By Angela Garwood
Normally right about now I’d be launching into some tale about being late for the school-run or recounting the details of a trip I’d been on, alone or with the children.
But I’ve got something a little different this week as we say goodbye to our favourite newspaper editor, Phil Creighton. What I have, is a big old thank you.
My daughter Maia was five when I started writing columns for what was then The Wokingham Paper.
She is now ten. Which means Phil and I have been in a sort of ongoing conversation about parenting for just over five years.
I’d send Phil my column and he’d often respond relating to the subject somehow, drawing parallels with his own parenting experiences.
Maia’s day was made when, one August morning in 2019, she discovered her ultimate favourite art project, Wendy, had made it into the newspaper. (Wendy, a person made of cereal packaging and other cardboard boxes. Also known as a “box person”.)
A total of three photos accompanied the column; one when Wendy had hair, one of Wendy at the beach having gone bald and another of her as a hula girl.
Fast forward two weeks and Maia had created an entire “Bocks family”; 10 cardboard family members of varying sizes. Phil published a photo of said family to go with the inevitable column. Maia was thrilled; the Bocks family had made local news.
Now some editors may have deemed my daughter’s cardboard creations too frivolous to be pictured in a newspaper.
Not Phil, who embraced my vision for the column and ran with it.
As well as publishing columns I’ve thought might not make it past his inbox (bed shopping, a broken washing machine, the de-icing of our car; to name a few), Phil has also offered words of wisdom and encouragement on my freelancing journey.
Months into freelancing, I was commissioned to write an article for the non-profit organisation Journo Resources on “Breaking Into Journalism as a Parent”. But who was I to interview who: had children and knew the industry well enough?
Phil happily agreed and I interviewed him on a Sunday afternoon, on probably his only break that week… or month.
We talked about his career, his flare for newspapers, how the news industry has changed, and the importance of inclusion and diversity in the newsroom.
He offered advice for those starting out in journalism and most importantly provided me with golden quotes.
What shone through was his genuine love for the work and his belief in the importance of great journalism.
“For all its hard work and low-pay, it’s incredibly rewarding and communities need us to do what we do… It doesn’t matter what field you’re in, it’s a real privilege to be able to do this,” he said.
Indeed, it was a joy and a privilege to both work with, and interview Phil.
“I’m passionate about trying to make our world a better place, just by sharing information.”
And we’re so much better for it. Thank you, Phil.
Angela blogs at The Colourful Kind
