We are approximately twenty-two miles from Hereford, on the Wales/England border, in Hay-on-Wye. Famous for its association with books, this is the time of year when the town is most vibrant. A diverse range of people attend the Guardian Hay Festival, an event labelled by Bill Clinton as ‘the Woodstock of the Mind’.
What is most unusual about this festival is the variety of its performances. In one day we have attended a film screening with Richard E Grant, talks with Jeanette Winterson and Will Self and poetry readings with Seamus Heaney and Margaret Atwood. Writers, musicians, filmmakers, journalists and comedians entertain the festival-goers for its 11-day duration.
At 11.30am on Sunday May 28 a mass of satisfied listeners emerge from The Eos Marquee. The main topic of conversation is the impressiveness of Astronomer Royal Martin Rees’s talk. Amongst those praising the event is its host, Jon Snow. In his relaxed and confident manner, Snow introduces us to Rees before thanking him again for the discussion.
Snow is just as animated about the festival as we are. “It’s fantastic isn’t it?” he enthuses. “It just gets better every year. You meet such an eclectic group of people. On one hand you have got the Astronomer Royal. The next minute Joanna Trollope is having breakfast with you. You keep running into more people and they are all so accessible. It is a very levelling experience. We are all swimming through the same mud – literally,” he laughs. In its countryside setting the festival is prone to the side-effects of British weather. Nevertheless, Snow’s mood is not dampened. He even wears practical shoes for the occasion.
The Channel 4 anchorman is too excited about meeting so many new people to be deterred by the rain. Indeed, he believes the best aspect of his job is “speaking to people. It’s a free ride. You are allowed to talk to anyone you like,” he says. “I sometimes have to pinch myself when I think somebody is paying me to do this. I go to interesting places, meet interesting people and don’t have to kill them.”
Jon Snow has been the face of Channel 4 News since 1989 when he became its main presenter. He has anchored the programme from wherever major world events occur: from Hong Kong at the time of the handover to China; Washington during the Clinton impeachment hearings; and, more recently, the West Bank, New Delhi and Baghdad. He is one of the country’s most successful journalists with awards including two Royal Television Society Awards for reports from El Salvador, one for his reporting of the Kegworth air disaster, and two as Presenter of the Year.
He believes he owes his success to his ‘limited intellect’: “I think my limited intellect is absolutely perfect for a career in journalism because you don’t try and answer questions that are too complicated to answer and yet you find yourself asking questions that most people want to know the answer to. I think there are people that are too bright in television. They ask very complicated questions which the medium is quite incapable of answering. It is not as accessible then to everyone.”
According to Snow the most successful journalists are those who exceed the boundaries. “I think an enormous amount is about how far you are prepared to push it. If you are happy to take the first answer you get then I’m not sure it takes us very far. You have to keep digging.”
For those hoping to pursue a career in the industry, he has some advice: “Be incredibly inquisitive for a start. Really want to know some answers. It is all very well saying ‘I want to be a journalist’ but not being very hungry to know anything about it. I wake up in the morning, turn on the news and I think, after maybe two or three items, I would like to hear more. Is he telling the truth? Be hungry for information, have fantastic determination, be prepared to be a pauper for the first five years but just hope one day you make a lot of money to make up for it.”
Snow considered becoming a journalist after spending a year teaching in Uganda with VSO at the age of 18. “After leaving Uganda I wanted to find any which way to return,” he explains. “I suddenly thought journalism was a clever way to get back and indeed I did get back. The reporter refers to his VSO experience as ‘life-changing’ and would encourage students to follow in his footsteps. “It’s definitely a worthwhile experience. You introduce something into your life which gives you a completely new dimension. I think, for example, when you live in the south of the world for perhaps only six months, you look back and you see the world in a completely different way. You see connections and obligations. It’s a new perspective.”
Snow has seen great change in the industry over the years. “It has changed hugely for the better,” in his opinion. “Journalists used to have time to get drunk. Now they have to do much more. The Internet has absolutely transformed the media. We are in the midst of an extraordinary democratising period where even if politics is in a bad way, information is in a wonderful way. It is harder and harder for corporations like McDonald’s or governments like New Labour to tell us things which aren’t quite true. The industry is so multi-faceted now. You are no longer simply doing television. You are podcasting, blogging, e-mailing, standing on your head, etc.”
The famously opinionated journalist is frank about his view of the media’s current position. “I think the broadsheet press is reasonably healthy. But the tabloid press is fantastically obsessed with hatred. Most of us are obsessed with love. We are either looking for it or having it. It seems so terribly sad that this incredibly influential media is about hate when everybody really wants it to be about love. I think it has a very souring effect on our society.” He appreciates that the industry differs from culture to culture. “You feel that the French do more about love than they do about hate. It seems that there is a lot of hate with people in ethnic minorities there whereas we love our ethnic minorities in a more holistic way. On the other hand they don’t go for people’s love lives. I think that’s a waste of time.”
Snow is familiar with journalism across the pond. His role as ITN’s Diplomatic Editor and Washington correspondent taught him a great deal. “At the time working in America was very exciting because of access and freedom of information but I’d say in many ways we have pulled ourselves up. We have much better access than we used to have. I wouldn’t say the average standard of the US press was much better than ours but they have a couple of broadsheets which are very good. I think the New York Times is probably the best newspaper in the world.”
His job has seen him explore many countries but he is particularly passionate about Iran. “It is an extraordinarily alive, very well educated, very bright and accessible community,” explains Snow. “It is also culturally very rich – very Persian.” Snow has spent time in several Middle Eastern countries including Iraq. “I was there about three weeks ago actually,” he says. “Before the war we were treated very well. Now you just feel too frightened to go out of the Green Zone.”
Snow’s range of international interviewees extends from Nelson Mandela to Tony Blair. His interview with Iraq’s former Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister was a surreal experience. “He’s a charming old man you know. It’s like meeting an old public school master. It’s absolutely extraordinary. You couldn’t imagine he had ever hurt a fly but presumably he knows about all sorts of filthy blood-letting.”
His career has allowed him to witness several historical moments but his most memorable reporting experience was watching the release of Nelson Mandela. “It was amazing. It was utterly overwhelming. There were tears streaming down your face,” he recounts.
It is evident by his constant enthusiasm that Snow genuinely adores his job. In ten years he hopes to still be in the same position. “Hopefully I can keep doing this job for as long as possible,” he says. “I have just got a five year contract so I can keep going. Just keep riding the bicycle, I say.” It is this keen attitude that has enabled him to achieve such an impressive status in his profession.
