---
title: Transform your media career
description: Old dogs can very much learn new tricks
---

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# Transform your media career

[Alan Hunter](https://www.hbmadvisory.com/media-hunter/author/alan-hunter)  21 November 2025

 5 min read

**Old dogs can very much learn new tricks**

In the past few weeks I have written about how the role of editor-in-chief requires new skills in the age of AI and, in another piece, about how organisations need to promote and trust digital natives. I realise that might seem a bit discouraging for readers with many years of experience and possibly even some grey hairs, of which I am also a proud possessor.

So to redress the balance I want to talk about the possibility of individual development within this ever-changing environment. I know there is hope for change because I’ve been there myself. I often joke that the first digital transformation I was involved in was my own. But it’s not really a joke.

Back in 2012 I was resolutely a print guy and had been for nearly two decades. My boss wasn’t interested in digital so neither was I. When a “digital reporter" was added to my team, I used him as another pair of hands for the print product. I never – never!– looked at the digital representation of the section of The Sunday Times I edited.

But then I was put on a News UK course aimed at making digital leaders of existing staff. It was the type of programme that involved weeks away in beautiful country houses around London and a lot of wine over dinner. Mostly, though, I look back on it as the moment my career changed.

It didn’t happen immediately – it takes a while to knock the print privilege out of someone – but slowly my fellow attendees and I learned to accept that the world was changing and that we would have to change with it. Looking back, it was remarkable that we needed this much prompting. I marvel at the patience of the training team led by [Francois Nel](https://www.linkedin.com/in/francoisnel/).

For me, this course was the springboard to a far more fulfilling career. Less than a year later I was asked to be Head of Digital at The Times and The Sunday Times and what I learnt on it became the bedrock of the work I do now as a consultant with HBM Advisory.

Why am I saying all this? It’s because there is an opportunity for everyone to do the same, however rooted in their jobs they feel now. Old dogs can absolutely learn new tricks.

What’s more, there’s a chance to do it very soon. Francois runs the brilliant Journalism and Innovation Leadership programme at the University of Lancashire and its year-long course aimed at mid-career professionals is recruiting students for next year.

Having been privileged to mentor some of its delegates for the past half-decade, I cannot recommend it enough. It allows journalists to flesh out ideas they previously held on their own with a cohort of like-minded innovators. It provides a ready-made network to sustain them through the challenges ahead. It is part-time and flexible; practical, not theoretical; forward-facing, not backward-looking.

So if this sounds appealing I would urge you to apply. Make the change. It’s never too late. The deadline is coming soon so get moving. Here’s [a link to the course’s microsite](https://mediainnovationstudio.org/home/journalism-innovation-leadership-programme/).

## Next blog post

<https://www.hbmadvisory.com/media-hunter/the-wrong-values>

## [The wrong values](https://www.hbmadvisory.com/media-hunter/the-wrong-values)

[Read more](https://www.hbmadvisory.com/media-hunter/the-wrong-values)

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