Autocar / Haymarket
I learnt my trade on print magazines, specifically magazines about cars, and this was one of the best. The world’s oldest and first car magazine, Autocar did weekly car content like no other. I became news editor just as the internet was fundamentally changing the delivery of news stories. It taught me a huge amount about design, writing for the reader and how to avoid always sounding like Jeremy Clarkson.
The work
I started as a sub-editor and learnt how to edit copy, write headlines, compose captions how to cut 1000 words to 300 while retaining the meaning. It was one of the toughest jobs I’ve done and probably the most useful.
Then I became news editor and ran the news pages at the front of the magazine. We’d find scoops and stories everywhere. I once scooped the new
Aston Martin DB9 when we found a picture of a die-cast model of the new car online. Aston gave us the story and we were the first to break it.
I learnt magazine craft and the art of working with art directors. I learnt how to write for the internet and how to get a car company bosses to give you a story. I travelled, drove lots of incredible cars, wrote tens of thousands of words and learnt how content works. I still use those lessons today.
