A former journalist has rediscovered his passion.
Simon was a journalist at a local Brisbane newspaper for a decade before he lost his job during Covid.
“I was gutted at first, but eventually got back on my feet with a nice copywriting gig.”
And it was through the new job that Simon found a pathway back into journalism, through his new co-worker Jon.
“Jon and I became mates pretty quickly. Over beers one night he showed me his news parody website. I had a look and it was pretty funny – lots of made up stories about politics, sports, and current events,” said Simon. “He asked me if I wanted to write him. I said yes. I didn’t care that it was voluntary and nobody read it. I appreciated the lack of pressure – and I could write whatever I wanted.”
The new writing gig was a second wind for Simon, regularly posting parody articles based on his journalism days and commenting on current events.
“I haven’t watched the news since I lost my job and I’d forgotten how engaging it was to dive back into it. There’s plenty of ammunition for articles. I find inspiration strikes late at night after a few beers. It gets the juices flowing.”
Simon is even looking at a return to journalism in the future.
“I love my copywriting job, but I’ve started reconnecting with old colleagues, just to test the waters. You never know what may come up.”
