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.
I wouldn't normally pick up on basic errors but this headline and article from the London Weekly, really deserve a mention. I was always taught to never leave the reader asking questions ... such as: Was she eight or nine? How can you have eight (a plural) with year (a singular) without a hyphen? What exactly does 'local London' mean? Why is the first letter of each word capped up in the headline? Is it necessary to use 'swimming' twice in the intro. Is 'luckily' an appropriate word in a news story? Why do we allow anonymous communication people to take up half the story with their PR-speak? Oh, and somewhat critically, did the girl drown or not? Luckily, I am pleased to report, she didn't.
Press Association Training is setting up a second foundation course for journalists. The Newcastle course will continue but there is to be a parallel course in London. Makes sense. Details on the Pencil Sharpener.
