Journalist Spotlight: Marc Walker, Daily Star Sunday

Marc Walker has been appointed deputy news editor at the Daily Star Sunday. Marc gives us an insight into life working on a Sunday newspaper, the buzz of a scandal, the pressure to deliver exclusives and passing the ‘pub test’ with news stories.

How are you settling into your role as deputy news editor at the Daily Star Sunday? What does a typical working day mean for you?

I have been in the job a few weeks now and feel right at home!

On a typical day, if I’m in the office, I provide support on the news desk, helping to put copy into the system and monitoring the news wires. We have a relatively small team so I also quite often work as a reporter out on the road, following up leads and self-generating stories.

But when the news editor is off, I’m thrust into the hot seat, overseeing the reporters and liaising with all our freelancers in the UK and overseas. My duties include putting together the news list, holding conference, sticking all the copy into the system and working with our lawyers should there be any legal concerns about stories. It’s a challenge as I don’t have a deputy when I’m news editing.

What do you enjoy the most about your job? What type of stories do you most enjoy covering?

I enjoy news editing, especially on Saturdays when there’s a real buzz in the office, but I’m most at home out on stories. My favourite stories are probably anything that involves a bit of scandal!

What are some of the more difficult or challenging aspects of your job?

The frustrating aspect of working on a Sunday newspaper is the risk of your stories appearing in the daily papers before Sunday. It’s galling when you have put an awful lot of work into a story, only to be beaten to it by a daily paper.

As print journalists, we also face the challenge of ever-tightening budgets due to the tough market conditions we work against these days.

How do you make sure you stay on top of breaking news? How do you make sure to engage your audience?

We rely on our strong contacts and great team of reporters. Because we’re a weekly paper, we have to offer something different to what everyone has read during the week and in the Saturday papers. That means exclusives but also staying current and finding new angles and moving on the big stories of that week.

How big a role does social media have to play in your work? What trends are you noticing?

Social media has obviously made a huge impact on all forms of journalism, including print. For me it’s a gateway to getting in touch with all sorts of people and new contacts that one would never have been able to reach before social media.

I think it’s become the first port of call for information. Police forces, for example, are tweeting about incidents before putting out press releases or holding press conferences.

Do you have a good relationship with PRs? What advice would you give to PR professionals?

I work closely with PR people and have great relationships with some of them. Good PR professionals tailor their marketing to the publication and read the papers! It sounds simple but a significant minority just don’t do it. It’s frustrating to be bombarded with releases that are totally inappropriate for the paper. Worse still is to be contacted about something that’s already appeared in your paper. Most PRs are spot on but some get it very wrong.

What type of press material are you interested in receiving?

The Daily Star Sunday is interested in a wide variety of material but it’s got to be exciting, shocking, funny, wacky or scandalous, or better still, all of those things! I believe in what I call the ‘pub test’. The best stories are those that transcend people’s gender, class, social standing and so on; those that elicit reactions like: ‘You’re joking!’ ‘Did he really do that?’ ‘That’s absolutely outrageous!’

Editorial information on Marc Walker, Daily Star Sunday and thousands of other media contacts, can be found in the Vuelio Database