Graeme Roberts is a journalist, writer, and PR professional. Here Stephanie Cox interviews him about social media, newspapers and print, and his love of writing.

1. Please introduce yourself and give us a bit of info about your career and career path.

My name is Graeme Roberts, 29, from Manchester, UK. I would describe myself first and foremost as a writer. It’s a fairly broad term but I think it’s the most apt. I currently work in public relations for a research and consulting company called GlobalData, which means I write, edit and interact with the media on a daily basis. Before that I was a journalist for Basketball Magazine and I still do some writing for my local club, Manchester Magic. I recently undertook some freelance work for Basketball England, the national governing body, reporting on a number of their finals events. Writing is what I most enjoy doing. I love words and I’m thankful that I’m able to do something creative every day.

2. When did you know you wanted to work in the writing and media industry?

I don’t think I really knew what I wanted to do until my late teens, if not my early twenties. I got into writing at secondary school, when my English teacher encouraged me to write poetry. I compiled a large collection of poetry in my young adulthood and it helped me through a long period of illness. Deciding that I wanted to write for a living was part of the recovery process. It gave me a purpose and it still does.

3. Which of your achievements so far are you particularly proud of?

In writing terms, my proudest achievement is probably having my work published in the Manchester Evening News, which is my home city’s main daily newspaper. There’s something special about seeing your name in print. Digital is great, but there’s something about print that gives me a tingle. Perhaps it’s the smell of the ink? Outside writing, I worked on the statistics team at the basketball tournaments at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. That was an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience, made all the richer for being able to share it with my brother, Matt.

4. What attributes do you feel are essential in a successful journalist?

It’s hard to say because I don’t really feel like I’ve been successful in journalism. I’ve only really been doing it for a couple of years and l was full-time for less than a year. I think it’s a very competitive industry and you need to be prepared to work hard to progress, but you also need some luck and to know the right people. I like to think being a skilful writer, both in terms of your content and your ability to craft language, is important.

To read more of the interview, head over to Stephanie’s blog: Words are my Craft.