 In 1962, he entered journalism, his first job being at the "Yorkshire Post".After two years, he moved to Manchester to work on the "Daily Mail", and he then worked at "The Guardian" for a year before joining The Times in 1967 where he was Education Correspondent and then founder editor of the "Times Higher Education Supplement" in 1971.He stood down in 1976 to become News Editor of The Times and was Deputy Editor of the Evening Standard from 1978 to 1979.