Landing his dream job as a reporter for The Sun means Liam Coleman is masking the largest nationwide tales alongside among the UK’s greatest journalists.
Liam Coleman
It’s taken Liam lower than 5 years since graduating with a grasp’s in Journalism from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) to work his manner up from native newspapers to the UK’s best-known crimson prime tabloid.
The 28-year-old from Ashington in Northumberland mentioned: “I’ve at all times wished to work for a nationwide newspaper and it’s a little bit of a dream come true to work for one as massive as The Sun. I completely find it irresistible.”
Three months into the job and no two days have been the identical for Liam, who has labored on critical tales such because the Sarah Everard case and the Kill the Bill protests, in addition to extra enjoyable and light-hearted tales.
“We work totally different shifts with day ones involving going into the workplace and reacting to breaking information, whereas night time shifts contain extra covert jobs, engaged on ideas and constructing tales with different reporters,” he mentioned.
Articles by Liam printed in The Sun
Seeing his identify printed in The Sun for the primary time has been simply one among many highlights thus far.
He mentioned: “My first unique was the possibility to talk to the well-known Buckingham Palace ‘prowler’ Michael Fagan, who featured within the newest season of The Crown. I actually acquired to sit down and chat with the person who sat on the finish of the Queen’s mattress, on the finish of his mattress. It was nice.
“Recently I additionally had one among my favorite ever tales printed. In the run-up to the Euros this summer time I acquired to talk to a soccer mad sticker fan who has accomplished each World Cup and Euros sticker e-book because the Seventies. I’ve at all times cherished writing about what I’m enthusiastic about and this was positively a kind of tales.”
The pandemic’s influence has been felt deeply by journalists the world over, limiting essential face-to-face interactions and known as ‘career-defining’ by many information editors identified to Liam.
Liam’s favorite printed story thus far
“Despite the challenges, the pandemic has additionally meant that a whole lot of journalists are extra valued than ever earlier than. In the final yr now we have seen the rise of faux information, and the way vital trusted information sources are, so in some methods it has additionally helped to form a greater future for journalism,” mentioned Liam.
After graduating from DMU in 2016, Liam labored for the Loughborough Echo for two years earlier than shifting to London and securing a job on the Romford Recorder.
He mentioned: “I completely cherished working on the Echo and I learnt so much within the first few years of being a journalist. The Recorder was a terrific patch to cowl after shifting to London for the primary time and it’s the place I additionally acquired to cowl one among my largest tales to this point.
“I used to be the primary journalist to report on the homicide of 17-year-old Jodie Chesney, who was stabbed to loss of life in a park. The following day the story was on the entrance web page of each nationwide newspaper, however because the native paper we have been the primary to cowl the story and to interrupt the information. I believe that speaks volumes about how built-in we have been in the neighborhood and the way vital native information nonetheless is.”
Interviewing Lord Coe
A yr later, Liam made a major profession transfer to the Evening Standard, one among London’s largest newspapers.
“I cherished the group and every thing we labored on. I lined a whole lot of crime and spent nearly each night time at a homicide scene, masking stabbings and shootings. I additionally spent a whole lot of time chatting with households of the victims, however it was vital to present them a voice,” he mentioned.
“At the identical time I acquired to go to among the wealthiest areas of town and acquired to go to crimson carpet occasions the place I met large Hollywood film stars together with Penelope Cruz, Jamie Foxx, Michael B. Jordan and Kim Cattrall, so it was an actual blended bag of labor each day.”
At the beginning of the pandemic, Liam was furloughed and he ultimately began working freelance shifts at The Sun. He mentioned: “After half a dozen or so shifts, they requested me if I wished to return on full-time and the remaining is historical past.”
Before his MA, Liam additionally accomplished a joint honours English Literature and Journalism undergraduate diploma at DMU.
“Without learning journalism I’d by no means have been capable of work within the business, so I’ve DMU to thank for giving me the very best begin,” he mentioned.
“Learning invaluable expertise like shorthand and media legislation have set me in good stead all through my profession and I’ve even bumped into a whole lot of buddies from my course who’re working in newspapers too.”
During his time at DMU, Liam was a member of the boys’s soccer group and took on roles at Demon Media, the college’s award-winning student-led media group.
He mentioned: “The soccer specifically has at all times helped in every thing I’ve completed, together with making buddies and studying from others. I made a whole lot of actually good buddies at DMU who I’ve saved in contact with – all of it hit house lately as a result of we misplaced a detailed pal from our soccer group and we’ve all been capable of assist one another.
“I used to be additionally a supervisor of one of many males’s soccer groups and it taught me so much. Although we might not have been essentially the most profitable group in DMU’s historical past, I wouldn’t change that for the world.”
Posted on Wednesday twenty sixth May 2021
