Mail recruiting online journalists and print subs

I have only just said goodbye to the Daily Mail trainee journalists and already the paper is recruiting again. It is looking for trainees to go to MailOnline and also for sub-editors to work on the paper. The successful applicants will spend three weeks in February training at PA's Yorkshire HQ in Howden and one-week at the Mail's London office in Derry Street. They will then be placed at regional newspapers and agencies before returning to the Mail in London later in the year. The training begins in February so this intake is not suitable for those graduating in 2014. The Mail will also be recruiting trainee reporters and sub-editors for courses starting in September. These opportunities will be advertised next month ... watch this space. The deadline for applications for the February course is November 15. If you are interested, send a covering letter, your CV and six examples of your work to Sue Ryan. Her email address is sue.ryan@dailymail.co.uk.
If you are applying you might want to take a look at my advice on how to prepare for an interview. More details are on Hold The Front Page. Good luck.

Mail's final newsquiz: Helen wins Champagne

Mail trainees (left to right) Colette Sexton, Josephine Forster, Ellie Buchdahl, Helen Lawson with the Champagne,  Olivia Williams, Lauren York, Andrew Magee and Lauren Davis.

Today is the last day at the Manor, PA Training's Howden HQ, for the Daily Mail trainee sub-editors. We had a week of more intensive subbing and layout and each of them created a live Mail page when the Gary McKinnon story broke on Tuesday. They were also visited by senior sub Jenny Ryan who opened their eyes to the reality of working in the Mail newsroom. After today they go off on placements to regional newspapers (the Hull Daily Mail, the Western Morning News and the Manchester Evening News) or to the Mail or Standard. Good luck to them all. I am sure they will be a big success.
Meanwhile the Telegraph trainees, in their penultimate week, had a packed schedule with FoI specialist Paul Francis, digital trainer Andy Drinkwater and Telegraph lawyer Adam Cannon. Today they are visiting the Liverpool Post and Echo.
Yesterday we held the newsquiz. There was high tension within the Mail ranks as, with Champagne at stake, only a half point separated Lauren Davis and Helen Lawson as the final questions loomed. In the end Helen pipped it by one point. Well done to her. The winner of the week though was the Telegraph's Radhika Sanghani with an impressive 21.
It's a bit of a bumper one this week - 22 questions with a possible five bonuses - so 27 points up for grabs and Radhika's 21 to beat. See how you get on.

1. Who wrote the Black Spider memos?

2. Why was Candy Crowley in the spolight?

3. Downton Abbey beat the X Factor in the ratings war on Sunday night after Lady Sybil died from eclampsia. Who played the part of Lady Sybil? And, for a bonus, there was also a death on the live showing of Emmerdale. Name the character who died.

4. Heather Watson became the first British woman tennis player to win a WTA tour title since 1988. Which country's Open did she win? For a bonus, where was Watson born and raised?

5. An Austrian stuntman fell to earth from the edge of space. Can you spell his surname? For a bonus in which US state did he land?

6. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has suggested that MPs might receive a 40 per cent pay rise on their current salary. To a margin of error of £1,000, what is an MP's current basic salary.

7. MP Stuart Bell died at the weekend. Where was his constituency?

8. Malala Yousafzal was flown from Islamabad for treatment at which UK hospital?

9. The Director of Public Prosecutions will decide whether Gary McKinnon will be charged with computer hacking in the UK. Who is the Director of Public Prosecutions?

10. Hilary Mantel became the fist woman to win the Booker Prize twice. What was the name of her winning novel and, for a bonus, name her book that won the prize in 2009?

11. Jon Benjamin has been threatened with violence after he made a Twitter joke about Argentina's football team. Benjamin is British ambassador to which country?

12. Comedian Frankie Boyle is suing which newspaper for libel after it called him a racist?

13. Who slipped while laying a wreath at Gandhi's grave

14. John Whaite won the Great British Bake Off. How old is he?

15. According to a new study, what offers no meaningful protection against cystitis?

16. There was an apparent catfight in Downing Street this week. Name the Chancellor's cat and the PM's cat. (Half a point for each).

17. The Employment Minister said Britain had the highest number of people in work since records began. Which year did he say that was? And, for a bonus, who is the Employment Minister?

18. Seven paintings, including works by Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Henri Matisse, Paul Gauguin and Lucian Freud were stolen from which museum?

19. Outside which American building did a Bangladeshi man attempt to plant a 1,000lb bomb

20. Specialist digging equipment is being used to search for missing Ben Needham on which island?

21. Why have Rosie & Ruby Formosa been in the headlines?

22. In a BBC survey of 166 British football clubs Arsenal is the most expensive club (charging £126 for the top adult match-day ticket). Which club is the cheapest?

Answers here

The newsquiz: Lauren's impressive 16 to beat

Olivia Williams celebrates with her Champagne

The Daily Mail reporting and subbing trainees got together at Northcliffe House in Kensington this week for a flavour of what it is like to work in the newsroom. The reporters now go off to spend time on regional newspapers, the Standard and the Mail's Scottish office. Meanwhile the subs are heading to PA's Howden base in East Yorkshire where they will have four weeks intensive subbing training and assessment. They will meet up with the Daily Telegraph trainees who have just completed their second week.
As usual we all finished the week with the newsquiz ... the best way to ensure everyone gets into the habit of reading the papers in detail every day. This week's highest scorer was Mail sub-editor Lauren Davis with an impressive 16. Second was Mail reporter Francesca Infante with 15. Olivia Williams scored the highest running score by a Mail reporter over the three-weeks and was presented with a bottle of Champagne by media consultant Sue Ryan. Top Telegraph trainee this week was Ben Riley-Smith with 13.5. Have a crack at the questions below. If you beat Lauren's 16, I will be very impressed.

Shakira is expecting ... but who's the father? PA

1. Name the two women police officers killed in Manchester (half point for each name).

2. What was the name of the estate in Tameside, Manchester, that the two officers were called to?

3. Before this week's incident, the last police woman to be shot dead on duty in the UK was Sharon Beshenivsky in 2005. In which city?

4. Why was Mike O'Kane suspended from his job this week?

5. According to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, in a secretly taped conversation, what percentage of Americans are freeloaders relying on government handouts?

6. Colombian singer Shakira is expecting her first child. Who is the father?

7. According to a hard-hitting advert by St John Ambulance, broadcast during the commercial break in Downton Abbey, how many people might survive in the UK each year if everyone was trained in First Aid?

8. Which news reader confessed to dyeing her grey hair because age is an issue for women on TV?

9. Executive Anthony Sturman accidently sent indecent images to his office printer. Who were his employers?

10. Who is the editor of the Evening Standard?

11. Which quango paid out £9.4 million in redundancy payments to 223 employees but took on 598 new staff during the same period?

12. Policeman Simon Harwood was sacked for gross misconduct this week following the death of a newspaper seller during the G20 protests in London. What was the name of the man who died?

13. 26 people were killed in a gas plant fire in which country?

14. Six-year-old Will Smith accidently ran up a £2,000 bill on his grandfather's iPad playing which game?

15. Following the discovery of an ancient papyrus, a Harvard professor has claimed Jesus was married ... to whom?

16. Which comedian has been shortlisted in the Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2012 for his novel Gangsta Granny?

17. Nick Clegg has apologised for not keeping his word on tuition fees. What is Clegg's constituency?

18. A specialist team of doctors from which hospital has flown out to Camp Bastion following the unexpected birth of a baby boy?

19. What is the name of the Italian magazine that ran 20 pages of pictures, including some topless, of the Duchess of Cambridge?

And for a bonus point the magazine's editor, Alfonso Signorini, tweeted that “not even a direct call from ....... " would stop him publishing the photographs. Fill in the gap.

20. What is the name of Robbie Williams' baby daughter, born earlier this week?

Answers here

Final newsquiz - Lottie's amazing 18.5 to beat

The Mail and Telegraph trainees left Howden this week and now embark on their regional placements. Good luck to them all. They are among the liveliest bunch of young journalists you are likely to meet. Congratulations to the Mail's Lottie Young and the Telegraph's Jess Winch who won the overall newsquiz for each paper. Jess won this week's Telegraph quiz with 12 points out of 22 to finish with 80.5 points over seven weeks, 7.5 ahead of second place Tom Rowley. Lottie scored an astonishing 18.5 out of 22 to win the Mail quiz and finish with 72.5 points over five weeks, 12 ahead of second place Kirsty McEwen. The top averages were Lottie with 14.5, Kirsty with 12.1, Jess with 11.5 and Raj Rai with 11.2.

Quiz queens: Jess and Lottie with their prizes

Jess and Lottie collected a scratchcard and a bottle of toffee vodka for their efforts. That's it for the newsquiz for another year (although I might drop in the occasional one just to keep you on your toes). Try your hand at this week's. You have Lottie's amazing 18.5 to beat.

1. Who was under fire for detaining five children a day?

2. Why was Alan Billis in the headlines?

3. Who is wrestler Stacy Keibler's lover?

4. The Hillsborough disaster has been back in the news. It was a tragedy for Liverpool and Sheffield but what was the third city involved?

5. Round the world sailor Stefan Ramin was allegedly eaten by a cannibal on which remote Pacific island?

6. Dan Wheldon died during which motor race? Full name please, four words.

7. Which children's YouTube channel was hit by hackers?

8. What position does Justine Greening hold in the Cabinet?

9. What will Blackberry users get as compensation for the loss of service last week?

10. Which letter went 'missing' during the World Scrabble Championship?

11. Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was released after being held for five years by Hamas. What was his rank?

12. Former Commons researcher Katia Zatuliveter is facing deportation after being accused of spying. She was an aide for which Liberal Democrat MP? 

13. Wootton Bassett has been given the Royal prefix. How many servicemen/women has the town paid its respects to in the last four years?

14. Betty Driver passed away last weekend. She was well known for her part as Betty Williams (Turpin) in Coronation Street but which character did she originally audition for?

15. Fauja Singh started running marathons 11 years ago, at what age?

16. The Governor of the Bank of England said this week that time is running out to solve the world economy crisis. Who is the Governor of the Bank of England?

17. Who left Brown for Oxford?

18. Who received an apology from the BBC for "being written out of history"?

19. Robbie Savage and Orla Jordan performed the tango at half-time during which football match?

20. Which author won the 2011 Booker Prize this week? And, for a bonus point, name the book.

21.  The Daily Mail this week had to pay out undisclosed libel damages to which Lady?

How did you do? The answers are here.

Telegraph trainees Jess Winch, Jenny O'Mahony, Ben Bryant,
Lucy Kindle, Tom Rowley, Thomas Pascoe and Alice Philipson

Mail trainee subs Lyle Brennan, Libby Galvin, PA Finance Director Steven Brown,

Alys Denby, Tom Clarke, Raj Rai, Talal Musa, Kirsty McEwen,

my refined pate, trainer Mike Watson and Lottie Young