Today’s episode of PR not BS with Lauren, she talks to national journalist Matt Barbour. He has been writing for national newspapers and magazines since he was in his early twenties.

He got into journalism on a whim. Whilst at the University of Bristol he set up a magazine, which won The Guardian NUS Magazine of the Year Award. Following the success of the magazine, he was approached by The Times to apply for their graduate training programme. It was an interesting experience, being thrown in at the deep end. For him, more so, as the day he joined, Princess Diana had died the previous day, so no-one had time to talk to him! But it was a useful time for him, understanding how a national newspaper worked.

He then spent a year in Australia working for Men’s Health Magazine – his best job ever! He returned to the UK with a renewed love of journalism, and began working with the UK version of the magazine.

Then he began writing for the health sections of various newspapers and magazines including the Sun, the Mail the Mirror, The Guardian and the Independent, but as the larger newspapers started to lose readership, he found it was easier to write for the tabloids even though he hadn’t aspired to write for them. ‘ A good story is a good story’ – it doesn’t matter where it is.

Matt’s main interest is inspirational human stories. Over the years Matt has built up his reputation as a journalist who will work with people to get their inspirational, personal stories out there, and he’s built up a trust with them; they know he’ll treat their case studies well. He shares some of the amazing stories he’s written about.

He also talks about the huge importance of good photographs to accompany a story – with an emphasis on ‘good’.

To contact Matt:

Email: [email protected]

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