I am delivering an editor's chair course in London tomorrow where we will discuss the many hats a modern editor has to wear. They include:
- Journalist
- Sales executive
- Business person
- Ambassador
- Strategist
- Recruitment specialist
- Lawyer and ethical guide
- Accountant
- Communications expert
- Teacher
- Technology expert
- Manager/administrator
- Leader
I'm always on the look out for good stories that illustrate each one so was delighted to receive this exchange from Mike Sassi, editor of The Sentinel, today. Mike (picture above) has been out and about doing his thing around the schools of Stoke in the last few days. In one Q&A at the end of a session he reports this memorable exchange:
Girl with spikey bleached blonde hair: If I worked at The Sentinel and I swore, would I get thrown out?
Sassi (thumping fist on desk): If you worked at The Sentinel and you DIDN'T swear, you'd be thrown out!
Girl with spikey hair (genuinely excited): F'ckin' brilliant! When can I start?
Teacher (stumbling over desk in desperation to intervene): OK class, I think we'll leave it there for today...
Brilliant. I now have to decide which job title I use this to illustrate - ambassador, ethical guide, communications expert or teacher. At the moment I'm leaning towards recruitment specialist. Or perhaps Social Media guru, as I understand half the secondary school kids in the Potteries are now following him on Twitter.
