Interviewing Sheree Dodd

I wanted to study politics, and what better place to study politics? LSE was just so central to everything ... as a student, you were truly in a place where it was all happening.

As part of our 125-year celebrations in Women’s History Month, Communications Officer and MSc Strategic Communications student Sophie Charlotte, interviewed alumna, distinguished PR practitioner and former political journalist Sheree Dodd. Sheree attended LSE's Department of Government, studying BSc (Econ) in the academic years 1974 to 1977.

Sheree_747x560
Sheree Dodd, LSE Alumni. Graduate of BSc (Econ), 1974/1977. Credit: Jonathan Haslam

Sheree, tell us a little about yourself and your career

I started my career on the Mirror Group training scheme after LSE. This took me to papers in the West Country and I was there for just about two years. My first position was on the South Devon Times – a local weekly paper. Then I moved to the Sunday paper, the Sunday Independent. The group itself was purchased to train journalists for Fleet Street. At the end of it, you had six weeks on one of the national titles. For me, that was at the Sunday Mirror. It was quite challenging, but from there I freelanced with them for a long time. It was very difficult in the late 70s to get a staff job on a newspaper, as it still is now.

I then moved onto the Daily Mirror. I got my break when I started working with the Industrial Editor in the 1980s, during the miners’ strike. It was at this time that I got my first staff job, although for this I had to be vetted by “Cap'n Bob” Maxwell [Robert Maxwell] in his office on the top floor of the Mirror Building in Holborn.

What a colourful start to your career – how was that experience?

I had met him already because at that time one of the things Maxwell wanted to do was solve the miners’ strike. So, there were plenty of encounters and interactions. On the day he vetted me for the staff job though, he kept me waiting so long that all the thoughts I had around discussing salary expectations went out the door! I went in, waited again, and all he said was "the answer is yes, now you can go".

After the miners’ strike, I became a lobby correspondent. I was supposed to start after the January recess, but then the Westland Crisis happened. The political team were on holiday, so I was sent down to cover the press conference after Michael Heseltine walked out of the cabinet. The controversy was huge. So, I spent my first day in the job covering the Westland Crisis.

A few years ago, my daughter was doing A Level history and studying Thatcher. I said, "Mrs. Thatcher isn’t history – Mrs. Thatcher was my life!". A lot of us who were industrial correspondents became political reporters, as after there had been such a significant period of strikes, the newspapers just didn’t want coverage on them anymore. But that was fine by me, my ambition had always to become a political correspondent. I then did that for 13 years, for the Mirror. All the way through Thatcher’s time as Prime Minister, then into Major’s time and finally the Labour Government under Tony Blair. Huge times.

But after so long doing the job I thought it was time for a change and wanted to see the other side, using my skills to communicate the Government’s work. I applied for Head of News for the Northern Ireland Office – and I got it. It was a bit of a shock, though, and a great life-changer.

So, this was your transition from journalism into politics and the public sector?

Yes. The fact is, I had always been interested in and had covered the Northern Ireland story. The time I spent in that role Northern Ireland was one of the biggest stories internationally. My first Friday in the job was the day of the Good Friday Agreement so it was a massive baptism of fire.

Next I went to the Department of Social Security – which later became the Department for Work and Pensions. Although it might not sound the most exciting Department in Government, it is one that touches all of our lives and many of the issues are complex and fascinating and a powerful challenge for communicators to get right. The working relationship with the Secretary of State, Alistair Darling, was great, the team I built wonderful and my time there was really enjoyable. I then went for a promotion at the DTI [Department for Trade and Industry] as Director of Communications there for a while. But I found I was doing less of what I like best - I am someone who likes to be quite hands-on. So that was when I decided to start my own business. I didn’t necessarily think I would be doing it 15 years on!

In that time, I have worked as an Advisor to the Speaker in the House of Commons, during the MP expenses scandal; I was asked to work for the Foreign Office to support the McCanns after their daughter was abducted. I have done some really interesting work. Every time it started to look like things would get dull, something else came up. There was a period where it appeared work was drying up, then someone approached me to work in Brussels on an interim policy role and I did that for a year. There have been plenty of varied experiences along the way.  During the COVID pandemic I have been really busy and that has brought an important normality to life.

Take us back to your time as a student. How did you come to study at LSE?

I always wanted to become a journalist, so I thought at 18 "should I go to a Further Education College and study Journalism – or do I want to study at degree level?". I think sometimes in school, it feels as though you are being pushed along a conveyor belt. But I knew I wanted to do more academically before I began my career and I felt very privileged to gain a place at LSE. I wanted to study politics, and what better place to study politics?

LSE was just so central to everything, with Fleet Street on one side and the Law Courts on the other. Whenever there were student protests the press would turn up to LSE – they didn’t have very far to go. The political reputation that LSE had first developed in the 1960s still existed in the 70s.  While I was a student, there was an occupation and the whole of Fleet Street was camped outside.

Being at LSE made you feel as though you weren’t in some ivory tower. Many professors and lecturers were involved in advising the Government or leading commissions on significant policy issues. As a student, you were truly in a place where it was all happening.

Talk us through your experience being the Editor of the Beaver

It really shaped a lot of my time at LSE. I became involved in the first year, though I wasn’t sure if I would ever go for the Editor position. Then the next year a first year came forward for it, and I thought "why shouldn’t I do it – I have the experience?". I was elected to the role, and I had a really great team. After all my years in journalism, of course I think I could go back and do a better job. I look back on some of the copies we produced and they appear a bit dull, a bit lacking in light and shade.

But it was a formative experience, and we were a collective. We did try to introduce more interesting features and a daily news sheet; it was always a bit political. I spent a lot of my time as Editor in a darkened untidy room in St Clements Building. But I just loved it, and I really enjoyed my studies too.

Beaver_747x560
Beaver #157, 1977-01-18. Credit: LSE Digital Library

What were the defining political affairs of the time? How was campus involved? 

One of the big issues, and the reason there was an occupation on campus, was the government increase in overseas student fees. That was a very controversial decision. Wednesday afternoons were when the student union meetings were, in the Old Theatre. I moved onto the Student Executive, and I spent a lot of my Wednesday’s talking through these kinds of issues – as well . I enjoyed the politics of the time, so it was a fulfilling experience for me.

I was involved in the Labour Club, and we would get good speakers to come in, Tony Benn for example. At the time, the student labour politics were driven by the broad left against the militant tendency. That was the defining activity at the time – I imagine it isn’t so different today.

Did your experiences at LSE help shape your post-graduate path and early career?

Yes – they were so important. Going into the media or communications is very competitive. When I graduated, there were some clear routes and my experience at LSE was vital in getting on one of those routes. Even before LSE, I was able to demonstrate my interest in pursuing a career in journalism. From editing my school magazine before university, to getting involved in the Beaver and joining the Student Executive – all of these experiences showed that it was a long-term passion.

What advice you would give LSE students of today? How about students who aspire to work in Communications?

You have to think about what you have to offer and develop that to the full. Take advantage of all of the opportunities LSE gives you, enjoy what you are studying, be confident yet avoid a sense of arrogance when starting in the industry or seeking that first opportunity. Don’t think you can be in the top job straight away. Even after my many years of experience, I still have to work at it, learning lessons and new approaches. Now, social media provides an excellent platform for showcasing your writing. Communications is an incredibly wide industry, with many different routes of entry, explore them all.