Did you always aim to pursue a career in journalism?

Not at all. A friend was going along to Varsity one day and I thought it sounded interesting. It was. At Cambridge I was probably more interested in acting, in truth. Afterwards I got an internship at CNN while I was waiting for the acting career to take off (I'm still waiting), and I was hooked.

 

 

 

 

You were nominated for a Mental Health in the Media award for your work with soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. How far did your degree feed into this and have you chosen to pursue any other journalistic projects with your degree in mind?

Actually I can't think of too much my degree has fed directly into. I have some understanding of the British Crime Survey from Criminology, but that's about it. Having a degree from Cambridge didn't hurt when I was trying to get my internship though.

You also reported from New York and Pakistan after 9/11. How do you feel that 9/11 changed journalism, or changed people's expectations of it?

An interesting question; the really big changes to journalism are now technologically driven and so fast that 9/11 seems like an age ago. There's one narrative – the Al Jazeera one – that says the Western media became supine after 9/11 and failed to question actions like the invasion of Iraq, but I don't buy that at all. In this country it was repeatedly challenged before and after. Incidently Al Jazeera is a much needed addition to the media world but one I think would have happened with or without 9/11.

Do you think that we expect too much of reporters in conflict/war zones?

I think the greater danger is that they expect too much of themselves; a reporter who feels under pressure to perform is more likely to push the limits of safety. Expecting them to know all that's going on is too much. It can be hard to trust more than what you've seen for yourself when you're on the ground.

Who have you found most inspiring to interview?

Talking to someone who's a big name is a little daunting so you tend to be focussed on getting the best interview. It's a very different experience to just having a chat, expecially if there are time constraints (if you're live you might only get a couple of minutes, time for two or three questions). Recently I interviewed some young people who were involved in so-called dissident republican politics in Northern Ireland; they believe killing policemen is a justified political action. That's a little disturbing. But inspiring? There's a guy called Kevin Ivison who used to defuse bombs for a living and then wrote a very honest book about how it affected him (Red One). He was inspiring.

What advice would you give to someone considering a career in your field?

That's changed quite a lot since I started and will change more. It's harder to get in via the work experience/internship route. That said there are more news outfits than there used to be. A journalism post-grad course is great if you can afford one. If you can't think about anywhere you might be able to start off doing a little work for free and then write to them all with your experience and ideas. Also:

1. Develop a specialism, a field you know well.

2. Pay close attention to writing, both yours and the writing of journalists you rate.

3. Don't be put off when it's difficult getting in. Persistence is a critical journalistic trait (alongside, famously, a little literary ability, a plausable manner and rat-like cunning.)