What makes a good journalist?

Heather Campbell, Editorial Assistant of Marie Claire magazine tells us what makes a good journalist.

"There's a lot of pressure involved in working for such a big magazine," says Heather, 24. "The feature writers are always telling me about difficult interveiws they've had to do and you always have to come up with new ideas for articles."

So what makes a good reporter? "Someone with excellent research skills and good contacts," says Heather. "You need to be able to work to deadlines and always make sure you get your facts straight. A good journalist always has a good ear for a story too."

After completing an English Literature degree at the Uiversity of Kent, Heather started a beauty internship at Marie Claire in 2006.

"I always wanted to work for Marie Claire," she says. "It's aways a good read and there's a good mix of fun stuff in the magazine as well as serious features like the abortion article in the last issue."

After six months Heather became Editorial Assistant of Marie Claire. This involves overseeing and editing articles written in all areas of the magazine, and although she loves the job, she admits that it can be hard work.

"The day to day running of the magazine is very busy," says Heather "especially towards the middle of the month before the issue goes to print."

Heather is quick to point out how tough journalism can be. She earns less than £30,000 annually and says that: "the industry is very hard to get into nad move up the ladder to start earning more money. It's very competitive."

In the future Heather would like to go back to working on the beauty section. "Doing the beauty features and styling is really fun," she says "and you get loads of freebies as well!"