opportunities Finding work


Local news Journalist and documentary maker Stephanie Power looked around her area and uncovered stories on John Lennon, The Beatles and Liverpool FC.


Power believes her audio


abilities gave her a head start. “I think it’s great to have


audio skills. I’ve got my own studio and I’m self sufficient when it comes to making radio,” she says.


Football Liverpool Echo sports editor David Prentice says the internet has opened up opportunities for fans to generate and monetise their own content. He says: “The Anfield


Wrap, a Liverpool FC-themed podcast, which was launched


in 2011, now employs 11 people full time and attracts more than 80,000 listeners. There are Everton versions too – The Blue Room, Toffee TV and All Together Now.”


Music Elliot Ryder, editor of music magazine Bido Lito!, says the


city can be a good starting ground. “If you want to cut your teeth in music journalism, it’s perfect. There are a lot of blogs and


titles in Liverpool where you can get experience, get your feet on the ladder, then pitch to publications on a national scale,” he says.


documentary maker, left her BBC staff job in London to move to Liverpool in 2007. She now works for Radio 4, including the World at One, PM and the Today programme. “I had no connections with Liverpool – I just fancied a


change,” she says. “Liverpool became the European Capital of Culture in 2008 and there were so many stories, I set up my own production company and winged it.” Power did podcasts for the Health and Safety Executive,


which is based in Merseyside, and for football fans group Spirit of Shankly. With Salford only an hour away, she also worked on documentaries for the BBC – one on Hillsborough and another on Muslims in the Premier League. “I could have picked Glasgow, but I would have walked


into a massive pool of journalists because it’s a media hub,” she says. “Cardiff is a hub. Manchester and Salford is a hub. Liverpool isn’t a hub and that worked to my advantage.” As well as being close to Wales, the Lake District, Derbyshire and the coast, Power says another big appeal is the people, who are always happy to chat. Prentice agrees: “Scousers are naturally inquisitive and rebellious, nosy and engaging, nostalgic and passionate – and we love to talk,” he says. “We are naturally suspicious of authority and cultural elites, yet attempts to attack the city from the outside see a shared and united reaction and community support.” Opportunities and pay vary. The city has a large number of independent magazines and online publications including YM Liverpool (https://ymliverpool. com), Liverpool Noise (liverpoolnoise.com), His & Hers Magazine (www.hisandhersmag.co.uk), arts website The Double Negative (www.thedoublenegative.co.uk) and music magazine Bido Lito! (bidolito.co.uk). Editor of Bido Lito! Elliot Ryder grew up in Liverpool and says one of the biggest draws for him is the diversity of art


QUOTES


Elliot Ryder, editor of music magazine Bido Lito! “I’d say Liverpool is probably one of the best springboards to move to if you wanted to make your name at a title or arts organisation as a writer, curator or producer.”


David Prentice, liverpool Echo sports editor “The greatest benefit of working on Merseyside is the readership. Football isn’t just a passion – it’s a religion, a way of life.”


Stephanie Power, reporter and producer “People will talk to you and, as a journalist, that’s great.”


and culture, whether this is music or galleries such as Tate Liverpool or the Walker. Another upside is the cost of living compared to London. “It’s a very modern city. I think a lot of people outside


Liverpool don’t realise how much culture there is,” he says. “When we had our decline in the 1990s, post-Thatcher, the city had to reinvent itself very forcefully as a leisure, culture- first destination, so we have lots of artists, makers, people doing things. “I think the atmosphere is a lot more laid back as well, it’s not


as intense – there’s not quite as strong a middle/upper class ownership of the art, there is a lot of community art in Liverpool which is on a par with the offer of the institutional galleries.” Although the Baltic Triangle made its name off the back of


venues and arts spaces, the residential development has seen many pushed out “with more in danger”, according to Ryder. It is now deprived areas such as Toxteth leading culture-led regeneration, with Birkenhead and Anfield following suit. “People are using culture and arts to lead the regeneration


rather than lots of residential money changing the place,” he says. Journalist, entrepreneur and events director Amanda Moss says: “Liverpool is one of the most creative cities in the country, if not the most creative.” Moss founded Liverpool Fashion Week in 2009 and runs


Lifestyle magazine. She moved to Liverpool in 2001 to work on Hollyoaks, and set up the magazine after being made redundant. She now runs the Liverpool Lifestyle Awards, the Fashion & Beauty Awards and Manchester Fashion Week. Salt concludes: “I think a big thing is the pride in local


identity which, when you’re working in local radio, is brilliant. It’s such a buzz working here – it’s one of the best news patches in the country.”


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