"If you're good, you will get work"

But you will need a little bit of luck, and a lot of initiative, enthusiasm and talent to make it big. This was the general view of five magazine editors at a PTC masterclass in London yesterday.

Jamie Hibbard (Metal Hammer), Colin Kennedy (Empire), Conor McNicholas (NME) and surprise speaker, Michael Harvey (Top Gear) answered questions from a range of journalist wannabes facilitated by Diane Kenwood, editor of Your M&S.

Their advice, tips and experience made for really interesting listening and the range of questions meant we got a real glimpse into their busy, exciting and entertaining lives.

Here's a brief rundown of the best bits:

The internet
"Don't worry about the internet. By all means have an understanding of google news, but don't get bogged down by it, your magazine website should be as well as, not instead of. All you need to be worrying about now is whether you're a good journalist or not," Colin.

The brand
"Your magazine brand is vitally important and your promise must be delivered. It switches people on to your magazine. For example NME launched a cd with the hope of selling roughly 60,000 copies last year. Today, it's still on the stands and has sold over 200,000 copies. The brand means a lot to people, my job is to make to sure it's the best it can be," Conor.

"The brand of Metal Hammer is narrow but deep and will never let you down. It's also very uncool," Jamie.

Work experience
"Turn up with loads of ideas and comments about the magazine. Where is the mag going? How could it be improved? Most editors would rather hear about what's wrong with their mag than what's right," Conor.

"Be imaginative and leap up and grab opportunities. If there's a window open and it's rainy and windy get up and close it! The more you can do to make an impact and make an editor's job easy, the more you will impress," Colin.

Biggest mistake
"The whole of last year was one big mistake! I was totally ahead of my readers and unfortunately they didn't come with me," Colin.

"I once tried to grab a whole new set of readers. It was Euro 2004 and I decided to put Razorlight on the cover, naked and draped in a union jack flag - it totally stiffed on the shelves. Editors live and die on the cover, 90% of my time is spent on it. You've got to have a brilliant cover first, and the editorial should follow (Ladder guys - we should take note!). The mistake that always keeps me awake at night, however, is giving Basement Jaxx The Singles two out of ten, that was so wrong," Conor. (I have to agree, shocking!)

Working abroad
"If you make it in the UK, you will make it anywhere. We have the most competitive magazine industry in the world because we are more culturally aware," Conor.

The big plan
"If you know where you want to end up that's a great place to start. It will help you focus your career and help you make informed decisions about what jobs you should, or shouldn't take, but don't be too restricted by it. Sometimes it's the worst experiences that shape what you do next and, often, I've found I learnt more from them too," Diane.

So that was a rather long round up of question time but, just as they were heading off to check their next issue's cover or to another meeting we grabbed Conor and asked...

One tip?
"Be the best within your own talents and know what you're rubbish at. For example, I never write. I simply edit. I'm just not very good at it, but my deputy editor is. Make the most of what you're good at."

And I grabbed Colin and asked...

How often do you spend with your readers?
"Not much to be honest and certainly not as much as I used to. What do I do when it's hard to find your reader? (Ladder - this ones for you!) Assume what they want and embody them. If I was a first time property buyer I'd want to know what I could get for my money, how to save, where are the best bargains etc. Just make sure you're never too far ahead of your reader, and deliver your promise. Not being able to find your reader enhances the challenge."

I think I'd agree with you there Colin!

NB. There's loads from Colin and Conor because they spoke the most - no complaining from me though.

A lonely place

Saturday 11th Feb
13.33
The Mag Lab...it's oh so quiet...

Travelling

My friend is travelling at the moment and this is the lastest installment...dead funny so thought I would share it with the world..enjoy!

Hmmm, ever wondered whether a white piece of string tied around your wrist
that was given to you by a Lao woman who promised you good luck could
actually be some devillish evil-bringing curse????? Well, have you????

I have to admit that since acquiring this bracelet-from-hell, I have
encountered some scary, scary shit (and i do NOT like to swear!).

So, how does Cambodia fit in? Let me explain....

I bought my ticket for the 13:05 train from Bangkok to Aranya Prathet
(border with Cambodia), only to be told later by a somewhat 'helpful'ozzie
that i should have got the 6am ticket as the busses/taxis don't run you into
Siem Reap (where i wanted to be in Cambodia) during the dark hours. I will
have to spend the night on the border.

Handy!

So i take my train anyway and decide that i would prefer to cross the border
into Cambodia and spent the night THAT side in order to get the first bus
the next day....

But the train journey is HORRIFIC!!! Talk about 3rd class - i literally
couldn't sit down in the seats as my knees touched the other side, so i had
to sit into the aisle which was okay for a bit, but then a huge crowd pile
onto the train including this extremely...large...Thai woman (you don't see
that everyday). I knew as soon as she got on that she'd want to sit next to
me - and she did - pushing me to the VERY edge of the seat. Meanwhile,
another Thai is resting her carrier bags on my head and her arse on my
shoulder - yaywoo! Add to this the old French guy sitting diagonally from me
with his shirt undone, his feet on MY chair (his foot had more room than my
bum!), and who smoked 4 joints (at least) while the heat was so unbearable
that i wanted to cry.

The train journey took little over 5 hours.

I crossed the border - no probs - got my visa and found a pick up heading to
Siem Reap (yaywoo - no night on the border afterall!!!). They want me to pay
12 US dollars and sit in the back of the truck - I argue and end up paying
10 and sitting in the cab. This is still about 10 times as much as i should
be paying but i wanna get there so...

A Spanish girl called Ana joins me and then we are sat in the car for about
30mins - the back is filled with Cambodians, and there are 2 girls in the
front seat - Ana and i are sharing the back seats with many bags!

The journey (when we eventually leave) is meant to take 3 hours - it takes 5
and it's is a truly bumpety road - JUST potholes! It is about 1am and we are
shattered - the driver stops about 6 km from the town centre and calls to a
tuk tuk driver who says he'll take us to a hotel costing 10 dollars per
night - errrrrrrrrrr, NO!!!! I wanna pay 3 dollars maximum! Also, we had
paid the pickup truck to take us INTO town - we are not paying again for the
tuk tuk!

We argue for ONE HOUR!!!!! All the Cambodians sit patiently in the car,
saying NOTHING - just staring like scary robots - it is seriously odd! THEN,
the driver decides he wants us to pay him...um...we already paid in advance
before the trip - we are pretty pissed off as you may well imagine!

We threaten to call the police just to get him to take us into town - but he
lets us call them and we all end up in the POLICE STATION.

I was so afraid! You hear so many stories of corrupt Asian police - but no,
his English is good - we explain, then the driver explains, and after about
30 mins, we are told that ''the driver is no longer demanding that you pay
him''. Ana and i are like... ''um, thanks!?! - but we were the victims
here''.

Anyway, the policeman takes us to a hostel - only once we sign a letter of
thanks to the Siem Reap Tourist Police - and he gets commision.

Happily ever after.

Only 2 weeks left of this madness!

Love you all!

Laura x x x x x

Profile or opinion piece? You decide.

After reading a detailed profile on Donald Rumsfeld from Vanity Fair (2003) I can't tell you one thing I've learnt about him - which seems odd as the piece was meant to be a profile of the Defense Secretary. And no, it's not because I'm not interested or wish I was reading Grazia, it's because the writing was hard to digest, the language difficult to read and the main bulk of material boring.

Not odd though when the whole piece contains less than five quotes, one of which is taken from another article from the big man himself. Despite describing the setting of the meeting between subject and writer (Sir John Keegan) there seems to me to be no evidence of an interview taking place. Throughout the feature Keegan throws an immense amount of information at the reader, but only includes a very small amount of Rumsfeld's direct opinion and personality.

We are given a very faint glimmer into his life, instead we are bored with big words, complicated sentences and seemingly dull facts. To me, the most important part of the feature is towards the end when Keegan brings forward views on terroists, an impending war in Iraq and 9/11. The last page of the feature is the most interesting, the page that is placed right at the back of the magazine that you have to find, if you haven't already fallen asleep.

This feature would have kept me much more interested if Rumsfeld's voice had actually appeared as the result of a detailed interview, rather than acting as a pillar for Keegan to display his own knowledge on the subject.

I thought a profile was meant to give an insight into a person of interest. The only think this feature achieves is an insight into the complicated views of a writer on an equally complicated subject, with neither valuable information nor entertaining writing. A lethal combination.

The camera - more dangerous than a gun

Targeted killing was the cause of death for 70% of all the journalists who were killed last year - people murdered for doing their jobs. Some by corrupt governments, some by soldiers who were merely interested in protecting themselves and some who were poorly trained by their employers.

- The Iraq war has seen 94 journalists klled
- The most deadly countries are the Phillipines, Columbia, Haiti, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Somalia, Brazil and Mexico.
- 90% of journalist killers get away with it!

The safety of journalists is always being questioned and, due to 2004's shocking results of 117 journalist being killed worldwide, the issues have been pushed forward to the forefront of many people in the industry's minds.

Rodney Pinder said, "Three journalists a month are dying, and where do you hear about it? One way we can change this is by improving the journalism we do. Greater understanding = better journalism.

"We need to deal with less celebs and more issues," he added.

He was very adament that, when we get out into the media we need to lead the way in the battle for changing the public's perceptions of journalists, trusted only above politicians.

As journalism is getting more dangerous, safety should be part of everyday equipment for new journalists and not a competitive nature that could possible have devasting consequences - if we want to have a long life that is.

Friends...

Aren't they great?

Having been in Cardiff for a good 2 months now I am really starting to make some fab pals!

And just today we witnessed the christmas extravaganza that is the turning on of the christmas lights! Billie Piper was the highlight of my night, although the dj's from red dragon fm were awesome and enterained the 14million (?) people who braced the freezing temperatures to watch the event.

At £3.50 a burger it was no cheap night out but the fireworks were amazing and nothing beat the red dragon dancers, those of you who were there know what I am talking about!

These photos are some of the memories I am already making, and because I really have no words left in me today, the website has stolen my inner soul - only joking Simon!

Enjoy the pics x

P.S ONLY 38 DAYS TILL CRIMBO...SOOOOO EXCITED!

The belly buster?

I tried black pudding today.

For the first time.

I have to be honest with you - it wasn't great!

Ramones, a little grease infested cafe, round the back of the union was the arena for my experience, and what a place it was.

Sam, Emma, Ben. and I went along with Jamie for his 24th birthday treat - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Here are some pictures of our experience...

Ooops!

An example of what Kim Hollamby was talking about this morning - women's monthlies are a tad slow on the uptake at IPC media when it comes to their websites.

Marie Claire

The people over at Conde Nast, however, are slightly more ahead of the game.

Glamour

And whilst I prefer Marie Claire so much more as a magazine, Marie Claire is way behind with the times. Maybe I'll Kim about it this afternoon.

Check them both out, let me know what you think!