An Entertainment Reporter On What Ppl Wrongly Assume About Her “Cool” Job

Look, I’ll level with you – working in media definitely has its advantages. Everyone knows that. It’s probably why it’s such an in-demand industry, right?

Yes and no. It’s absolutely not all perk and no work.

Media peeps might be copping a complimentary champas or starstruck interview here and there, but they absolutely still have to deal with human potatoes, long hours, subpar pay and dirty attitudes. The gig’s a bit like your life on Instagram: it looks a helluva lot better than it actually is.

Mel Evans, Senior Entertainment Reporter at Metro.co.uk, has worked across numerous fashion, lifestyle, celebrity and music publications. If there’s anyone who knows what it’s like to cop a misconception about her job, it’s her. We caught up with the University Of Canberra alumni to get five of her most frequent.

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Perception: ‘You’re friends with the famous people’

Reality: I’d be lucky if someone I’d interviewed was in person and not over the phone. Luckily in England, my Aussie accent sets me apart from the majority of people any celebrity had been chatting with that day, however they still have no bloody idea who I am should I run into them at an event. They might be able to pick me out of a crowd if I’m lucky enough to interview them multiple times in person, write pieces they like, and get along with their publicist/manager – then and only then they might let me have first dibs on an interview or let me save their number. Being mates with the majority of them never factors into it. This isn’t Entourage.

Perception: ‘Yeah but you work online, so you can just go home and not worry about anything’

Reality: While I may leave the office (at whatever time, depending on whether I’m on the morning, day, or night shift) sure I’m not sitting at a desk anymore, but we’re always looking for the latest breaking story so we can make sure whoever IS in the office is across it. That and I don’t usually get all that much time to answer emails during my shift, so that task is saved for home time. We’ve had writers upload breaking copy at 2.30am from their beds. The news never stops, yo.

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Perception: ‘Oh my god you got to interview [insert totes famous celebrity here]’

Reality: Sure, I get to speak to a lot of famous people. A lot. Turns out, they’re all pretty normal and definitely don’t really give a fuck about you and is about to chat to another journo right after you. Add in the few that are in a horrible mood and answer your questions with one-word-answers and it’s just *so*much fun. In all seriousness, chatting with these ‘totes fames people’ is pretty awesome, but both of us are just doing our jobs. Even though you would really love to think Liam/Chris Hemsworth will fall head over heels for you mid-chat.

Perception: ‘You get to go to so many glamorous events!’

Reality: It’s true. But it’s hard to see the glamour when you’re there on a mission to get a line out of whatever celebrity has shown up while none of said celebrities wants to talk to media and you’re annoying your publicist friend to introduce you. That and you’ve had to cancel date night for the third time in a row and your boyfriend is pissed you’ve gone to an event for deodorant because Toff from Made In Chelsea might be there. The goodie bags are awesome, though. And when you get that line, it’s all worth it. But above all, we are working.

Perception: ‘You get to just talk about celebrities all day’

Reality: Yeah, sure, but often (especially if you’re a junior writer) we don’t get to *choose* which celebrities – if our readers are loving a particular star, then we have to write about them no matter your own personal feelings. And write about them fast. You have to be out with the content in minutes, so it’s often not a merry write in the park when you’re bashing out lines before yelling at various members of the office to get the story live across the site’s social media. Also, believe it or not, when you write your fourth Kardashian story for the day, you can really get sick of that family (but then the next day you’re obsessed again). #content

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