Having won a class competition I was lucky enough yesterday to enjoy a plate of profiteroles in the company of Nicholas Brett, Deputy Managing Director of BBC Magazines.
We had had to submit the one question that we would ask him if we had the chance to speak to him one-on-one. The question I had offered was, "To be successful in the magazine industry do you have to forget all of your other aspirations?"
It seemed silly, having really got the opportunity to ask him, not to do so. However, the response that I got was not quite what I had anticipated.
I suppose I had come to accept that the answer might well be the affirmative. Yet the answer I got was more of a questioning of what other aspiration I could possibly have.
What could possibly compete with a successful career in the magazine industry?
As I have become more engrossed in this course and my freelance work I have felt the pressures of time and of trying to lead a balanced life increase. I have feared that perhaps more sacrifices than I had anticipated have to be made. However, it came as a surprise to me that not only do some people in the industry make these sacrifices but that they make them gladly. Indeed, they are not seen as sacrifices at all.
Part of me feels glum hearing this. Mr Brett by no means suggested that I couldn't succeed in the industry without giving up on my other dreams. However, the thought that this feeling of compulsion, nay obsession, with journalism may well only increase scared me a little. I hope that I don't forget that there might be something else that I want as well.
Yet another part of me feels excited. To have a career for which you're happy to push yourself to the conceivable limits, that you love with such a passion, must be a wonderful thing.
The idea of a balanced life as a magazine journalist seemed to be something of an oxymoron to Nicholas Brett. I wonder, then, do I try to walk the tightrope or am I just facing an inevitable fall?
2 comments:
So I won't be able to play my games if I get a job?
Pscch, screw it then. I'm becoming a teacher.
I think journalism is a great career to be in, as it can be coupled with other passions, and even introduce you to new ones. And that's great.
I asked a question at the guardian media conference last week about whether writers, after months of work experience and free copy, should continue to write for free.
All of them, three senior journalists and editors, replied 'Yes' emphatically. So I sat down and shut up. Don't agree.
Mat,
I totally agree that it's an excellent career to the extent that you might get to travel, read, go to gigs, meet cool people, eat or whatever as part of your job. However, my concern was more with having friends and a family and getting to devote time to them. This is harder. After all, people don't want to read about what a great time you had down the pub with your mate. So this doesn't fit into the career so easily.
Haha you were certainly put in your place. I think that example is again pretty similar. There are people out there who can't see why you wouldn't want to write even if it's for free. After all, the journalism is that for which you supposedly have a passion.
I do wonder how a journalist is meant to survive though with no finances, no sleep and no companionship.
Although I am being a bit of a drama queen now haha.
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