The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Editor tells wannabe reporters: Apply via Twitter

Author

By The Drum Team, Editorial

September 12, 2011 | 2 min read

A disgruntled newspaper editor advertising vacancies for reporters has told wannabe journalists they must apply using Twitter because he has had enough of their "turgid" application letters.

Alan Geere, editor in chief of the Essex Chronicle Media Group and editorial director of Northcliffe Media South East, said he was "fed up wading through turgid ‘letters of application’ and monstrous CVs outlining an early career in retail handling and a flirtation with the upper slopes of the Andes".

He wrote on his blog: "I want reporters who can find stories that no-one else has got and write them quickly and accurately.

"That’s why in my latest recruitment ad potential recruits have to respond via Twitter. They’ve got 140 characters to tell me what they can do and why I should consider them."

Those wishing to apply should send a tweet to @alangeere unless they want their application to end up in his bin.

How many Twitter applicants meet Geere's demanding standards remains to be seen. He signed off: "I keep getting told there is an over-supply of qualified people wanting to do journalism. Well, maybe there is but there’s definitely not an over-supply of people who are any good."

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +