The Scot hailed as the source of the world-famous 'deep-fried Mars bar' story has shared the highlights of his journalistic career.
Brian Aitken, formerly of the Daily Record and Aberdeen Evening Express, and current editor of Newcastle-based The Journal, was speaking to HoldTheFrontPage.
Of the Mars bar story, he is quoted saying: “I didn’t actually write the story because I wasn’t a reporter at the time but I told the Evening Express newsdesk about this craze that had started amongst pupils at Mackie Academy in Stonehaven in the fish and chip shop across the road from where I was living.
“Our story was picked up by the Daily Record the following day – and then it went global.”
Aitken also spoke about his first job in journalism, with the Evening Express, as well as how he came to be a journalist.
He is again quoted, saying: “I started scouring the jobs sections of The Courier and the Press and Journal and applied for numerous positions. One was for a trainee journalist with Aberdeen Journals. The recruitment process for that took so long that by the time I was offered the job I had already started working as a trainee banker.
“Hindsight may show that I made a mistake financially but I had already decided that banking was not for me.”
Aitken listed the Metro as the newspaper he admired the most, and rated the late Alex Cameron of the Daily Record and the late Jimmy Forbes of the Evening Express as among the best journalists he has ever worked with.
