An IT expert turned journalism student hopes she has taken a step towards achieving her dream reporting job after a story she wrote on work experience made the national headlines.
Kate Bamber wrote a story for the Chorley and Leyland Guardian about a mum-of-four, Kellie-Ann Cottam, who receives annual benefits of £37,000 and would need a job paying £60,000 not to be worse off.
And the splash was picked up by the Daily Express, Daily Star, BBC, ITV’s Daybreak and other newspapers and magazines.
Kate, 32, has worked in IT for 10 years but decided she wanted to become a journalist and since February she has been spending one day a week at the title while studying part-time at News Associates in Manchester.
She said: “Wow! It was great story to do because Kellie-Ann isn’t your typical ‘single mum on benefits’.
“She admits the system needs changing and she’s made it her mission to try and help people out of the benefits system.
“I knew it was a good story but to see it picked up by the national press convinces me that I’ve made the right decision to try and become a reporter.”
Kate, who has brought in a string of exclusives for the Chorley and Leyland Guardian, has won the praise of editor Chris Maguire.
He said: “I spoke to Kellie-Ann at a business conference that I was talking at but it was Kate who sprinkled the magic dust over it and made a fantastic story.
“She’s become a big part of our team and I’m sure she’ll land the job her talent deserves.”
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Congratulations to Kate for having what it takes journalistically to take on a big story. However, I note that the piece says that Kate is “spending” one day a week at the Chorley Guardian and has done for the last 8 months. The law is clear that such arrangements must come under the National Minimum Wage so I sincerely hope JP is doing the right thing by Kate and paying her for her shifts, meeting her reasonable out-of-pocket expenses and covering her with employer liability insurance etc. Perhaps we could have a clarification from Chris? I note that in the past the office has been reported on HTFP as having “regular work experience trainees” ie those that work regularly. If they were of the duration of Kate’s stint, I also hope they have been on a proper basis and that there are enough staff at the Guardian to provide real guidance after all the cutbacks that have been made. This is especially so as it appears that a potentially contentious splash has been handed out not to an employee or senior freelance but to a student journalist. This is in no way a dig at Kate who I’m sure like so many young people are eager to impress and enter the industry and I wish her well. What we need to be clear about is that employers should not break the law to save hiring established journalists and ultimately provide even fewer breaks for the likes of Kate in the future while seeking to maintain huge profit margins of 20pc or more. So, as I’m sure all is above board JP (which of course does not employ any journalists), why not do an expose of unscrupulous employers who take on work experience trainees to exploit in breach of the minimum wage regulations? And as the first port of call, why not investigate the media industry where it is common for unpaid employment to masquerade as “work experience” or “internships” training?
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The Ed seems to be trying to take the credit for bringing the story in. Fair play if he did – but if so, why’s he sending the “workie” out to do the best story of the week? Anyone would think they didn’t have any other staff…..
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What a great story represented on a great looking front page, congrats to all involved. Tellus Moore – give it a rest, anyone would think you had an axe to grind…
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I would wager all my salary that Tellus Moore has been working as a bitter sub-editor on a local paper since 1962.
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