Quick! Jump! Great opportunity for journalists

I am just back from Dublin where I have been talking about the Independent News & Media's Editorial Graduate Training programme which starts in July. Ireland's biggest media group is looking for graduates from all disciplines for its paid 12-month training scheme which will hopefully lead to a full-time role in the multi-media newsroom. But if you are interested in applying you will need to be quick ... applications close on Friday. All you need to do is send a CV, covering letter and samples of your work to graduateprogramme@independent.ie. You should also be passionate about the media, fascinated by the news, have excellent written and verbal skills and an understanding of digital and social media. Oh, and you'll need to be hard-working and innovative too. It's a fantastic opportunity with a great group that is developing as a vibrant print and digital business. You don't have to be Irish  ... and Dublin is a great city. So if you are a graduate looking to jump start your media career this summer, this is quite probably the opportunity you've been looking for. Move swiftly and get your application in by the end of the week. 

Full details here. 

Try the election week newsquiz

Well done to joint top scorers Damon Wake and James Restall who both submitted scores of 16 in last week’s quiz. Alex Murphy (14) and Chris Lennon (13) also did reasonably well. Sophie Jamieson and Rozina Sabur scored a team effort of 15.5. I won’t embarrass the rest of you by publishing your scores! This week’s quiz inevitably has a political element to it … but there was a lot going on elsewhere too. As usual there are 20 questions, with five bonuses … so 25 points to be won. Let me know how you get on.

Spot the difference: The Daily Mirror before the election result - and after  (Questions 1-5)

1. Former Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls lost his seat, who defeated him?
Bonus: What is the name of the constituency?

2. Which of these is still a Liberal Democrat MP - Danny Alexander, Vince Cable, Ed Davey, Simon Hughes, Mark Williams, Charles Kennedy, David Laws?
Bonus: What did Lord Ashdown promise to do publicly if the exit polls were correct?

3. The SNP's Mhairi Black became the youngest MP since 1667. Who did she win the seat from?

Bonus: The SNP won 56 of 59 seats in Scotland. Who won the other three?

4. The highest profile Tory MP to lose a seat was the Employment Minister in the last Cabinet. Name please.

5. Houghton and Sunderland South was the first declared result in the election but which constituency was second?

6. What position does Charlotte Elizabeth Diana hold in the succession line to the throne? Bonus: How heavy was she at birth?
7. Who said: 'The dogs bark and the caravan goes by’?

8. She started her illustrious writing career as a reporter on the Chigwell Times but was sacked after reporting on a tennis club dinner that she had failed to attend so failed to notice that the after-dinner speaker had died halfway through his speech. Who is she?

9. Ofcom announced an investigation into which word used by Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear?

10. Hot Chocolate lead singer Errol Brown died this week. Although the band achieved at least one hit every year from 1970 to 1984, they only had one No 1 hit in Britain. Name it

11. Why was Pamela Geller in the headlines?

12. Ian Walters was jailed for life for murdering his wife. How did he do it?

13. Which city’s airport was closed due to a fire in the terminal?

14. Who has been found guilty of culpable homicide of 38-year-old Ullah Khan in 2002?
15. Who is headlining Glastonbury on the Sunday night this year?

16. Forbes released its list of the World’s Biggest Public Companies, which country has the top four?

Bonus: The top British company on the list was 15th. Which company?

17. Who said to Australian Victoria McRae: 'Can I think about it?'
18. Entrepreneur Dave Goldberg, who died following a fall on a treadmill, was married to the chief operating officer of which company?

19. Underwater explorers in Madagascar say they have discovered treasure belonging to whom?

20. Former England manager Graham Taylor denied allegations that he was put under pressure to limit the number of what?

Answers here

My look at today's election front pages

So here we are. After all the squabbling, the nastiness, the madness, the TV debates, the propaganda and the fluctuating polls … the day has finally arrived. And our newspapers have one last attempt to persuade you to vote. There are no real surprises.  

In the red corner there is the Daily Mirror and it sister paper in Scotland, the Daily Record. The Mirror, of course, has a proud tradition of supporting Labour and of strong election day pages. It doesn't disappoint today. The Record leads with Come on England for probably the first and last time in its history.

Also in the reddish corner is The Guardian but its front page plays a straight bat today. It gives prominence to its own poll showing the Tories and Labour neck and neck with 35 percent each. The face off between Miliband and Cameron is nice ... note Ed is on the left, Dave on the right.

In the blue corner is The Sun. Long gone are the days when Rupert Murdoch gave his blessing to Tony Blair's Labour. It is a good old innuendo front page - although the balls aren't quite as balanced when you look at the seats. Initially it looks like a neutral front page but the message to readers across the bottom is unequivocal.

Also in the blue corner is The Daily Telegraph urging its readers not to do something they will regret. The words actually belong to David Cameron but the message is clear. It uses a picture of a casual Sam and Dave in matching Tory blue suits. Should we be voting for a male Prime Minister who doesn't wear a tie? Perhaps we should organise a poll.

The Daily Mail, which uses the same picture as The Telegraph, is the only paper to not to splash on the election. That said, it's message is as strident as it can be.

In the purple corner is the Daily Express. Owner Richard Desmond has thrown his weight behind UKIP with a £1million donation and there is no way his title is backing down at the final hurdle. The Express features Nigel Farage as its main picture.

The Times, traditionally in the blue corner has moved to a more neutral front page putting the Queen in the centre stage and exploring what will happen if it's too close to call. If that picture really was taken yesterday morning, it is quite brilliant.

In the yellow corner is The National which apparently wants to turn all of Scotland Liberal Democrat. Must be big Danny Alexander fans. Surely some mistake. The SNP of course also sports yellow (and black) as its colour and that's where the paper's heart really lies. One of the most creative pages of the day. 

In the neutral corner, Metro shows a nice touch with its X factor front and advice not to go to bed.

The i and The Independent play it as straight as they possibly can, simply urging readers to vote. 

Meanwhile, here's the Daily Star showing all the main leaders having a swig. Farage of course is the lead party animal...

And finally here's Matt, bringing a touch of reality and his usual brilliance to the party.

So there you have it. The papers being partisan, which is their absolute right, and enjoying a final flurry. There is barely a mention of Nick Clegg who, this time five years ago, was the main man. Anyway, don't forget to vote. I am in Dundee today and tomorrow morning I will be in Dublin. Tonight, though, I will be in Sussex in time to put my X in the box. Stick that up your rocket, Russell Brand.

Thanks to the excellent #tomorrowspaperstoday and @suttonnick

Streets better ... but Gazette still needs work

The new-look Gazette

My little dig at the Weatherfield Gazette’s front page last month has clearly struck a chord with the editor. The paper has undergone a bit of a makeover. Out has gone the spindly and badly-tracked Arial Bold and in has come the chunky Arial Black caps, which have been barely tampered with at all. There are no spelling mistakes in the splash headline either, which is always a bonus. The changes were spotted by my eagle-eyed colleague Alan Geere while getting his Bank Holiday Coronation Street fix tonight. He rightly pointed out, though, that the paper shouldn’t really be using an ampersand and the question mark is probably necessary. The headline font isn’t up to much either but let’s not be churlish. This is definitely progress. It looks like a cracking tale too - I bet the copies were flying off the shelves at the Kabin (especially as the Gazette doesn’t appear to give its stories away online). By the next episode they will hopefully have addressed the ugly and unreadable blurb across the top ...

The old version

12 years as Lord of the Manor draws to a close

Last year's trainees from the Daily Mail, MailOnline and the Telegraph at the Manor

I first visited the Bishop’s Manor in Howden in 2003. The Press Association had won the contract to train the Daily Mail’s subs - a pioneering scheme which involved taking youngsters from journalism courses and turning them into national newspaper sub-editors. PA needed help with the training and Pat Pilton, who I had worked with at the Mirror five years earlier, asked me to lend a hand. Instead of running the course in London, the training was to be in East Yorkshire. PA had taken over the town's manor during one of its acquisitions and it had become its Northern outpost. When the operation got too big for the manor, PA moved around the corner and took over the old police station and magistrates building. The manor was empty - and made an ideal training centre. It was kitted out with lecture rooms, Macs and PC suites, the latest publishing software, plasma screens and later came a technology and video suite. With its history, its thick stone walls and big creaking wooden door, the 12th century building became a place where the past and the future met. It was simply a great place to train and to learn. The Mail’s subbing course has continued every year in the manor since then, with myself and Mike Watson being the ever-present trainers. The building also hosted training schemes for MailOnline, The Daily Telegraph, The Sun, Al Watan (a Saudi newspaper) and PA itself. Senior training courses for newspapers in the North were also held there and I redesigned many newspapers on the manor’s computers. For a few months each year the Manor was my home, as I lived in one of the two flats on the top floor. 
Hundreds of today’s national newspaper journalists have passed through the manor and many editors and executives have visited. They are in good company. In days gone by at least three kings also stayed there. Edward II, Henry V visited and King John spent the Christmas of 1211 there. But, as I have long learned in the newspaper game, nothing lasts forever. The manor is now surplus to requirements and is up for sale. There is plenty of spare space in PA's main operating centre which will house a state-of-the-art training centre. It will be first class and the Mail subbing intake for this year is already destined to go there in September. So Howden will continue its tradition of hosting the newspaper stars of the future. They will continue to do the quizzes in the White Horse and Wellington, enjoy the cheap curry nights at the Zolsha and get the best fish and chips from the Minster Fish Bar. Closing the manor undoubtedly makes enormous sense ... but it is a little sad nonetheless. In the great scheme of things the last 12 years are just a small part of its amazing history. But for me, and many others, they were hugely significant. 

If you are interested in taking over the lease of the manor the details are here

Test your knowledge with this week's newsquiz

Last week's quiz was apparently a tough one. Congratulations to Chris Lennon who scored a personal best and got the top submitted score with 16. Alex Murphy recorded 13 while the Batstone Collective (Adam and Lucy) only clocked up 14 as Lucy was distracted by the London Marathon. Here's this week's quiz. As usual there are 20 questions, with five bonuses. So 25 points are up for grabs. Let me know how you get on.

Sonit Awal is rescued from the rubble in Nepal and (below) back in his mother's arms (see Q10)

1. On the BBC Question Time leaders’ special David Cameron said he was sticking with a target of below what figure for net immigration?
Bonus: Audience member Catherine Shuttleworth told Ed Miliband: 'If he worked in the corporate world he would have been fired and he wouldn't have been allowed back to that job.' To whom was she referring?
Bonus: In which city was the programme held?

2. Andrew Chan wore a Penrith Panthers rugby league jersey for what event?
3. What, according to Jeff Mostyn, is 'the greatest fairy tale since Hans Christian Andersen wrote his last one.’?

4. A former Portuguese police chief was ordered to pay the parents of Madeleine McCann how many euros in libel damages after accusing them of faking their daughter’s abduction?

5. Why was Poppy Smart in the headlines?

6. Which company is the new sponsor of the FA Cup?

7. Labour’s Andy Burnham admitted that what legislation, introduced by the Labour Government in 2008, was a mistake?

8. Why was Toya Graham dubbed ‘mum of the year’ by Twitter?

9. David Cameron vowed to introduce a law guaranteeing no rise in income tax rates, VAT or national insurance for how many years if the Tories win the election?

Bonus: Ed Miliband appeared in a video saying 'I'm not sure I'd look so good with a pint on my head’ Who was he talking to?

10. The Nepal earthquake had a Moment Magnitude Scale measuring what?

Bonus: How old is Sonit Awal who was pulled to safety after being buried under a collapsed building for 22 hours?

Bonus: The first British flight back from Nepal, which brought 120 Britons home to Stansted was chartered by the DFID. What do the initials DFID stand for?

11. What did cartoonist Renald ‘Luz’ Luzier say no longer interested him?

12. Who is to replace Nick Hewer on the BBC’s Apprentice?

13. Who was described in a Daily Telegraph obituary as 'a falsetto-voiced incontinent green waterfowl’?

14. All four semi-finalists in the World Snooker Championship are from which country?

15. The trial of James Holmes began this week. What was his crime?

16. Nigel Farage reported the BBC to Kent Police after being mocked on which television programme?

17. Name the two boxers who will be fighting in the $300 million Fight of the Century in Las Vegas this weekend. Half point for each.

18. Which company says it will file a criminal complaint over allegations that German intelligence helped the US carry out industrial espionage?

19. Nasa space probe Messenger crashed into which planet?

20. Apple said some of the functions on its new watch may not work properly when it is worn over what?

Answers here

The future of the front page ...

Here's a radical new concept in placing adverts on Page 1 ... courtesy of the Daily Express. I fear I have just seen the future. 

Good luck to Malcolm, one of the good guys

It comes as no surprise to me that Malcolm Warne, the editor of the Darlington & Stockton Times, is on his way. There aren’t many weekly newspapers operating out of daily houses that still have their own editors these days. Indeed it is great credit to Malcolm that he has lasted as long as he did. For years Newsquest has operated a policy of giving its daily editors responsibility for its weekly titles. Mike Glover’s editorship at the Westmorland Gazette was taken over by Lancashire Telegraph editor Kevin Young back in 2008. In 2011 Derek Holmes, editor of Oxfordshire’s weekly papers, was made redundant and his responsibilities handed to Oxford Mail editor Simon O’Neill. A quick glance across the group - and indeed the industry - shows a similar pattern. Both Mike and Derek were excellent editors, as is Malcolm, but that is no longer enough. So he will have seen the writing on the wall. Malcolm was my assistant editor on The Northern Echo back in 1992 when he was headhunted for the D&S job. It was a job that required a certain type of person - someone with stature in the community, who would take a sure-footed and intelligent approach and had great journalistic skills and integrity. I had no doubt he was perfect for the job. During his tenure he oversaw a redesign that put news on to the front page (the paper had previously carried only adverts on page 1), a move to compact and the recruitment of an army of highly talented correspondents. He also raised the profile of the paper, steadied its circulation and took responsibility for the group’s other weeklies. His role will now be taken over by Echo editor Peter Barron and his deputy Chris Lloyd. Malcolm is an excellent editor who lived and breathed the D&S for 23 years. It was inevitable that his job would eventually be surplus to requirements but that does not make it any less sad. With his contacts, talent and appetite for hard work, he will no doubt find a good life after the editor’s chair. He is one of the good guys, I wish him well. 
Read The Northern Echo report here.