Interview with Jo Caruana

What do you do with a B.A? Despite arts students getting the brush-off in society, many of them go on to become editors, educators, writers, journalists, and everything in between. Jo Caruana, a graduate in B.A. Arts Journalism at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, and top editor and writer, tells Diane Brincat how she has conquered the writing scene in Malta.

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Your career has been nearly ten years in the making, how did it start?

After studying at St Edwards for my A levels, I took a gap year, as I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do drama or journalism. During my gap year I got a job at the Malta Independent, worked there for a full year and absolutely loved it. I loved how exciting it was, how everyday was different. I quickly realized that it’s a very good job if you want something exciting. I did that and was sad to leave, and I was very lucky that the course I had chosen at Queen Margaret’s University in Edinburgh was a mixed degree in journalism and drama, which is quite rare with just 4 people in the course as a specialised area. I did that for 4 years and at the same time, I edited a magazine for the university and then I started a newspaper called ‘The Echo’, which is still going. I did that throughout the 4 years, which was a really good education, and then I did a placement at a magazine in Scotland and then went to London for a while to work for the BBC.

Because of all that, I really believe in getting a taste of all the different things you could do. I’m a big believer in internships, and by working for free, you can get a lot of experience. And then you’ll know, when it comes for you to start, what you want to do; be it writing, proofreading, copyediting – and you’ll already have a decent portfolio.

Why did you return to Malta?

I knew that at the end of my course I could either stay there or come back, and I didn’t think I was ever going to come back – no one ever does to be honest – but it was the start of the recession. We were already feeling it – our tutors had warned us that things were getting tough and that jobs were harder to find at that point. So, I thought, maybe it’s time to go back.

What’s being a freelance journalist like?

When I came back it seemed really obvious that there was a gap in the market for someone who could write anything. So I started a copywriting company (writemeanything.com), in 2006, and at the same time started associate editing Homeworks magazine.

Something like that is where Malta is very beneficial. You wouldn’t imagine editing a magazine in the UK at twenty-two; people wont even look at you. It’s usually something you do in your forties.

You get to really try your hands at things here, but at the same time you might find yourself a bit bored by the time you reach your thirties because you’ve done everything already. It’s different in the UK because they take things slower and the challenges are bigger, so your career would evolve more gradually than it would here.

How do you feel that university helped in preparing you for the industry?

My advice to anyone at university is don’t sit back and do jack all. If you want to be a journalist, go out and be a journalist. Take those 4 years to make your mistakes, prepare your portfolio and shape your career before you actually have to do it. Because out of the thousands of people graduating every year, what you’ve done in your university career will set you apart. My course was very hands-on; as opposed to many of the courses here, we produced in the third and fourth year of my course, we had to submit articles five times a week, and if we missed a deadline once, we’d fail the year. But now deadlines are the most important part of my career and it taught me early to really respect my editors.

Leading with your university degree isn’t enough, and once you start working, you’re not going to have time to do internships or free work. We were told, as students of a non-academic course, not to depend on our degree because having a full portfolio is imperative.

How has your personality shaped what you do?

I wake up every morning and thank God I’m so lucky to do what I do, because I think I’m a very flexible person and my job happens to be a flexible job. Plus, I’m a theatre person and a writing person and I write about theatre. Very much who I am, but it’s not a luxury everyone can afford. I would love to write solely about theatre and culture, but it’s hard to have that kind of niche in Malta. I still have to write websites for concrete companies to make it viable. I would love for who I am to fully make up what I do. In Malta you cannot be a niche individual. Whereas I studied theatre journalism, here I have to write all kinds of journalism, and there isn’t a market to be a theatre journalist – I’d write 3 articles a week and go bankrupt.

How has your career shaped who you are?

Being a journalist is great, it gives you incredible insight into society that many people don’t have. So I spend my week meeting people who delve me into their lives in ways most people don’t get to see. It’s fascinating and it makes you a very non judgmental person, and again, very grateful for what you have that they don’t. Whatever it is, you get incredible insight in the good and the bad. It’s made my life very focused but still flexible – if I have a deadline I know that I have to stay up all night to finish it.

What do you love most about your job?

I love meeting people, challenging and inspiring people, be it because they’ve overcome hardships or because of the crazy things they do. I also love the challenges and variety that come with the job; one day I’m working on publishing a magazine and the next day I’m writing about a hotel.

Is there anything you dislike in your job?

I’d have to say that what I hate most are the limitations. With Style on Sunday magazine its challenging to find local fashion designers and you can only write about the same designers for so many times. As a journalist if you have a really good story, people tend not to feed you because they’re afraid of stepping on people’s toes.

What’s been your impression of local students? How do you think your experience abroad makes you different to your peers locally?

Well, we did totally different courses and if they’ve done their course at University of Malta, from what I can tell it does not focus solely on journalism. Without wanting to be negative, I’ve sometimes found that the University of Malta might let people get lazy. Back at Queen Margaret’s we were really pushed, yet still left to our own devices. Honestly, it’s like the deadline situation – if we missed one deadline, we’d fail the course. When I finished my course I felt extremely ready for the real world – as a writer there’s more to do than just writing, you’ve got to invoice people, you have to balance books, go out there and market yourself…

As an English-speaking journalist, I find myself putting aside most CVs that graduates send me because their English is not up to standard. To be a journalist your English must not only be of a high standard, but of a high journalistic standard also. You can be an academic writer but that doesn’t mean you’re journalistic, so there’s a lot that goes into it.

I think that it’s about time that the University of Malta started up a journalism course because there are enough professionals in the field now who would be able to teach good modules and writing skills that are desperately needed. This said with no disrespect to students in the Communications course, because they cover so much material in different areas, but I worry. You see a lot of students who are interested in journalism taking the Communications course for that purpose and finding that it doesn’t specialise at all.

Unfortunately, education in Malta seems to be a means to an end. O levels get you to sixth form, just like A levels get you to university. Throughout the four year course, we never had one single exam. It wasn’t exam-based but it was extremely tough since we submitted every week under strict conditions and we were judged from the first day to the last. To me that’s education – on the job you’re judged every day, and not once in a while.

Would you recommend moving abroad?

There’s a big number of students living at home, but I think the most valuable education you can get from abroad is moving out, living on your own and doing everything on your own. You have to do it yourself, there’s no one to do it for you. I think we’re a bit pampered; I know how tempting it is to take the easy route but I think everyone should experience it.

After having spent so much time abroad, are you tempted to go back?

I’d love to have an international career but it doesn’t mean I want to move abroad. My dream is to have a 6-month-6-month lifestyle, where I work for half a year and spend the rest traveling.

When I lived in Malta I was itching to leave, and when I was in Edinburgh I couldn’t wait to come back. The grass is always greener on the other side. In Malta you tend to feel like a big fish in a small pond and then once you’re abroad you’re one of a million, so your perspective changes. But, to be honest, I didn’t want to deal with the rat race abroad. When I came back I realised that we don’t have it that bad.

What does it take to be a good writer?

Writers, by nature, need to be creative, inquisitive and dedicated. You need both style and grammar; personally I’m not the best speller, which is why we have proofreaders. As a writer you have to be business-minded. Perhaps one of the benefits of studying abroad is being able to shed your past, and becoming a new person.

What does the future hold in store?

I’m looking forward to the internationalisation of writemeanything.com. Really, I’d like to keep the same career, just on a larger scale. I want to write a fiction book. Just be happy and stay happy.

Do you have any favourite writers?

I’m a big chick lit fan, so Marian Keyes is one of my favourite authors, along with Jeremy Clarkson for non-fiction writing. I can only aspire to be as sarcastic and irritating as him.

Do you have any parting words?

It’s important to do what you know you can do. You can either write or you can’t. It has to be instinctual. You can learn and you can certainly improve but it has to be there. You need to know what you’re good at, and do that. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can do something you can’t; find your niche and stick to it. Once you do that, don’t sit at home playing the Playstation and browsing Facebook; start building your portfolio right now.

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