Jack: Hi Mick, thanks so much for speaking to me today.
Mick: That’s no problem at all.
J: How did you get started in the journalism industry?
M: It was down to one careers convention I went to in West London whilst at school, so in order to miss an afternoon of maths and science I decided to attend it. I had no idea what I wanted to do at this stage in my life and the guy there had talked about journalism and I knew it was something I would enjoy. At the end of schooling instead of going to university I went on a full time academic journalism course for a year. After that, seeking a job, I was lucky enough to get one at Eastern Daily newspapers which is now known as Archant. There was a lot of luck in my journey but it couldn’t have worked out any better.
J: What was it about journalism that pulled you into the industry like it did?
M: It was something I felt I could do. I was gobby and was a big noise in the grammar school debating society. Your preconceptions of what journalism is like are very different to what it is actually like. I thought I would be running around in a shabby raincoat shouting ‘hold the front page’ but in 40+ years I have only heard that said twice. I couldn’t have imagined another career that would have given me as much fulfillment as what journalism has.
J: What are your best tips to give when trying to break into Journalism?
M: It’s such a long and varied industry it all depends on what you want to do. My best advice would be in not deciding what part of journalism you want to go into because you would be limiting your chances in acquiring gainful and rewarding employment. Personally, I feel you should decide you want to be a journalist first and then decide what part of it you want to go into.
J: You also do a fair bit of work with Sky Sports now, what do you prefer. Writing or presenting in front of camera?
M: I’m still a writer; those are the skills I learnt by making mistakes and learning by them. I love the minor celebrity I get by occasionally being on Sky Sports News and I also love radio because I make extensive notes, I treat a ten minute slot on talkSport as a proper job and prepare well. On Sky Sports News I have to ad-lib a lot and I don’t think that’s my greatest of gifts, I much prefer to give it a lot of thought. I still think writing is best because you can go back and polish things off. Sometimes an 800 word column can take me a whole morning to write.
J: It sounds from that answer that you’re a bit of a perfectionist. Do you think that’s important?
M: I certainly think that you have to take your job seriously. I place a value and an importance on what I do, if I didn’t do that then people reading my work wouldn’t either. The insult that gets me more than any other is when people accuse me of ‘lazy journalism’. I put a lot of effort in to my work, it may not be the point of view of everyone but I can assure you everything I do has had a lot of time invested into it.
J: What horror stories do you have since you have been involved in journalism?
M: There is one that comes to mind. I once spelt Sol Campbell’s name without the p on the back of the Evening Standard in the biggest type we had. That is just a howler.
J: Do you have any rules that you like to stick with when writing?
I have had one rule though throughout my career which has made things slightly easier though. I never write about someone that I wouldn’t be able to justify if I met them face to face the next day. It just means that I never write anything that I regret.
J: Do you think Neil Adams was the best man to take Norwich forward?
M: About fifteen years ago Delia asked me “what is the secret to being a good manager”? I replied with “win football matches” and it’s true. If you win a game you are a genius and if you lose you are a numpty. You can go from winning games to losing games without doing anything different. What Neil definitely has the ability to do is bringing through the Norwich youngsters and giving them a proper chance. They’re his lads and he will definitely give them a chance on the big stage. I’ve been very encouraged by that. Most Norwich fans felt that Chris Hughton didn’t play football in the ‘Norwich way’; Neil Adams will certainly play that way and he understands what the fans want and deserve. I can guarantee you one thing though that this season will be enjoyable because we can travel to every single game knowing we can get something out of it.
J: What is one player this season you’re really looking forward to seeing in a Norwich shirt?
M: Who we retain and who we recruit this season is what determines how well we do. I think John Ruddy is a key player this season and if he stays with us we will have a much better chance of going up than what we would have without him. Big John is the man I’m really looking forward to seeing this season.
