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Stories Behind The Headlines – book review
This book records one English journalist’s work history, from roving reporter in Cambridge and Coventry, and eventually becoming the PR chief at Land Rover.
HV’s Allan Whiting met the author, Coin Walkey, during Land Rover’s centenary re-enactment of the fateful 1896 Calvert Expedition. The Land Rover event was designed to commemorate this last great Australian desert expedition and to bring some scientists into normally inaccessible country in Western Australia’s Great Sandy Desert.
Land Rover had invited Allan to be the chronicler of this 1996 re-enactment, so he spent several weeks in inhospitable country with Colin Walkey, who describes the Land Rover Calvert Expedition in great detail.
Colin’s book also records bygone era in journalism, before universities had specific courses on this vocation. Back then, journos worked as virtual ‘apprentices’ in news media companies, learning the trade over several years. Of course, some had uni qualifications – usually in science or the humanities – but all recruits had to go through the cadetship regime to earn their typewriter ribbons.
Many trained journos have turned to what is jokingly referred to as the ‘dark side’: swapping journalism for public relations and Colin Walkey details his particular career change.
Having worked with him in that capacity for several years, we can say that he was one of the good PR guys and never told us a lie. Of course, there were some things he couldn’t share with us at the time, but we enjoyed reading in this book about what was going on behind the scenes in the turbulent British car industry of the 1970s-90s.
Journos – particularly motoring journos – Land Rover freaks and those interested in British car industry history, or in a career in ‘proper’ journalism should read this book, we reckon.
Stories Behind The Headlines is published by Brewin Books – ISBN:978-1-85858-787-5.
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