On the hot seat:
Anjuli Davies: Business Reporter at The Telegraph
Anjuli Davies
- Works Wednesday – Friday.
- Alongside Lucy Burton; Harriet Russell + strong economics team
- Has varied beat with limited restrictions. M&A; boutique banking; hedge funds; IPOs; The City; Business policy, etc.
- Free for meetings from 8am onwards – prefers mornings on Wednesdays & Thursdays, not Fridays.
- Would not pick up something that’s already been written about, unless there’s a new angle on it.
- Gets 200 emails a day…
- Definitely follow up, as stories can get buried in other emails.
- Exclusive stories likely to illicit a response.
- Uses LinkedIn and Twitter a lot to get an understanding of how people are talking about topics that might spark ideas for a report.
Business Desk:
- Digital team starts at 6:30am, 7.30-10 am key stories flagged, 11 am stories are decided on.
- 75% certain.
- No business conference meeting.
- Conference:
- Tuesday 10am meeting – features and interview ideas for Sunday/Monday paper
- Thursday 10am meeting – news and scoops for Sunday / Monday paper.
- Pro business; 30+ stories to generate
- Fridays are the busiest day
- File features by 2 pm
- File news stories by 4 pm
Top Tips:
- Management is really pushing the business section – they’re realised it can really drive subscriptions. Propriety stories, investigations, deep-dives and data-driven pieces do really well.
- Graphics and pictures are great, so include them alongside your story pitches
- Print & online team work the same, as it’s all one team. What they do for the paper always goes online, so you pitch to the same people.
- Online stories can develop over time – continue to send relevant updates and developments as a story unfolds.
- Get the news angle of your story across in the beginning of your email – a 1-page brief can feel like a PR twist.
- Capital markets & corporate finance stories do better when they’re not overly technical.
