Ex-Eastern Cape writer lands top job at UK paper

JUGGLING an annual budget of £54-million (R613- million) and managing a network of hundreds of staff in more than 25 countries is all in a day’s work for former Eastern Cape journalist Lisa Macleod.

Macleod, 37, who was appointed managing editor of the Financial Times in London earlier this year, was in East London last week as the Founder’s Day guest speaker at her alma mater Clarendon High School – where by no coincidence she held the position of the school magazine’s deputy editor.

Macleod went on to graduate from Rhodes University with a BA degree in journalism and anthropology, before honing her skills at Avusa-owned newspapers Daily Dispatch and Business Day in Johannesburg, where she rose to the position of managing editor before moving to England in 2003 to join the Financial Times.

Speaking to Weekend Post, the media firebrand described the country’s newspapers as the perfect training ground for journalists.

“On South African papers there is much less hierarchy and usually a smaller staff, so you get the opportunity to do anything and everything. By the time I got to the Financial Times I had done just about every job you can do on a newspaper – team management, subbing, layout, news editing, writing, even a bit of photography,” she said.

“That is unlikely to happen on a big national in the UK. You also toughen up pretty quickly in SA newsrooms. They are vibrant places with debate. It is much quieter and more restrained in the UK (unless England is winning the cricket!)”

Macleod, who is married to accountant and old Selbornian Bradley Taljard and has two step-children at Kingswood College in Grahamstown, said she was daunted but thrilled when she was appointed the FT’s managing editor in March.

She worked her way up the ranks from general sub-editor to chief production editor. “The bulk of my career has been in production and this is an unusual route into management at the Financial Times. Most come from a writing background.”

She said although she had felt “mentally prepared” for the job, she had been unprepared for its volume. “We have 600 staff in more than 25 countries and my office deals with the staffing issues.”

While prudent delegation lightens the load, Macleod said good organisational skills, empathy, “being honest to a fault” and “reading a lot about management” enabled her to meet the rigours of her position, which sometimes required 10-hour days. “My greatest gift is a cancelled meeting.”

But her job was also fun. “We laugh a lot.”

Although her work is certainly taking her places, Macleod has not ruled out the possibility of returning to South Africa in the future.

That said, she was concerned about the country’s proposed medial tribunal and the Protection of Information Act Bill.

“One of the bright spots about South Africa as an investment destination is the robust and independent press – the mark of a real democracy.

“So many people fought for that freedom, why take it away?”

By Barbara Hollands 

Source: The Herald