Phil Hall, former editor of the News of the World, has been appointed as an ‘ambassador’for Harlow College’s Journalism Centre, where he and at least three other national newspaper editors learned their trade.
Harlow’s alumni include former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie, former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan and Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger.
Hall said: ‘For many years Harlow was considered ‘the’ place to study for journalists. This is an extremely exciting time and we are going to reclaim our title as the number one journalism institution in the country,’he said.
Harlow’s journalism department now offers journalism degrees in additional to its more vocational diplomas and teaches video and audio journalism.
Hall spent seven years at News of the World until 2000 when joined Hello! As editor. From 2003 he was head of editorial development at Trinity Mirror and now runs how own PR firm PHA-Media.
Paula Dady, head of the journalism department said ‘Having Phil on board is a big coup for us. Not only is he one of the most influential figures in the British media, but as a Harlow graduate himself he is passionate about the course and knows first hand the difference training at Harlow can make to someone’s career”.
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