The response to the Press Complaints Commission's attempt to recruit three new public (aka lay) members has astonished its officers.
The advertisements, which appeared in newspapers across Britain last month, have resulted in about 3,000 applications.
It's difficult to know why the jobs have attracted such interest, given that the remuneration is a mere £11,500 a year.
Perhaps it's due to the PCC featuring so often in the headlines during the phone-hacking scandal. Maybe it's a desire to bring newspapers to heel.
My hunch is that the newspaper industry remains fascinating to outsiders and the opportunity to see it from the inside is too good to miss.
Anyway, the sought-after posts have given the PCC a bureaucratic headache. For a start, will they interview everyone? Apparently not.
The PCC's director, Stephen Abell, and an independent assessor (whose identity is being deliberately withheld), will make an initial sifting of all applicants.
Then it will be up to the nominations committee - comprised of three public members, Ian Walden, Ian Nichol and the PCC chair Peta Buscombe, along with the independent assessor - to draw up an interview shortlist.
Interviews are expected to take place over the course of three weeks in March and April.
