This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/feb/06/letter-peter-preston-obituary
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Letter: Peter Preston obituary | Letter: Peter Preston obituary |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Christopher Dodd | Christopher Dodd |
| Tue 6 Feb 2018 18.24 GMT | Tue 6 Feb 2018 18.24 GMT |
| Last modified on Tue 6 Feb 2018 22.00 GMT | |
| Share on Facebook | Share on Facebook |
| Share on Twitter | Share on Twitter |
| Share via Email | Share via Email |
| View more sharing options | View more sharing options |
| Share on LinkedIn | Share on LinkedIn |
| Share on Pinterest | Share on Pinterest |
| Share on Google+ | Share on Google+ |
| Share on WhatsApp | Share on WhatsApp |
| Share on Messenger | Share on Messenger |
| Close | Close |
| When Peter Preston became features editor of the Guardian, a breath of fresh air swept through the department, often fanned by the growing use of puns in headlines. I believe the features staff once scored seven out of 10 winning entries in a New Statesman competition to give great moments of history Guardian headlines – such as “An ’arrowing experience” for the Norman Conquest. | When Peter Preston became features editor of the Guardian, a breath of fresh air swept through the department, often fanned by the growing use of puns in headlines. I believe the features staff once scored seven out of 10 winning entries in a New Statesman competition to give great moments of history Guardian headlines – such as “An ’arrowing experience” for the Norman Conquest. |
| Punning became too easy and sometimes went over the top, as indicated in a memo sent by Preston, calling for thought, freshness and wit, while noting that: “Too often, however, there is a mechanical clunking as a formula is repeated.” When it was passed on to me, I pinned it to the noticeboard with the headline “Preston pans”. | Punning became too easy and sometimes went over the top, as indicated in a memo sent by Preston, calling for thought, freshness and wit, while noting that: “Too often, however, there is a mechanical clunking as a formula is repeated.” When it was passed on to me, I pinned it to the noticeboard with the headline “Preston pans”. |
| Newspapers & magazines | Newspapers & magazines |
| Peter Preston | Peter Preston |
| obituaries | obituaries |
| Share on Facebook | Share on Facebook |
| Share on Twitter | Share on Twitter |
| Share via Email | Share via Email |
| Share on LinkedIn | Share on LinkedIn |
| Share on Pinterest | Share on Pinterest |
| Share on Google+ | Share on Google+ |
| Share on WhatsApp | Share on WhatsApp |
| Share on Messenger | Share on Messenger |
| Reuse this content | Reuse this content |