My Mentor: Jane Moore on David Montgomery
'I am very thick-skinned and able to turn my hand to anything - thanks to Monty'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.David Montgomery was my editor at Today newspaper and my mentor - though not in a warm, cuddly way. I learned from him everything that makes me the journalist I am today: very thick-skinned and able to turn my hand to anything. He was a bastard, but he was a fair bastard.
I'd been working at The Sun on Bizarre as the first woman editor, but burned out, aged 23. I couldn't handle the late nights and the harsh reality under Kelvin MacKenzie; he used to sack me on a daily basis. I was too young and took it too seriously.
I left The Sun at 26 and pitched up at Today to work shifts. David sent me off to Wimbledon: great, a couple of weeks sitting around watching tennis. But each day he rang me wanting an exclusive: Steffi Graf's new boyfriend, Boris Becker's new girlfriend.
For the latter, I waited with a whole pack of people outside this house. His girlfriend came out and started to walk towards Wimbledon to watch him play. "You'll never make it in time," I said, before bundling her into my car. David threw half the paper out late that night - he did that a lot - for our front page exclusive.
I had this rather charmed fortnight and he gave me a staff job. From that moment he put me on this learning curve: deputy news editor, royal correspondent, features editor; fast-tracking me into awkward jobs. He loved creative tension.
As a features executive, I used to see him every morning with my usual sorry list of ideas and he'd say: "What else? What else?" They were rubbish and I had to come back with better ones. I used to get bollocked all the time. Another favourite phrase of Rommel - as Private Eye called Monty - was, when you suggested something within the editor's remit, he would fix you with a withering stare and say: "You provide the bullets, I'll fire them."
It was completely relentless, but I learnt so much from him. He taught me to be aspirational, creative and write quickly. Wherever I went after working for David seemed a doddle. Even going back to work for Kelvin was fine - I'd been through the mill and was older and more confident.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments