folder icon list icon new list icon new folder Save to list notifaction icon yes tick yes tick yes tick with circle delete cross delete cross minus small - for download tool delete cross plus sign - small expander search magnifying glass icon for gettign to print page icon for email addresses icon for features timing icon for features timing LinkedIn icon Facebook icon youtube icon twitter icon google+ icon external link icon fo profile pages mail icon small mail icon for contact listings phone icon phone icon for listings twitter bird save icon export icon delete icon duplicate icon move to a diff folder mini search icon right arrow
Skip navigation

Focus Interview with Bobby Joseph, satirical columnist and radio host

New Nation launched in 1997 and is read by young, educated Black Britons and the wider African and Caribbean communities. It covers community news and national and international reports, profiles on black professionals and news from the US, Africa and Caribbean. It also contains events, music, listings clubs and venues.

This week FeaturesExec interviewed Bobby Joseph, who writes the satirical Malcolm Vex column. Joseph also hosts his own show on Colourfulradio.com.

About your work:

Who do you write for?
The New Nation newspaper, and I also host a show on Colourfulradio.com on Tuesdays.

Tell us a bit about the magazine/radio show:
It’s a weekly satirical column in the New Nation newspaper and a comedic talk radio show on Colourfulradio.com.

What stories are you most interested in covering?
The most bizarre, and the most ridiculous stories. Spy pigeons invade Iran? Kung fu monkeys? UFOs in Peckham? They’re my kinda stories!

How does the editorial process run? Do you have specific days when you focus on different aspects of the magazine, or is the planning on a much more ad-hoc basis?
I’m pretty much left to my own devices to come up with something funny each week. I basically knock it out in a day.

About PRs:

What information/input from PRs is most useful to you?
What is available to someone like myself?

What’s the best starting point for a PR who wants to tell you about their client?
‘Hello’ is a good start! Sense of humour does help too.

Do you have a PR pet hate?
Yes. If a PR has a pet budgie. We may have problems. That is distracting. I don’t like birds. Any birds. I’ve seen the Hitchcock flick don’tcha know?

When is the best time for PRs to contact you & when is your deadline for contributions?
My deadline is Monday for New Nation, and most Wednesdays are very good days to be contacted as I’m relaxing after a night of doing my radio show. However, the later part of the week is a better time.

About you:

How would you pay the bills if you weren’t a journalist?
I would probably be a comedian or a traffic warden as they are comedians of sorts!

What’s the most memorable work you’ve done?
I created Skank magazine, the first Black satirical magazine.

What interview or feature would you love the chance to do?
Prince, Michael Jackson or Barack Obama.

What do you love about your work?
The freedom to write.

What’s the best advice anyone ever gave you?
Get out of here before I call the police!

If you were stranded on a desert island, what one thing would you hope to have with you?
A boat!

[lnk|http://www.featuresexec.com/publications/info_features.php?pubid=3556|_self|New Nation]
[img|jpg|Malcolm Vex in New Nation]