9th July 2020
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Welcome to my professional website and blog!
Let’s get the boring introductory blog out of the way…
I’ve been a professional journalist and writer since 1997. For the first ten years of my career, I was a reporter, news editor and editor at regional newspapers, political/policy magazines and financial publications. In 2008, I turned freelance and focused increasingly on investigative journalism.
For better or for worse, I’ve been involved in several high-profile investigations – usually working behind the scenes to ensure that material meets required evidence thresholds.
I’ve now seen the inside of more newsrooms than you could complain to IPSO about – from well-funded global names such as The Guardian, The Sunday Mirror and The Sun, to independent publications such as Byline Times, via specialist policy mags including Public Finance and The Municipal Journal.
Most newsrooms, and the people inside them, I liked and continue to support. Others operated as high-risk platforms for egomaniacs or conspiracy theorists. Harsh lessons in the darker side of journalism. You live, learn and move on. That’s the life of the hired hand.
In 2017, I moved into ghostwriting and now strike an enjoyable balance between writing books or reports for interesting clients and covering subjects which fascinate me. I also teach open-source intelligence (OSINT) skills.
I keep my ghostwriting work private unless I have a client’s expressed permission to publish or promote their material. So this blog page is primarily an extension of my personal work.
But I also want to use this page to give a voice to the voiceless: everyday folk central to significant news stories covered – sometimes well, sometimes badly – by a generally white, middle-class media. So keep an eye out for people, communities and insights you don’t read in the MSM.
On occasion, I’ll also invite blogs from friends, colleagues or readers better-placed than me to comment on critical issues.
You’ll quickly realise that I write a lot about crime, corruption, abuses of power and how ‘dark money’ destabilises societies. Please accept my apologies in advance! But I also hope to produce accessible material on politics, social issues, sport and music (probably punks or mods).
I hope you enjoy at least some of the issues raised.
Feel free to get in touch with feedback and/or interesting stories or developments. I don’t have the time to manage a full comments section, but I will always endeavour to reflect your thoughts, constructive criticism and, of course, work on your all-important tip-offs.
So, without further ado…
Mark Conrad,
London, July 2020
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