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First cover story: Anti-Trust the System

Posted by JSYL on Wednesday, August 05, 2009 in ,
Yesterday, the first copies of this quarter's issue of Insto arrived in the office.

The understated tradition of basking in the glow of the fruit of the last few months' hard work usually lasts for about 15 minutes, and always seems to pass too quickly. First, there's the squeal or yelp from the first person to notice the big brown box entering the premises (This is usually me. Sometimes it's a cross between a squeal and a yelp).

Then there's the eager handing out of copies to the editorial team - the graphic designer carefully scrutinises everything from the colour of the cover to the glue on the spine of the magazine. The contributors lean back in their chairs smugly and flip through the contents, looking out for their articles before seeking each other out to pat themselves on the back once again for a job well done. Self-serving compliments like: "That turned out really well!" and "I really loved the way that page came together" are exchanged, before everyone returns to their respective desks and reluctantly puts their copies just out of their line of vision so they can continue their work.

This issue focused on the future of banking beyond the global financial crisis, with a series of lead articles covering the potential growth of different areas of the financial system. I wrote an article - "Anti-Trust the System" - about the future regulation of Australia's major four banks, which are predicted to grow even bigger on the back of government guarantees.

This is my first cover story. Cover stories are significant because they are of the few selected to feature on the front of a magazine to entice readers to open it, and are therefore usually the first to be read. I never imagined that my first cover story would be about financial regulation. I mean, it wasn't so long ago that I was buying magazines for cover lines like "How to get great cheekbones in 10 minutes". (I knew it could only lead to a single page on blush, foundation sticks and bronzers but I decided the editor's gall deserved $7 if nothing else.)

It was particularly fortuitous that my first cover line was featured on issue #11 (my lucky number), the cover design a throwback to the 1980s Michael J Fox film trilogy "Back to the Future" - the first of which is one of my favourites.




My article starts in a similarly colourful way, and even features a cartoon image I personally selected for the spread. Who said finance was boring, eh?

You can read the story below. Click on the images to enlarge them.


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2 Comments


Well done, Jane,

Very Good. I'll see if I can refer to it in my weekend article on the dry-bulk market. This very much revolves around an Australian/China axis as you know.

Has the Managing Editor come over and given you a pat on the back?

All the best

Andrew Lansdale
ajlansdale@aol.com


Thanks Andrew! And yes, we all did the congratulatory rounds when we got our first copies :D

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