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June 28, 2013

Struggling to pass your shorthand? You too could become editor of The Sun

By Axegrinder

To those who are struggling to pass their 100 words per minute shorthand, Axegrinder says: ‘You too could become editor of The Sun.’
New Sun editor David Dinsmore revealed in an interview for News International’s (I mean News UK’s) intranet site this week that he was kicked off a journalism course at Edinburgh’s Napier College because he failed to get to the 80 words-per-minute shorthand speed quickly enough.
Dinsmore had embarked on the two-year course straight after A-levels.
The Clydebank Post recognised his fledgling talent and gave him a job anyway and he finally passed the 100wpm threshold at the 25th attempt, continuing his studies at secretarial college – and eventually gaining his NCTJ senior journalist qualification.
Read week's edition of Journalism Weekly for more on Dinsmore, including an anecdote from former News of the World colleague Neville Thurlbeck involving a pork pie and an embarassing wardrobe malfunction.

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