An Interview with Pat Sheehan (The Sun)

An Interview with Pat Sheehan (The Sun)

As a sports reporter for The Sun newspaper, Pat Sheehan has amassed a decent sized contacts book.

Whilst on a job outside the FA in Soho, Sheehan had his contacts book stolen, “it set me back a year” he says.

Sheehan says a good contacts book should be “religiously inserted, up dated and backed up”. The importance of contacts to a reporter cannot be underestimated.

It would seem as though the old cliché of ‘who you know’ is particularly apt for Sheehan and to becoming a good reporter.

Having worked at local papers Sheehan, 44, has worked most of his career as a freelance, contributing to papers such as The Express, The Independent and also the BBC.

Sheehan has worked as a sports writer for The Sun for 5 years. “My wage is enough to support an ex and my partner...just” adds Sheehan.

According to Sheehan a vital part of being a good reporter is gaining the trust of whoever you are interviewing. “If they trust you they are likely to be more co-operative” he concludes.

To become a good reporter your honesty and discretion is integral. “Sometimes you will be told things off the record” explains Sheehan. “That’s when your honesty comes in”.

Despite this however Sheehan says that a fundamental part to being a good reporter, much like most professions, is to “enjoy what you do. You will come across people you like and those you despise. Some will be your colleagues!”

Brain Wheatly Interview (1)

An Interview with Brian Wheatly

By Lewis Dean

Brian Wheatly struggles to remember his earliest memory. He says that he wants to say something "funny" but his earliest memory was probably of school. "But not school like it is today" says Brian, "we had much more discipline".

Brian Wheatly was born in Southampton the year the war broke out in 1939. That same year he and his family moved to Poole. “Southampton was a dangerous place to live because of the bombings. The nearest place we could move to that was safe was here in Poole”. When he was 5 years old he started school at Henry Harbin, now known as Poole High and in later life went on to start his own engineering and manufacturing company.

Brian’s earliest memories are of school and in particular the “silly things” they used to do. “We used to have a sleep in the afternoon!” laughs Brian. “We used to have a box of fancy dress items and most afternoons we used to dress up”. Despite this Brian does remember school being very disciplined. “If you misbehaved you would be made to walk in a line in front of everyone and they would hit you with a plimsoll” added Brian. “If the teacher didn’t like you...” he pauses “you would really get hit”.

Retired now, Brian likes to follow sport and spend time with his grandchildren but smiles as he remembers he “spent some very happy times as a youngster at school”.