A suspected spy is arrested in the House of Commons. A historic referendum takes place to decide whether Scotland will become independent. A famous comedian is put under the spotlight for years of alleged secret abusive behaviour. These stories sound like fiction, but they were real, and they all came across Lindsay McIntosh's desk as Head of News at The Sunday Times.
Lindsay McIntosh has been Head of News at The Sunday Times, the British Press Awards’ Sunday Newspaper of the year, since 2021. She runs a news team of some of the country’s leading journalists and looks after the news section of the website and the newspaper.
She began her career at the Press and Journal, one of Britain’s biggest-selling regional newspapers, going from work experience to chief reporter in two years. She was a senior reporter at The Scotsman, where she led the financial crash coverage, and later Scottish Political Editor of The Times, where she ran the coverage of Scotland’s independence referendum. She has also worked on the London newsdesk of The Times and edited the title’s Scottish edition.
At this event, BA (Hons) Media & Communications student Grace Anderson interviewed Lindsay, who described how she leads a team of journalists handling the most complex breaking news stories in media today. Lindsay discussed the importance of knowing your stories inside-out and listening so that, whoever it is you're speaking for, you can get their story across.
Lindsay also gave students advice on becoming a journalist: to read, read all the time, and read as much as possible, as well as encouraging work experience with regional newspapers and broadcasters.
This event was part of our Distinguished Speakers and Visiting Professorships events series in 2024 which also included talks from Kelly Kowal, Chief Platform Officer at FARFETCH, and Tom Athron, CEO of Fortnum & Mason. In the final weeks of term we'll also host leaders from dunhill and Harrods.
