Taggart got into radio after learning his trade in local newspapers, but advises those with similar aspirations to go to prospective employers armed with a postgraduate degree. Two of the most acclaimed are offered by Cardiff University and City University in London. David English runs the postgraduate diploma at Cardiff. He says: “We like to think that as a consequence of the nine months at Cardiff, we will get people a job in journalism.”

Professor Adrian Monck is the head of journalism at City University, which has five applicants for each place. As such, entry requirements are high — the newspaper journalism course insists on four weeks’ regional newspaper experience and the courses cost up to £6,000. “We’re trying to educate the leaders, the editors of the future,” Professor Monck says. “We’re looking for self-starters, people with guts, confidence, curiosity and an ability to understand that news stories don’t just land in your in-tray.”

Paul Rees, the editor of the music magazine Q, started out at Brum Beat as a “general office boy” on £50 a week. His advice is to try for work experience — or, if still at college, to get involved with the campus paper or a fanzine. He says: “When people send me things, I look for obvious things — can they string a sentence together; can they spell; is it written in the style of the magazine? A knowledge of music helps too.”

Starting salaries can be as low as £10,000 on a free local newspaper, but at the top end it’s much more. And as Rees says: “I get to listen to music all day. I get sent free albums, free gig tickets and occasionally flown to the South of France to dine with Bono. What’s not to like?”

STEVE SMETHURST

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