Saturday, December 15, 2007

A moving story of a former news anchor now sleeping rough

I hadn't made the item at first.

The man sounded extremely articulate, and was beng interviewed on BBC Radio.

He'd been sleeping rough, visited by a charity offering a cup of soup et al and as it would happen one of the attendants worked for the local newspaper.

The nationals then picked up the story: an ex ITN newsreader who accumulated so much debt he's now homeless, sleeping rough but sounding rather chipper.

He'd applied to sweep the streets to no avail.

This may indeed be the extreme end of a story, which has Hollywood written all over it.

The little publicity he's garnered may well turn his life around.

But Ed Mitchell's story is not unique, at least in the security of working the media.

A significant percent entering the broadcasting profession will do so when they are young and up for the pressures and relentless hours.

Each job you come by will not necessarily guarantee your next; and at some point the feast-famine existence will gnaw at you.

You'll then need to make a decision- one not predicated on your abilities, but how successful you are at securing jobs.

Here's the piece from the Times Online

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