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Opinions - Dead heat. Why The Exclusives is unfair on us all.

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by Magnus Shaw

 

*Perhaps we shouldn't expect anything more from ITV2 - after all, this is the home of Celebrity Juice, Life On Murrs and The Only Way Is Essex. But while those shows may grate and irritate, they manage to avoid devaluing and trivialising the achievements of others.

More than can be said of "The Exclusives", the latest addition to TV's range of alternative Job Centres.

 

Launching this Thursday (17th May), The Exclusives is a seven-part series which inexplicably gives a troop of six young things the chance to bag a 12-month contract at Bauer Media, publishers of Heat, FHM, Closer, More and Empire. ITV cameras will monitor the contestants (despite claims we are watching internships, make no mistake, we are watching a game show) as they try their hands at interviewing, photo shoots and building articles.

Bauer and ITV describe the contestants as 'aspiring journalists and writers' and some are. Chris has written for local magazines, Ellie was unpaid editor at Bloggers Central. On the other hand, Felix only has a blog and a student radio show and Hayley paid her way through college working as, ahem, a glamour model - she has had nothing published. Now they're all embarking on a process which is sure to be described as their 'big break', but is actually nothing more than a big pantomime. Career breaks are usually gained by hard work and merit. Here a drive on the fast track is granted to those with dashing looks and a "good telly" back story.

Unsurprisingly, Bauer Media is cross promoting the show across their magazines, websites and radio stations. Read the pre-publicity and enjoy their claims that 'The Exclusives showcases the fast-paced and competitive world of magazine publishing and the kind of talent needed to make it.' Then watch the show and realise this is in fact,  ITV's shot at stealing The Apprentice's thunder, because rather than a searing insight into the publishing business, this is an entertainment which urges young people to race for a job for which they are wholly unqualified.

Bauer's titles receive hundreds of speculative applications and portfolios from ambitious writers every week, so one would assume the candidate list for 'The Exclusives' was drawn from them. But no. Our new telly pals actually replied to ads which Bauer ran to populate the programme. You know, a bit like a boy band audition. If this daring half dozen were really so motivated, why have they not approached Bauer long before this format was announced? And if they have, why were they not picked for training or employment?

I don't actually blame the six contestants for signing up. The jobs market is broken, so they're taking an exciting leap of faith. But this project is a construct designed to produce sensational television. It has little or nothing to do with careers in journalism, creativity or writing. Now you may think this an obvious and futile point, but my concern is one of unfairness. It is unfair on the viewer, who is given a distorted and glib impression of the magazine business, unfair on the contestants who stand almost no chance of gaining the necessary skill and resilience, to do the job properly, and unfair on real, longer serving writers who have yet to make their mark through the more traditional, considered routes.

The magazine industry is tough and highly competitive. But competition brings quality, it insists writers' talents are honed through long hours of training and years of practice. Bauer and ITV2 are now intent on bypassing all that precious stuff.

This then, is my objection. Journalism and professional writing aren't like modelling, where one can be spotted at an airport and almost instantly propelled to stardom. The ability to write well and find a platform for one's writing is hard won. Great columnists and correspondents spend many formative years as sub-editors, cub reporters or even (horror of horrors) advertising copywriters. It's what gives them their instinct for a story, flair for an evocative turn of phrase, important experience and invaluable expertise. Charlie Brooker started out reviewing video games; Jon Snow taught in Uganda and David Hepworth was a record plugger in the East Midlands. Had any of them won a competition to go from rookie to professional in the blink of an eye, they would have achieved none of their many career highs.

Real journalism doesn't work that way. And when the cameras stop rolling, I am sure that will be very apparent to the winner of 'The Exclusives'.



Magnus Shaw is a copywriter, blogger and consultant.

Visit Magnus Shaw's website
www.creativepool.co.uk/magnusshaw
"ADVICE" a collection of Magnus Shaw's collumns is now available as a Kindle book.

 

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