You know how when sometimes you read something. And you just have to put pen to paper...

by Julie Waddicor

Journalists are interesting beasts aren’t they? Most of you will know that intimately, as you are either a former journalist yourself, work closely with colleagues who were journalists in a past life, or deal with them in a daily basis through your job.

Regional journalists exist in a state of dichotomy. One hand they are generally irritated by bureaucracy, can have an outdated image of local government (as wasteful, useless and full of people who couldn’t survive in the real world), have little time for complexity (and local government is complex), may or may not believe in public service, and may or may not believe in the need to employ people to deliver it.

On the other hand they have a passion for truth and clarity, they want openness and they use great communication to tell stories.

So, just like a good comms officer really. They are also faced with a massively changing industry, with little time to adapt and little job security. Ah: so with familiarity comes contempt.