Guest Speaker - Suzie Smith

Media Consultant Suzie Smith told Falmouth University College students that versatility is hugely important within a media and journalism career.

Suzie Smith runs her own media consultancy business and is currently editor in chief of a new magazine which is being launched later this year called ‘Cornwall Living’.

Smith stressed to students that they need to be a versatile as possible within their media careers in order to succeed within this fast and demanding media world.

Smith said that: “Being as versatile as possible is hugely important mainly because its exceptionally hard to get any jobs within journalism or media these days and for that reason, I have reinvented myself within my job, where I live etc.”

Suzie runs her own media consulting business which offers a brand of everything she has ever done. As well as this she also has changing day to day activities, “so for example one day I will be teaching, and even as a freelance broadcast journalist because I work in radio, next day I might be working in PR.”

Smith argues that: “The idea is to keep changing and be as versatile as you can.”

However she started her career similar to many journalism students, after studying a Journalism degree at city college she took her first journalism job at a weekly free newspaper then moved on to an evening newspaper.

She then moved to Cornwall whereby she became the editor of Pirate FM a popular local radio station. After her short time at Pirate FM she then became the editor of the western morning news an extremely popular weekly newspaper within Devon and Cornwall.

After her years at the newspaper she was awarded the rather prestigious role as ‘head of content’ at the West Briton she was then offered an editorial job within the company but refused this and instead got a PGCE in teaching.

Due to working in so many forms of media Smith got to know a lot of journalists who she needed to speak to and formed many contacts and therefore moved into PR. whereby consequently she won an award this year for the best freelancer in the south west by the chartered institute of public relations.

Suzie Smith told students: “Im a big fan of social networking, It was my linked in website which was the main reason behind my position at ‘Cornwall Living’”.

Smith is currently Editor in chief of a new magazine launching in cornwall this year named “Cornwall Living”, she explains that their demographic is ABC1 which equates to High-end very affluent individuals and their primary target is women aged 35-45.