This year I have been shifting mainly at Mail Online, the website of The Daily Mail. Initially I was putting stories on to the web, usually from pdfs of the newspaper, but now I tend to sub the stuff other people have done, because believe it or not there are occasional mistakes that need to be taken care of. Have also been subbing features on The Sunday Express in Quark (about to change over to InDesign) as well as a few text shifts at Sky News. Still writing reviews for The Stage.
Since being made redundant (with 150 others) by The Daily Telegraph in October 2006 I have worked regularly at The Mail on Sunday, revise subbing in Quark on news, features and, occasionally, property pages. I have also worked regularly as a Producer for Sky News Interactive either on its Online or Text rolling news services. In Online you are given several stories at the beginning of a shift which you then write up and prepare, with cropped and sized pictures, captions and a variety of headlines, ready to be published to the website. With Text, you pick the top ten stories for the news (largely following the pattern set by the TV news rundown) and showbiz sections, sub them down to six or four pars and publish with headlines to the Sky TV text service. In both cases you have to be ready to respond appropriately to breaking news. Both services require a strong news sense, speed, accuracy and the ability to multitask - particularly with different software. I have also begun casual shifts with The Sunday Express, subbing features in Quark, and occasionally write reviews and obituaries for The Stage.
As part of my redundancy agreement, the Telegraph paid for me to attend these workshops with PMA Training at the PMA Centre for Media Excellence in NW1:
Since 2004 I have been on contract to The Daily Telegraph. For the past year and a half this has involved preparing the Court and Social page for publication. My role involved liaising with the Social Editor, with Ads Planning and with Features. It also required layout skills and a commitment to accuracy. I would build the page from the Court Circular, notices, paid-for ads and the Chess, Bridge and Games columns. This page had an early deadline so once it was finished I worked as a downtable news sub.
Some of my time at the Telegraph was spent as Acting European Edition Editor. This involved taking each day’s edition, re-formatting it into a 48-page, two-section mainly mono (colour on the front and back pages of each section) edition, for sending to print sites in France, Spain and Belgium. Changes had to be made to cross-refs, to blurbs and, for example, to puffs for magazines which we didn’t carry. The ability to think on one’s feet was obviously necessary, as page changes could happen on the main paper at any time and would have to be reflected in the European edition. It also required good proofing and organisational skills and the ability to work to a tight deadline. We used Acrobat and InDesign for the changes.
Since PA moved to Yorkshire in December 2002, I have worked regularly at The Mail on Sunday, revise subbing in Quark on news pages, and before mid-2004 on features and supplements. Before mid-2004 I also had regular casual work in various departments at The Daily Telegraph, including the European Edition (see above). On the Weekly Edition I would sub and lay out pages in Atex and ENL. For the Syndication Department, I would select the top news stories and features from the night’s edition and prepare and send a schedule. I would then re-sub the stories to agency style and send them to customers with appropriate headers. This required copytasting skills as well as accuracy and again the ability to work to deadline.
On the Wire, supplying copy to national and regional newspapers, radio and television stations, as well as text and online broadcasters, I worked as a general news sub, as assistant chief sub or as night sub. The latter role involved copy tasting and subbing the entire early morning file of UK and world news along with one reporter. The job generally entailed sub-editing copy for the main PA news wire, correcting spelling and grammar, ensuring copy was legally and factually correct and rewritten as necessary. Also rewriting copy from US agency news feeds into easily readable English.
Within the Teletext unit, a 24-hour rolling news service, I mainly covered the roles of national, revise and overnight sub, also working occasionally as regional chief sub. This involved subbing copy for Teletext regional and national news pages, correcting spelling and grammar, cutting the copy to the required length while retaining key facts, and compiling attractive and accurate headline and index pages, or revising the work of regional Teletext news subs and sending templates to air. Great emphasis was placed on quickly and accurately getting the news to air.
When working in Page Ready (until the unit moved to Leeds in September 1999) I would prepare world and national news pages for a variety of regional dailies and evening papers in QuarkXPress. Though most involved working to templates, one of the papers also required layout skills and all required Adobe Photoshop skills. All the above jobs required the ability to work both on your own initiative and as part of a team, and carry out the duties within the time limits required to meet PA’s contractual obligations. The only reason I left PA was that the Teletext and New Media departments were moved to Howden, Yorkshire, so I and my colleagues were made redundant.
My role was largely that of production editor, with additional office manager duties. Responsible for planning production of approximately 25 slip pages per week with one other sub, four reporters and a news editor. I conducted weekly news conferences and dealt with complaints when necessary. All copy was subbed and laid out on-screen. I worked on an Apple PowerPC, using QuarkXPress and Adobe Photoshop with a NewsEditPro database. Pages were sent to photosetters via ISDN. The job required a strong news sense, accuracy, creativity and the ability to organise, to work to deadlines and to encourage others to do so.
Responsible for subbing copy on-screen, agreeing content suitability and priority with reporters, laying out on-screen and printing proof copy for editor. I worked on an Apple Mac Quadra, using QuarkXPress with an IQuex database. My role covered features, picture spreads, news and front pages, in a four-day week. Due to my capacity for solving software and hardware problems, I was also asked to take on the role of systems manager at the beginning of 1997.
From the beginning of 1998 until I began working there full-time, I worked regularly for Colin Webster in the Page Ready department at the Press Association, preparing world and national news pages for a variety of regional dailies. Since its first issue in April 1998, I have worked regularly for Joe Rigby on Sport First, installing fonts, controlling copy flow and building Quark pages ready for proofing. Following a change in staffing at Sport First in July 1999 I worked until the end of 1999 just as a straight sports sub – working in QuarkXPress. Since the beginning of 2001 I have been shifting regularly for Keith Jenkins at the Weekly Telegraph, subbing copy in Atex and laying out in ENL.
I am on the review panel at The Stage newspaper, and regularly receive CDs for review from The Living Tradition. I have had articles and reviews published in The Stage, The Living Tradition, The Irish Post, Folk Roots, Dirty Linen, English Dance and Song, Country Music International and Folk London. I used to write a weekly computer column for the Surrey Herald, covering software and games reviews and my experiences on the Internet. I would send this to the Herald as a “page ready” QuarkXPress document. I used to co-write the gig page for the Herald and the television column for its free paper, the Leader. I write an Internet column for the quarterly magazine Folk On Tap. In March and April 2003, while their games reviewer was covering the Iraq conflict, I provided PA with weekly columns of video and computer games reviews, for regional newspaper use.
I have my own Web site, on which I publish archive material from my regular articles in Folk On Tap and the Surrey Herald. For 10 years (to December 2006), I was webmaster of the Ram Folk Club in Claygate, Surrey, and posted its guest list together with background information on the artists, news and reviews. This archive now remains on the site. I am also compiling an ongoing photographic history of my grandchildren. I run two blogs, I remember... and Bytes: Rebooted, a flickr and a Fotolog site. I mainly work in HoTMetaL Pro. I also use Web graphics programs such as Ulead GIF Animator, Xara Webster and WebStyle, as well as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign.
Certificate in Periodical Journalism for Postgraduates – London College of Printing & Distributive Trades, Clerkenwell
Main subjects: News reporting, Feature writing, Sub-editing, Layout, DTP (QuarkXPress), Law for journalists, Teeline shorthand (60 wpm), Two-week work placement (The Stage: 3-13 January ’95)
Responsible for efficient running of lending section at busy branch with broad customer base. Dealt effectively with the introduction of many new systems introduced over last few years, including computer, personnel and policy changes, whilst achieving sales targets. Acted as adviser for small business customers. Preceded by 18 years progressing through the clerical grades with National Westminster Bank in a branch environment, including cashiering, accounts control and foreign exchange.
In view of the restructuring at NatWest there was a reduced need for the usual skills held at my level. I decided that it was the right time to take advantage of a career change. I therefore spent time following my early departure reviewing my strengths and interests. While I had considerable opportunities during my career to develop my interpersonal skills such as interviewing, administration, and team-working, together with general skills such as communication, time-management and research, there was little scope for initiative or creativity, given the requirement to work within quite stringent guidelines.
Bearing in mind my particular abilities in research and written communication, proven through my work for my Open University degree and school governorship, I became interested in pursuing a career in writing and/or journalism. After attending a short course at the London College of Printing and spending an extra month at The Stage as a freelance, I secured full-time employment with a local paper, working very closely with subs of great experience, who have taught me a lot about the traditional aspects of newspaper content and design and their importance within the new technology.
Tiffin Boys’ School, Kingston-upon-Thames 1963-70; 8 “O” levels, 1 “A” level.
Open University 1978-86; BA(Hons) Upper second. (Subjects studied – Arts Foundation / Science Foundation / Twentieth Century Poetry / Drama / Nineteenth Century Novel / Shakespeare / Romantic Poetry / Elements of Music / Modern Art from 1848 / Arts & Society in Britain since the Thirties)
1990: Certificate for School Governors – Roehampton Institute for Higher Education
1994 – Spring & Summer Terms: Creative Writing – Kingston upon Thames Adult Education Service
1994 – Spring Term: Writing for Television – Birkbeck College Centre for Extra-Mural Studies
1994 – Summer Term: Writing Drama: TV, Radio and Theatre – Mary Ward Centre
Born January 1952, divorced with one daughter (born 1973) and one son (born 1984). Clean driving licence.
Available on request.