A DRIVEN, knowledgeable and enthusiastic all-rounder with extensive experience in a variety of freelance and staff editorial and production roles for a wide range of arts, entertainment, news and current affairs print, online and broadcast platforms. Creative and well organised, with outstanding writing skills and the ability to work to tight deadlines.
A big fan of Hunter S Thompson’s brand of Gonzo journalism, I originally got the media buzz editing my own photocopied punk rock fanzine in the early Eighties before formal NCTJ journalistic training led me to local newspapers and the NME.
After freelancing and staffing for the Leeds Other Paper / Northern Star, Brag magazine, iD and MixMag in West Yorkshire, plus a five-year stint as a presenter on ‘community radio station’ Dream FM, I moved to Manchester to work at the Big Issue in the North, as arts, features and finally deputy editor.
Eight years later, I rejoined the freelance world, writing and commissioning for a variety of print and online publications and subbing news at Associated Metro’s Manchester operation and the Daily Sport.
My first real venture into the cross-platform multi-media world came during the inaugural 2007 Manchester International Festival, when I headed up festival-sponsor PlayStation’s MIF micro-site, with previews and reviews, interviews, vox pops and round-ups throughout the course of the festival.
Winning a place on the Infuze training course increased my interest and understanding of the new media landscape – which is probably just as well given the current fortunes of print media – and played an invaluable role in helping me formulate and develop ideas for more ambitious converged digital media projects during Manchester International Festival 2009.
Watch this space.
