Emma Greatorex is an undergrad student studying Journalism at the University of Lincoln. She is currently the Deputy Culture Editor of The Linc and up until recently she was the Assistant News Editor for Lincoln’s only community radio station. You can follow her on Twitter here: @emgreatorex.

Like many other wannabe hacks, I work incredibly hard to make waves in the industry and show potential employers that I’m a serious hack at heart. I spend many hours sending my CV off to news organisations across the country hoping that someone will give me a chance.

When the news broke that Johann Hari had announced his decision to leave The Independent and train at one of the best journalism schools in the world, I wasn’t shocked at the revelation. I was more shocked at the Independent’s decision to keep his job open for his return in 12 months’ time.

With thousands of graduates out of employment, surely this is a massive kick in the teeth to student journalists trying to get their foot in the door, many of whom cannot afford to make the same mistakes that Hari did.

For those of you who don’t know (or have obviously been on another planet!), Johann Hari is a journalist accused of many actions of false misconduct in the industry, many of which he admitted to in his regular blog on the Independent’s website.

Despite being a graduate, Hari received no solid journalism training and was then given the opportunity to write for The Independent after receiving many commendations for his work across various platforms of student, local and national media. He has also been a contributor to The Huffington Post UK since its launch earlier this year and has been invited to speak at the upcoming “Rebellious Media Conference.”

Hari published an apology through his blog on the Independent’s website yesterday, admitting to many faults over the years. I commend him for having the guts for finally admitting to such defects and for making the decision to return the Orwell Prize, which he received for his report on the
Central African Republic. But since his blog was released yesterday, many people have questioned whether the Independent has dealt with this situation in the right manner.

Following his recent brush with the law, Hari is possibly set to spend the next year learning the ropes at the University of Columbia, arguably the home of one of the best journalism schools in the world. If I had the funding available, I know I would love to continue my studies there also. Recent graduates have gone on to work at news outlets across the world, including NBC and Fox News.

After hearing the news, many journalists have argued that if they committed the same offence, they would be straight out of employment and back at the bottom of the career ladder, no matter if they had since received journalism training or not. If a journalist committed any serious
offence such as defamation, surely they would struggle to find employment as future employers frown upon these actions and the high risk carried when hiring them.

In these tough times, journalists cannot afford to make such mistakes and there are many graduates who would do anything to have the opportunity Hari was given. Getting the chance to apply for a job like Hari’s is like finding a needle in a haystack and there are plenty of talented and trained hacks who would jump at the chance to apply for such a position.

I have spent the last 3 years at university, building up my CV to a professional standard and have battled my way through many tough avenues to get to where I am today. I am thankful for all the help and support I have received from tutors and contacts over the years but, since the news broke yesterday I am still baffled at the Independent’s decision to leave his job open for his return.

But thankfully after all this controversy, it seems that my decision to spend 3 years studying journalism at university wasn’t the worst idea after all. The question still remains that if other journalists are found making similar mistakes will they also have a job to return to in the future?

Featured photo by Iris Prize Festival.