Colette Sexton, a Sunday Business Post journalist, emphasised independence, persistence and nosiness in an engaging talk to eager transition-year students taking part in a journalism access programme run by The University Times.
“You have to have a lot of independence. You decide what stories you cover”, she said at the talk on Monday, advising students that journalists must take control of their own stories and their own work. “You really have to be a self-starter”, she said.
Her advice came at a time when young people are seen as having poor work ethic, as if they expect things to come to them naturally.
“Rule number one of journalism: always have a question”, quipped Sexton to the group of enthusiastic students. She had been invited to speak at The University Times journalism access programme about her journey to becoming a respected journalist for the Sunday Business Post. She recalled that growing up she had been told several times that she would “never succeed in journalism” and that she should just “do something else”.
“They doubted me and I proved them wrong”, she said defiantly.
Despite all the obstacles that confronted her, Sexton persevered and is now news correspondent of the Sunday Business Post. When asked for a final piece of advice for budding journalists, she jokingly replied: “You need to be incredibly nosy.”
Bridget Galvins and Lei Mabeza also contributed reporting to this piece.
This piece was written by secondary students taking part in The University Times’s journalism access programme.
