Interview with Ben Quinn

I spoke to Ben Quinn, a reporter at The Guardian, and formerly of the Irish Independent and Evening Herald. We discussed his career so far, current role, advice he has for students looking for a career in the media, and what he thinks the future holds for this kind of work.

What was the path that brought you to working at the Guardian?

BQ: In a nutshell, I did an Arts degree followed by Journalism masters at DCU (useful for getting your foot in the door... though perhaps that's not so important now… people come via so many different routes) but my placement handily was at the Irish Independent and Evening Herald, where I eventually got a contract and then a staff job after general news reporting (beats included covering Dublin City Council, courts) After about 8 years there I got itchy feet and it had been good. I'd covered the end of the troubles for example, which included some pretty messy periods of civil disorder, and had also spent time as the Herald's business editor.

[I then] came to London, where the Daily Mail had offered me a berth in their group of about 5 regular freelancers who worked days and night shifts covering general news each week. It was a good beach head, and I spent a lot of time doing door knocks. Everything from political scandals to tracing the background to terror suspects and terrorists themselves.

Moved there from reporting into news editing and planning, and from there to the Telegraph and Times where I was a news editor on a freelance basis. I filed some pieces back home to the Irish Times and also kept the wolf from the door by picking up a string with a US newspaper. I also gained some experience doing TV research work for a guy called Kevin Toolis (google him... interesting chap) and worked on some Channel 4 documentaries he was doing about car bombs and suicide bombing.

In about 2010, I started doing freelance work and gained a contract at the Guardian, eventually becoming a staff news reporter and have been very happy here. It's sort of the place I was always aiming to land, and it invests in journalism (just as, in fact, the Mail does). [I’ve had] lots of good experiences here: Travelling around the UK covering politics beyond parliament, societal issues, spent a summer based in Scotland covering the Independence referendum, and then a year covering international development, which basically involved lots of time in Somalia, South Sudan places like that.

What would an average day look like in your work at the Guardian?

BQ: Before or after lockdown?

Both, if you have time to answer.

BQ: An average day would involve waking up and organising my children's lives (ha) before trying to put some sense on my own.

We have two starting times for our reporters, 7am and 10pm. If you're doing an early shift at say, 7am, you might be running the live blog or else trying to put together an early 'take' on the news of the morning… very often led by a big political interview on the Today programme. Equally, if there's a breaking story (let's say... just because it's in the news today) there was a tragic episode on the south coast involving people trying to get into the UK. You might end up hoping on a train or drive-in to Dover.

The news desk would typically assign stories to reporters - which might involve attending press conferences or going to court hearings - but equally we spend a lot of time working on our own investigations (working up contacts, meeting people and doing interviews) That's roughly it… things speed up towards 4pm and after, when copy has to be filed for the print edition of the paper, but obviously lunchtime is a big deadline for our website too.

What skills would you say you use most in your work?

BQ: [An] ability to judge what is or isn't a story and what - out of a long and seemingly repetitive interview - is the 'new' bit of news which develops an existing story.

Also, turning out copy at a relatively fast pace. Other skills might include finding people, winning them over and putting them at ease, and various technical skills -- running a liveblog, making Freedom of Information Requests.

What advice would you give to students looking to work in journalism/ the media?

BQ: Don't be despondent.

I'd also say…

Specialise, specialise, specialise. Try to get your head around the basic skills of journalism but equally try to pick up skills and experience which makes you stand out and make you a bit different. So…

Health reporters - and within that field, people with particular contacts within the NHS or HSE... or better still, immunology. Think of how well placed they are today. But earlier in your career I'd just say read voraciously. And get your head around using any and every type of social media. And if you can, start learning a language... even if only night classes or online. I’d also just start writing. Everyone is a publisher these days. You don't need commissions. If you're interested in something start blogging about it. Build up your own portfolio from scratch. It's tough as hell but if you care about it enough, you'll get there.

It's hard not to be despondent when you do see the layoffs at HuffPost etc. But equally a whole new field of jobs are opening up at multiple startups which never existed before. I'm thinking of - in Ireland - brilliant operations like The Currency.

Equally, charities and NGOs are investing heavily in journalism - the growth of advocacy journalism. I've just finished an investigation with Greenpeace's investigative unit for example which is due to go live in about 20 mins.

That leads to my last question. What do you think the future holds for your kind of work?

BQ: I've SORT of answered it there. We - the traditional media, the MSM, whatever pejorative or plaudit one wants to use - will hopefully continue but there will hopefully be room for others. How we continue to fund ourselves is the million Euro question though. I assume it'll tilt towards a hybrid model of paywalls and reader donations (maybe even more philanthropy and even govt funding!).