Name: Sebastian Shehadi Job Title: Freelance journalist & contributing writer at The New Statesman. Degree: Modern History and Politics Year of Graduation: 2015
Hi there - I'm Seb. A little about my career since graduating from RHUL (and then LSE). I've been a journalist for 9 years, starting with the Financial Times, where I wrote about foreign investment and geopolitics. Around the time that Covid-19 hit, I started a job with New Statesman Media Group, acting as political editor for a new publication called Investment Monitor (whilst also writing for the New Statesman). Over the last year I've been working as a freelance journalist, writing for a variety of publications (FT, Novara Media, the New Arab, CityAm and the BBC). I'm particularly interested in writing about issues relating to media bias.
What first attracted you to Royal Holloway?
The excellent reputation of its history department and its high levels of student satisfaction. Oh, and the incredible campus (it was so nice to be outside the chaos of London).
What was the best thing about studying History at Royal Holloway?
1) High calibre of the academics who taught us (the teacher-student ratio is well balanced too)
2) It’s international and has a beautiful campus/community
3) I also think its size is perfect
4) I liked that I was close enough to London, without being inside it
How did a History degree help you develop your career?
“Journalism is the first rough draft of history” - as the adage goes. I probably wouldn’t be a journalist if it wasn’t for my History degree. It honed the key skills for the job.
