Liz Bestic

Liz Bestic has been a journalist for more than 25 years, and specialises in consumer health matters for the national media.

Employment:

September 2010-2012 : Editor for Raconteur
Raconteur is a media group which produces a 16-page publication by the same name for the Times and Sunday Times. Each special report focuses on one particular subject and have ranged from HIV/Aids-for which I interviewed Richard Branson on his work in Africa-to Prostate Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer and Eye Health.

February 1999 to 2010: Freelance journalist and editor
I write regular health features for a variety of national newspapers including the Times, the Daily Mail and the Telegraph on a whole variety of subjects including cancer, heart disease and stroke. My real passion is case study stories and many of my features involve in depth interviews.

I also write for a variety of women’s magazines including YOURS, Weight Watchers and Woman and Home. For six years I wrote regularly for the Evening Standard Just the Job section with a focus on case studies of people and the jobs they do. I have also written extensively for a variety of websites including Discovery Health, i-Circle and i-village. Up until 2010 I also wrote for Greening of Oil-an Alaskan based website.

July 1998 to February 1999: IPC Woman and Home
Freelance Features Editor commissioning and planning features for this national women’s glossy monthly magazine. I also worked part time for the Economic and Social Research Council turning complicated academic jargon into user-friendly language for use in press releases and external publications.

October 1997 to July 1998: Family Active
I was headhunted to become editor of the Daily Mail-owned magazine originally known as Fun for Kids. Initially based in Manchester I had to plan the whole project including setting up the office in London, recruiting staff, acquiring office space and equipment and managing a team of seven staff. The magazine was transformed into a brand new glossy bi-monthly aimed at parents of children aged four to fourteen.

May 1997 to October 1997: BBC Family Life
As Deputy Editor of this brand new BBC magazine I was involved in all aspects of the launch of a brand new title including recruiting staff, sourcing material, budget, and maintaining a launch timeline.

September 1995 to May 1997: Emap Parents Magazine
Features editor and then Editor of this well-known parenting magazine. I was responsible for all the editorial content. I also played a key role in organising the first magazine interview with the then Prime Minister Tony Blair who talked openly about his family life. As well as developing a long term publishing strategy for the title I also managed a staff of fourteen and a monthly budget.

1992-1995: Freelance health journalist
I wrote for the Independent, Guardian, Telegraph, Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. I also contributed to a variety of consumer magazines including Woman’s Journal, Essentials, Living, Prima and TV Times. During this year my first book, Dream Weddings, the 100 Best Places to Get Married in England and Wales, was published by Penguin

1988-1992: Barnardo’s
As Public Affairs Officer for Britain’s largest childcare charity, my job involved editing Barnardos Today, the charity’s flagship external magazine which had a circulation of one million. This involved interviewing many of the charity clients and turning these interviews into sensitive stories which would portray the diverse work of the charity. I also worked on the high profile campaign to relaunch the charity which involved drawing up a public relations strategy with the charity’s patron, Princess Diana.

1985-1988: Freelance journalist
I worked for Media Week and City Limits magazines. I was also employed by PR agency Issue communications to set up and run the first ever public relations office at Brighton Council. That involved getting out and meeting officers and politicians against a backdrop of resistance to the idea of local authority PR. I also launched and edited Brighton’s first-ever council newspaper, Brighton Line, which still goes out to more than 50,000 homes.

1979-1985: The Sunday Times
I trained as a journalist on the newsdesk of this major Sunday newspaper.

Education

1991-1993
City University, Whitechapel Road, London E1
Diploma in Printmaking (Distinction)

Books
Dream Weddings: 100 Best Places to Get Married in England and Wales published by Penguin 1992
Breasts: Your 100 Questions Answered published by Newleaf in 2001
A Guide to Natural Home Remedies published by Paragon in 2002.

Membership
I am a member of the Guild of Health Writers