#28: "Be the reliable communicators that AI can’t always be"
An interview with journalist and podcaster Rachel Loxton
“Journalists are just self-loathing narcissists,” said Joe Flint, who was then a staff reporter at the Los Angeles Times, to a group of under-caffeinated students in my PR for Entertainment class in the fall of 2009. I think about this assertion often.
Not because it’s true, but because it points out a paradox core to the profession. Reporting news is necessary for democracy and yet media shutdowns continue. Many journalists have highly visible, potentially influential platforms and yet remain underpaid.
Don’t believe me? Look at the Reddit posts on /journalism like this and this research from Pew with insights from 12,000 journalists on what they think the news industry does best and worst. And if you’re at a PR firm, chances are quite a few of your colleagues landed there as a second career after their newspaper or TV news job.
I reported, wrote and edited at my daily college paper, The Daily Trojan, so I feel a kinship with journalists. But my perspective is that one shouldn’t give into cynicism. We should support great publications and engage with the writers and editors in real dialogue — and not just about your clients/company.
That’s why I’m pleased to welcome Rachel Loxton, editor at The Local. She also launched the publication’s podcast, Germany in Focus, which is a must-listen for any expat in Germany. Happy learning!
You’ve had an eclectic career in journalism - from reporting and writing to editing to launching a podcast – in two countries. You’ve seen media go from print to online to social to – well, whatever’s next. What do you think is what’s next for the industry, and how can communicators prepare for the next era?
It’s true that we have seen the way we deliver media evolve in the last decades. But I like to think that even though the mediums have changed (although I’m very glad to see that physical newspapers and magazines are still going!) things remain the same in many ways. Journalism is still about telling people’s stories, reporting facts, informing, entertaining, getting opinions across, engaging audiences and much more.
Of course we have to talk about the role of AI as it expands more; we need guidelines on that, we need to embrace technology and make the most of it. But I think that more than ever we need trained journalists and media professionals to step up with our highly specialised skills and be the reliable communicators that AI can’t always be.
In the same vein, as much as I love social media and influencers, I think more than ever we need journalists and other communicators to build up trust in these spheres. I think misinformation is our biggest battle right now. One thing I’ve started recently is sharing more video content on social media talking about German news stories that affect foreigners, life in Germany and journalism.
I think it’s great when we can add our perspectives to the conversation and further build trust in communities. The more that we as communications professionals can learn from each other, read up on things and put ourselves out there the better.
You’ve spent your last few years at The Local – an organization I admire (and subscribe to!). It’s got a very specific service focus, helping English speakers living abroad understand and contextualize where they live. What’s it like to work at such an organization, and what have you learned?
I have loved working at The Local and I’m so glad you’ve found it helpful. Apart from really getting my teeth into writing and talking about German news for an English audience, one thing I’ve really learned is to pay attention to what subscribers want. Because The Local has a membership model, many of our articles are behind a paywall.
For that reason, our teams really think hard about what we are publishing rather than doing several stories for the sake of it. We consider the topic, the angle and how it will be presented. Apart from enjoying our stories or finding them informative, we want people to remain as subscribers and to connect with us too. Audience engagement is super important and is something we’re working on.
The other thing I’ve learned a lot about is juggling. A good and not so good thing about The Local is we are a small team. It means that we get a lot of freedom, we get to do a lot of different tasks that we might not be able to in a larger team. We get to write about all sorts of subjects, whether it’s citizenship law changes or dog tax. We get to launch a podcast! That is truly awesome. The downside is that it can feel like I have too much on my plate at times and, speaking honestly, I have had days when I’ve felt like ‘I’m doing a lot of things badly and nothing well’. Saying that, I am super proud of everything I’ve achieved at The Local and it truly is a dream come true to work as a journalist in Germany!
I’d love to ask about your approach to storytelling. How do you approach researching, framing and telling stories from an audio perspective versus other mediums? How is audio different from other media?
I love this question. I start off by reading a lot on whatever it is I’m writing about or want to include on the podcast. So I’ll pull up articles and find anything I can on the topic, including from The Local. I’ll then do a search for podcasts or radio/TV interviews and check them out too. I’ll also search German news and see what’s going on there. I take notes the old fashioned way on my notepad and I’ll start thinking about a top line. What is it I want this section of audio to say? Or if it’s a written piece, what could the headline be?
If I’m looking for a guest for the podcast or someone to interview for a story, I’ll hopefully have some people written down on my notes who have talked on the subject before. I’ll also wrack my brains for my own contacts (I have quite a good memory for that!) and I’ll ask my colleagues if they have any recommendations. I also approach some press offices or politicians or other expert voices. I put feelers out and hope that some people get back to me! I don’t do this so much anymore but I would also happily get out into the world and ask people for quotes on the street if needed. With audio I’ve had to work on being more concise with my questions and be quite cutthroat on editing episodes. So there are a lot of similarities with writing.
For me, speaking to people is the best part of the job. I love presenting stories and encouraging people to tell their side of things. For that reason I’m looking to do more panel moderating in future where we could do this in front of a live audience. That would be a really exciting move for me!
What is something you wish companies and communicators knew about how to approach or work with journalists?
I still think one of the most important things to keep in mind is that it is worth building relationships. Journalists are usually on tight deadlines and receive too many emails, so if companies or communicators want to work with a specific journalist, I’d advise trying to set up a coffee (even a coffee meeting over a video call if time is difficult) or inviting a journalist to some kind of event for networking. We love to socialise but often need help to get away from the grind!
That really makes a big difference. I used to work with lots of PR professionals in Glasgow and I’m still connected to a lot of them today. I think it’s because they took the time to get to know me and my work and it allowed me to do the same with them. The best stories I’ve got are through carefully building relationships.
What did you wish I asked you?
I’d love for you to ask: has journalism always been your dream job? Because: yes it has. But when I was younger I really thought I’d be writing about the world of music and it’s not something I’ve done very much of. I watched the film Almost Famous years ago and it made me want to go on tour with a band and write about them for the Rolling Stone.
I still think that I would produce some great work by going on the road with bands and artists today. I think people would love to read about what Taylor Swift is like at breakfast after a show. How does she take her eggs? Or what is Beyonce like when she’s annoyed and tired on her tour? In general I’d love to be doing more journalism on the road, visiting places and talking to people, eating food and just generally being with people and documenting it. One of my favourite writers is Joan Didion and I love the way she combined reportage with personal and travel details. Her work on California is a joy to read!