In Conversation with Ian Singleton and Helena Hicks – Friday 29th January 2021

On Friday 29th January, Empoword Journalism hosted its first sports panel. Features editor Rachel Louise Gibson and contributor and former Current Affairs editor Bethany Collins were joined by Ian Singleton and Helena Hicks. 

 

Before starting his career at the BBC, Ian Singleton grew up loving writing and sharing stories. After completing his A-levels, he completed an English degree before going on to study for his postgraduate diploma in newspaper journalism. Similarly to this love of telling stories, Helena Hicks grew up with a fascination for sport and at the age of 16, started a blog. Upon leaving Sixth Form she went on to study journalism at university. 

 

What drew both Ian and Helena to sports journalism was the excitement. Helena always loved motorsport: especially being able to share what goes on behind the scenes, from science and technology to the actual people working to get the racers ready and make the events happen. It’s this excitement and drama of the competition that also drew Ian Singleton to sport – especially football, F1, tennis, athletics and boxing. 

 

Within journalism, the sports industry has notoriously been a very male-dominated area. Even today sport is viewed as a place for men, which is something Helena has come up against. For her, at times it has been daunting to turn up to a race track and be the only woman. At times, people think you won’t necessarily know what you’re talking about and this mindset has only made Helena want to work a lot harder to prove people wrong. Ian has found the industry very competitive when it comes to sports news. For him, new situations can always feel intimidating however he emphasised that the best idea can be had by anyone in the team rather than it being thought of as a hierarchy. 

 

As we know, at the minute Covid-19 has halted a majority of work experience programmes, however, Ian and Helena both shared how important it is to be using social media. On-the-job experience is always important and sought after, however, have a look at what you can be doing on social media and what skills you can learn from the different apps and websites. With so many people working from home it goes to show that you don’t need to be working in an office to be producing content and creating a portfolio. 

 

One advantage of the pandemic is the fact that people all over the country have had access to opportunities that may ordinarily be run in London. Working in the industry, Helena and Ian did share their thoughts on how much of a hub London can be for journalism. Helena completed her degree in London and found that due to everything being on your doorstep there were many opportunities. Even though there are more jobs in London, the pandemic has definitely opened the conversation about not having to be in London. 

 

A debate we know so well is the writing-for-free debate. The advice we learnt from both Helena and Ian is to weigh up what you’re going to gain from an unpaid opportunity. The problem in the industry is that people don’t always understand the cost of journalism, however as you progress in your career, you get to a point where you don’t want to work for free. 

 

Helena’s Tips For Getting Into The Journalism Industry 

• Use social media platforms like LinkedIn to create connections and get to know people within the industry 
• The journalism industry can be so competitive, so find your niche and your passions in order to stand out 
• Be enthusiastic – show people that you’re writing all the time and willing to go after this career 

 

Ian’s Tips For Getting Into The Journalism Industry 

• Look at the way you use social media. Make sure that you’re using sites like Twitter and Linkedin professionally, especially if you link them on your CV.
• Have a look at the opportunities in your area and what opportunities there are available to you that you could be taking advantage of, especially remotely.
• Demonstrate the things that you’ve done and gained from work experience. Be able to show people the skills you’ve learnt and that you can go above and beyond

 

If you missed our workshop you can catch up below: 

Neve Gordon-Farleigh  

Featured image courtesy of Empoword Journalism via Canva.