Journalism - Stay in London or move back to Dublin

jimmyneo1

Hello,
Sorry if this is a rambling post but hoping some fellow journalists on boards can give me some advice. My brief bio is I'm working as a journalist, specifically a news reporter with a newspaper in London, been here over three years but now quite eager to move home. My career is going pretty well and London as a whole has been great but I've just grown tired of the place, need a change and miss home. Im currently working for a national and have experience working for local papers, websites, trade and consumer magazines so my CV would be quite strong.

I know obviously its terrible timing with the downturn and in general no papers are hiring full-time staff and even if I did go back the best I could hope for is to get some freelance work, but all these things considered should I stick where I am, in comfortable full-time employment or make the move back?

I know a more practical thing might be to keep working here and start to try to freelance for some of the Irish papers at home and then if I do decide to move back at least I'll have my foot in the door somewhere. But as I've been away a few years I've lost contact with a lot of my contacts and wouldn't really be known in journalism circles in Dublin, so it might be better to just move back in person so then at least I can start meeting people and be around if any shifts came up in a newsroom etc.

Also I remember reading an article last year about Irish people moving home after beeing away for a few years, one of the subjects was a journalist with The Guardian (Don't remember her name) but anyway she moved back to Dublin after like 7 years, had loads of experience, top quality journalist etc but said she had an awful time finding work because every editor/employer wanted to hire someone "who was known" or "who had been around", she had been out of the Irish journalism fraternity too long and it ended up hurting her.

So basically after all that I'd appreciate anyones opinion, should I pack up and move home or stick where I am?

DublinWriter

Stay where you are FFS.

jdivision

Papers are trying to keep their staff so freelance budgets are gone, in some cases it's still not enough such as the Irish Times where the md has been a disaster and gets to hold on to her job while up to 60 staff get let go

santosubito

Yeah, OP, I would be inclined to stay where you are. There is going to be carnage in the newspaper industry here in January and February, I would imagine. It's possible a couple of titles will fold. As another poster has already written, freelance shifts are becoming increasingly scarce.

jimmyneo1

Thanks for the advice guys, I've had differing opinions from journalist mates still working in Dublin, some said I should come home others said stay away.
But from what you've said I'm prob best where I am and should count myself lucky to have a job, although we've been told there will prob be some cuts in the new year as well....

Dublin's Finest

Stay.

It's hellish for freelancers at the moment. And full-time staff are getting the chop in Dublin newsrooms too.

Gekko

My Deputy Ed and Editor for a section of an Irish Sunday newspaper have taken a pay cut today.

Other staff have too as I understand it.