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Words from the streets
He adds: “The largest employer of journalists is DC Thomson, which to this day refuses to recognise our union. In the face of this, several of their staff members are staunch members of the branch.” Many describe Dundee as a resurgent city. It’s grown into a hub for computer gaming and is a magnet for the creative industries, with the tech sector a big employer. The life sciences side is also huge; leading forensic anthropologist Sue Black works at the University of Dundee. Freelance photographer Alan Richardson explains: “It’s a
city that’s gone through a huge amount of change and it’s finally got some confidence in itself. The creative industries in Dundee are reinventing the city – and it’s all for the better.
They’re creating a real buzz about the place.” Dundee is a UNESCO City of Design, and the new V&A Museum of Design Dundee is under construction. “Dundee is transforming itself,” says Roache. “The city has been scarred by architectural vandalism in the past. While there are still some mistakes being made, the redevelopment down at the shore has given us all reason to look forward to a considerably more aesthetic heart of town. The people deserve nothing less. “I am confident that Dundee is increasingly seen as an
attractive and vibrant city in which to live and to visit. Just ask Desperate Dan, Minnie the Minx or Oor Wullie, who can be found in statue form around the centre.”
Where the work is
DC Thomson Approximately 700 staff in Dundee, publishing 18 magazines and comics, including The Beano, Shout, The People’s Friend, My Weekly and The Scots Magazine. National newspaper the Sunday Post has an editorial team based in Dundee, and regional daily titles The Courier and the Evening Telegraph and published there. The printing press in Dundee (Discovery Print) prints more than 3.5 million newspapers a week, including contract printing for other publishers.
STV Around 10 staff in the Dundee office, responsible for producing broadcast and digital news for STV North. STV won the bid to
deliver City TV in Dundee on channels STV Glasgow and STV Edinburgh.
BBC The Dundee office has an online news reporter plus a broadcast journalist. The base is also used by other BBC Scotland news and sport journalists when covering local stories. The online news reporter contributes to the Tayside and Central news pages on the BBC Scotland news site. Documentary teams for radio and TV are also based in the Dundee studio when working in the region. The news studio is frequently used for reports and interviews for BBC Scotland radio and TV programmes, including Reporting Scotland, Good Morning Scotland and Scotland 2016.
R advantages.
“In just one day, you can take a stroll along the beaches to the east, go walking in the hills and glens to the north and head south across the bridge to play a round of golf in St Andrews or on one of the excellent local courses,” says Roache. “In the winter, you can be on a ski slope in under an hour. “The many thousands of students add that essential
youthful, cosmopolitan spark to the city and help create the thriving social scene, especially around the Perth Road area of town.” Black sums up the best bits of the city as including “the
late Michael Marra’s music and surreal humour, rooted in the life of the city, the down-to-earth, practical people and the educational and cultural richness of the universities and college”. Beatson adds: “If I had to describe Dundee in five
words, they would be ‘inward looking, but outwardly focused’. It makes for an interesting place to cover as a freelance reporter.”
ichardson, who runs
www.pix-ar.co.uk, says Dundee has had its problems – it was long the Scottish capital of teenage pregnancy – but it is now very much on the up, largely due to the growth of the creative industries. He
describes Dundonians as “friendly and with a very dry sense of humour”, adding that people are “pretty fiercely proud” to be from Dundee. Roache adds that Dundonians don’t just like Dundee – they love the place. He says: “Many of us carry through life a pride in an often humble background and a belief that we are ‘a’ Jock Tamson’s bairns’. That can give you, as a journalist, a fearless approach when questioning and challenging authority and privilege.” The city’s location on the banks of the River Tay has certain
Ian Roache, sports writer at The Courier: “It has been described as being the most Scottish of all our cities, and that appeals to me.”
Jamie Beatson, freelance journalist: “Dundee prides itself on forging its own path in the world – but is equally deeply concerned with its own. It is a uniquely introverted place but with a population who care about their perception and influence on a greater stage.”
Alan Richardson, freelance photographer: “Dundee as a place to live is Scotland’s best kept secret. It’s is a big resurgence city – second to Cambridge for biotech. There are lots of independent shops opening up, lots of artists. It’s also Scotland’s sunniest city.”
Jimmy Black, former PR and radio broadcaster: “It’s in a stunning location on a steep hill beside a wide river. Plus there are nearby places like Fife, Strathmore and the Angus Glens which are easy to reach for walking and cycling.”
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