Interview
EASTBOURNE’S PR CHAMPTION Back in 1995, Tim Cobb quit his career as a journalist to strike out on his own on the other side stepping in to the dark world of PR. He has never looked back. Interview by Ian Trevett
B
eing a journalist was all Tim Cobb ever wanted to be, holding on to the dream of making it on Fleet Street. The dream was realised, but long hours and a painful commute eventually took the gloss off the life in print, so it was time to realise the other long-standing wish - to work for himself. It was a brave move in the mid-1990s. Today PR companies abound and Public Relations is recognised as an essential element in any business plan. It wasn’t always this way, as Tim recalls... “I was working as the Day News Editor for the Press Association, looking after a team of about 30 writers, which was a very enjoyable experience, but the PA then decided to combine the News Editor and the Day News Editor roles, and I was offered the job. As I was still living in Eastbourne, I was already having to catch the 5.06am train every morning and getting back late. “I knew that going out as a freelance journalist would mean a hand-to-mouth existence, so PR seemed much more appealing. I was used to getting poor quality press releases from PR companies, who didn’t know what constituted a good news story, and I thought that I could do better. “So I set up my own PR company. I based it in Eastbourne as I had had enough of
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commuting, and I also involved my wife Sue, which has always worked very well. I had a good contact book of national journalists, though now I was on the ‘dark side’!”
if she heard a siren she’d change direction and follow the fire engine to see if there was a story. When I was late for school, I had great excuses.
Much has changed since then. News rooms at both the nationals and regionals were packed with journalists, and PR releases were largely treated with disdain. Now resources at papers are so scarce that PR companies have a much bigger role to play, as newspapers now need content.
“I wanted to follow in their footsteps, but unfortunately my school grades weren’t good enough to get into the local paper. I managed to get on a trade magazine, though back in the 1980s, writing for the trade press was, rather unfairly, seen as second-rate journalism. I was in Sutton working for Commercial Motor, and I took advantage of the training in my three years there.
“It is a shame that newspapers, especially regionally, now have so few ‘proper’ journalists. When I was on the papers, we used to go ‘off-diary’ and talk to people, digging out stories. Now papers are actually grateful when we send stories in! It is a complete reversal.” There was a sense of inevitability that Tim
“My initial ambition was to earn so much money that I would have to become VAT-registered! ”
would be a writer. “My parents were both journalists; my mum worked on the Eastbourne Herald and my dad worked at the Evening Argus. When mum was driving me to school,
“My mum was then the deputy editor at the Herald and she told me about an opportunity for a trainee. The editor very kindly took on the deputy editor’s son, so you can imagine how well this went down in the newsroom. I took a big pay cut but I was where I wanted to be and I did two years of newspaper training. “When I completed my training I joined the Evening Argus, and built up some freelance work for the nationals. I got some shift work at the Daily Mail, and in 1990 I was taken on full-time by the Press Association.” Having taken the step into freelance, Tim’s ambition could be described as modest: “I had no ambition of running a business or employing people. My initial ambition was to earn so much money that I would have to