Blog

IT WAS at the heart of my professional life. The closure of The Independent print edition today does not just leave an aching gap for me – I worked there as a senior editor for nearly 14 years. But it is such a loss for the British cultural arena. We shall not see the like […]

I’m delighted to have been appointed a judge for this year’s Regional Press Awards. At a time when the press is under pressure as never before, it’s always a delight to read the entries for these awards – always full of vigour and offering great hope for the future…

IT SEEMED rather threatening at the time. It was my first day as the executive editor in charge of news at the Independent, and it seemed the right thing to do to mingle with the reporters in the office pub over the road after work. It was the chief reporter who took me by the […]

Goodbye Independent! My farewell from the European Journalism Observatory website http://en.ejo.ch/media-economics/independent

TRAGIC news this week that the Independent and Independent on Sunday are to stop printing. I spent 14 years working for both – first as executive editor of the Indy, and then as deputy editor of the Sindy. The closures are inevitable in a digital world where fewer readers want a printed product, and managements […]

A READER of ‘The Trains Now Departed’ – Keith Baker – has sent me the following delightful memoir of Laurie Earl – famous driver of the crack Euston to Scotland trains: ‘I have recently read this book, and found it to be most enjoyable, as it related to many times in my past experience. I […]

IF you get a chance, catch up with my episode of ‘Combat Trains’ on the H2 History Channel tonight. There will undoubtedly be frequent repeats  – it shows on Virgin, Sky and BT .