're doing that's more salient than if you're changing anything.
I don't know much about the future of journalism, but I do know the Uganda shilling has been about 1550/1600 = $1 for a long time, and now all of the sudden it's 1780/1800 = $1 so I'm off to buy some more beer.