tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-216658002024-03-19T07:28:29.240+00:00Alan Geere onlineAlso at http://alan-geere.com/Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.comBlogger131125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-5070911028016106272023-11-02T09:15:00.000+00:002023-11-02T09:15:36.951+00:00BEACH WATCH: Palm oil, decimated dunes and a no-fun foam party<p><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFxffXjsQvOuT8g-ymGETFFAYscp2nPwM1a53QDTRc5tUKQr4EsQGR55-k7rMNl4QuOQs6RqqKHxuYy5Mtpebkj_Ftzj3he4a0_4zgHuTwLv8NY37l_IeIwCDpu2kB7GUaeXD8MSjtckS8AVh_snXxYioQ_UW44PW6ZuMcQmssdB0rkRd_x_Z8" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="742" data-original-width="1231" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFxffXjsQvOuT8g-ymGETFFAYscp2nPwM1a53QDTRc5tUKQr4EsQGR55-k7rMNl4QuOQs6RqqKHxuYy5Mtpebkj_Ftzj3he4a0_4zgHuTwLv8NY37l_IeIwCDpu2kB7GUaeXD8MSjtckS8AVh_snXxYioQ_UW44PW6ZuMcQmssdB0rkRd_x_Z8=w400-h241" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">QUICK - GRAB THE LIFE BELT! Wading through the putrid sea foam on Warkworth beach</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Like many
people who live near the coast I am fiercely protective of ‘my’ bit of beach.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">But excursions
to Warkworth on the Northumberland coast in the past week have brought sadness,
disappointment and even some anger.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">As if the
ravages of Storm Babet were not enough, leaving the dunes looking dangerously undermined,
the piles of ‘sea foam’ that followed were, to use the technical word – yucky.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Wading
through the waist high spume was a dispiriting experience. Dirty, smelly and
difficult to remove from clothes and boots.</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiecBDoG8txQKpXmynjytLC3Tpg18U3B_5DGJX6ZbkGTVDLJFkCTfot3nGvuMV4nBfNSyErLUe6DW0RP4bYXK2Bvq8Z6Qh_pEFw5CmY5ETK92HmdTs8arvLG_NZbjrQ7qsiWaV_7r1vwmyZfUKcywhTT20PxGLe0TgMP35YZrzWUhRPL6P459Ui" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img data-original-height="923" data-original-width="1231" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiecBDoG8txQKpXmynjytLC3Tpg18U3B_5DGJX6ZbkGTVDLJFkCTfot3nGvuMV4nBfNSyErLUe6DW0RP4bYXK2Bvq8Z6Qh_pEFw5CmY5ETK92HmdTs8arvLG_NZbjrQ7qsiWaV_7r1vwmyZfUKcywhTT20PxGLe0TgMP35YZrzWUhRPL6P459Ui=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just some of the 'vegetation' washed up on the beach</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Ok, so far,
so maybe unavoidable. But the arrival of chunks of palm oil on these wild and
beautiful Northumberland beaches WAS preventable.</span></span></span></p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Further up
the coast Newton and Embleton beaches were actually closed while Northumberland
County Council removed the oil, but no such luck for Warkworth and Alnmouth further
south.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The <a href="https://www.northumberland.gov.uk/News/2023/Oct/Beaches-re-open-after-palm-oil-cleared-away.aspx " target="_blank">council reports</a> that palm oil can get into the marine environment when it is legally
released at sea by ships when vessels wash out their tanks. But goes on to
say: “The resulting substances are often mixed with other chemicals such as
diesel, making it extremely harmful if ingested.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hmmm. Tell
that to the dogs who became ill after tucking in to the stuff that looks like
white wax, even though it has a horrid smell.</span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhp7kGC1G5VSU9HmAduNnrxXhk9T3Wo24Sb06sqLW_tIH8aLBjzfRLNZiwP2by8neZuuN7BzQGRQuXpZuT446i7yhUw5_m5ObVkW6vnKfeo54SvtaY3CnNG08Rsbo989_t8Pl96Tnu895cWec--PbX9YctllFRH1a0HEQ3e0txjS34l3F9cfnaO" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="693" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhp7kGC1G5VSU9HmAduNnrxXhk9T3Wo24Sb06sqLW_tIH8aLBjzfRLNZiwP2by8neZuuN7BzQGRQuXpZuT446i7yhUw5_m5ObVkW6vnKfeo54SvtaY3CnNG08Rsbo989_t8Pl96Tnu895cWec--PbX9YctllFRH1a0HEQ3e0txjS34l3F9cfnaO" width="180" /></a></span></div><span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">There are
also piles of vegetable matter on the beach along with plastics and fishing
debris that are caught up in it plus a more than usual number of dead sea birds.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I confess it’s
not an easy place to get to with any kind of machinery for a clear-up so along
with other like-minded beach friends we do our best to pile up the detritus in then
hope that it won’t get spread all over the beach and sea again.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="line-height: 107%;">I am pleased
to have contributed to a book called ‘</span><span style="background: white; color: #1d2228; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://amzn.eu/d/37EQhfI" target="_blank">TOXIC NEWS? Covering Climate Change</a>’ which is officially launched on Monday (Dec 6). Perhaps they could squeeze in another late chapter….</span></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #1d2228; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p>Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-88096020312992910092022-07-11T10:30:00.000+00:002022-07-11T10:30:04.793+00:00Wimbledon, Nick Kyrgios and why everyone needs a coachLet’s call this ‘Bereft Monday’. No more Wimbledon, no more Sue Barker…how will we ever survive?
Like millions around the world I lapped up the two-week tennis spectacular without barely a stop for changing ends of the sofa. Also, like afficionados and final-watchers-only, I marvelled as Nick Kyrgios (below) gave nailed-on favourite Novak Djokovic a run for his money.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg211NIhHCDS2SdJHCi_2ARoMaPuxAbqUnR8Y1bfNRNAVktZzBohBQUNc-G9PFFBHzu9lbjztdKzHEhyjZClUjOoobjLg5ioOYwflODyL94rqZiRPm7CrLaAH1yvafnXZtn_jscAfCD5ci5VXqVGYP08Cl950kTiJ7dU0wTcJuY_3mGpgBa-A/s293/Nick1.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: right; float: right;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="172" data-original-width="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg211NIhHCDS2SdJHCi_2ARoMaPuxAbqUnR8Y1bfNRNAVktZzBohBQUNc-G9PFFBHzu9lbjztdKzHEhyjZClUjOoobjLg5ioOYwflODyL94rqZiRPm7CrLaAH1yvafnXZtn_jscAfCD5ci5VXqVGYP08Cl950kTiJ7dU0wTcJuY_3mGpgBa-A/s320/Nick1.jpg"/></a></div>
But after taking the first set, things started to unravel for the ‘Maverick’ Australian. Shouting and swearing at his bemused and rather embarrassed looking team box for not giving him enough support sort of summed up where both parties are at – nowhere.
Kyrgios famously has no coach. In an era of nutrition and mental health advisors let alone people helping you hit the ball, he chooses to go it alone. "I don't want to put anyone in trouble, the truth is that I don't have a coach because I don't want to bother anyone who is in charge of him. I know my game well and I know what I can do," he has said.
But when his bash down the serve and hit expansive winners game deserted him, there was no plan B. In fact, maybe there wasn’t even a plan A. A coach would have helped prepare for all eventualities and been there in that box giving the subtle signals of which way to go.
When I was a newspaper editor someone very kindly said to me: “You make a very difficult job look very easy.” Ok, I’ll take the plaudit but what she had really hit upon was a victory for teamwork (you can’t do everything yourself), planning (have plans A, B, C all the way up the wazoo) and a little humility, that goes a long way.
Perhaps Nick Kyrgios is reflecting on that as today as he counts his £1m winnings – half of what he could have won….
Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-50610320408499284292021-12-06T13:30:00.001+00:002021-12-06T13:32:40.841+00:00HOMELESSNESS: The story that won't go away<p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PeMWFzJcsPM/Ya4L291dgGI/AAAAAAAAA1I/ge_Jpf45Q60VTwTtTbElPEdk-AFRvGzfACNcBGAsYHQ/s939/Homeless%2Bgirl%2Band%2Bflute.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="692" data-original-width="939" height="295" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PeMWFzJcsPM/Ya4L291dgGI/AAAAAAAAA1I/ge_Jpf45Q60VTwTtTbElPEdk-AFRvGzfACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h295/Homeless%2Bgirl%2Band%2Bflute.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>PROPPED UP: A homeless man plays the flute and begs with a child. <br />Photo by student journalist Ming Yu</b></td></tr></tbody></table></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">ONE of my favourite assignments to carry out with student
journalists is under the general theme of ‘homelessness’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">It’s the gift that keeps on giving. Takes students out of
their comfort zones, gives ideal interviewees who aren’t going anywhere in a
hurry and provides for pictures and videos that just happen in front of you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Yes, I’ve heard all the arguments about why NOT to do it: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">It’s potentially dangerous as the homeless may be
disease-ridden or have mental health issues that make them unpredictable. Ditto
the animals they have with them.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">They ‘reside’ in unsafe parts of town that could leave
students vulnerable. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">They could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol that
make them violent. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Well-dressed, well-nourished young people will not be on
their usual calling card list and may lead to unwanted attention.</span></li></ul><p></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Of course, these are exactly my arguments FOR doing this
assignment. Over the years I’ve had the familiar student response – grumpiness,
tears, even actual sickness – but these are far outweighed by those young
people who learned that they could do something different and difficult, and
even maybe turn in a piece of work that does some good for society as a whole.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OtDvq9ZJ97A/Ya4N2T9JjuI/AAAAAAAAA1Y/UlhjcrAYGWAEqq5yhTeGC18g1GH8tkEOgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1077/Homeless%2Bdog.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="664" data-original-width="1077" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OtDvq9ZJ97A/Ya4N2T9JjuI/AAAAAAAAA1Y/UlhjcrAYGWAEqq5yhTeGC18g1GH8tkEOgCNcBGAsYHQ/w443-h273/Homeless%2Bdog.png" width="443" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>MAN'S BEST (ONLY?) FRIEND: Photo by <br />student journalist Nora Mao</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="font-size: large;">Latest on my roster of ‘Student Homeless Journalists’ are second-year international journalism group from university in Guangzhou (Canton
in old money) in southern China. It is a city of 14 million people – twice the
size of London – so you don’t even need to do the math to know there will be
homeless people around.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">One student found homeless elderly people who lived on the
street because they “didn’t want to bother their family”, another was begging
with a child who brought “higher benefits” and one ingenious beggar was
beseeching alms via a QR code on his mobile phone!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">It’s a big test for both aptitude and attitude. As I keep
telling them, journalism is actually rather straightforward but great journalism
takes effort, persistence, imagination and a real hunger to want to do it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">When asked why she had only other people’s pictures from the
internet rather than her own photos, one student replied: “This is a photo I
found on my microblog, because I haven't seen a tramp for a long time near my
home at the weekend.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Last word with one of the better students in the class: “The
Homeless Project is a real challenge. A few years ago, there were homeless
people everywhere, but now we can't even find them if we try. A classmate said
he wanted to dress me up as a hobo for pictures!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Some you win etc etc…</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8sg-SZ2dosw/Ya4PCZdkYaI/AAAAAAAAA1g/CPkkbQmmEoEEd8-1Jk-7MGVHH7B8T398ACNcBGAsYHQ/s758/Homeless%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="571" data-original-width="758" height="301" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8sg-SZ2dosw/Ya4PCZdkYaI/AAAAAAAAA1g/CPkkbQmmEoEEd8-1Jk-7MGVHH7B8T398ACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h301/Homeless%2B2.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A portrait of homelessness by Ming Yu</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-24583428316652696082021-08-16T09:00:00.000+00:002021-08-16T09:00:34.717+00:00Afghanistan: Then, Now and in the Future<p><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Like many people who have spent time in Afghanistan I am
watching events unfold with a mix of incredulity and frustration.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">No, I didn’t put my life on the line clearing mines or
pockets of insurgents as brave troops did in this bewildering, beguiling and
bonkers country. But I did share my passion for journalism with around 50 local
people who wanted to play a part in rebuilding their society in the aftermath
of 9/11 and the fall of the Taliban.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">As often happens on these ventures, I learned far more from
them than I think they gleaned from me. Tolerance, hospitality, generosity and imagination
were all in abundant supply. I lived in a guest house with other ex-pats but worked
with local people and quickly came to appreciate where they had come from
(Russian occupation, civil war) and where they hoped they were going (a stable,
secure society…or America).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J7UQB3mRg1s/YRoncT59ZkI/AAAAAAAAA0I/suuY9uTqFIAB2ZnbVNhpOQmeab4wRwidgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1080/The%2Bview.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J7UQB3mRg1s/YRoncT59ZkI/AAAAAAAAA0I/suuY9uTqFIAB2ZnbVNhpOQmeab4wRwidgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2Bview.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Reading <a href="http://kimberlydozier.com" target="_blank">Kimberly Dozier’s</a> piece in Time magazine this week (right) made me reflect on what became of the drivers, translators, minders and fixers who
looked after me – especially when an impromptu cricket match out in the wilds
of Badakhshan turned menacing and I was bundled in the back of the car, covered
in blankets and spirited away before the men on mopeds with guns could catch up
with us.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">We did some great reporting thanks to the efforts of the redoubtable
<a href="https://iwpr.net/" target="_blank">Institute of War and Peace Reporting</a> and I hope in some small way helped to
instil a more robust version of journalism to this fractured country.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Bedding down in a former warlord’s outbuilding after
feasting on freshly caught quail watching our merry band of reporters transcribing
their notes I began to feel we were getting somewhere.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Fast forward 20 years and I fear it all appears to have been
in vain. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gCj2P78OalM/YRon3Z4F46I/AAAAAAAAA0U/MaLLTyiycWcrNqSdtqnB-cqEmk-PX31LQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/04%2BAfghan3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gCj2P78OalM/YRon3Z4F46I/AAAAAAAAA0U/MaLLTyiycWcrNqSdtqnB-cqEmk-PX31LQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h301/04%2BAfghan3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">On a reporting trip in the interior of Afghanistan we
stopped to interview this bunch of coal miners who were digging a shaft at the
side of the road.<o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></p>Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-71926450335417912792021-02-05T12:20:00.000+00:002021-02-05T12:20:00.742+00:00The shape of editorial leadership<p><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Editorial leaders and…change</span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">A
major theme to emerge from current editorial developments is ‘change’, and
different approaches to leadership and management through intense periods of
transformation, and maybe even revolution, in both attitudes and working
practices. </span>“<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I think it’s been for a fair while and will continue
to be, might permanently be, about getting a lot of people to deal with a lot
of change,” said Reach Midlands editor in chief Marc Reeves. “I think that’s
what editorial leadership is and it’s going to continue to be so because the
sands are shifting all the time.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Reflecting
on the wholesale change over the past 10 years, Reeves said: “Probably at the
start of it we thought, ‘when this is all over, we can go back to some kind of
steady state’. That steady state is never going to return and therefore I think
leadership, as far as I can see in the future is going to be continually
anticipating what you need to do to change and helping by involving your teams
in it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Jeremy
Clifford, editor in chief of JPI Media, contends that editorial leadership looks
through a different number of lenses. “If you go to the very top, editorial
leadership is how we manage change in a very fast changing, pressurised
environment with lots of commercial pressures while trying to protect what’s at
the heart of what we’re about, which is good journalism,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">But
Clifford acknowledges there is a real conflict and tension in being able to do
that. “If you go down through the ranks of management you’ve got a different
style, and type of leadership that’s about trying to get the best out of your
journalists who are asked to do more and more different types of things and
adapt to change very quickly. Of course, they’re the people who produce the
content, so it’s a different type of motivation and leadership that they need
compared with the editor at the top.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Helen
Dalby, digital editor for Reach in the North East, warns not to underestimate
the importance of the core skills of managing people through change, developing
and mentoring staff, and being a positive ambassador for our news brands. “Above
all, I believe an outstanding newsroom leader should demonstrate decisiveness,
conviction, good communication, consistency of message and clarity of purpose,”
she said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Editorial leaders and…their role in
the newsroom<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Ian
Carter, Kent Messenger editor in chief, chose the word ‘inclusive’ to describe
editorial leadership in his organisation, the KM group based in Maidstone,
Kent. “It’s moved on a lot from the old days of an editor being there as the
supreme being and scaring the bejaysus out of reporters. It doesn’t tend to
work these days, partly I think it’s because of the makeup of some of the
trainees that come through now. We find they tend not to respond to that kind
of management style any more and also because there is lots of self-learning
involved as well. I don’t think an editorial leader could or necessarily should
be the person who knows how to do every cough and spit in the news room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We should be learning from the kids that come
in as much as they learn from us. So, inclusive.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">There
were concerns from DC Thomson editor Richard Neville about the current trend to
consolidate editors’ jobs, with some titles not having an editor on the patch.
“I think you need someone who is a brand director and I’m not entirely
convinced you can do that wholly remotely. I think you would have to sort of be
a bit immersed in the product.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Editorial leaders and…organisation<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Joy
Yates, editor of JPI Media in the North East, was keen to emphasise the
organisation of the business she works for, Johnston Press (now JPI Media),
rather than any individual, or indeed corporate, attributes of leadership. “Editorial
leadership in our organisation comprises an editorial board which wasn’t
something we’ve always had at Johnston Press. It was something that Ashley
Highfield the recently departed CEO introduced which was a great thing for us
because it very much gave editorial advice. Our editorial chief leads the
editorial board and he sits on the executive management committee, the highest
committee we have so editorial properly has a voice.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Yates
takes part in a monthly meeting in Leeds when there could be a themed, strategy
day. “It might be concentrating on digital and 2019 where we want to be, it
might be very much content or strategy-based, or it might be people. We do a
lot of work with our people and making sure we have business leaders coming
through. We do a lot of career progression.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">For
Neville the different models of leadership in an editorial organisation are
driven by ownership structures. “The motivating factor is with those who
ultimately own the group. So, I certainly don’t think our owners would ever
contemplate not having an editor for individual titles.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Editorial leaders and…digital
publishing</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Dalby’s
background in digital content rather than a traditional journalism entry route
(journalism at university, NCTJ qualifications, industry traineeship) shapes
her response. “We’re digital publishers first and foremost, so editorial
leadership must now involve a deep understanding of how audiences behave and
consume content online. We have an excellent suite of data available to us to
help develop that understanding, and a central part of the job of all content
managers and editors now is to continually analyse, interpret and distil that
information into practical direction to help our teams grow audiences and
engagement.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Neville
has a different take: “It depends on how you view what it is they [editorial
leaders] do. If it’s just about getting out and getting stories online then you
think of the job as a custodian. If you think anything there is more to the job
than just nuts and bolts, such a legal responsibility, there is much more to
it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></o:p></p>Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-3064618746317665062020-12-23T18:33:00.000+00:002020-12-23T18:33:18.105+00:00Web Summit: How old school journalism was given new world treatment<h3 style="text-align: left;">Were you at Web Summit 2020? No, thought not. Luckily for
you Alan Geere was among the 104,328 attendees at one of the world’s biggest
online love-ins and sends this verdict</h3><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cCUcoHrRrpg/X-OM6FXCVVI/AAAAAAAAAxg/GFo29NLCZWw9xyxRXg1-bim5OIVQBTVQwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2084/Web-Summit_Logo-Colour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="943" data-original-width="2084" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cCUcoHrRrpg/X-OM6FXCVVI/AAAAAAAAAxg/GFo29NLCZWw9xyxRXg1-bim5OIVQBTVQwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Web-Summit_Logo-Colour.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Sometimes it felt like you had wandered into a zeitgeist TV
show – think ‘Industry’ the BBC2 drama currently airing about life in the
bonking, sorry, banking world – with impossibly attractive and intelligent
young people sharing the secrets of their life in a totally confident and
competent way.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Of course, there were older people there too. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Sir Tim Berners-Lee (65), casually billed as ‘inventor of
World Wide Web’ was there touting his new business, but grumpy old man of the
day award goes to Norman Pearlstine (79) the outgoing (as in shortly leaving,
not party animal) executive editor of The Los Angeles Times, who
pessimistically presaged the demise of journalism. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">“There is an existential crisis of journalism,” he said. “Government
handouts or altruistic benefactors seem the only way to go. Large numbers of
the population do not have the money to pay for information.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U1GNocjX2pA/X-ONBup_txI/AAAAAAAAAxk/CvruOGqrvdg4hz4tIP-McCcSGzbKq3oBQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1260/Norman.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="1260" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U1GNocjX2pA/X-ONBup_txI/AAAAAAAAAxk/CvruOGqrvdg4hz4tIP-McCcSGzbKq3oBQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Norman.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Probably from his perspective things do look a bit grim,
especially as he revealed that 20 years ago the LA Times had 1,250 journalists
– yes one thousand two hundred and fifty – and today just has a fraction of
that.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">But it wasn’t difficult to see that Norman might have missed
the point. Here were more than a Wembley Stadium-full of people who had paid up
to 999 euros to practise their own individual journalism – listening to
information and weighing up the interest, importance and effect of that
knowledge. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Wed Summit isn’t going to change attitudes and approaches to
journalism and publishing overnight. But like its heavyweight political and
financial counterpart – Davos – anything that treats the problems with both seriousness
and positivity has to be applauded.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">And, yes, I’m ready for Web Summit 2021 – hopefully at the
Altice Arena in Lisbon which I hear is very nice in December! </span><o:p></o:p></p>Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-30273888360955000012020-12-15T15:34:00.000+00:002020-12-15T15:34:26.695+00:00From hiring and firing to balancing the books: Editing 2020<p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Jeremy Tunstall, writing in his seminal 1971 work <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Journalists at Work</i>, chose to feature the ‘personnel management
decisions’ in his dissection of the constituent roles of the editor. Calling
these decisions ‘considerable’ he highlights the ‘hiring and promoting of wide
range of journalists’ and the financial responsibility of ‘controlling salaries
and expenses of over £1 million a year’, which equates to around £13.8 million
a year in 2019 when taking inflation into account, according to the Bank of England
(Bank of England, 2019).<b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">While Tunstall
was basing his comments around national newspaper editors there is still a
considerable financial burden for regional newspaper editorial leaders to bear.
For instance, a mid-sized newspaper with 50 journalists earning an average of
£30,000 per annum would leave the editor looking after a wages budget of
£1,500,000. Jeremy Clifford, editor-in-chief of JPI Media, has overall control
of 800 journalists, so using the same formula he is ‘controlling salaries’
totalling £24,000,000.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Recruitment is
also taking up a good proportion of the working life of the editorial leader.
At the time of interview Marc Reeves, <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">West
Midlands Editor-in-Chief for Reach,</span> said he had invested in the past
five weeks “a good 50 or 60 per cent of my time to recruitment”. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>What employers
are looking for<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Like many of the
facets of the editorial leader’s job, recruitment is a skill that has to be
acquired, either through training or practice, but is an expertise that
publishers expect to be in place, even if the individual in charge has relatively
little experience. Everyone appears to have their own style and approach,
especially as there is no necessity to follow<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> a</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>‘fixed formula’ of
questioning as required of public institutions like the police, health service
or universities who could find themselves on the wrong end of a Freedom of
Information request by a disgruntled unsuccessful candidate.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">There are a range
of qualities that editorial leaders are looking for in recruits, including:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Flexibility<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Inquisitiveness<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Energy<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Intelligence<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Spark<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Passion<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Hunger<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Can-do attitude<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Self-motivation<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">These conceptual
qualities are difficult to assess at interview and a candidate may end being
ruled out by nervousness, unfamiliarity of surroundings or a lack of
understanding of the process.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">On top of this
recruiters are looking for more tangible skills that can be tested, either by
looking at previous work or in a live interview scenario:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Communication skills<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Skilled multi-tasker<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Practical skills<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Story-telling online basics<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Also evident was
the requirement for a ‘good news sense’, which is both a quality and a skill
but continues to defy definition despite academic efforts.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Exploring the
‘qualities’ expected in recruits<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Clifford offers
this clear outline of what he is looking for, citing communication is a core
skill, especially verbal communication:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i>“The first think I still look for is
something I’ve always looked for and that’s passion, because you can teach a
lot of the other things but you can’t teach a hunger and a passion.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Along with that
enigmatic ‘news sense’ Ian Carter, <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Editorial
director of the KM Media Group </span>wants potential recruits to demonstrate
‘flexibility’:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i>“Probably flexibility is the thing that
slightly differs nowadays, because I need to know that if they stumble across a
story on the walk home from the pub, that it will be on the website by the time
they’ve got through the front door.”<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The recruitment
process will typically start with an application, and things can go wrong even before
they have started. Helen Dalby, Senior Editor and Head of Digital for Reach
North East, says the basics are as important as ever:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i>“I will reject a CV with a spelling
mistake out of hand, as if a would-be reporter can’t manage to proofread a
document as important as that, I can have little faith that their copy will be
clean.” </i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Even at interview
it may not be what the candidate says that matters, but how they present
themselves. Clifford is looking for “really good signs of communication”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i>“I remember when I was interviewing
someone for a job, I told him there and then he wasn’t going to get it because
at no point did he make any eye contact with me. I said if you are not going to
look me in the face, or not make any eye contact you’re never going to get a
story off anybody.” </i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Dalby feels it is
important for interview candidates to be well-prepared: to know the websites
and newspapers, to have followed the outlet on social media and to be ready to
express a view on a recent story or Facebook post. “Considered criticism is far
preferable to the dispiriting response of, ‘I’m not sure’ or, worst of all, ‘I
haven’t looked’,” she says. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Carter turns the
tables on applicants and researches <i>them</i> a lot more thoroughly:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i>“They quite often again look shocked
when you repeat something they put on Twitter or Facebook a week ago and they
sometimes feel quite awkward and embarrassed by it. You might say ‘I see you
went to see Ed Sheeran last week’ – nothing wrong with that at all, but they
seem to be quite surprised that you’re reading it. It’s a useful skill to learn
that what you put on social media people are looking at and taking notice of
and its yes, we are more fully armed with stuff about them that we can that we
can throw them sometimes.” </i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Journalism
education and “young dinosaurs”.<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">As if cementing
stereotypes, there seems little love lost between employers and the further
education colleges and higher education universities sending out people with
journalism qualifications. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">While
acknowledging that young people are getting better equipped as the educators
belatedly recognise the role as it is now, Reeves has this forthright view:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i>“Sometimes the colleges were giving us
young dinosaurs because they were training them for an industry that stopped
existing 10 years previously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Colleges
have now largely caught up or are catching up so those online story-telling
digital basics are now being much better baked in.”<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Carter is a
little more forgiving of the candidates, saying that sometimes people are not
prepared for life in a newsroom through no fault of their own.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i>“One of the things you get at
university is usually state of the art equipment and you’re used to operating
on Macs. Sometimes people come to us and they finish up working in our
Gravesend office, which has still got an outside toilet and old equipment and
they think ‘wow!’ and you can see the shock in their faces.”<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Carter complains
that the recently qualified students are not fully prepared for the commercial
realities or the expected workload because they demand a lot from people.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i>“We get students from the university of
Kent come in and spend two weeks with us and I think even after that period they
don’t quite get what the expectations are from a journalist in this day and
age.” <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Can they do
the job?<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Reeves says the
trainees his company takes on have already completed “pre-entry stuff” at
various establishments around the country. They’ve had an immersion in law,
public admin and other elements, such as shorthand. He says they make sure that
the candidates have experience in different story-telling, have a view about
how things can be told and have an ability and an interest in exploring
different ways to get their content to people via Instagram, Facebook and other
channels. But his message is:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i>“At the heart of it: Do they know what
a story is? Do they have a view of what people will be interested in? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s what it’s always been, it really, really
is.” </i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Carter says news
recruits can learn new technology in a matter of weeks, but for him they have
got to come in with and demonstrate good news sense and flexibility, which he
rates as most important:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“So often now people come into an interview …
but when you say give me a story, they look at you like you’ve asked them to grow
a second head. It’s just, you know, that’s what I want, everything else you can
teach them.”<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The contemporary
reporter is a skilled multi-tasker, maintains Dalby. Writing, taking
photographs, shooting and editing video, broadcasting via Facebook Live and
managing their outreach on social media are all part of the day job. The
technical elements of that can all be taught, she says, “so above all we’re
always looking for can-do attitude and self-motivation”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Funded
reporters, apprentices and diversity<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Financial input
from the BBC, via the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme, and Facebook, which has
given £4.5 million to fund the Community News Project has changed the nature of
editorial recruitment in the UK regional press. Now there are other avenues
into a job, rather than the traditional FE/HE/NCTJ qualification route, with
apprenticeships also gaining traction.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">With the £4.5m ‘charitable donation’ from Facebook, 82 newsrooms across
Britain were able to recruit new reporters under the umbrella of the Community
News Project, managed by the National Council for the Training of Journalists
(NCTJ).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The 82 new appointments are dominated by the big three publishers with
Reach having 28, Newsquest 23 and JPIMedia 19. The others go to Archant (4),
MNA Media (3) and a little belatedly KM Group (2) and one each for Baylis
Media, Barnsley Chronicle and Newbury Weekly News. The publishers have received
more than 4,200 applications, averaging out at more than 50 for each job (NCTJ,
2019).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>The positions were open to
people with no journalism experience, or some training, and those who have
passed their preliminary NCTJ exams.<span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Clifford, as one
influential editorial leader, is a supporter of the apprenticeship route and
when interviewed reported that his organisation had taken on 10 apprentices in
the previous 12-15 months. He said:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i>“These are young people, kids if you
like, who are at college or finished school and have not gone to university.
They are desperate to come into a newsroom and these are people who’ve almost
been brought up with the brands. As kids their parents have got it into the
homes. I remember someone who was interviewing them said she felt quite
emotional listening to them. I see absolutely hunger in these people and I see
it as an absolute privilege to walk in a newsroom and work with them. We don’t
know what will happen during their training programme but if you can just
bottle that and keep it and point them in the right direction then I think
they’ll succeed.”<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Clifford concedes
that apprenticeships have been ‘faddish’, but attributes the success of the
movement to onerous university fees and the pressures on students through
education. He feels apprenticeships have become re-established, much like the
traditional indentureship programme.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Carter takes a
dynamic approach to the recruitment process with apprentices:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i>“When we’re recruiting apprentices, we
kick them out into middle of Medway at some point and do what we’ve done
before, and tell them to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>come back with
a story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they do brilliant – even if
they don’t as long as they’ve gone out and spoken to somebody and demonstrated
that they can talk to them – that counts in their favour.”<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">In a more
philosophical reflection Clifford feels all these schemes enables newsrooms to
tackle some of the diversity issues of newsrooms dominated by “white, middle
class, university graduates”. He continues: “We get people who may never have
gone to university, never had the opportunity, but actually are part of,
brought up in their community, so I think it will help diversity as well.” <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Wider HR and
financial responsibility<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Returning to
Tunstall’s assertion that ‘the personnel management decisions are considerable’,
Reeves reflects that things may not have changed that much: “You know your
staff costs budget and your freelance budget, there’s nothing new there. Both
have been under more pressure and you know constant pressure, in the past 15
years, so there’s nothing new there.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Joy Yates, <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Editorial Director of Johnston Press North
East, has</span> learned to understand circles of influence and control as part
of her editorial leadership role. “What is out of control just don’t worry
yourself about, just concentrate on the things that you can make a difference
with and influence. You do you want to be involved in everything, you do want
to change the world and do this and do that, but you just have to be sensible,”
she says.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">She acknowledges
that she is open to challenge and thinks it is really important for people to
know that. “Just because I have the title of divisional director doesn’t mean
I’m not infallible,” she says. “We’ve got people who can recognise people’s
strengths, so whereas I can direct and advise and guide do the HR element of
sport, I don’t know what those guys know. A combination of our talents and what
we do gets us there.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-15796062010041058812020-11-11T17:09:00.001+00:002021-01-14T17:30:36.231+00:00Editor update: Time for a commercial break<p><b>Bottom line and audience</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Newspapers have
long had editorial staff whose role is to service commercial interests. Titles
ranging from ‘commercial editor’ to ‘special projects editor’ and the more
straightforward ‘advertising writer’, but now there is an expectation that the
traditional editorial leader will take a much more significant stance in the
commercial wellbeing of the title and business.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">“Editors do need
to be more commercially savvy,” says Ian Carter, <span style="background: white; color: #14171a;">Editorial Director of Iliffe Media</span>. He recalled
a meeting he had with a group of editors:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I
was saying to them that they have to be aware that now more so than ever that
increasing your web audience has a direct impact on the bottom line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was saying to them if you increase your
digital audience three-fold, which is quite easy from where they are now, that
means £400,000 to the bottom line, just through increased revenue. They have to
understand that and they can’t operate in isolation.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Editors have
always been commercial, maintains Joy Yates, <span style="background: white; color: #14171a;">Editorial Director of JPIMedia</span> in the North East who
says they understand private sector businesses and the need to make the bottom
line. However, to attract the commercial revenues “more and more we’re finding
that it’s the editorial route into some of these big players that really works,
so it’s all about collaboration”. And that ‘collaboration’ can take different
forms, as she explains:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“It’s
not every customer that is suited to a 15 x 4 [a quarter page display
advertisement] but they might be suited to an online piece of content which a
reader is not thinking is an advert. It’s just more interesting …so its
constantly going back to content being key and that’s one of the drivers that
we find. So, it’s working closer with our commercial friends but understanding
our place in it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Jeremy Clifford, <span style="background: white; color: #14171a;">Editor-in-Chief of JPIMedia</span>, acknowledges
there is pressure to create content that’s going to attract advertising but
maintains it can be done in a positive way, explaining: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“If
you write a story which attracts a page view for you then that’s got a
commercial pressure with it, because then you’re going to be directed to say
‘right I want more of that content over there’ because I’m going to get more
page views which generate more revenue as a result of that. So that’s one of
the financial pressures which is a good pressure because you listen to your
audience and you monetise it that way.”<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Marc Reeves, <span style="background: white; color: #14171a;">Marketplace publisher, Midlands &
Wales for Reach plc.</span> says that the ultimate direct lever pulled
to influence the commercial success of the business is the scale of the
audience generated. Instant, contemporaneous metrics are available showing
audience engagement online and Reeves admits: “I’m held to account on those
numbers every single day, so that’s a new thing.” He further reflects:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“You
could say ‘well, that just replaces the old focus on circulation’. It does,
it’s really the same thing in a different guise with different economics
beneath it and I think on the journey to those editor/publisher roles, I think
a more sophisticated understanding of the commercial levers that everyone pulls
is probably more necessary.”<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The rise of native advertising</b><br />
Clifford agrees there is commercial pressure in terms of sponsored content and
invokes the ‘church and state’ concept too. “I think we’ve got to be really
careful and aware of those pressures and we need to still be cognisant of the
church and state so that we write content which is there because of
journalistic reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That said, I do
think there is relationship with commercial organisations that you have as long
as you clearly label it, I think that’s also okay as well,” he says.<br />
Reeves thinks it’s important that journalists understand how the economics
work. “For too long we had that church and state where editorial just wrote the
stories and was quite antipathetic to the commercial side of things, which sort
of worked when we were a monopoly and the money was being delivered in lorries
every day,” he says.<br />
There is an acknowledgment from Carter that they are quite far into the world
of native advertising which brings all kind of commercial awareness and
sensitivities. “They [editors] need to wear two hats, they need to be able to
wear a commercial hat but also know when to put those Chinese walls up and say,
just because my website is carrying a piece of promoted content about your
double glazing company we’re still going to be covering you when a house that
you’re working on burns down.”<br />
But he denies the accusation ‘why are you doing disguised adverts
editorially?’. “We’re not. We have run editorials about local chip shop week
since the dawn of time and it’s just a new twist on that really.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Yates recalls
that when she first started in the industry 30 years ago “it was commercial and
editorial and never the twain meet. That just can’t happen any more”.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Into the future<br /></b>Helen Dalby, <span style="background: white; color: #14171a;">Audience & Content Director </span>for
Reach in the North East thinks the commercial collaboration undertaken by
newsroom leaders will develop further in future. She says that it will become
increasingly important strategically that the focus as editors is on growing
and developing audiences in the ways that they can control. Expanding in her
theme, she said:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“We
need to use loyalty services such as apps and email newsletters and via a total
commitment to a good user experience online and to driving up engagement. The
rigours of search engine optimisation have meant that we’ve had to become very
disciplined at managing detailed seasonal publishing and republishing. Our
increasing commercial collaboration also means it’s important that we as a
newsroom are well planned, as good planning and communication gives our
colleagues in advertising departments the time they need to monetise the
audience opportunities we’re delivering.” <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Reeves reflects
on the changes of the scale of the newspaper business, where numbers have
shrunk from 500 people in an organisation. “We are now down to a newsroom out
there with 50 people in it and that includes some commercial people so you
can’t have that demarcation anymore. Therefore, the better informed and
equipped people are to them make those decisions around the whole of the
business the better decisions those will be.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">There is also a
concern about the proliferation of primarily internet-based competition. Yates describes
the advent of the ‘bedroom journalist’:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Everybody
can create content; everybody can pick up a smartphone and take video and post
it on any channels they want to or and anybody is a bedroom journalist. We can
all post every day on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat. By doing that
you’re creating content so competition is really, really everywhere.”<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">One of the direct consequences of the drive
to become more commercially aware has been the transformation of
straightforward ‘editor’ roles into ‘</span>creative content director’, ‘brand
editor’ and ‘audience editor’. Whether the world outside the media business has
any appreciation of the subtleties of these naming conventions is debateable,
but the biggest impact is the message sent to journalists that their vision and
scope has to be extended to appreciate that they work for a business that needs
to demonstrate it is receptive to commercial concerns.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The multiple
channels of the delivery, as outlined by Yates above, also make it important
that editorial leaders have a working knowledge of how these applications
operate and the advantages they bring to their business as well as the
beneficial impact for rival competitors.<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Conclusion<br /></b>Editorial leaders
tend, almost by definition, to be a confident breed. The individuals in this
study are no exception and by the very nature of their survival in tough times
have shown themselves to be astute and commercially aware, although Carter is
grateful for what he calls ‘the great stock in editorial freedom’ placed by his
company. “I suspect that may not be the case at some other companies where we
have seen very good, probably difficult, truculent editors leaving and
possibly, and I’m making big assumptions here, slightly more malleable people
are in key positions in some companies,” he said.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">There is no
suggestion that editorial leaders today need to be ‘malleable’ but they do need
to be probably more commercially aware than their predecessors. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-82120171714389115452020-10-29T13:00:00.001+00:002020-10-29T13:00:31.029+00:00The ‘hands-on’ role of the editor<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">How does a
commitment to a hands-on role translate itself to the editor who has oversight of sophisticated and complicated
technology? Jeremy Clifford, editor-in-chief of Johnston Press, is concerned
that editorial leaders do not spend time and effort keeping up with the latest
technologies that drive the industry. “I don’t know how to fix my car if it
breaks…you just need to know how to drive it,” he says. “If you waste your time
trying to work out how to use Crowntag or learn Socialflow [analytical tools]
and that sort of thing, you won’t concentrate on the core part of what your job
is which is making sure that you find the best journalism. You create the best
content that you can and that’s all that a real leader needs to do, the tools
of the job, they just need to know what tools and how to apply them.”</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">This attitude
could be construed as a minimalist approach to challenges that might appear
either too complicated, difficult to learn or time-consuming to perform. Professional
engagement with craft skills or technical know-how is not a new issue for editorial
leaders. Tasks as relatively simple as ‘cropping’ a picture [deciding which
part of a full image to use for publication] and writing headlines that fit in
the available space were often performed by the editor, who was able to exert
authority and gain credibility by executing them with a high degree of skill.
With the advent of computerised newsrooms in the 1980s, some editors chose to
engage with the ‘new technology’ while others remained outside. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Many editors
around the country are responsible for a complex collection of newspapers and
websites. Joy Yates, <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Editorial
Director of Johnston Press North East,</span> says: “I run eight titles and
that wouldn’t have necessarily been the case before. I edit three daily titles
and when I first became an editor you had one title whether it be a weekly or a
daily so I think the scale has very much changed and it makes the approach to
what we do is very different. The management structure is far leaner because
content is our USP and we have to drive content.”<br />
In order to keep on top of that content Yates relies on what appears to be a
traditional news conference, or meeting of editorial department heads, in both
the morning and afternoon. “I will always know what’s on the front pages as we
have quite a strict conference structure. I might not always get into all of
the conferences because if I’ve got a meeting like this but I’m not going to
say to the team ‘oh you’ll need to put the conference back an hour’, I have to
trust, entrust the power the team that I have to do that so I would never
change the structure that we have just to suit my diary for that day.”<br />
For Helen Dalby, <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Senior Editor and
Head of Digital Reach North East who</span> is not a trained journalist but
came up through a digital route, there are different concerns. “Moving from a
primarily operational role to a more strategic one brings with it the
difficulty of letting go of the reins, but I’m lucky to have an outstanding
team of digital publishing editors and content editors to work with,” she says.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h3 style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><o:p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span></o:p><b style="font-family: trebuchet;">Not just
‘how’, but ‘where’</b></h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">
The physical location of the editorial leader can have immediate impact for
both the individual and those he is working with. “Do I have an office? No, I
can’t stand working in office,” says Ian Carter, <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Editorial director, KM Media Group.</span> “There is an office that we
share and we use it if someone is about to get hired or fired but by and large
I like to sit on the news desk and be in the thick of it, because why on earth
would you want to lock yourself away from where the fun is?”<br />
But that fun can have a downside. “The toughest part of my job is the fact you
are never, ever off duty and it is tough and it puts a strain on everything but
equally its self-inflicted because I can’t ignore a story if it breaks. There’s
no end point anymore. In one sense there’s no end to it,” says Carter.<br />
Upon arriving for the interview with Marc Reeves, <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">West Midlands Editor-in-Chief, Reach Midlands Media Ltd.</span> who has
direct responsibility for eight daily titles, 30 weeklies and their attendant
websites, he was sitting in the middle of the newsroom alternately looking at a
computer screen and engaging with colleagues. “I sit on the desk all the time
when I’m here, if I can. It’s a conscious effort to find time to do some
journalism because otherwise it would be squeezed out,” he says.<br />
“I think that it’s really important for me to continue to be active,
particularly in Birmingham with the titles I’m directly editing and managing. I
think a good editor will walk down the street and come back with a few stories
sticking to him or her and I think that you’ve got to be able to do that. It
doesn’t mean that you’re writing all the time, of course it doesn’t.” Echoing
Tunstall’s observations of the editor as ‘chief processor’ Reeves says he no
longer writes headlines. “I used to be a production sort of focussed editor,
you just can’t do that anymore and neither should you be because there are
people way better at doing those functional things than you are. But first and foremost,
your job has to be rooted in the journalism that you’re doing.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-28332714611290469222020-10-21T17:23:00.000+00:002020-10-21T17:23:18.193+00:00“God bless journalists, every one!" - Reflections on A World Without News<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lbHEMX3Fa_E/X5BthyLIdEI/AAAAAAAAAw4/C198WGhpzlw1SMP4x5Nh60bzxlbnYTg5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1790/WWN%2Blogo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="1790" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lbHEMX3Fa_E/X5BthyLIdEI/AAAAAAAAAw4/C198WGhpzlw1SMP4x5Nh60bzxlbnYTg5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/WWN%2Blogo.png" width="320" /></a></div></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">‘The research’, a bit like ‘The Science’, can sometimes end
up going up its own wazoo and leading us precisely nowhere. There’s also the
nagging suspicion that researchers sometimes know the destination and are just
trying to find a robust route to locate it.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">There’s no doubting that all the right spadework has gone
into this piece of research. A nine-page methodology document sets out to
clarify its credentials, covering semiotics, behavioural experiments and
quantitative surveys.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">And the results are unequivocal. We love news and we want it
to stay. Journalists, even when the bearers of sad and well as glad tidings,
are doing a great job keeping the country both informed and entertained while
shining lights in dark corners.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Sadly, as an old friend of mine often says: ‘Fine words
butter no parsnips’. While the philosophical argument about the value of
journalism will be encouraged no end by this report, the struggle for the
financial future in this uncertain world will go on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">But, as Tiny Tim didn’t quite say in A Christmas Carol: “God
bless journalists, every one!"</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Reflections on <i><span style="line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.newsworks.org.uk/news-and-opinion/world-without-news" target="_blank">A World Without News</a></span></i></span></p><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"></span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Full report in the November issue of <a href="https://www.pjnews.co.uk/" target="_blank">PJ News</a></span></p><p></p>Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-80958628918712864442020-08-20T09:32:00.000+00:002020-08-20T09:32:50.630+00:00Reach for innovative thinking, 1992-style<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-trxeLxyHLLw/Xz5CzSTN5HI/AAAAAAAAAvw/UkRVnMno8hcYOGXqDs37414HHkJsiPh5QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1329/Cheerful%2Bfor%2Bblog.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="877" data-original-width="1329" height="338" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-trxeLxyHLLw/Xz5CzSTN5HI/AAAAAAAAAvw/UkRVnMno8hcYOGXqDs37414HHkJsiPh5QCLcBGAsYHQ/w512-h338/Cheerful%2Bfor%2Bblog.png" width="512" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Reach had some innovative thinking to share amidst
cataloguing the departure of heavy hitter editors among 550 job losses
revealing it is planning to launch its own ‘news wire’ as part of its plans to
combine national and regional editorial teams across the UK and Ireland.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Editor-in-chief Lloyd Embley and </span><span style="background: white; color: #14171a; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Managing Director of Reach plc Regionals </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Alan
Edmunds told staff the news wire will become “integral” to every Reach title
and will “enable the sharing of our journalism across platforms and products”.</span></span></p>
<p class="selectionshareable" style="margin-bottom: 21.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">And commenting on the wider project to create one
editorial team across Reach’s nationals, regionals, Embley and Edmunds said:
“The aim of these changes is to protect our newsbrands for the long term and
enable us to innovate and develop new products and services.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="selectionshareable" style="margin-bottom: 21.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Now, ex-cus-a-me for a little personal reflection,
but this is exactly what the trailblazers at Thomson Regional Newspapers (TRN)
did all the way back in the hazy days of 1992. Realising that there was a lot
of duplication across the group, especially in entertainment and other feature
areas like food, motoring and gardening, Thomson Online Feature Service (TOFS)
was set up and I was installed as editor to make it work.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="selectionshareable" style="margin-bottom: 21.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Glossing over the fact that there was no ‘online’ in
1992, TOFS was designed to provide a two-way syndication service with material
coming in from the ‘subscribers’ and going out to them from a small core team
based in the journalistic nirvana that is Watford, then headquarters of TRN and
home to the great, good and sundry renegades, myself included.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="selectionshareable" style="margin-bottom: 21.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">First challenge was to win over the clientele which
included big beast editors like Magnus Linklater, Ed Curran and Derek Tucker
plus assembled MDs like Alan Scott, Bob Crane and Tony Hill. ‘Not invented
here’ was the dismissive response from Watford when the papers - from the
Aberdeen Press & Journal to the Newcastle Chronicle via The Scotsman and
Belfast Telegraph - railed against this head office imposition.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="selectionshareable" style="margin-bottom: 21.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">But slowly and surely we made it happen. The people
on the desk who had to make it work, including the aforementioned Alan Edmunds
who was then news editor of the Western Mail, realised that they were getting
quality, oven-ready copy and pictures for nothing. They could localise the
submission or simply use as it came.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="selectionshareable" style="margin-bottom: 21.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">They key, and I’m sure Reach are all over this, was
quality. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="selectionshareable" style="margin-bottom: 21.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Our film reviews and TV interviews had to be better
than PA and our motoring column superior to anything that came out of the
syndicated services. It had to be error-free and on time – and largely it was.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="selectionshareable" style="margin-bottom: 21.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Those mammoth TRN titles are now spread among the
four winds of newspaper ownership, but it just goes to show that a good idea is
always a good idea even 28 years and several newspaper lifetimes away. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="selectionshareable" style="margin-bottom: 21.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">This is part of 'Reasons to be cheerful' published in the August 2020 issue of <a href="https://www.pjnews.co.uk/" target="_blank">PJ News</a></span></span></p>Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-74151494550136157652020-07-01T16:08:00.000+00:002020-07-01T16:08:35.442+00:00The (other) community news awards<br />
<h4>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Sadly, like
many events this summer, newsawards 2020 was cancelled. The Independent
Community News Network (ICNN) Newspaper of the Year, sponsored by Google News
Initiative, drew a bumper crop of entries and rather than let them be forgotten
ALAN GEERE has devised some special awards just to celebrate these amazing
publications.</span></div>
</h4>
<br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sZWvV2I2fEc/Xvywb3bnFGI/AAAAAAAAAvE/hTW5lEhGKG02HClDVcHXQp5yzLrxNIQrwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/comm%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1245" data-original-width="1256" height="396" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sZWvV2I2fEc/Xvywb3bnFGI/AAAAAAAAAvE/hTW5lEhGKG02HClDVcHXQp5yzLrxNIQrwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/comm%2B1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Most remote
community served</span></h2>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Glenkens Gazette</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> - news from Balmaclellan, Carsphairn,
Mossdale, New Galloway and St John’s Town of Dalry. All of that in what some
people still call Kirkcudbrightshire, south west Scotland with a population of 3,000.
The Gazette prints 1,200 which are all eagerly gobbled up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h2>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Most long-suffering
husband and wife publishers…</span></h2>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Kristina and
Jeff Nutbeem who founded <b>Sussex Local </b>magazine in 2007. Still going strong
- both marriage and magazine – as evidenced by the joint signature on the page three
editorial.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">... and
family most likely to succeed</span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Father and
daughter journalistic team Philip and Francesca Evans who launched <b>LymeOnline</b>,
a free fortnightly independent newspaper covering Lyme Regis in Dorset back in
January 2018. Judging by the picture bylines, they are both doing well on it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h2>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #999999;">Most historic title</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The <b>Castle Douglas Journal</b>, a
local newspaper first published in the 19th century, was relaunched after 170
years. After starting with an initial grant of £3,000 the Journal is now self-sustaining
after just three issues, entertaining and informing the people of Dumfries and
Galloway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #999999;">Best contribution to serious journalism</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">VIEW</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">, an independent social affairs
magazine from Ireland. As editor Brian Pelan says: “In a world where fake news
is on the rise, VIEW believes in promoting responsible journalism in a
non-sensational manner. We believe in serving our community of readers and
helping to tell the stories of the most marginalized groups with in our
society.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8dW4qY-kc7E/Xvy0HwP8s7I/AAAAAAAAAvQ/567ytbcxxcw-tExbz3dppWr7ovEsTfVdQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Wotton%2BTimes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8dW4qY-kc7E/Xvy0HwP8s7I/AAAAAAAAAvQ/567ytbcxxcw-tExbz3dppWr7ovEsTfVdQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Wotton%2BTimes.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Best self-promoting picture</span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Ben Norris editor of the <b>Wotton Times</b> beaming
out of page three behind a sign that says ‘EDITOR Ben Norris’ to illustrate a
piece celebrating the opening of their new office.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #999999;">Biggest community paper – by a mile</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Your Local Paper </span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">from
West Norfolk which clocks in at 102 pages plus a 36-page insert called Your Local
Business. It’s a free weekly with a distribution of 24,000, so two sets of numbers
any publisher would be proud of.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #999999;">Most feisty publication</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Faversham
Eye</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">, which
even has an investigations team who seem to find plenty to investigate – ‘Rugby
club shenanigans’ anyone? - in this small Kent town. As the publishers say, “a
blend of top-quality investigative reporting and laugh out loud humour has made
us hugely popular”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Most democratic publication</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The <b>Hastings Independent,</b> which
has no overall editor in chief. Section editors, aged 17 to over 70, are
individually responsible for the content of each section and rotate as sign-off
editor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Most innovative distribution model</span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">One household on almost every street on Hayling
Island takes a delivery of the <b>Hayling Herald</b> and delivers it to their
neighbours in this Hampshire community. Some people take a few hundred copies
to deliver to the surrounding roads. The rest of the 11,000 print run goes to
community centres, the library, shops, supermarkets, beachside kiosks, cafés
and restaurants.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #999999;">Most out-there names for a newspaper</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Goes to the team behind the <b>Peckham Peculiar, </b>the<b>
Dulwich Diverter </b>and the<b> Lewisham Ledger</b> which are taking South
London by storm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #999999;">Most innovative staffing arrangement</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The Wokingham Paper</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
which has a series of a rolling, paid traineeships for two people every three
months in part-time roles. The sports reporter, news reporter, graphic designer
and social media manager of all joined the paper in permanent roles after
completing the traineeship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #999999;">Most hard-hitting investigations</span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The <b>Waltham Forest Echo </b>which has in the
past year looked into fire safety in council owned tower blocks revealing half
of them posed a substantial risk, exposed the extent of the local council’s
fossil fuel investments and revealed threats to redevelop a much-loved
community centre. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #999999;">Back to basics award</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The <b>Caerphilly Observer</b> for their commitment
to covering local courts, brought into sharp focus with the story of an amateur
dramatics director who was jailed for sharing images of child abuse online. They
were the only newspaper to cover this story which shocked readers, as he was a
well-known and respected member of the community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #999999;">Most wide-ranging appointments</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The <b>Hackney Citizen</b>, which this year signed
up a gardening columnist as well as an illustrator who produces a monthly
comic. They join a long-time food history columnist and all of them bring fresh
and interesting ways for the Citizen to interact with and support its readers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #999999;">Biggest typographical concession to readers</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The <b>Cranfield & Marston Vale</b> <b>Chronicle’s</b>
tabloid layout was scientifically developed by owner John Guinn after consulting
friends and family. One major difference from other local newspapers is the
increased font size (aka HUGE) making it far easier to read for the good people
of Bedfordshire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #999999;">Most egalitarian entertainment reviews</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The <b>South Leeds Life</b> offers theatre press
tickets on a show-by-show basis. Rather than having just one reviewer they call
the program South Leeds Goes To The Playhouse and offer free tickets in return
for a written review or conversation with one of the reporters. The scheme, not
unsurprisingly, is very popular and tickets are snapped up quickly.</span></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #999999;">Most promising new revenue stream</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The Week In</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">, from
East Bristol and North East Somerset, has had some success selling on stories
and photos to other media outlets and agencies. Better than just being ripped
off, eh?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #999999;">Most humble beginnings</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The <b>Bristol Cable</b> began in a front room as a
collection of bullet points on a piece of A4 paper, sketching out an idea to
redefine local journalism. Five years later the Cable prints a quarterly
newspaper of 30,000 copies as well as regularly publishing online.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #999999;">100 not out</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Filtonvoice </span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">published
its one hundredth issue in January this year. With a mission to bring local
news to local people in the town of Filton, near Bristol, the monthly magazine
often features stories that are not covered by the big publishers and media
outlets. The format has proved so successful other voice partnerships have been
set up around the south west. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
--<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>Alan Geere
published his own newspaper – the Long Stratton Community News – from his home in
Norfolk while moonlighting from his day job at the Eastern Daily Press in
Norwich (he was the night editor so it wasn’t exactly a day job, but you get
the idea). It was printed by the formidable Micropress – then in Halesworth,
now in Southwold – and still run today by the indomitable Mike Cross. It was a
beautiful thing. That one and only issue is now a collector’s piece.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br /><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>This piece appears in the June & July 2020 issue of <a href="https://www.pjnews.co.uk/" target="_blank">PJ News</a></li>
</ul>
Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-49670072046565294032020-02-28T16:12:00.000+00:002020-02-28T16:12:24.367+00:00Why journalism needs ‘weirdos and misfits’ too<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I NEVER thought I’d commit this in writing, but I do have a
certain sympathy for Dominic Cummings.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You may recall that Cummings, widely acknowledged as the
power behind the throne at No 10, put out the most unusual recruitment ad of
the year (so far) calling for ‘Weirdos and misfits with odd skills’ to apply
for a job at the seat of Government.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We want to hire an unusual set of people with different
skills and backgrounds to work in Downing Street…we’re hiring data scientists,
project managers, policy experts, assorted weirdos,” the Prime Minister’s
chief adviser wrote in a beguilingly readable 3,000-word <a href="https://dominiccummings.com/" target="_blank">blog post</a>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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By way of explanation, subsection G. of the
off-the-wall job ad is entitled ‘Super-talented weirdos’ and goes on to
explain: “People in SW1 talk a lot about ‘diversity’ but they rarely mean ‘true
cognitive diversity’. They are usually babbling about ‘gender identity
diversity blah blah’. What SW1 needs is not more drivel about ‘identity’ and
‘diversity’ from Oxbridge humanities graduates but more genuine cognitive
diversity.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gm0l2KU8wdw/Xlk5wvrcFqI/AAAAAAAAAtE/EqxOa9BuNP8s-VwvKJm96p2WAk88bm7FwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Cummings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1043" data-original-width="1600" height="208" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gm0l2KU8wdw/Xlk5wvrcFqI/AAAAAAAAAtE/EqxOa9BuNP8s-VwvKJm96p2WAk88bm7FwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Cummings.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Cummings and Goings: Apply now to be a No 10 influencer</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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The point he was making is that it takes all sorts to make a
Government – and the same is true for journalism. Sadly, like many professions
– no, let's not start that debate again now – journalism is still a rich young
person’s game, dominated by expensive university programmes and accredited
training courses plus unpaid work experience and internships.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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But the fightback is on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I started as a junior reporter on a weekly newspaper
group in the mid-70s I was one of six – yes SIX – trainees all fresh from
school ranging in age from 16 to 18. We were chaperoned by the redoubtable
David Scott who was the training editor. On the trainee intake just in front of
me was Mike Parker, who went on to be the Daily Express man in Los Angeles, and
behind me was Lisa Hampele who forged a long and successful career at the BBC.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We had all grown up in the area and been to school there.
While we may not have had much credibility in the street as naïve teenagers, we
certainly had some street cred, knowing our way around the towns and villages
we covered. One accidental diversity box checked was one for youth, with the
average age of the newsroom instantly plummeting<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m not saying it was right or wrong, or better or worse
than today, it was just different.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now there is a concerted move to regain some of that ground
and attract recruits into journalism who have more to offer than simply the
ability to pay.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Apprenticeship schemes, like at major newspaper groups
Iliffe and JPI Media, are gaining traction and the NCTJ’s Journalism Diversity
Fund continues to plug a diversity-sized gap with a small ‘d’.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The fund was set up in 2005 with a donation of £100,000 from
the Newspaper Licensing Agency (now NLA media access), with the aim of
encouraging more diverse people to train as journalists and making newsrooms
better reflect the communities they serve. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Journalism is a typically white, middle class profession,
which needs to change. If you feel you could bring something different to a
newsroom – such as your social background, life experiences or ethnicity – then
we want to hear from you,” says the promotional blurb for potential applicants.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Eight bursaries were awarded in the final round of 2019
taking the total number of people helped into a new career to 347. These
aspiring journalists were awarded funding to begin their journalism training at
NCTJ-accredited courses and bursaries that can help fund their course fees and
living expenses.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gGWPrv58I48/Xlk594R8BlI/AAAAAAAAAtI/J8aT4ZumxpAjYfpbrAvfFYZb9jkeZFzwwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Claire%2BFrench.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="560" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gGWPrv58I48/Xlk594R8BlI/AAAAAAAAAtI/J8aT4ZumxpAjYfpbrAvfFYZb9jkeZFzwwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Claire%2BFrench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Claire French: " I have always believed in speaking out"</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of those recipients was Claire French who completed her
journalism training at City College Brighton and Hove and went on to be the
business editor at The News in Portsmouth.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I was awarded the bursary for arguing that my background –
being brought up in an unemployed, single-parent household – was not a
particularly well-represented demographic in the industry,” she said. “As well
as being made up of white men, the news media industry as a whole continues to
be rather middle class. I have always believed in speaking out, and about, the
people who have the least power in society.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now media relations manager at Royal Bank of Scotland,
French reflects: “It was such a great privilege that has unlocked a lot of
opportunities for my career.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Over at the BBC they take their Diversity – with a big D –
very seriously and have just appointed presenter June Sarpong as the BBC’s
first ‘director of creative diversity’. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sarpong
sees her role to rapidly increase black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME)
representation at senior levels and also boost disability representation on and
off screen in the next year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Diversity is not a “nice to have” but an essential part of
the BBC’s agenda and positive action is already underway with urgency,” she
says.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“In the pursuit of diversity we are not looking to exclude
those who have already succeeded, but to allow room for new voices to be
included. Ultimately, I believe the BBC’s window into the UK will be all the
richer as a result, and hopefully one that more people see themselves reflected
in too,” says Sarpong. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Cummings’s approach cued wailing and gnashing at from
predictable corners – political opposition, unions, civil service types – but
also some support from unlikely quarters, including broadcaster and former
newspaper editor Janet Street-Porter.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I would never have passed an interview for a post at the
BBC – or in Whitehall for that matter,” she wrote. “I didn’t have a degree when
I was appointed directly by the director general and was probably the only
senior executive without one for almost a decade. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I was stroppy, and overconfident that the BBC was lucky to
have me, rather than the other way around.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“As an editor I made radical changes to The Independent on Sunday.
New people were chosen for their ability to argue and challenge my way of
thinking, to have confidence in their own intelligence. Of course, this method
attracts annoying people, people who might not look right or have social
graces, but if they are loyal and signed up to your project you could not wish
for better workers.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li>This article first appeared in the February 2020 issue of <a href="https://www.pjnews.co.uk/" target="_blank">PJ News</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-22066662889675797332019-07-09T13:46:00.000+00:002019-07-09T13:46:27.931+00:00Getting into bed with Auntie<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
SO FAR this year we’ve had Facebook trumpeting their £4.5 million
Community News Project and Google handing out £13 million for the Digital News
Initiative. Now, step forward the latest organisation to champion their role as
the saviour of the UK regional Press…the BBC.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-91aiN-TlzM4/XSSW3krpj5I/AAAAAAAAAro/1hqgipR6m0kWFaeyn4gDYhRbv0M39UI6QCEwYBhgL/s1600/logo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="306" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-91aiN-TlzM4/XSSW3krpj5I/AAAAAAAAAro/1hqgipR6m0kWFaeyn4gDYhRbv0M39UI6QCEwYBhgL/s200/logo.jpeg" width="173" /></a></div>
It’s now two years since the Local Democracy Reporting Service
(LDRS) was started, with the BBC (ie you and me, licence payers) contributing £8
million a year to pay for 150 reporters employed by local publishers to cover
the work of local councils and other public bodies under the BBC’s latest ‘Charter
commitment’.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, 90,000 or stories later, those reporters held their
first conference and awards ceremony. We are gathered together in the
altogether fitting surroundings of the BBC’s cathedral at MediaCityUK in
Salford, just a £2.40 tram ride from Manchester city centre. There are smiling,
helpful people from the BBC, a smattering of G&G (great and good) from the
UK’s main newspaper groups and about 100 local democracy reporters from around
the country.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unlike a lot of these industry dos it was not a talking shop
for assorted M&S (movers and shakers) to tell the congregation how
important they are and what an impact they are having. This was a practical
conference with delegates learning how to do stuff and even lining up to take
pot shots at the opening speaker, a surprisingly cheerful spectre at the feast
in the shape of David Holdstock, director of communications at the Local
Government Association.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There were sessions on getting the best out of Freedom of
Information requests, making better videos and using social media to greater
effect, all lapped up by the eager crowd. Some reporters were cajoled onto the
stage to talk about their exploits, most notably Julia Gregory, Local Democracy
Reporter for Kensington and Chelsea, who has been at the forefront of news
about the ongoing Grenfell fire disaster.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4QqGjKsNNDo/XSSW1K7yUMI/AAAAAAAAArk/jk6YDglWPB8k23PN4GhUfm0-RIo2RIjhQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Clifford%2Band%2BBarrowclough.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1293" data-original-width="1600" height="258" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4QqGjKsNNDo/XSSW1K7yUMI/AAAAAAAAArk/jk6YDglWPB8k23PN4GhUfm0-RIo2RIjhQCEwYBhgL/s320/Clifford%2Band%2BBarrowclough.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>MEN OF THE MOMENT</b>: Jeremy Clifford (left) from <br />JPIMedia and Matthew Barraclough from the BBC</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A total of 144 Local Democracy Reporters have been allocated to
news organisations in England, Scotland and Wales. The other six are planned
for Northern Ireland later this year. These organisations range from a radio
station to online media companies and the established regional newspaper groups
well represented at the conference. The reporters cover top-tier local
authorities and other public service organisations, filing around 6,000 stories
every month in total.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Events in the prosaically named but dramatic space of Q5
were chaperoned by Matthew Barraclough, head of Local News Partnerships at the
BBC, and JPIMedia editorial director Jeremy Clifford wearing another hat of chairman
of the NMA/BBC advisory panel for the partnership<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“It was impressive to see so many LDRs in one place – it
brought home to me yet again what a significant force they have become,”
reflected Barraclough, a former BBC regional journalist, after the event.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I was able to meet some who I haven’t seen since their
initial training more than a year ago, and others for the first time. I was
struck time and again by their dedication and good humour. I believe that the
consistent, detailed reporting the LDRs generate day after day is a force for
good both in local politics and society at large.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4>
Close eye</h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Clifford thought the conference demonstrated the success of
the Local Partnership in bringing together the BBC and the publishers in a “new
spirit of collaboration to tackle a really important issue - how we cover local
council institutions within the context of the challenges of the industry and
staffing levels”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He continued: “The awards were a celebration of the scheme –
showcasing the fantastic work that has been taking place since the scheme
launched, with nearly 90,000 stories being produced by this team of journalists
– celebrating and keeping a close eye on the work of our councils."<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In March Tony Hall, director general of the BBC, formally
announced plans for a ‘Local Democracy Foundation’, saying: “My goal is to
mobilise a powerful coalition behind the creation of a Local Democracy
Foundation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“And, together, to do all we can reverse the damage that has
been done to local democracy in recent years and bring about a sea change in
local public interest journalism.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Watch this space…</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-An0Ffhmv1sc/XSSZMFaGELI/AAAAAAAAArw/dfHZj03hX58NaKv2ANCOtu5n-ViwrHTBACLcBGAs/s1600/Man%2Bon%2Bthe%2Bjob.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="990" data-original-width="1600" height="197" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-An0Ffhmv1sc/XSSZMFaGELI/AAAAAAAAArw/dfHZj03hX58NaKv2ANCOtu5n-ViwrHTBACLcBGAs/s320/Man%2Bon%2Bthe%2Bjob.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Your correspondent (centre) gets a grilling from reporters<br />at the Local Democracy conference</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4 style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></h4>
<h4 style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: transparent;">Verdict</span></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was difficult not to get caught up in the love in the
room. Even hard-bitten old hacks (aka your correspondent) have to agree that putting
150 reporters into the newsroom, who might not otherwise be there, has got to
be a ‘good thing’.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was also interesting to note that there were plenty of
wiser, older heads in the cohort, evidence that the service is a back-door way
of retaining some of the experienced (ie more expensive) people who might not
otherwise have survived the inevitable rounds of redundancies. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Everyone involved in the project, not least the LDRs
themselves, is upbeat and positive about the benefits of the service and while
there may be reservations about the price to be paid for taking the big-tech
money, getting into bed with Auntie doesn’t seem quite such a problem.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br /><br />
<div>
<ul>
<li><i>This story is part of the coverage of the LDRS conference which appears in the July issue of <a href="https://www.pjnews.co.uk/" target="_blank">PJNews</a></i></li>
</ul>
</div>
Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-28165268908082992952019-03-06T15:39:00.000+00:002019-03-06T15:39:38.644+00:00From Cinderford to Davos (via Alnwick and Devizes): Decoding the latest output about the 'Future of Journalism'<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
PORING over the finely-crafted pages of The Forester – “At the heart if the Forest
since 1874” – it might seem a stretch to take in the ‘Future of Journalism’ bon
mots delivered at the World Economic Forum in Davos of all places.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
cut and thrust of life in Cinderford – “By-pass plans take step forward” – is
indeed a world away from the Swiss alpine town where 3,000 of the world’s great
and good gathered to wheel and deal and listen to where we’re headed on a wide
range of social and economic issues.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ncou4zKxnvU/XH_k_F73PQI/AAAAAAAAAqU/YmCaFeeAfnUCOCMdAx2n28kWF7Suz0HsgCLcBGAs/s1600/Davos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="493" height="196" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ncou4zKxnvU/XH_k_F73PQI/AAAAAAAAAqU/YmCaFeeAfnUCOCMdAx2n28kWF7Suz0HsgCLcBGAs/s320/Davos.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Reuters Institute director Rasmus Kleis Nielsen delivering <br />the report (below) at the World Economic Forum in Davos</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So,
let’s be grateful that journalism got an airing, courtesy of the Reuters
Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford who delivered
their new report: <i>More Important, But
Less Robust? Five Things Everybody Needs to Know about the Future of Journalism.</i><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
report’s authors claim the five trends will impact the work of professional
reporters as well as everybody who works with them and relies on them, from the
general public to politicians, NGOs, and private enterprise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Those
clever people from Oxford University seem to have got to the bottom of many of
the issues that publishers, editors and front-line journalists are facing on a
day-to-day basis. But the language is a bit academic so we are pleased to
include an exclusive PJ News interpretation of their findings, plus real-world
examples from a random selection of newspapers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here
are the ‘<a href="https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/our-research/more-important-less-robust-five-things-everybody-needs-know-about-future-journalism" target="_blank">Five Things Everybody Needs to Know about the Future of Journalism</a>’:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
<b>1 We have moved from a world
where media organisations were gatekeepers to a world where media still create
the news agenda, but platform companies control access to audiences.</b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">PJ News interpretation: Most
of the news still comes from newspaper businesses but Google and Facebook
control how it’s read.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yIMvzmGbudc/XH_li-KP8FI/AAAAAAAAAqg/XGc9qsOXhVYp77tAP6BWIL8D5rvmZEOiACEwYBhgL/s1600/Report.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="346" height="258" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yIMvzmGbudc/XH_li-KP8FI/AAAAAAAAAqg/XGc9qsOXhVYp77tAP6BWIL8D5rvmZEOiACEwYBhgL/s320/Report.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
this ever-more competitive battle for attention, speaking is not the same as being
heard, says the report. “Far from the death of gatekeepers, we have seen the
move to two sets of gatekeepers, where news media organisations still create
the news agenda, but platform companies increasingly control access to
audiences.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Forester</span></b><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, a Tindle-owned title serving
the Forest of Dean on the England/Wales border, has a well-serviced website that
provides regular community updates. Yes, some of that information is also
available elsewhere but as the ‘gatekeeper’ of news from that particular corner
of the UK it is difficult to see how that position may be usurped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">--<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2 The move to digital media
generally does not generate filter bubbles. Instead, automated serendipity and
incidental exposure drive people to more and more diverse sources of information.</span></b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">PJ News interpretation: While
the targeted, contained world of the newspaper is constrained by its shape and
size as well as the area it serves, digital media can take the reader off into hitherto
unimagined areas. </span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
practice, most people only go directly to a few news sources on a routine
basis, rarely more than three or four, says the report. “For most people,
digital media use is associated with more diverse news use, but information
inequality is a real risk, as is political polarisation – risks that are
fundamentally rooted in political and social factors but can be amplified by
technology.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">---<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3 Journalism is often losing
the battle for people’s attention and, in some countries, for the public’s
trust.</span></b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">PJ News interpretation: The
Brexit news overload and President Trump’s bleatings about ‘fake news’ seep
into public consciousness and they eventually start to give up on news.</span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In a
revealing study from the United States data from comScore suggests only about
three percent of the time spent online is devoted to news, and just half a
percent with local news. Put another way out of an hour online less than two minutes
is spent looking at news and only about 20 seconds on local news<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Equally
strikingly, in an era of unprecedented abundance and ease of access, journalism
is facing widespread problems of ‘news avoidance’, says the report. “People
turn off the news because it feels irrelevant and depressing and does not help
them live their lives; they often turn to entertainment or social media instead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“These
differences are not only a function of competition for attention. They also
reflect that much of the public is questioning whether journalism is in fact
helping them in their lives, and that people in many countries doubt whether
they can trust the news.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Attacks
on journalism and news media can in turn further undermine trust demonstrating
how trust in journalism is dependent both on trustworthy reporting and on a
political context where public officials respect independent news media.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Devizes edition of the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gazette and
Herald</b> in Wiltshire runs to 108 pages, plus a 12-page property pull-out. There’s
no lack of “trustworthy reporting” here or the commercial partners to support
such a vibrant product. There’s the traditional diet of police reports: ‘Cat
had its legs tied together’ and council news: ‘Parking spaces plan supported’,
plus schools, charities and community news. There is also a letters spread bristling
with local people eager to join the debate. No evidence of any attention being
lost here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">---<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4 The business models that
fund news are challenged, weakening professional journalism and leaving news
media more vulnerable to commercial and political pressures.</span></b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">PJ News interpretation: If
the traditional news media can’t make it pay they may be tempted to go easy on
businesses and politicians.</span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The good
news is that the majority of professional journalism is still funded by
newspapers. An estimated 90 per cent of publishers’ revenues worldwide still
come from print and digital revenues are in many cases growing only slowly. “Most
of the existing forms of funding for professional journalism will decline as we
continue to move to a more digital media environment, leading to further job
cuts in newsrooms,” warns the report.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The
sustainable business models for digital news developed so far are diverse and
promising - including a mix of advertising, reader revenues, and non-profit approaches
- but they also generally support far leaner newsrooms than those historically
found in legacy media.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">City A.M.</span></b><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> – the “Business with
personality” daily distributed free in London – records the activities of
hundreds of companies in each issue, and there’s no evidence of anything but
robust reporting. If news media are to become “more vulnerable to commercial
pressures” it’s more likely to be in traditional go-to areas like travel,
property and motors where tie-ups make sense for all parties without
compromising any editorial integrity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">--<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5 News is more diverse than
ever, and the best journalism better than ever, taking on everyone from the
most powerful politicians to the biggest private companies.</span></b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">PJ News interpretation: There
is lots of good journalism out there still </span></i><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Journalism
is facing stiff competition for attention and its connection with the public is
threatened by news avoidance, low trust, and the perception that news does not
help people live the lives they want to live, says the report. “But in many
ways, the best journalism today is better than ever – more accessible, more
timely, more informative, more interactive, more engaged with its audience.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Up
at the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Northumberland Gazette</b>, one
of England’s most northerly weeklies, not only is there a spread on drone “near-misses
in our skies” but also a page given over to the county council budget plans,
put together by the ‘Local Democracy Reporting Service’ that has given a new
lease of life to rummaging around at the local council. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SO, WHERE DOES THIS TAKE US?</span></b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
conclusion, the movers and shakers at Davos heard that strong journalism is
essential for both the public good, politics, and private enterprise. “It can
help ensure that the rise of digital media and our current turbulence results
not in chaos, but in change for the better,” Reuters Institute director Rasmus
Kleis Nielsen told the forum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He said
that everybody should be concerned by the risks posed by a combination of
shifts in how people get their news and what media they use, transformations in
professional journalism and the business of news, and change in the political
environment that independent news media operate in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“In
the absence of independent professional reporting providing accurate information,
analysis, and interpretation, the public will increasingly rely on
self-interested sources and rumours circulating online and offline, a shift
that will hurt both the political process, civil society, and private
enterprise,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He
concluded with a rallying call to journalists and news media: “Continue to
adapt to the digital media that people all around the world are eagerly
embracing at the expense of print and broadcast, and build a profession and a
business fit for the future.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wise
words, no doubt, but a virtual trip down the streets of Cinderford, Devizes or Alnwick
via the pages of the legacy media weeklies that are still recording the
community’s comings and goings with enthusiasm, professionalism and not a
little wit and wisdom may point to a different present, if not the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">--<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Alan
Geere has never been to Davos in his 40-year newspaper career, but has
succumbed to the charms of Cinderford, Devizes and Alnwick. E: <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="mailto:alan@alan-geere.com">alan@alan-geere.com</a></span>
T: @alangeere</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br /><br />
<div>
<ul>
<li><i>This article first appeared in the March 2019 issue of <a href="https://www.pjnews.co.uk/" target="_blank">PJ News</a></i></li>
</ul>
</div>
Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-57355634369513594162019-01-23T15:29:00.000+00:002019-01-23T15:29:09.830+00:00'Don’t let the technology dictate the story' – data journalism: the view from the newsroom<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wXzmWQ8N7vU/XEh-KKFs4UI/AAAAAAAAAqA/ulzG87b44tYYgN6yQPulO_9GOfXs2d6uQCLcBGAs/s1600/media%2Breboot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="628" height="243" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wXzmWQ8N7vU/XEh-KKFs4UI/AAAAAAAAAqA/ulzG87b44tYYgN6yQPulO_9GOfXs2d6uQCLcBGAs/s320/media%2Breboot.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How The Guardian portrayed their story, with stock picture</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">An
interesting contribution from </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/jan/22/media-reboot-the-real-story-is-the-rise-of-data" style="font-size: 14pt;" target="_blank">The Guardian</a><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> to the ongoing debate about where
journalism education could or should be heading argued that ‘video and data
skills have changed the face of journalism’ and universities must keep pace.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">In a piece headlined
‘Media reboot: the real story is the rise of data’, Paul Bradshaw, who heads up
the postgrad courses in data journalism and multiplatform and mobile journalism
at Birmingham City University was quoted: “We struggle to meet demand from
employers wanting students who can analyse data. All news organisations are
expanding in this area.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Paul, a
long-time standard bearer for teaching the latest technological innovations, cites
a Birmingham story about a planned rise in police patrols and stop and search
after a spate of knife crime incidents. Journalists used data to determine
which areas of the city were most subjected to stop and search. They then
supplemented this with traditional reporting, by speaking to the communities
affected, to give context, the Guardian reported.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Hurrah for Paul
and especially his last observation - <i>speaking to the communities affected</i> –
which should also capture the attention of both academics and industry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My doctoral research
into the changing nature of editorial leadership tells a different story about
the impact of data journalism in UK regional and weekly paper newsrooms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Conscientious yet un</span></span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">contentious</span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In my 25
years teaching journalism I’ve found students to be a conscientious yet
uncontentious bunch, happiest copying a quote from an online handout rather that
actually having to speak to someone, either on the phone or, God forbid, in
person. Hacking around on a computer for stories is just up their street.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">New recruits
are technically fantastic, one editorial director told me for my PhD research. “But
I’m often disappointed they don’t have that innate love of breaking a news story;
they don’t get that excitement from something breaking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can craft it for you, they can give you
a lovely edited video package, but do they have the love?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Another reflected:
“I see sometimes where people are jumping up and down because they’ve done a
bit of 360-degree video and it’s like yeah okay but…you’ve spelled somebody’s
name wrong in the intro. Don’t lose sight of the basics and don’t let the
technology dictate the story, let the story dictate how you use technology.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Perhaps the
universities are trying a bit too hard. “One of the things you get at
university is usually state of the art equipment. Sometimes people come to us
and they finish up working in an office which has still got an outside toilet
and old equipment, and you can see the shock in their faces,” said another
editor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Sometimes they
are not fully prepared for the commercial realities and I don’t think they are
necessarily prepared for the workload either because we do demand a lot from
people these days.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Passion and hunger</span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And key
skills when recruiting? “We’ve met people who are really good at social media
but are terrified to pick up the phone," said another editorial director who has responsibility for hundreds of journalists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> "</span>Verbal
communication is a core skill as well so as being able to use all these digital
skills, so I look for passion and a hunger and then excitement about why they
want to come in the job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think the
rest we can just about teach.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Don’t get me
wrong. I love it that uni course directors are continually updating their
offer. And I know that a job in the regional press is not what everyone is
aiming for. But I desperately hope we do not lose sight of those traditional
skills of finding people who have something worthwhile to say and getting them
to talk about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #121212; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Perhaps last word should go to Simon Hinde, programme
director of journalism and publishing at the London College of Communication, who is also quoted in The Guardian, saying:</span><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background: white; color: #121212;">“The
key thing is to allow students to develop their own authentic voice. Nobody
knows what jobs today’s postgraduates will be doing in 10 years’ time.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">2029? Bring
it on…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-2607028825571989122018-12-28T16:13:00.000+00:002018-12-28T16:18:13.452+00:00Why all roads lead to Gloucester Services on the M5<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Third generation dairy
farmer Jess Vaughan is up at 5.30 milking her herd of 80 'ladies' at her Severn
Valley farm. By 10am her organic milk is on sale - at a motorway services on
the M5. How did the farm shop concept take hold in such an unlikely setting and
what are the benefits for traditionally deprived areas of Gloucestershire? <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IGDIk7KAhbE/XCZIRri9qII/AAAAAAAAApE/T7fjrnJnfSInzL9gu9oWhqFSnNgIBt2zgCLcBGAs/s1600/%252BJess.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IGDIk7KAhbE/XCZIRri9qII/AAAAAAAAApE/T7fjrnJnfSInzL9gu9oWhqFSnNgIBt2zgCLcBGAs/s400/%252BJess.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HAPPY COUPLE: Jess Vaughan with one of the herd’s ‘ladies’, Bunty</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
OUT of work and not sure what direction to take, Mark Gale
signed up for one of the Government’s latest job creation schemes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Little did he think that 40 years later, after a lifetime
helping people in challenging communities, he would be the driving force behind
one of the most unusual and innovative marriages of local interest, rural
business and commercial realism.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the 1990s Gale was a community worker on the Matson
estate in Gloucester and struggling to find a worthwhile project to create
sustainable change and bring about long term benefit. He took the far-reaching
decision to have outsiders conduct an ‘impact assessment’ looking at how the
ring of council estates around Robinswood Hill to the south of Gloucester could
be re-engaged.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“The communities had lost their way,” recalls Gale, now a
youthful 61. “People were no longer using the hill for recreation while jobs
and health continued to be a problem.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That assessment pointed Gale back in the direction of the
far-sighted, but improbably complex idea of developing land just a few miles
further south for what was then called a ‘Service Station’ on the M5.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KTdt89pbY-U/XCZIttgq51I/AAAAAAAAApM/uJ1JBsFihqQyejznRmEX2nQYYQw6zC24QCLcBGAs/s1600/%252BGale2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1058" data-original-width="1600" height="209" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KTdt89pbY-U/XCZIttgq51I/AAAAAAAAApM/uJ1JBsFihqQyejznRmEX2nQYYQw6zC24QCLcBGAs/s320/%252BGale2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Driving force Mark Gale at the Gloucester Services</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Roadchef, one of the big players, had looked at the site
back in 1994 so Gale knew there was potential. All he had to do was find
partners to stump up the cash and convince farmers to sell the land.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The modern-day motorway knights arrived in the shape of
national funding from the Tudor Trust and local money from the Summerfield
Trust. Gale talked the farmers into selling by emphasising the benefits to the
local community, chaperoned the project through planning and then set about
finding the right partner for his vision.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We wanted to show that local communities can create a
significant business, a business that would bring value to producers and
customers as well as provide jobs and support for people who needed the help,”
says Gale.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Two hundred miles north, at Tebay on the M6, the Westmorland
Family business was already doing just that. Their story began in 1972 when
John and Barbara Dunning, Cumbrian hill farmers, set up Tebay Services when the
M6 cut though their farm. They opened a small 30 seat café serving home cooked,
locally sourced food. The Dunnings viewed the M6 not as the death of their
farm, but the beginning of a whole new chapter in how they ran the business. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“It really was good timing,” says daughter Sarah Dunning,
who is now chairman of a business that has six outlets across the country. “We
were thinking about the future and along came Mark with his slightly
unorthodox, but very exciting, idea.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With Gale as the CEO of the Gloucestershire Gateway Trust, a
registered charity specifically designed the push through the Services project,
and the Westmorland Family on board as the business brains the site opened for
business in May 2014 on the northbound side and southbound a year later.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wa2NXee7I3A/XCZJVIwVW_I/AAAAAAAAApY/W5aLMBj1llkVtJxp3s3U38jMupfOF6HKACLcBGAs/s1600/%252Bsign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="470" height="264" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wa2NXee7I3A/XCZJVIwVW_I/AAAAAAAAApY/W5aLMBj1llkVtJxp3s3U38jMupfOF6HKACLcBGAs/s320/%252Bsign.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The partnership enables the Trust to benefit from a
percentage of sales which go back into the community. But it is not just about
charitable donations; it is a more fundamental way of connecting business and
community for the benefit of both.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We both get more out of it than we could generate on our
own,” says Gale. “There are 350 staff here, 98 per cent of them from
Gloucestershire and 22 per cent from the target communities that kicked off
this project.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With its distinctive ‘eyebrow’ architecture, and a grass
roof, it pushes against the norm of the busy-busy, rush-rush feel of many
motorway services. There is, for instance, very little signage and absolutely
none outside the main building. “We had an advantage building from scratch,”
says Dunning. “And we wanted to give a bit of calm. I think that’s what people
want when they pull off the motorway.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And calm they get. Plus enough toilets to accommodate a
coach party, freely available showers and even a pond with ducks to contemplate
while sipping your ecocoffee. Inside the spacious building 160 local suppliers
stock the shelves with everything from meat, cheese and fish through to bread, ice
cream and crafts.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Trust works in partnership with local charities
including The Nelson Trust, Play Gloucestershire, GL Communities, Fair Shares
Community Time Banks and All Pulling Together Community Association in
Stonehouse and Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Last year marked the 10th anniversary of Gloucestershire
Gateway Trust and each of the local charity partners received grants directly
from Gloucester Services profits. The promise of a guaranteed annual income
from Gloucestershire Gateway Trust and Gloucester Services partnership will
enable the charities to plan ahead and continue their work.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1f9ZfIRJF6w/XCZJtK3gmHI/AAAAAAAAApg/zVgbOIKKrj87px3Xx3tFHkkMvKGrzo5NQCLcBGAs/s1600/%252BServices.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1280" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1f9ZfIRJF6w/XCZJtK3gmHI/AAAAAAAAApg/zVgbOIKKrj87px3Xx3tFHkkMvKGrzo5NQCLcBGAs/s320/%252BServices.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The landscaped services building – not a sign in sight</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And what does everyone make of its success? “This site is
twice as busy as Tebay and we continue to keep very firm sight of our social
objectives and business objectives,” says Dunning. “This was a project many
years in the making and it is wonderful to see it up and running doing what it
was designed to do.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And Gale, a former UK Social Entrepreneur of the Year who
has pioneered community businesses and business community partnerships, is
still seeing clearly. “Everyone who comes on a visit I make them walk up to the
top and view the landscape from the Cotswold hills to the Severn Valley with
Gloucester in between. There are the people we are really serving. It’s a
different way for business and charity to work together but it just works.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Last word, though, with a family from Manchester who were
enjoying the sunshine ‘Welcome Break’ on their way to Devon on holiday. “We
just stopped for a break thinking it would be the usual Greggs and Costa,” said
dad, between mouthfuls of wild boar sausage roll, “but it is refreshingly
different, so we’re staying for a bit.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They are not the only ones…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2>
From making pies in the farm kitchen to a £2m business</h2>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WJdfriow7N0/XCZKfc6_doI/AAAAAAAAAps/Iupwv0CTJ181sypmkSaAYZolKX-J0YxPwCLcBGAs/s1600/%252BCinderhill.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WJdfriow7N0/XCZKfc6_doI/AAAAAAAAAps/Iupwv0CTJ181sypmkSaAYZolKX-J0YxPwCLcBGAs/s400/%252BCinderhill.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THE PIE LADY: Deborah Flint at Cinderhill Farm</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
JUST like on one of those TV ‘lifestyle’ shows, Deborah and
Neil Flint left behind their jobs in fundraising and IT and started a new
adventure on a farm in the furthest reaches of Gloucestershire just a few miles
from the Welsh border near St Briavels.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That was seven years ago and having never farmed before, the
Flints took a short course before they embraced the rural lifestyle at Cinderhill
Farm in the Forest of Dean named after the ash black soil around the farm.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The land had not been a working farm for several years and
the couple restored the land to its former use, installing water harvesting
systems and other eco measures to sustain the running of the farm. They are
dedicated to keeping traditional native breeds including Black Welsh Mountain
sheep and British Saddleback pigs. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, hit by the financial realities of farming, they
realised extra income was needed and in February 2013, Deborah began to produce
pies in their farm kitchen. Within six weeks, the production unit for pies and
sausage rolls was moved out of their domestic kitchen into the ‘Pie House’, one
of the outbuildings on the farm. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Word quickly spread about the products and the ‘Pie House’
has since been through two upgrades. The last upgrade took place in 2015 in
response to the success of the produce at Gloucester Services.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The range now includes the Original Cinderhill Farm Sausage
Roll of Exceeding Enormity (made with real meat joints; low in fat), the Forest
Ridgeback wild boar sausage roll and the Foggy (Forest Oggy, where oggy is
another term for pasty).</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dIy-4wU0VLs/XCZK5Xq9hAI/AAAAAAAAAp0/O6U5jxaXxFI468IgzvVQay1o6sWTC0VugCLcBGAs/s1600/%252Bboar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dIy-4wU0VLs/XCZK5Xq9hAI/AAAAAAAAAp0/O6U5jxaXxFI468IgzvVQay1o6sWTC0VugCLcBGAs/s320/%252Bboar.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TASTY: The wild boar sausage rolls made at Cinderhill</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Since providing the services farm shop with their first
sausage rolls in May 2014 they have supplied over one million pounds worth of
products, around £2m at retail value. In an area of rural poverty they now
provide seven full time jobs, some part-timers and enough custom for two jobs
at the local butcher.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Gloucester services has an influence way beyond that which
can be easily quantified,” says Deborah, 55. “It offers a stronger future for
our community and our county.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just a few miles from the services the Vaughan family have
been farming at Hardwicke Farm, located at the base of the Severn Valley in
view of the Cotswold hills, for three generations.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jess Vaughan knows the 80 ‘Ladies’ all by name and milks
them personally every day to ensure they’re a happy, healthy herd. They do not
homogenise their milk, preferring to leave all its nutrients as nature
intended. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The fresh milk takes just four hours to reach the services farmshop,
delivered alongside yoghurt, cream and a creamy, tangy fermented concoction
called Kefir, which might just take off after exposure on The Archers of all
places.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Our herd are all individuals,” explains Jess, 37. “But most
are more than happy to have a cuddle and actively seek attention. They are
allowed to be who they want to be personality wise. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“The name Jess’s Ladies came from the fact that we were
struggling for a name for our own farm bottled milk. Then one afternoon I said
I had to go because I had to get back and milk the ladies – and so it was done.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cinderhill and Jess’s Ladies are just two of the 130 producers
from within 30 miles of the front doors and 70 from further afield.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
SERVING IT UP - M5 FACT FILE<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
</div>
<ul>
<li>·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">It is the first bee friendly motorway services
in the UK. The services roof is seeded with a wildflower and grass seed mix,
creating the perfect habitat for the bee population who live in the on-site
hive.</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">There is free tap water available reducing the
need for customers to buy plastic bottles.</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Left over cooking oil is recycled as bio-diesel
to be used in diesel engines</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">The services employ 350 people, working in jobs
as wide ranging as catering, retail, filling station, management, accounts, HR,
maintenance and IT</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Look out for unusual birds with a wildlife spotter
sheet created with Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust to help identify species
around the services</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">A total of 328,093 cakes, all made fresh on site
by teams of bakers, were served in the year to June 2018.</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">There is a well signposted dog walk and free
water bowls available at the front entrances</span></li>
</ul>
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<b><i>This article originally appeared as a 'Long Read' in the Western Daily Press</i></b></div>
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<br />Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-8098140998224347292018-12-18T11:43:00.000+00:002018-12-18T11:43:05.676+00:00What makes a great editor? Discuss...<br />
<h4>
<i>Where’s David Attenborough when you need him? Two giants of
the journalism jungle squaring off in a very public squabblefest about who did
what better. Plenty of heat but does it shed any light on journalism’s current
debates? Alan Geere heads into the forest of words.<o:p> </o:p></i></h4>
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<i><o:p><br /></o:p></i></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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PAUL Dacre was never given to public pronouncements during
his 26 years as editor of the Daily Mail, so his 4,500 words delivered to the
Society of Editors conference were eagerly dissected.<o:p></o:p></div>
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He rounded on the BBC, the Leveson inquiry, journalism
academics and his bete noir, Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian for 20
years while edited the Daily Mail. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Referring to Rusbridger’s book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Breaking News</i> Dacre said: “Its real message – and how insidiously
it drips through the pages – is that virtually every national newspaper in
Britain is scurrilous, corrupt and amoral with one iridescent exception.
Yes, you’ve guessed it …The Guardian.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oMw-QUzYjGs/XBjZfh80S7I/AAAAAAAAAok/uPfZk4zoaVQbYG_rqFhy741pibGBI7LsgCLcBGAs/s1600/Dacre1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oMw-QUzYjGs/XBjZfh80S7I/AAAAAAAAAok/uPfZk4zoaVQbYG_rqFhy741pibGBI7LsgCLcBGAs/s320/Dacre1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">REFLECTED GLORY: Paul Dacre at the SOE conference</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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“Unedifyingly, it manages to combine rather cloying
self-glorification and moral superiority with an almost visceral contempt of
and disdain for the rest of the press.”</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ooof!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Rusbridger countered with a self-penned riposte in the New Statesman
and responded to the direct criticism by writing: “Most of it seemed terribly
myopic and insular and – for a man with such success, riches, power and
acclamation behind him – incoherently angry.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ooof No 2!<o:p></o:p></div>
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While this stand-off might entertain the masses of
journalists who don’t earn a small fortune editing a national newspaper or
armchair media watchers who are intrigued by this public cut-and-thrust there
were other comments hidden deep in Dacre’s speech which have got the
journalistic, and academic, community more exercised.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“The mainly left-wing
Professors of Journalism – is there, by the way, a more ludicrous subject for
academic study – will order box loads of this book [Alan Rusbridger's] to
demonstrate to their students how appalling Fleet Street is. Meanwhile, they’ll
continue to churn out graduates for non-existent jobs which is why so many
idealistic youngsters end up disillusioned and working in public relations,
leaving us with a Britain where there are now more PRs than journalists – another
depressing and insidious contribution to the democratic deficit. And today, my
heart bleeds for those dedicated young journalists who were lucky enough to get
jobs, yet are being denied, by our industry’s belt tightening, the
opportunities I enjoyed.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Oooof No 3!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Dr Margaret Hughes, chair of the Association for Journalism
Education, and like a lot of the members she represents a journalist for many
years reminds Dacre that journalism is a serious business. “The last few years
have shown us this acutely, particularly when we look at how
perceptions of role of the news media is influencing political
and public life,” she told PJ News.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e7L9dO0BVU4/XBjZ99dG92I/AAAAAAAAAos/uUWWoI0cjRwEGeqnjpm9hw8Hl4ZLmjDXQCLcBGAs/s1600/Hughes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="890" data-original-width="1600" height="178" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e7L9dO0BVU4/XBjZ99dG92I/AAAAAAAAAos/uUWWoI0cjRwEGeqnjpm9hw8Hl4ZLmjDXQCLcBGAs/s320/Hughes.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THINKING CRITICALLY: Dr Margaret Hughes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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“Good journalism, and good journalists, require the ability
to think critically and analytically about the complex world in which we
live. Journalists are required to interpret complicated issues and
help audiences make sense of the world. As such, the development of
critical thinking that lies at the heart of all journalism education within the
academy is not just necessary for considered
and thoughtful journalism, I would argue it is a pre-requisite.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Journalism requires the most talented, curious
and thoughtful practitioners and there is no better place to develop
this knowledge and skill set than within an academic environment,
such as a university. So, yes, that does mean that journalism is a worthy
subject for academic study and that it quite rightly has a place within the
academy, indeed I would go so far as to say at the heart of the academy.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Steve Hill, a journalism lecturer at the University of
Westminster and co-author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Online
Journalism: The Essential Guide</i> has another view. “It is simply
snobbery, from a certain section of the elite who believe that young
people should only study ‘the classics’ or STEM [Science, Technology,
Engineering, Mathematics]<b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></b>subjects
- and preferably at Oxbridge rather than an old Poly. It’s not even
original. I recall Kelvin MacKenzie was prone to similar rants. Very
depressing.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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And what about Dacre’s comments that about professors who ‘churn
out graduates for non-existent jobs’? “One of the most challenging aspects of
being a journalism educator these days is that we can no longer say that a
good education will lead to a great job, but then when could anyone ever
really say that?” says Hughes <o:p></o:p></div>
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“What journalism educators now understand is that while
we may well be preparing young people for workplaces and environments that
do not exist in the way that they did in the past, the knowledge and
skills gained on a journalism degree programmes
are multi-disciplinary in nature. <o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BpA9YN4vnrg/XBjanURuUoI/AAAAAAAAAo4/ASB2UwzbtFw07JEvXM4mGC72W9ueICN8wCLcBGAs/s1600/journo%2Bschool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BpA9YN4vnrg/XBjanURuUoI/AAAAAAAAAo4/ASB2UwzbtFw07JEvXM4mGC72W9ueICN8wCLcBGAs/s320/journo%2Bschool.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">REQUIRED READING: School of Journalism starter pack <br />containing, as Dacre thought it might, Rusbridger's book</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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“We prepare young people for a changing world of
work, where the skills they learn can be used in a multitude
of settings in which they will be valued for the skills and knowledge
they bring and in which they will be able to carve out exciting and
rewarding careers founded on what they have been taught as part of the
excellent journalism education that is offered at universities across the UK.”</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Claire Wolfe, head of journalism at Worcester University and
a well-regarded journalist in the Midlands says that although newspapers are
contracting there are other openings. “Students
from journalism courses have shown themselves to be highly
employable. Journalism courses help to develop communications skills,
confidence and introduce them to the requirements of work via the often
mandatory work placement modules,” she says.</div>
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And to conclude on a philosophical note, David Baines
journalism lecturer at Newcastle University and a former sub-editor on the
Journal says Dacre seems to equate a degree in journalism with the traditional
training course. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“A degree at undergraduate or postgraduate level in
journalism is not simply preparing a student for a traineeship on a local
newspaper, but for life and a career in an increasingly complex world. An
education which develops in a student the critical-reflexive skillset, toolkit
and outlook of a journalist, would benefit all in the global economy,” he says.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></div>
<h4>
VERDICT</h4>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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National newspaper headlines such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Dacre v Rusbridger: two titans of 21st century journalism united in
distaste</i>’ give the general reading public the idea that beleaguered
journalism is in trouble from within let alone outside.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But these are, to slightly misquote the great journalist
Charles Dickens: “The best of times, the worst of times.” There has never been
such a great opportunity to get involved in journalism across a multitude of
platforms that hadn’t even been invented when Paul Dacre was editing the Leeds
University student newspaper and Alan Rusbridger was a trainee on the Cambridge
Evening News.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But in order to tame these multi-headed beasts of 24/7
digital news, aggregated and curated content plus the fog of misinformation and
fake news the world needs people are educated – sorry, not just trained – in
how to make sense of it all for everyone’s benefit.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Both Dacre and Rusbridger were brilliant editors. But they
were of their time. Those times have moved on and editorial leadership is
moving in different directions. Journalism, as never before, needs insightful,
committed people and as the NCTJ report concludes those currently working in
this noble game are more confident than ever.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We seem to be going in the right direction. Let’s hope Mssrs
Dacre and Rusbridger can pull together too.<o:p></o:p></div>
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*I must declare an interest or two. I am one of small, but
growing, band of journalists-cum-academics who have chosen to share their
knowledge and experience with both the next generation of journalists by
teaching and also the wider academic community through research. I have also
served on the board of the NCTJ.<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><i><b>A version of this article appears in the 'Insight' column of the January 2019 issue of<a href="https://www.pjnews.co.uk/" target="_blank"> PJ News</a></b></i></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-74547326775414915522018-08-25T11:25:00.000+00:002018-08-25T11:25:15.960+00:00It's victory for the people in parking battle...but will they lose the war?<br />
<h4 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">A stirring victory
for people power or an ignominious political climbdown? Either way, much
debated parking charges are not coming to a clutch of Cotswold towns – at the
moment. But what does this episode tell us about political engagement and how
are increasingly cash-strapped local councils going to find the money to keep
services going? ALAN GEERE investigates</span></h4>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OmStvsAGfak/W4E6tT290aI/AAAAAAAAAoc/6BDj99dougkkoHW0RB2054qY54w2p242QCEwYBhgL/s1600/5%2B-%2Bbanner.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1379" data-original-width="1600" height="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OmStvsAGfak/W4E6tT290aI/AAAAAAAAAoc/6BDj99dougkkoHW0RB2054qY54w2p242QCEwYBhgL/s320/5%2B-%2Bbanner.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">When the end came it
was short and, for hundreds of campaigners, sweet:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“After carefully considering the views of the public, parish and town
councils, and businesses, Stroud District Council is stopping proposals to
charge for car parking in Dursley, Nailsworth, Wotton-under-Edge and Stratford
Park in Stroud.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“We have listened to concerns and it is has become clear during the past
months that high street traders face a rapidly changing commercial challenge
from a wide range of online services. I am keen to continue dialogue with
traders and councils about these ongoing challenges for town centres.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">That carefully worded
statement from Stroud District Council (SDC) leader Doina Cornell brought to an
end months of ‘consultation’ – in the form of angry voices from every quarter –
which signalled an unprecedented level of political engagement from people
whose previous dealings with the council stretched from putting the right stuff
in the recycling bin to paying their council tax by direct debit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The three towns on
the western edge of the Cotswolds rose up in righteous indignation and, for the
time being at least, appear to have staved off the threat of parking machines,
attendants and fixed penalty notices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Nailsworth,
especially, wore its heart on its sleeve plastering the town with banners
proclaiming ‘Don’t take the P out of Nailsworth’ (above) and organising a public
meeting that was attended by 300 people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“This is great news
for Nailsworth and the other towns in the review,” said Nailsworth mayor
Jonathan Duckworth, who led the protests from the front. “We'd like to thank
all those that have taken part in the fight for our town's future; there have
been very many people involved and it is the united front that has been most
powerful in this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zqIHTcwLArk/W4E5mfftqcI/AAAAAAAAAoE/MIs2xJ8HcgQpNy3-nUUZZT3x4KploiKRwCLcBGAs/s1600/3%2B-%2BNailsworth%2Battendant.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zqIHTcwLArk/W4E5mfftqcI/AAAAAAAAAoE/MIs2xJ8HcgQpNy3-nUUZZT3x4KploiKRwCLcBGAs/s320/3%2B-%2BNailsworth%2Battendant.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On Patrol: The parking attendant at Morrisons in Nailsworth</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">“We will work with
SDC in the coming months but this will be more productive in an atmosphere of
openness and partnership. We hope that their approach will now be different.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Under consideration
were eight parking areas in Nailsworth, four in Dursley and three in
Wotton-under-Edge. The proposed charges ranged from 50p for an hour up to £2.50
all day and would have been introduced in January 2019.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Detailed proposals
were first put forward by council officers in 2011 but the idea of parking
charges has been around since the 1970s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">SDC commissioned a
36-page report from consultants Arup – ‘We shape a better world’ is their claim
– which concluded that charging actually benefits the local economy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“Fair charging
encourages commuters to park in long stay locations, leaving the prime parking
spaces for visitors and shoppers,” says the report, also concluding “there is
no evidence to suggest that introducing car park charges will lead to a
decrease in footfall”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Not so, says Mayor
Duckworth, who says the report fails to provide evidence of congestion in
Nailsworth and does not acknowledge the Nailsworth has very few public
facilities and gets almost no funding from SDC.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“Nailsworth has no
secondary school, no museum, no canal, no Sub Rooms, no railway station, no
sports centre, no swimming pool, no shopping centre for SDC to invest in.
Nailsworth is different,” Duckworth countered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t7hYDfpI4ZM/W4E3cJXPDZI/AAAAAAAAAn0/5wGZStMjR3EnrWem4O4gFFbfkkYH2a4TQCEwYBhgL/s1600/2%2B-%2BNailsworth%2BParking%2BMeeting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="1024" height="125" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t7hYDfpI4ZM/W4E3cJXPDZI/AAAAAAAAAn0/5wGZStMjR3EnrWem4O4gFFbfkkYH2a4TQCEwYBhgL/s400/2%2B-%2BNailsworth%2BParking%2BMeeting.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A resounding ‘No’ from a packed public meeting at Nailsworth Town Hall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">But back comes
council leader Cornell: “Yes, well that is the Nailsworth view which is quite
interesting. I think what is also interesting having talked to people in
Nailsworth, about some of the things we do is that people aren’t always aware
of the services the district council provides.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“Because a lot of our
services might be for quite vulnerable individuals not everyone gets them. Nailsworth
is having its sheltered housing redeveloped or we are working on anti-social
behaviour so not everyone necessarily knows that’s going on.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Two weeks before the
end of the public consultation period last month 300 people packed into a
public meeting at Nailsworth Town Hall to make its voice heard with a
resounding ‘No’ to charges.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">"We're lucky if
we usually get 50 or 60 to any kind of meeting," said Duckworth. "But
it was clearly an emotive subject which helps account for the fantastic
response."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Nailsworth had put
aside a fighting fund of £20,000 to go down a legal challenge route if the
charges had made it through the council chamber. While that's not needed right
now there's every indication that the issue could find its way back on to
agenda. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">"They will have
to come back with some sound reasons," says Duckworth. "At the moment
it just looks like a way of raising money which is not a legitimate reason for
doing it."</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0ZhZ7B6FdH8/W4E6F1qQeTI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/Z7QnEM5JX-wpterVy9vKJu5xARXAJe2wwCLcBGAs/s1600/4%2B-%2BDursley.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1017" data-original-width="1600" height="203" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0ZhZ7B6FdH8/W4E6F1qQeTI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/Z7QnEM5JX-wpterVy9vKJu5xARXAJe2wwCLcBGAs/s320/4%2B-%2BDursley.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Worried traders Lee & Janet Buffrey in their Dursley sweetshop</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over in Dursley –
'Historic market town’ it proudly proclaims – it might be a rainy Wednesday
morning but the town is buzzing. Everything from seed potatoes to buckets and
mops with estate agents, building societies and some smart looking charity
shops thrown in.</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">But the mood is
clear. "Introducing car parking charges will kill this street," says
Lee Buffrey from behind his counter at Hewitts newsagents and sweet shop.
"We've already had customers say they would not come in to town if they
had to pay 50p to park." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">His wife Janet
agrees. "It would have made a big difference, but I don't think the
politicians expected such a backlash from the towns."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">But there is a
problem with parking. People queuing to get in to the car parks block the town
centre roads quickly causing gridlock, if that doesn’t seem a perverse
expression for a charming Cotswold town of 6,700 people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Supermarket
Sainsbury's has the biggest car park in the town and campaigners point out that
this would still remain free so are concerned that charging would not help ease
congestion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Interestingly, there
is no mention in the Arup report of either this Sainsbury's car park or a
similarly popular parking area at Morrisons in Nailsworth. Both supermarket
giants confirmed to the WDP that they would continue to operate a free car park
'for customers' but were less clear on enforcement measures. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Morrisons does have
an attendant who monitors comings and goings, but there is no empirical
measurement, like a ticket machine or Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR)
that would make it a transparent exercise for all involved. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Clearly the presence
of these car parks knocks a bit of a hole in the ‘tackling congestion’ argument
and Cllr Cornell admits: "I don’t know where we are with the supermarkets.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">"There was a
conversation which officers did have with all the supermarkets and as far as I
understood they would continue to operate their free car parking, but there may
have been some schemes as regards people going into shop there."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">So, for the time
being, those strident banners can be taken down. But who knows when they might
need to be dusted off… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Council leader says issue has not gone away</span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jnUTSzmH-xA/W4E5Ngff7AI/AAAAAAAAAn8/iLn9XqZZNMYwJP1LPfKSjUCKzLsoT25LwCLcBGAs/s1600/1%2B-%2BDoina%2BCornell.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1117" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jnUTSzmH-xA/W4E5Ngff7AI/AAAAAAAAAn8/iLn9XqZZNMYwJP1LPfKSjUCKzLsoT25LwCLcBGAs/s320/1%2B-%2BDoina%2BCornell.JPG" width="222" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">For the council at
the centre of ‘Parking Wars’ it’s more a case of a break in hostilities rather
than a wholesale surrender.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“I think we’ve got to
look at it again. Personally, I’ve always felt it was important to look at how
car parking charges can be used as a way to manage congestion,” council leader
Doina Cornell (right) told the WDP in an exclusive interview at her Stroud District
Council office.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Cornell leads a
cooperative – some may say, unholy – alliance of Labour, Green and Liberal
Democrat councillors who together outnumber the Conservatives by just seven
seats. Political considerations are, by necessity, never far away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“I represent Dursley
which is one of the towns affected and I think there is an issue with car use.
Traffic nationally and in rural areas is going up and up and our town centres
are finite so it is inevitably more and more of an issue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“People drive a lot
and public transport isn’t good enough so the alternatives aren’t ideal for
people either. There isn’t enough public transport and in rural areas buses are
really expensive, so even if you want to use the bus and are happy to use a bus
it’s not necessarily practical so we can’t just completely do nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“I think we have to
look at it again but I think we’re going to have to talk to town
councils. Town councils are saying charges are very difficult for local
businesses. That’s fine, but we’ve got to ask ‘okay, so what do we do, how do
we manage this going forward?’”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Cornell also feels
the parking debate highlights a bigger issue in the towns. “I think what it’s
brought out for us is the question of viability of the high street. Since we
made the initial decision to look into this as a possibility last year there’s
been a lot of bad news stories and so that’s something that’s come across quite
strongly about retail, the state of the high street particularly in small
towns.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">And how has she
reacted to the vociferous opposition? “Proportionally of course if you look at
the population of the Stroud District the people who have engaged with this is
actually quite tiny. It’s a minority but still more than on other issues. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“It’s interesting
that obviously car parking is one thing that people have engaged with, maybe
because it’s so visible. I mean there are other things we’ve done which
no one seems to have an issue with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“I’ve never had
anyone protesting about planning application charges going up so it’s
interesting what people pick up on politically to engage with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“I suppose to take
some positives out of the whole experience. I’ve had lots of conversations with
people and had emails from people which wouldn’t have happened otherwise. Perhaps
it was rather unusual way to engage with lots of people but it has given an
insight into what people are thinking.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<ul>
<li>The article originally appeared as a 'Long Read' in the Western Daily Press of August 28 2018</li>
</ul>
<br />
Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-9437951364741261992018-05-03T14:19:00.000+00:002018-05-03T14:19:40.035+00:00Liverpool FC, that suspended freelance and the Express executives who are missing in action<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/951793/Liverpool-fans-and-Football-Club-Our-apology" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="481" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AxxkvZAdRyw/WusWwuinf_I/AAAAAAAAAnM/nquV20g0oIAaKwPhmrxi13GfB6xIrtV-gCLcBGAs/s320/Express.jpg" width="318" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“This
article was ill-informed and wrong. It did not, in any way, reflect the views
of the Express. It should never have been written and was very quickly removed.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>“We
unconditionally apologise, both for the article itself and any offence,
understandably, caused. The journalist who wrote the piece was immediately
suspended.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So that’s ok
then.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Express
had published a piece under the headline “Liverpool must take serious action
after Roma violence or risk further trouble”. It included the line: “Why does
trouble seem to follow them (Liverpool fans) like bees round a honey pot?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">James
Evelegh, Editor of InPublishing, leaps in with trenchant comments – most welcome
in a largely anodyne media commentariat - in his weekly <a href="http://www.inpublishing.co.uk/kb/articles/mersey_rules_1923.aspx" target="_blank">blog</a> today.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“When writing
your story about LFC fans, check your facts, steer well clear of stereotypes,
and avoid unnecessary references to Heysel and Hillsborough. If you do mention
them, then make sure you know the difference between the two,” he says</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“As the
first grumblings started to be heard from the Mersey, the new management team
leapt into action with a fulsome grovel; it disowned the article completely,
apologised unconditionally, announced the suspension of the ‘freelance’ (that’s
handy) journalist involved, and announced an immediate inquiry. Textbook.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">That
suspended journalist is not some fresh-out-of-college digital fodder but experienced,
and before this respected, newshound Colin Mafham. He’s been around the block a
bit – I briefly worked with him 30 years ago on Today – and must have written literally
millions of words for the nationals.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Search ‘Colin
Mafham’ on <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=Colin%20Mafham&src=typd" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and you can see that full social media invective unfolding
in front of you and have a look at the <a href="https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/incorrect-ignorant-offensive-newspaper-response-14579442" target="_blank">Liverpool Echo</a> for a more considered
response.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I was
reminded of an InPublishing column headlined ‘There but for the grace of God…’
by ‘Mr Magazines’ (my epithet) <a href="http://www.inpublishing.co.uk/kb/articles/off_the_page_so17_1807.aspx" target="_blank">David Hepworth</a> who wrote about how the caption ‘token
attractive woman’ has appeared in a cycling magazine (below).</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mgYDp8w3_0s/WusYLkjeqQI/AAAAAAAAAnY/QjoTG_s-qzcjxNx_216okI5xUNg0_50WACLcBGAs/s1600/cycling_weekly_so17_main.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mgYDp8w3_0s/WusYLkjeqQI/AAAAAAAAAnY/QjoTG_s-qzcjxNx_216okI5xUNg0_50WACLcBGAs/s320/cycling_weekly_so17_main.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">He wrote: </span><i style="font-size: 14pt;">The bit of
the editor’s statement that caught my attention was what came next: “In the
rush to get the magazine finished, it was missed by other members of the team.”</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now, like
anyone who’s done time as a galley slave in the production department of a
magazine, I’ve known some very close calls in my time. Many’s the pull-quote
saying, “some old bollocks here” that was only spotted at the last moment. It
is axiomatic that the tone editorial professionals employ with each other will
not be the same as that they would use to address the readers with. I’ve seen
captions on pictures of lambs in healthy eating magazines that read “yum!” and
left-to-rights that have been done with incomplete information where one of the
figures is referred to as, “fat bloke – ask Terry”.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I can take
all that. That’s the rough and tumble of production. What I can’t take is the
editor blaming "other members of the team" for this particular
cock-up. You simply can’t do that.</span> </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Indeed, you
can’t do that. And while ‘suspended’ Colin Mafham is contemplating life without
his weekly cheque from the Express what of the people who were supposed to be
in charge? Someone was responsible for reading this stuff before it went out
and someone pressed the button to publish.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And what about
the sports editor, or indeed editor? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like many an editor before me I have stood up
and been counted for something someone else did on my watch – I remember one
run-in about coverage of a National Front candidates in local elections. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The reporter
could probably have phrased the story better. I didn’t see it before it went
out and nobody showed it to me so it was my fault. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That’s what the job is all
about.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-8403363934887224252018-04-06T15:14:00.000+00:002018-04-06T15:14:20.675+00:00Who wants to be a newspaper tycoon?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><b>The
Darlington Despatch, Cranbrook News, Eastleigh Times, Warrington Post, Bishop’s
Stortford Independent, Dungannon Herald, The Oxford Paper, Brighton Beezer and
Thornbury Voice.</b></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><i><b>Just some of
the newspapers launched in the last year by publishers large and small. Brave?
Foolish? Or shrewd business? Probably a bit of all three as ALAN GEERE has been
finding out.</b></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">HAWICK. Home
of the Voice of Rugby, Bill McLaren, luxury knitwear and now one of the most
surprising success stories in British newspaper publishing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">The Hawick
Paper, funded, launched and edited by former YTS apprentice compositor turned
editor Jason Marshall has published every Friday since August 2016 up against
his former employer, the Johnston Press owned Hawick News.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yAEMpu2HQTU/WseJtI3bkVI/AAAAAAAAAmk/lMN-qtMNS5cDZvghzI2PaJdy10JGAM62gCLcBGAs/s1600/Jason%2BMarshall.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1581" data-original-width="1600" height="316" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yAEMpu2HQTU/WseJtI3bkVI/AAAAAAAAAmk/lMN-qtMNS5cDZvghzI2PaJdy10JGAM62gCLcBGAs/s320/Jason%2BMarshall.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>MAN IN THE STREET: Jason Marshall and The Hawick Paper</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jason, 47,
used his redundancy money from JP to fund the project and now has a thriving
business with a full-time employee heading up the sales side, regular
freelances and expert help with digital and photography.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">A print run
of 3,600 is spread around 40 outlets in the town and with Morrisons just
cracked the hope is that other supermarkets will follow. Surprisingly for a
start-up it’s a paid-for at 90p every Friday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">“Reaction
from the community has been phenomenal,” reports Jason from a smart coffee shop
in town called the Night Safe, which as is the way of High Streets throughout
the land is a former bank. “Everything that goes on in the town goes in the
paper and readers and advertisers appreciate that.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">Hawick sits
at the southern end of a string of Scottish border towns on the A7 between
Edinburgh and Carlisle and just 15 miles from the English border. Proud and
busy it is the sort of self-contained town that has ‘local newspaper’ written
all over it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">That there
are two weeklies with ‘Hawick’ in the title, plus the Selkirk-based Southern
Reporter and the Scottish dailies on sale in the newsagents make this town of
14,000 an unlikely hotbed of newspaper publishing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">Issue No 83
of The Hawick Paper runs to 40 pages and has everything a local paper used to
have. ‘Proper’ news with decent illustrations, two full pages of obituaries,
family notices and church services, letters, nostalgia, club notes and eight
lovingly produced pages of sport.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">Catching the
eye are two full pages on the Hawick Amateur Operatic Society’s production of Oliver!
Complete with nine photographs and a namecheck for everyone involved from the
cast and orchestra through to stage crew and wardrobe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">Also helping
boost pagination is a seven-page ad feature called ‘It’s All About Hawick’
showcasing local businesses with an ad and a little write-up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">It’s a
thoroughly likeable local newspaper, neatly laid out and true to the
over-riding principle that all content should be local.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">Jason does
confess that the project is “all consuming”. He does the print production himself
using InDesign and two days a week he’s at his desk by 5.45am and on Wednesday
doesn’t leave until midnight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">And while
growth of the paper is limited by the size of the town and its population Jason
takes a grown-up view of digital and has a fully-functioning website that has
even attracted digital subscriptions. There are 5,500 likes on Facebook and
Twitter following is growing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">Just 90
miles south, but a million miles away in attitude and approach, lies Hartlepool
where another unlikely start-up is challenging the accepted norms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<h4>
<span style="line-height: 107%;">"We are deliberately retro"</span></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">Hartlepool
Life was launched in March 2017 by former Hartlepool Mail news editor Steve
Hartley, picture editor Dirk Van Der Werff and newspaper sales manager Paul
Healey, along with two local businessmen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">The free
weekly, with a 25,000 print run of 32 pages comes out every Wednesday, and pledges
to focus on good news about people, businesses and schools in the Hartlepool
area.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7cTlH0kvGak/WseK2XOm4bI/AAAAAAAAAmw/0rJvEcOmutcbOvl_tDY2qMCewIM5zvLEwCLcBGAs/s1600/Hartlepool%2BLife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1195" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7cTlH0kvGak/WseK2XOm4bI/AAAAAAAAAmw/0rJvEcOmutcbOvl_tDY2qMCewIM5zvLEwCLcBGAs/s320/Hartlepool%2BLife.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Since its
launch in March 2017, Hartlepool Life has taken on 18 people, including
journalists, and is now distributed at 200 locations.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">Says Dirk:
“Our local newspaper had 130 plus years to report bad news, which it still does
with abandon. Sadly for them, their readers have abandoned them wholesale over
the years – along with the readers of a hundred other regional newspapers.<br />
“We are a free local community newspaper that is doing things different. I am a
huge fan of local democracy and holding the council and the police and quangos
and other public bodies to account, which we do not do with this newspaper –
but we have never said that we won’t hold them to account one day.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">As well as
pages packed with names and faces, Hartlepool Life also has two pages of
lucrative announcements, surely a testament to the paper’s popularity.<br />
It has a website but no content, just a contact us box, and while it is on both
Twitter and Facebook engagement is limited.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">“This is
totally deliberate, we don't do digital,” Dirk told PJ. “We do in a very small
way, but that's just to keep readers in touch with what we are doing – we don't
share anyone else's material or retweet stuff.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">“We are
deliberately retro. We are from an age of newspapers when editorial staff were
astonished that managements were giving news stories away for free on the
internet - that could only end in disaster, and we were not wrong! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">“People have
to pick-up their copy of Hartlepool Life to find out what is happening, they
don't click on a phone or an iPad.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">And how does
Dirk and the launch team reflect on the experience?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">“You have to
risk everything, sadly, to make a new newspaper work from scratch without a
major investor from the beginning,” he says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">“The first
three issues we knocked out in the back room of a pub, literally. On Issue 50
we were without broadband for three days in the office and still managed to get
the newspaper out on time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">“You have to
want success so much and then still have luck and determination to not fail. Looking
back, we were more naive in many ways than I would like to admit to. But our
vision and friendship and experience in the heyday of local newspapers has seen
us to the next stage.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p>“Grassroots, on-the-ground reporting"</o:p></span></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s all
very well to have a great idea, enthusiastic and experienced staff and the
support of the community – but how are you going to pay for it?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In South
London, two entrepreneurs, Kate White and Mark McGinlay, have gone around with
the digital hat not just once but three times to fund the launch of The Peckham
Peculiar, The Dulwich Diverter and now the Lewisham Ledger.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They devised
a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to raise £5,000, the minimum amount they
needed to cover the costs of the first two issues of the new Lewisham Ledger –
including journalism, photography, design, illustration and printing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fHPt6tw8Yd0/WseLmNypjXI/AAAAAAAAAm4/WBLZiVtqptYG7xR4_Ub5mrAjRdYeaU0EgCLcBGAs/s1600/Peckham.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="942" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fHPt6tw8Yd0/WseLmNypjXI/AAAAAAAAAm4/WBLZiVtqptYG7xR4_Ub5mrAjRdYeaU0EgCLcBGAs/s320/Peckham.jpg" width="254" /></a><span style="line-height: 107%;">By mid-March
they had £6,500 pledged so hope to be able to substantially increase the size
of the first two editions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">“We're
really happy – and relieved – to have reached our crowdfunding target and to
have raised a little bit more than we were hoping for too,” Kate told PJ.
“We're very grateful to all the local residents and businesses who have pledged
their hard-earned cash to make the paper a reality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">“Now the
crowdfunding has finished, we are in the process of commissioning news,
features and photography and working on the design of the paper. It's very
exciting seeing it all coming to life. We're still aiming to bring the first
issue out at the end of May.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;">The
publishers promise the pages will be filled with “grassroots, on-the-ground
reporting and unique stories and interviews” that are 100 per cent about
Lewisham and its people, rather than generic content driven by press releases. </span><span style="line-height: 107%;">“The paper
will shine a spotlight on people and places whose stories have never before
been told, with a strong focus on design and lots of great photography. It
will be stocked by a wide variety of more than 100 local businesses and will be
free so the whole of the community can read it.”</span> </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Comment on
the pledge page from Positive Ageing: “This is EXCELLENT. Much as we are
doing everything we can to support older people to get online who want to, we
realise how important print media still is for many. Will be in touch in the
new year. Whoop.” </blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>This piece appears in the April 2018 edition of <a href="http://www.newstech.co.uk/" target="_blank">PJ News</a> - 'The home of the printed and digital world of news media'</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-29510958081176880902018-04-04T14:06:00.000+00:002018-04-04T14:06:24.018+00:00Kickaround: A grown-up magazine for young footy fans<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ora-WwP0fkA/WsTY3kaaEYI/AAAAAAAAAmA/pSbf7JHHy7cXPsLVBp6bVugucRSQ-RDzwCEwYBhgL/s1600/Kickaround.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1149" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ora-WwP0fkA/WsTY3kaaEYI/AAAAAAAAAmA/pSbf7JHHy7cXPsLVBp6bVugucRSQ-RDzwCEwYBhgL/s320/Kickaround.jpg" width="229" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">GROWING up in the 1960s I cadged Football Monthly whenever I
could as it was beyond my pocket money and marvelled at Soccer Star with its
full lists of results and teams from the newsagent’s shelf. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I learned my
football from a daily newspaper (we had the Express at home, Alan Hoby
included) and comics.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I still have the ‘World Cup scorebook’ that came with the
Hornet in 1966 (<i>below</i>), complete with the scores entered a little clumsily in my
10-year-old’s excitable handwriting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The other source of collective collectivism, knowledge,
information and bad teeth were bubble gum cards. Cigarette cards had been and
gone, but this was the pre-Panini era when a clutch of cards came in a waxed
envelope with a piece of pink bubble gum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My mum wasn’t very keen on the bubble gum and, to be honest,
nor was I. But an aching jaw and sticky lips were a small price to pay for
entry into another world. Exotic animals, indigenous peoples, flags and capital
cities all arrived at 22 Second Avenue courtesy of those cards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was reminded of those thrilling times in Tegucigalpa and Tierra
del Fuego when Britain’s newest football magazine, Kickaround, dropped through
the letterbox last week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0dhmt_ZguVs/WsTaOUGoGEI/AAAAAAAAAmU/wiPM5K2YA9wVv6d7VMHZC4ORX31DzNcfACLcBGAs/s1600/Hornet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="149" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0dhmt_ZguVs/WsTaOUGoGEI/AAAAAAAAAmU/wiPM5K2YA9wVv6d7VMHZC4ORX31DzNcfACLcBGAs/s200/Hornet.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s from the team that publish When Saturday Comes and in
its promo blurb says it is aimed at boys and girls aged 7 to 12, and is about “getting
involved, going to matches and kicking a ball, and offers a refreshing, fun,
alternative look at the game for young fans”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It runs to 52 pages and has so much high-quality content it
is difficult to know where to start. There are 20 headings on the contents page
and I was immediately drawn to Kelly Cates (aka Miss Dalglish) on the life of a
TV presenter and the most sensible discussion I have yet seen on the use of
video technology.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is also how to control the ball like Harry Kane, the
life and times of Sheffield United and three pages on the SheBelieves Cup.
Somewhat bizarrely there’s also a biology lesson on why players ‘don’t need a poo
during matches’ but, hey, this is WSC.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But what got my bubble-gum flavoured juices going again was the
giant ‘World Football Map’ inserted in Issue One (<i>see foot of page</i>). Printed on quality paper this
beautifully drawn poster featured every football-playing nation – all 208 of
them – complete with national strip and flag. (Uzbekistan? I’ll be testing you
later).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wasn’t over impressed with the titles on offer to younger
footy fans when I reviewed the sector for my <a href="http://www.inpublishing.co.uk/kb/articles/football_magazines_1809.aspx" target="_blank">Spotlight</a>
column last September. Match!, I wrote, ‘feels a bit thin, small and expensive’
while Match of the Day has ‘lots to look at, but all very quick reads’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And without going overboard too much this is a fantastic
grown-up mag for younger people. In an age where the challenge is getting young
people to look at a printed page rather than a screen this is a worthy
flag-bearer for what we can only hope is a new era. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>This article appears on the website of <a href="http://www.inpublishing.co.uk/kb/articles/kickaround_a_grownup_mag_for_kids_1918.aspx" target="_blank">InPublishing </a>magazine</i></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9r-EtG-wM3s/WsTZeICSALI/AAAAAAAAAmI/sxCvRjD6cSgeULMpBhsQhio1EfMqyAjggCLcBGAs/s1600/World%2Bmap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="640" height="282" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9r-EtG-wM3s/WsTZeICSALI/AAAAAAAAAmI/sxCvRjD6cSgeULMpBhsQhio1EfMqyAjggCLcBGAs/s400/World%2Bmap.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<br />Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-21388924821689296162017-11-06T09:32:00.000+00:002017-11-06T09:32:56.228+00:00Heard the one about the Google man, the Facebook man and the Twitter man?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I HAVE and it’s no joke, especially if you run a business
that is haemorrhaging ad revenue to the digital giants while they also take
advantage of everybody else’s freely available content.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Henry Faure Walker, chief executive of regional publisher
Newsquest, accused the web giants of “free-riding off of the great content that
professional publishers produce” for years, adding: “If we are lucky we get a few
crumbs off the table.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0d1pWwBR47c/WgAp4fm4N0I/AAAAAAAAAls/J3Zhw6vzGAsVC4kj9ZAlztJ6CVwBI1kDQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Henry.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1183" data-original-width="1600" height="236" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0d1pWwBR47c/WgAp4fm4N0I/AAAAAAAAAls/J3Zhw6vzGAsVC4kj9ZAlztJ6CVwBI1kDQCEwYBhgL/s320/Henry.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>ANIMATED: Henry Faure Walker from Newsquest</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We’re at the Digital Journalism Summit 2017, held at News
UK’s swanky headquarters in London Bridge, where media professionals from
seasoned exponents to wide-eyed wannabes are eage</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">r to catch the latest trends
and hear what those in the know really know.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Conference organiser and editor of <a href="http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/" target="_blank">Press Gazette</a>, Dominic
Ponsford, did a great job assembling representatives from all three digital
behemoths that added an extra frisson to the expectation in the room. As one
tweeted: “Panel of Google, Facebook and Twitter... suspect they may feel a bit
of hostility from the room.”</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sadly for the non-combatants in the audience there was no
blood on the conference floor. <i>There were few answers from the assembled
triumvirate – in fact it’s now getting difficult to even remember what the
questions are.</i></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Even when needled by Ponsford who asked what their thoughts
were on Press Gazette’s Duopoly campaign calling on Google and Facebook to
‘stop destroying journalism’, Google’s UK director of news partnerships
Madhav Chinnappa said he “did not accept the premise of the campaign”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">He said: “When it comes to display advertising, Google is a
supplier, that means we only make money when publishers make money so we want
that to grow. We are part of that ecosystem.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Patrick Walker, Facebook’s head of media partnerships, said
that a lot of the money the platform had been making from digital advertising
was from new advertisers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“The world is moving very quickly. This is explosion of
digital advertising is an opportunity open to everyone,” said Walker. He also
pointed to work Facebook was doing to help news outlets sell subscriptions on
the platform and through the <a href="https://media.fb.com/2017/01/11/facebook-journalism-project/" target="_blank">Facebook Journalism Project</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Meanwhile, out there in the real digital world Mary Hamilton
posted a valedictory piece entitled ‘<a href="https://medium.com/@newsmary/13-things-i-learned-from-six-years-at-the-guardian-73779ba3f058" target="_blank">13 things I learned</a> from six years at
the Guardian’ from her time there as executive editor, audience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Coming in at No 7 was: Platforms are not strategies, and
they won’t save news.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“If someone else’s algorithm change could kill your traffic
and/or your business model, then you’re already dead,” Hamilton wrote. “Google
and Facebook are never going to subsidise news providers directly, and nor
should they. Stop waiting for someone to make it go back to the way it was
before.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A full conference report appears in the next issue of Production Journal. To subscribe <a href="http://pjnews.co.uk/news/exclusive-headlines/article/the-digital-journalism-debate" target="_blank">click here</a> </span></li>
</ul>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">ALAN GEERE has been to the summit but also toiled in the
foothills of journalism in his 40-year career. E: alan@alan-geere.com T:
@alangeere<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-90394081353418804822017-10-16T13:55:00.000+00:002017-10-16T13:55:29.958+00:00Justice of the piece: Are bad, bad people getting away with murder because their cases are no longer reported in the local paper? <span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I CUT my teeth – and my name in the Press bench – at magistrates
court in the Essex market town of Witham, just off the A12 between Chelmsford
and Colchester.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Every Tuesday I would point my moped north and join at least
one, but sometimes two or three, other reporters at the historic courthouse to
hear a litany of hard-luck stories, life gone bad or simply people who done
wrong.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Forty years later I am back in court watching summary
justice 2017 style. Much is largely unchanged: officious officials, bemused
members of the public and a singular lack of timekeeping or the sense that
anyone knows what is going on.</span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">'S</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">ending offensive and distressing Facebook messages'</span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We assemble at 10.30 – that’s a reporter from the local
paper, two harassed looking lawyers flicking diligently through their tablets
(computers, not pills), the clerk, the court usher and me – but nothing much
happens until 10.55 when the magistrates file in.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">They are two kindly-looking middle-aged men, smartly dressed
in dark suits and colourful ties looking all the world like they are queuing up
for hospitality at a rugby international. They too are swiping at tablets and
at 11.02 we get going, hearing a drunk and disorderly case with no defendant
present. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ghSF6rTwwe4/WeSzPqUUFXI/AAAAAAAAAlM/Afkad36D06cRukxXH5C31-iYBLmY5XIxwCLcBGAs/s1600/Orcadian%2Bsheriff%2Bcourt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1072" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ghSF6rTwwe4/WeSzPqUUFXI/AAAAAAAAAlM/Afkad36D06cRukxXH5C31-iYBLmY5XIxwCLcBGAs/s400/Orcadian%2Bsheriff%2Bcourt.JPG" width="268" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br />COURT IN THE ACT: Thirteen stories on one <br />page from court in The Orcadian, including <br />that perennial court staple 'No insurance'.</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This followed by another drunken exploit, this one about a
woman who punched a pub landlady. She was in court and after sounding duly
apologetic was sent away with a conditional discharge, a sentence that was
patiently explained to her.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My fellow reporter tells me the main action is about to
follow. He is the title’s only reporter filling the paper and feeding the
website and so far he has spent an hour gleaning two downpage stories at best.
But his shorthand dances across the page as the court hears how a woman admitted
sending offensive and distressing Facebook messages to the owner of a restaurant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Is covering court sustainable?</span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The posts were seen by 77,000 people – quite a result by
anyone’s standards – and led to her pleading guilty to an offence under the
little known Malicious Communications Act.<span style="background: rgb(249, 249, 247);"> </span><br />This story is squirrelled away to appear in the paper, which does not
publish for another week. Like many publications, anything that is not ‘out
there’ – ie from a press release or the emergency services – is kept for the
paper as an exclusive for the dwindling band of £1.30 a week purchasers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It gets a good show as a page lead and reads well for the 99
per cent of readers who have never been near court. But is it all worthwhile
and is covering court sustainable in these times of fewer staff and different
demands and expectations of customers?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Some research last year yielded the headline: “More than
half of local newspapers don’t have a court reporter.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">'N</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">ot essential to have a dedicated court reporter'</span></h3>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Brian Thornton, a journalism lecturer at Winchester
University, wrote an article for Proof magazine which draws on a
survey of editors of daily local newspapers in relation to court reports in
their respective newspapers. Some 57 newspapers editors responded to the survey
conducted by journalism students.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Editors were asked to agree or disagree with the assertion
by the legal journalist Marcel Berlins that it was ‘abundantly clear that the
courts are no longer being properly reported’. More than half of editors
agreed, including 11% who agreed strongly. More than four out of 10 editors
reckoned it was not essential to have a dedicated court reporter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Less than half of editors said that their papers had a
dedicated shorthand court reporter (44%) and more than half admitted that they
had relied on a police press release in the absence of having their own
reporter in court or else drawing on an agency report (55%).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>“The fact that the media is engaging less and less with the
everyday workings of the criminal justice system means that journalists are
increasing unaware of what actually happens in such important settings as crown
courts or coroner’s courts,” says Thornton.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“I would argue that this ignorance is dangerous because it
spreads to the public. If the public aren’t being informed about what’s
happening in courts, how can they be expected to know?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Adding to the debate is Guy Toyn from agency Court News UK
who says the number of serious stories going unheard is a “tragedy” for the
democratic process, adding regional papers not covering even big cases were
neglecting a “central, civic function of the press”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">He said this was “not only a dreadful shame because people
aren’t being informed, but a tragedy for the democratic process as a whole”. Said Guy: “Court reporting does take a long time, and a local paper can’t
really sit around day-in, day-out and do it any more.”</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uf9ilGQL1HE/WeS2lNvUbqI/AAAAAAAAAlY/SUphJJlRJkIxaNjOVLdi6E2pMLtn_jNqwCLcBGAs/s1600/Andrew%2BLangdon%2BQC%2Bcrop.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="169" data-original-width="183" height="293" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uf9ilGQL1HE/WeS2lNvUbqI/AAAAAAAAAlY/SUphJJlRJkIxaNjOVLdi6E2pMLtn_jNqwCLcBGAs/s320/Andrew%2BLangdon%2BQC%2Bcrop.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>'Justice operates essentially unseen and unheard by <br />the public': Andrew Langdon QC</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Even the legal profession is weighing into the debate. Andrew
Langdon QC says court reporters are in decline and may soon be “largely a thing
of the past”. He says members of the public are getting “no professional
narrative” of the “way we arrive at justice”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Langdon, chairman of the Bar Council, which represents
barristers in England and Wales, wrote in a legal magazine: “Due to the decline
in court reporters, justice operates essentially unseen and unheard by the
public. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“Court reporters, and especially court reporters from local
newspapers, have been declining in number for years and may soon be largely a
thing of the past.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">He adds: “The large majority of cases, although conducted in
public hearings up and down the land, and although producing outcomes that
often dramatically affect the lives of the citizens concerned, operate
essentially unseen and unheard by the public.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>“The way in which the outcomes are arrived at is thus
something of a mystery for the large majority of the uninitiated public. Worse,
outcomes are often supposed to be influenced by factors that are by and large
mythical.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Langdon highlights what could become a problem for all
concerned: “Increasingly and perplexingly, into the vacuum drop one-sided
reports via social media, not from professional journalists, but from aggrieved
parties who, like single-issue campaigners or nefarious pressure groups with
their own agenda, have access to mass communication and so can feed a narrative
that often grossly distorts reality,” he says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Phew. Not sure how much reality was distorted on my visit to
court, but you get the idea from m’learned friend.<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And as for Witham Magistrates Court I’ll leave the last word
with the estate agents: <i><b>“FIVE PLOTS REMAINING - reserve now to avoid
disappointment. The Old Magistrates Court is proving a popular new development,
with over half now sold…”</b></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">VERDICT</span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I love a good court story – but I see too many bad court
stories, or no stories at all. I even once devised an excel spreadsheet formula
to write an automated court story just to show how predictable many of them had
become.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Like much of journalism writing an engaging court story –
within the confines of what can legally be reported, of course – is a skill
that can be learned, but is honed by doing it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The NCTJ’s Media Law Court Reporting module continues to be
popular among students and trainees showing both an appetite for the craft and
a continued demand from editors for court reporting expertise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My friends at The Orcadian diligently report every case at sheriff
court and other papers just run the ‘results’ as provided by court staff. I
suspect the answer may be somewhere in the middle. It’s not easy to pick and
choose when all that is provided are names and charge, but specialist reporters
will know the difference when they see it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Court reporting can be a time-consuming gamble, but probably
one that’s worth taking even in these headline-a-minute digital days.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A full version of this story appears in the October issue of <a href="http://pjnews.co.uk/news/exclusive-headlines/article/local-newspapers-and-court-reporting" target="_blank">PJ magazine</a></b></span></li>
</ul>
Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21665800.post-10307941094219567752017-09-10T13:28:00.000+00:002017-09-10T13:28:24.696+00:00Those blinking screens & 24-hour news: why journalism is STILL great<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RfRVn2z7LoM/WawEbkg4oEI/AAAAAAAAAkE/bPZfCXcvMkApbD70110kQPKdhuNiDfApwCLcBGAs/s1600/DarrenThwaites.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="1600" height="206" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RfRVn2z7LoM/WawEbkg4oEI/AAAAAAAAAkE/bPZfCXcvMkApbD70110kQPKdhuNiDfApwCLcBGAs/s400/DarrenThwaites.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal">
ROAD TO SUCCESS: Editor-in-chief Darren Thwaites outside the </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
NCJ Media <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">offices in central Newcastle</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">IT'S 10.30 on an ordinary Tuesday morning and, in a scenario repeated in newsrooms throughout the country,
morning conference is about to start.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am back on home territory, in the
Newcastle newsroom where 25 years ago I helped The Journal convert from a
traditional broadsheet to a bright, modern tabloid heralding similar moves
throughout the country.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Now, as well as still home to three
newspapers the office marches to the beat of <a href="http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/" target="_blank">ChronicleLive</a>, one of the biggest
regional digital media operations in the country providing news, views, video
and interaction to an audience of millions every month.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Strangely for such a state-of-the-art
operation the conference guest list is largely unchanged from time immemorial
with representatives from news, production, business, sport and entertainment
all sharing the table to sing for their supper.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But behind them the league table of
story hits, as compiled by <a href="https://chartbeat.com/" target="_blank">Chartbeat</a>, flickers and burps its way through
real-time consumption showing how many people are engaged with a particular
story and how long they spend looking.</span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aNi1LwuW4wU/WawwJKBTjFI/AAAAAAAAAkU/_uRetIv164oA4AkzdBWaGynW3eQgk_bDACLcBGAs/s1600/Helen%2BDalby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1537" data-original-width="1600" height="305" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aNi1LwuW4wU/WawwJKBTjFI/AAAAAAAAAkU/_uRetIv164oA4AkzdBWaGynW3eQgk_bDACLcBGAs/s320/Helen%2BDalby.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal">
IN COMMAND: ChronicleLive e<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">ditor Helen Dalby driving <br />the
desk in </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">the middle of the newsroom</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">It is incessant and relentless and
impossible not keep glancing at it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There is a newslist, a complex matrix
of who’s doing what and when, which continually evolves during the day. But the
editor of ChronicleLive, Helen Dalby, kicks off with a review of the numbers
from yesterday revealing which stories captured attention and for how long.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Flying the flag for sport is Newcastle
United editor Mark Douglas. There is no longer a sports editor, a reflection
that the Toon (plus Sunderland AFC to a certain extent) are the biggest games
in town. By the close of conference, the top three stories in the all-seeing
chart behind him are all Newcastle United – and this on a day when nothing has
really happened.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Content editor Sophie Barley
confidently chaperones the meeting through the news list, which probably isn’t
the most exciting ever seen but does lend itself adding some creativity. She
knows not to worry. In just the next 24 hours headlines like ‘Suspect on the
run’, ‘Body found in house’, ‘Police seize thousands of cannabis plants’ will
be dominating the news agenda.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Business, Production and
Entertainments have their say too and all of it under the watching, cajoling
eye of Darren Thwaites, editor-in-chief of Trinity Mirror North East and the
man charged with driving this unremitting beast of hits and hopes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Darren’s cheerful demeanour and
twinkling countenance bely his 49 years but are a testament to his lifetime of
experience in the regional media from hometown Huddersfield to Aberdeen and
then 12 years editing in the north east, six in Teesside and six in Newcastle.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Back in the day, Thomson House as it
was then, was home to three independent newsrooms all with their own reporters,
photographers and production teams. The Evening Chronicle printed multiple
editions during the day, the Journal printed during the night for morning
delivery and the Sunday Sun was its own adrenaline fuelled version of Saturday
Night and Sunday Morning.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M9LcJ3GNGNg/WbUyBLrb37I/AAAAAAAAAkk/L2N5RBo2qPEz9FXbVjcpRM1uUevCr2wlACLcBGAs/s1600/Mark%2BDouglas.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1233" data-original-width="1600" height="244" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M9LcJ3GNGNg/WbUyBLrb37I/AAAAAAAAAkk/L2N5RBo2qPEz9FXbVjcpRM1uUevCr2wlACLcBGAs/s320/Mark%2BDouglas.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal">
NO HIDING PLACE: Newcastle United editor Mark Douglas
<br />prepares for morning conference under the all-seeing eyes of the <br />Chartbeat
monitor registering real-time audience engagement<o:p></o:p></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The system thrived on competition,
rather than co-operation. Sometimes three reporters from the same building were
at the same event chasing the same people. With advent of computers skills were
acquired at the dark arts of hacking into a ‘rival’ database to look at their
stories.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But for a modern media business this
was a bonkers way to run the operation and in 2009 the newsrooms were combined
into a single entity and in 2012 Darren was appointed to run the show. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There is still a sizeable number of
journalists – 120 in all across Tyneside and Teesside – involved from hunter gatherer reporters to ‘story
editors’, the latest incarnation of the endangered species of sub-editor.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Print is by
no means a poor relation here. The production desk has the pick of all the
stories that have been created during the day. The usual mix of breaking news,
diary jobs and stories put forward by specialists from environment to
entertainment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Journal
and the Chronicle have a distinctiveness that the team seem to know intuitively
what treatment will work best. Designers still craft individual pages and
template pages are a guide rather than a leader. Story editors still lovingly
craft headlines and captions, although they are now as likely to be from the
new breed of ‘grow your own’ as from the grizzled grey cardigan variety.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“Print must be as successful as it can
be,” says Darren from his neat, tidy and respectfully not expansive office next
to the newsroom. “And we need to have the same standards online as we’ve always
had for print.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“There is still an appetite for edgy,
challenging journalism and the quality standards are still there.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Darren passionately explains how the
audience is spread over five areas: print, desktop, mobile, app and distributed
platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Different masters with different demands,
but behind it all is the content generation that has always been the heart of
the operation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He has the realism learned over 25
years in regional journalism and is not afraid to tackle some of the current
concerns head on. “The economic reality is that we've had to find ways to cut
the cost of our newsrooms right across the industry,” he says.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TUxJV0hxhL8/WbUzP0SJQyI/AAAAAAAAAkw/HEhhG1eIiMcIcmjj4rJNmbMLbXJonYhkgCLcBGAs/s1600/Sophie%2BBarley.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TUxJV0hxhL8/WbUzP0SJQyI/AAAAAAAAAkw/HEhhG1eIiMcIcmjj4rJNmbMLbXJonYhkgCLcBGAs/s320/Sophie%2BBarley.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">FAST PACED: News editor Sophie Barley and a two-screen life</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“It's never easy to make those kinds
of decisions but I'm pleased that our newsrooms have retained the skill
and scale to do the job properly. Without our investment and belief in digital,
we simply wouldn't have been able to maintain the quality we have.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Helen Dalby has made it to Regional
Head of Digital for Trinity Mirror North East as well as Editor of
ChronicleLive through a digital route rather than traditional journalism, but
that doesn’t stop her getting caught up in the thrill of it all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“The job consumes me,” she admits “and
I find it difficult to imagine not being in the thick of news publishing. The
buzz in a newsroom when everyone is pulling together on a developing story is
quite intoxicating.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“It’s a cliché, but no two days are
the same and that’s hugely exciting. I’m proud of the content we publish, and
it’s gratifying to have at our disposal analytics which prove that we’re
answering the questions local people are asking, and doing so responsibly,
ethically and with strong brand values at our core.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Both Darren and Helen exude authority
and friendliness and take great satisfaction from the people they have brought
on and the systems in place to make it happen. Helen leads most of the monthly
skills workshops that staff attend and every reporter has a quarterly
one-to-one to look at their own individual progress.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“I get a lot of job satisfaction from
seeing the training I’ve delivered helping both experienced and new reporters
to reach the biggest possible audiences,” says Helen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Those monthly sessions are an
opportunity for each department and run through their audience figures. “We
invite everyone in the team - managers and reporters - so we can all learn
together about what worked and why,” says Darren.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“We look at why some stories didn't do
as well as we thought they should. It might be something simple such as a
headline that had no search value, poor timing of publication or a failure to
engage fully on social.”<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yMY3g3eg8I0/WbU1X3IwIBI/AAAAAAAAAk8/T0QloiY4p4A5eahmnHehAPJ5R84Ox4B4gCLcBGAs/s1600/Printers%2BPie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="820" data-original-width="691" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yMY3g3eg8I0/WbU1X3IwIBI/AAAAAAAAAk8/T0QloiY4p4A5eahmnHehAPJ5R84Ox4B4gCLcBGAs/s320/Printers%2BPie.jpg" width="269" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HOME FROM HOME: The Printer's pie in its<br />newly-painted pomp back in the mid-nineties</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“We also sit down quarterly with
individuals to learn from their data and reinforce good practice. They're
positive and constructive meetings, supported by monthly training modules. Our
pledge to the team is for them to be the best trained and most informed in
regional media. We're fortunate to have a positive bunch that want to succeed.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It has a been, to use Helen’s words, a
thrilling and intoxicating day for me too. To see the daily dramas unfold first
hand under the all-seeing eye of the metrics counter reminds me how far
journalism has come.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But I don’t want to leave the Toon
without two trips down memory lane. First to the Printer's Pie pub built into
the ground floor of the NCJ building where many a newsroom experience has been
shared over the years. But, now renamed, it is dark, dingy and shut with its
secrets locked away behind the grimy curtains.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, on to Northumberland Street,
Newcastle’s main shopping thoroughfare where I am searching for the street
vendor joyfully singing out the charms of that day’s Chronicle.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Unsuccessful, I ask a patrolling
police officer. “Oh, I don’t think they do that sort of thing any more.” Maybe
not, but they do a lot more instead…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<h3>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>THE VERDICT</b></span></span></h3>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Rather like they used to say that all
young people should do National Service I think all journalists over 50 – especially
those not involved in front-line newspaper journalism – should go and spend
some time in a thoroughly modern newsroom like this.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They will find committed, capable
people confidently handling all the channels of delivery with a dexterity that
can only be marvelled at. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Much has changed. All those blinking
screens telling you what’s hot and what’s not are a far cry from the “I know
what my readers like” finger in the wind editor of not that long ago.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But much is the same too. The
excitement when a big story breaks, the leadership needed to steer it in the
right direction and the boots on ground skills of talking to people and
delivering what you find out quickly and succinctly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<h4>
</h4>
<h2>
<ul>
<li><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">This article appears in the September 2017 edition of <a href="http://pjnews.co.uk/" target="_blank">PJ </a>'The voice of news publishing and printing'.</i></li>
</ul>
</h2>
Alan Geerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09536000975884231306noreply@blogger.com4