Be tenacious - careers advice from a top magazine editor
New Statesman editor Jason Cowley returned to Southampton to talk to final year undergraduates about career opportunities.
Jason, who graduated from the University of Southampton in 1989 with a first class combined honours degree in English and Philosophy, spoke about his time as a student and his career in journalism and answered questions from the audience. Vice-Chancellor Don Nutbeam welcomed him back to the University and introduced his lecture.
Despite the rise in electronic media, Jason says he believed there would always be opportunities for writers with something to say to make a career in newspapers and magazine; he encouraged would-be journalists to be tenacious in job hunting.
He feels studying Philosophy definitely helped in his career: “You’re reading works by some of the greatest minds of all time, you’re taught how to argue and reason rationally, you’re grappling with fundamental questions and you carry that with you for the rest of your life. You never quite forget what you read and what you thought about back then, when you were at university.”
Jason became editor of the New Statesman in 2008. Before then, he was editor of Granta magazine and of the award-winning Observer Sport Monthly and a staff writer on the Times. He has written a novel and a book about football and has also taken part in several radio broadcasts including Any Questions on BBC Radio Four.
To listen to a podcast interview with Jason please click on the download to the right of the page.