NME job for magazine graduate

By UK Journalism

A former magazine journalism student’s passion for music has landed him is dream job working at NME magazine.

Ben Patashnik works as a sub-editor for NME after finishing his MA Magazine course at UCLan less than a year ago. It was whilst he was still studying that Ben got his foot in the door at one of the biggest music magazines in the UK.

He said: “I wrote to the Production Editor explaining how much I wanted to work at NME because I always used to read it as a kid. I got an email inviting me down for a single day's work as a trial in July then I was offered two weeks' freelance work in September.

“I basically made it clear that I was going to do everything I possibly could to stay here so I was given more and more shifts and ended up working constantly since then” he added.

Passion

Ben described his job as one that relies on passion more than anything else and says it’s impossible to choose a favourite music genre because he has to be open to anything.

“I listen to everything, you almost have to in this job, so as you can have an opinion on it and be knowledgeable as possible. In terms of favourites, they change weekly. The features I've done have meant that tiny, tiny bands have been exposed to thousands of people, which is great.”

Ben has built up a wealth of experience over the last few years by writing for punktastic.com from 2002 and then for another website called Drowned in Sound in 2007. He was also the music editor of his university newspaper when he was an undergraduate student at the University of East Anglia.

He says he has always wanted to be in music and started writing when he was 17-years-old.

“I realised that even though I wasn't going to be paid for it, I'd get every CD I ever wanted. It is very hard to get into the industry, but it's not impossible. I think NME is full of people who absolutely love music so when people are being considered for a job or freelance work, they look at whether they want to write for NME because they think it'll make them cool, which it won't, or because they love music.”

Favourite interviewee

Ben’s favourite interviewee to date is Billy Bragg who he described as “a total gentleman.”

“When he picked me up from the tube station and drove me to this tiny gig he did in a school I pretty much said nothing at all because my head was exploding. The second time I interviewed him, for NME, I actually asked questions. As for my worst interviewee, I’m not going to libel anyone…”

Ben finished his MA course on the Friday and started at NME the following Monday and says his masters provided him with a “well-balanced introduction to the industry.”

“The production techniques I learned were invaluable and more than anything it provided me with an environment where I could just push myself as much as possible.”

He added: “Basically, without my tutors Maggie Henfield and Cathy Darby I'd probably be working in WHSmith.”

More info
MA Magazine Journalism
NME Magazine

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Extra and related information

Our print and broadcast courses are accredited by the The Broadcast Journalism Training Council and the National Council for the Training of Journalists. Our MA Magazine Journalism is accredited by the Periodicals Training Council.