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0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Jun 20, 1999 | by Gordon Brewer

week Gordon Brewer, reporter and television presenter for Newsnight What is work?

Reporting for and presenting Newsnight. Making TV and radio documentaries. Trying to look like I am doing one or all of these things while in fact doing none of them.

What was your first job? Reporter on The Shetland Times. Best job I ever had, probably ah, those fish prices. What is your greatest difficulty at work? Trying to convince myself that I can do what I do. Trying to convince other people that I can do what I do. Often failing on both counts. What do you excel at in work? Occasionally not failing at the above. I can be pretty good at working fast under pressure when the adrenaline is high. Which is a bit of a problem when there is no pressure and the adrenaline is low. How do you stay motivated? With far too much caffeine. And because sometimes I think the issues we cover are genuinely important. And because even when they aren't, we generally manage to convince ourselves that they are. Is goal-setting important? Probably, but it's difficult to do any when work is so unpredictable. My goal at the moment is to try goal-setting. Are you a workaholic? I have a history of binge working, but I now consider myself in recovery. It is going well, but I am taking it one day at a time. Are you a good employee? I sincerely hope not. It is a terrible mistake at the BBC to get a reputation as a good employee. In the worst-case scenario, you end up as a manager. Do you have a secretary/PA? You're kidding? At the BBC, you consider yourself lucky if you can manage to find a desk. What's in your briefcase? Oh my God! A large wad of expense receipts I had forgotten to claim back. And mosquito repellent from a recent dangerous assignment in Cologne. Oh, and that's where my driving licence is! What single change would you make to improve your working life? Double my salary. Engineer a situation where the suggestion to double my salary would have the slightest chance of success. Have you ever been sacked? I was made redundant once, from the Sunday Standard. What would make you leave your job? A better one.