From an internship at MTV to working at record labels and interviewing A-listers as a journalist, I have had a ringside seat to the rise of the superfan. So much so that one of them inspired my debut novel…
Tanya Sweeney. Photo: Ruth Medjber
An internship at MTV in London might sound impossibly glamorous to some: I’m here to tell you that it was not. Back in the 1990s, I found myself working in the channel’s communications department, and the job pretty much entailed being wedded to the photocopier or making coffee for higher-ups. But, occasionally, there were the moments of madness.
It was also my job to ‘man’ the viewer enquiry telephone line. The queries ran the total gamut because… well, humans. It being the pre-Google era, it fell to me to find out how fans could write to artists, who directed which video, and how someone could become an MTV presenter.