In Conversation with Mojo Abidi and Sophia Smith Galer – Friday 5th February 2021

On Friday 5th February, Empoword Journalism’s Editors in Chief, Madeleine Raine and Issy Raikes, hosted an ‘In Conversation with…’ workshop with Mojo Abidi and Sophia Smith Galer. 

Presenter and producer for ITV’s The Rundown Mojo Abidi and BBC journalist Sophia Smith Galer both joined Empoword Journalism to discuss their routes into the industry and careers so far. 

“they both added how useful it was to have an understanding of media law and ethics.”

For both Mojo and Sophia, their careers started at university. Mojo studied journalism and Sophia studied Spanish and Arabic. They both emphasised the importance of work experience, whether this was at magazines, radio stations or newspapers. In terms of qualifications in general, both discussed how important the NCTJ is if you are wanting to become a journalist, especially as the industry is so competitive. Similarly to previous guests, they both added how useful it was to have an understanding of media law and ethics. 

For their work, Mojo and Sophia both utilise social media. For Sophia, she was the first person at the BBC to have a TikTok account and now successfully has 178.8K followers. What social media and Tik Tok, in particular, has done is allowed for journalism to reach a much wider and age-diverse audience. However, using social media has come with negativity, for both Mojo and Sophia: they find particular apps kinder than others, with certain apps allowing for more objectification and sexualisation of women. Apps like Tik Tok can be really important in understanding audiences. A younger audience will consume their news digitally rather than watching traditional television shows or reading the newspaper. 

Looking at how audiences consume news is the premise behind ITV’s news show The Rundown. From presenting the show, Mojo explained why certain decisions like not talking in a traditional newsreader voice were taken. For her and her team, it’s important to realise that young people spend their time watching YouTubers and vloggers so it’s best to inform them in a more conversational and casual way. 

“you should always use your own personal experiences and individuality.”

Something many in the industry struggle with is coming up with ideas and looking for stories. Sophia explained that it’s still something she still struggles with and is a skill that you can really hone whilst doing the job. Although it’s something you can improve whilst on the job, your own identity really helps to give you an understanding of what other people will find interesting. For most cases, when it comes to fresh ideas if it’s something that you find interesting then others will, especially if it’s something you don’t know or haven’t seen before, then your audience will also be in the same mindset. The main piece of advice from both speakers was that you should always use your own personal experiences and individuality. 

Tops Tips For Getting Into The Journalism Industry: 

• Even though journalism is competitive, it’s a real team sport and you have to work together with people rather than seeing them as the enemy. 
• Always make sure you’re prepared. If you’re doing something like a live broadcast, always have three key points in your mind that you want to make and keep returning to them. 
• There is more to life than your job. Understand your mental health as a journalist and the importance of switching off. To keep going in the constant news cycle, make sure you have hobbies or other interests on the side you can pursue. 
• You don’t have to have a niche: just staying in the news flow and having an understanding of the world is enough. 
• No one is born to be a fully formed journalist. Don’t let certain aspects of the industry hold you back, a lot of the skills can be learnt on the job. 

If you missed our workshop you can catch up below:

Neve Gordon-Farleigh

Featured image courtesy of Empoword Journalism. No changes were made to this image.