Journalists may get a bad press in general fiction, but it's a different matter in women's romances. For author and ex-journalist Jilly Cooper, reporters make the perfect romantic hero. In Imogen, a newspaper reporter called Matt is the only noble character in a group including a vicar, a tennis champion and a film producer. In Prudence and short story The Ugly Swan, journalists Ace and Danny again stand out for their integrity, and both get the girl in the end.
Cooper presents various journalistic qualities as appealing - sharp wits and intelligence, strong social conscience, energy and passion - but the one she constantly highlights is the journalist's ability to empathise with and listen to people.
This is the admiring heroine in The Ugly Swan speaking...
"Danny seemed to have time for everyone. At a party, he would talk to the plainest woman in the room and within 10 minutes she'd be glowing and happy, with a crowd gathering around her."
And in Imogen:
As always, Matt drew confidences out of her, as the sun brings out the flowers . . . He's a journalist, she kept telling herself, he's trained to ask questions and be a good listener. He'd do the same to anyone.
What woman wouldn't like this - a man whose very job it is to listen and show an interest? It could almost be described as a traditionally feminine role or quality (in Janice Radway's study Reading the Romance, she concludes that readers want feminine characteristics in their fictional heroes because what they're really seeking is some nurturing of the type they traditionally dole out.)
Perhaps this is why a romantic fiction writer might see journalism as an appealing profession for a man, while male writers tend to see it as slightly shameful or play up its macho elements. In Jilly Cooper, there is no stitching people up, bribery or corruption - in fact, her reporters will grant copy approval at the drop of a hat.
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