How I Got My Media Break...

Jean Hannah Edelstein

Thinking Of A Master Plan

Jean Hannah Edelstein, 29, is the news and feature editor of Glamourmagazine.co.uk, she was born in America, brought up in Canada and now works in London as a freelance journalist. To my surprise Jean agreed to talk to me and tell me how she got her break in the media...

I have always been very interested in writing and journalism, when I was 16 I was an editor on the weekly paper at my school. I also worked on my university newspaper and did a master’s degree in media and communications. As a teenager I wanted to work in television but that changed because online media didn’t exist to the extent that it does now.

I got my media break when I starting writing for a magazine that some friends of mine started, called Bad Idea – they didn’t pay anything. However it was a chance for me to get my work published, after that I did work experience at The Sunday Times and the Observer and I also started writing for the Guardian online.

I find my job as an editor both fulfilling and stressful! we have to write, edit and publish many new articles every day - working online means working very quickly. Even though the pressure is constantly on it is lots of fun and I really enjoy it.

My number one piece of advice to aspiring journalists is to gain as much online experience as possible because that is where most jobs are going to be in the future. Also, be prepared to do quite a lot of work for no or very little pay when you’re starting out. I encourage aspiring journalists to be flexible – because jobs are limited and the industry is always changing, if your idea of where you want to work and what you want to do is too fixed then you may well be disappointed and find that it is difficult to progress.

Finally, the quote I live by is... 

"I don't care to belong to any club that will have me as a member"

– Groucho Marx


You can follow Jean at Twitter or check out her blog