My guest joining me today is Liz Perkins, a journalist who was involved in my No BS Media Summit at the end of last year.

Liz is the night news editor on the Sunday Telegraph, but also she often appears on Time Radio, talking about Welsh politics. Previously, she was the night news editor at The Daily Express. She has already had an amazing career, having worked across the world, doing many different things; moderating at the UN and in Davos, plus working in Afghanistan and reporting on the frontline troops during the conflict.

She shares how she knew she wanted to be a journalist at the age of 13, being inspired by Wimbledon. Initially she wanted to be a tennis writer and interview all of the famous players. And now, this is part of what she does! She is about to go to Wimbledon, this year writing for The Telegraph. Liz explains some of the differences in the reporting style of Wimbledon between The Telegraph and The Daily Express.

Liz also talks about being a female journalist in what is still seen as predominantly a man’s world, and shares how she took on the Welsh Rugby union, which was a brave thing to do; bringing to account a sporting institution - as a Welsh woman!

Having recently worked with one of my clients, Louise Muir-Sage to write her story, Liz explains how important it is to her that she gains people’s trust, when they are sharing such terrible times in their lives. She has written many stories about domestic abuse and other harrowing situations and strongly believes it’s important to give everyone a platform.

If you want to hear about the fascinating and hectic life of a working journalist, then you need to listen to this podcast!

To contact Liz:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-perkins-7b667b75/

X: https://www.x.com/LizPerkinsMedia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/journoliz/

If you would like to contact me, you can visit my www.Scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

Today’s episode of PR not BS with Lauren, she talks to national journalist Matt Barbour. He has been writing for national newspapers and magazines since he was in his early twenties.

He got into journalism on a whim. Whilst at the University of Bristol he set up a magazine, which won The Guardian NUS Magazine of the Year Award. Following the success of the magazine, he was approached by The Times to apply for their graduate training programme. It was an interesting experience, being thrown in at the deep end. For him, more so, as the day he joined, Princess Diana had died the previous day, so no-one had time to talk to him! But it was a useful time for him, understanding how a national newspaper worked.

He then spent a year in Australia working for Men’s Health Magazine – his best job ever! He returned to the UK with a renewed love of journalism, and began working with the UK version of the magazine.

Then he began writing for the health sections of various newspapers and magazines including the Sun, the Mail the Mirror, The Guardian and the Independent, but as the larger newspapers started to lose readership, he found it was easier to write for the tabloids even though he hadn’t aspired to write for them. ‘ A good story is a good story’ – it doesn’t matter where it is.

Matt’s main interest is inspirational human stories. Over the years Matt has built up his reputation as a journalist who will work with people to get their inspirational, personal stories out there, and he’s built up a trust with them; they know he’ll treat their case studies well. He shares some of the amazing stories he’s written about.

He also talks about the huge importance of good photographs to accompany a story – with an emphasis on ‘good’.

To contact Matt:

Email: matbarbour@googlemail.com

If you would like to contact me, you can visit my www.Scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

Lauren’s second podcast guest is Lewis Steeper, who along with his wife is the founder of the Oliver Steeper Foundation, following the tragic death of their son in 2021.

Lewis shares Oliver’s story, and how he went to nursery as a fit, healthy nine month old baby who later choked while eating his dinner. After being told that all was well and it wasn’t an emergency, Lewis and Zoe arrived at the nursery to find paramedics doing CPR while they were running to the ambulance. Other difficulties ensued. They were unable to travel with him in the ambulance due to COVID restrictions; he may not survive the hour journey to London, because they didn’t have the necessary equipment; a helicopter couldn’t be used due to lack of equipment.

Oliver survived the journey, but the brain damage was already done, so he had zero chance of survival. Lewis shares the harrowing story of what they went through, including how Oliver’s kidney was donated to help someone else.

During this terrible time, Lewis had a message from Lifevac Europe asking if he’d seen their product. You can imagine his answer! However, due to his curiosity, he eventually looked at the product and then he met the guy who’d messaged him and after that in February 2023, he and Zoe set up their charity, where they provide LifeVacs to nurseries.

LifeVacs are anti-choking devices which are non-invasive, and they clear airways by suction. He explains how and when it should be used. This device has saved over 3,800 lives globally and it’s 98.9% effective.

He also talks about campaigning in parliament about ratios of children to staff and how allowing more children to be in a nursery with less staff members is detrimental to a child’s education, well-being and safety. Sadly, this is still ongoing.

If you are a parent of a young child in nursery, which is most young working parents these days, then this podcast is a must to listen to.

To contact Lewis:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TOSFoundationUK

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tosfoundationuk/

Website: https://www.tosf.org.uk/

If you would like to contact me, you can visit my www.Scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe