Taking Out The Trash

Same number of chips, less wrapping

The news that the Bristol Evening Post and the Western Daily Press are to shed around 45 jobs is just the latest in a raft of local journalism redundancies.

Just looking at Wiltshire, ITV West are in the process of cutting editorial staff in half, while the Salisbury Journal, Wiltshire Times and Gazett & Herald have all lost staff. The Bath Chronicle used to be a daily with four editions including two specifically for Wiltshire. It is now published just once a week. It's website lists a pathetic three reporters.

There can be no clearer sign that people will get less service, not a leaner service, because of these cuts than the news that the Western Daily could become no more than a Metro for rural areas.

However, when the Chronicle went weekly we were told that the Western Daily would be able to take up some of the slack. That promise lasted all of 18 months.

The WDP isn't all to my taste. It's the house journal of the Countryside Alliance but at least it covers rural issues rather than write patronising articles about barn conversions.

And when I was starting as a reporter we all looked to the WDP as the place to work before making it in Fleet Street.

Life hasn't stopped in Wiltshire, councils haven't given up making decisions, courts aren't shut for business and businesses keep going. So who is going to tell us about it?

It's worth bearing in mind that Northcliffe (the Daily Mail's regional arm which owns the Bristol and Bath papers) made an operating profit last year of £68m. Admittedly that was down on the £90m+ the year before, but the idea that local newspapers are a financial blackhole isfalse.

It's that owners have unrealistic and greedy expectations about profit. I thought that attitude was going to be shelved in light of the new economic climate we were all living in?

Mani pulite

Labour peer Toby Harris writes on being approached by the Sunday Times in their peers-for-sale sting but turning them down.
Very interesting to hear this side.
Hat tip: Hopi Sen via Bob Piper

Talking shop

Pretty much every month the parish council is asked to respond to one kind of consultation exercise or another.

A questionnaire, a letter, an online form, attach something to the leg of a racing pigeon.

Invariably we are given a very short deadline for our response and are given no feedback on what happens at the end of it.

Last week we got an email from the police asking us to respond to a questionnaire on the performance in our neighbourhood policing team.

The email arrived on a Friday (when the parish office is shut) and they needed the response by the following Tuesday (the parish office is also shut on a Monday).

What particularly irked was that the answer to freedom of information request I had received only a few weeks before showed that crime in the NPT had gone up dramatically in the last year (232 incidents to 411) and the types of crime had got more serious.

So here was a botched consultation exercise taking place at a time when perhaps more attention was needed on basic law enforcement.

What finally led the council to submit a very sharp response was the last question.

"Are the Neighbourhood Policing Teams in your area engaging locally to gather intelligence on counter-terrorism and to reassure the public?"

Our parish, like many in rural Wiltshire, has a large number of soldiers stationed in it so we're actually pretty reassured that plenty of people keeping an eye our already and should a terrorist incident occur they'll be plenty of people of around to take of the problem.

It's reasssurance that with the day to day petty crime is being detected and punished that we need.

This is my latest post on the Total Politics blog.

The unspeakable promoting the indefensible

Eddie Shah is best known for setting up Today – the first 3D national newspaper (so-called because the new colour printing didn’t quite work so the pictures looked 3D ones).

He'd earlier come to prominence because of virulent anti-union activities.

Now he’s a building developer in north Wiltshire.

And he’s still got plenty of things to say; such as why British builders are so lazy.

Which probably doesn’t sound so clever in a recession, and wasn't particularly clever then.

But at least he’s got a chance to really prove his communication skills because looking at the North Wiltshire Conservatives web site we find one Eddie Shah is their communications officer.

Having taken on the unions we can assume Eddie fears nothing – not even promoting a Tory MP who even Tories think is a dash bit indecent having left his wife while she was recovering from cancer for another woman.

Gray, as my MP, has ben quick to respond to my correspondence and has signed EDMs I have pointed out to him on press freedom.

But

his notional 7,000 majority looks insecure against this backdrop - especially if supporters decide to put their efforts into neighbouring seats. The question is whether the Lib Dems

have the muscle to muster a decent effort in North Wiltshire and the more winnable seat of Chippenham.

And also who else might fight that seat.

Aggro

Some times you just find yourself drawn, like a moth to the flame, to stupid posts or ridulous comment threads.
I've got to say that Tom Harris's comments on prosperity or green politics seems very superficial. Come on Tom - at least make out like you can think independently. You could start here.
And a great post from Dave Osler has degenerated into the world's most boring argument with all sorts of regressive prigs chipping in.
Enough already.
Perhaps I'll feel better when Arsenal win the replay.

Update: Donpaskini has, as ever, rebutted Tom with more elegance than I could muster.

BBC cant

The decision by the BBC not to screen the emergency appeal for Gaza is pretty poor. As others have pointed out - they've done it in the past and not queried that the aid might not reach those in need.
Censorship works best when people censor themselves without prompting from others and this is a pretty good example.
But if you do want to contribute then you can do so here.

An editor writhes

Great post on the Bristol Evening Post Watch blog about the hypocrisy and downright nastiness of the editorial comment.

I was about to say that I wish the BEPW bog would update more often . . . but then who am I to talk.

Apparently the paper and its sister title are expected to announced redundancies today. My commiserations - it's your management that should be walking Spanish.

Update: confirmed that the the Post and Western Daily looking at 45 redundancies. Let's hope the NUJ chapel which fought for so long to get recognition can successfully reduce the sackings to a minimum.

Staggering

Sad news from the New Statesman where political editor Martin Bright is leaving. Although it seems that John Pilger is staying contrary to Guardian reports.
What on earth is going on there what with that its incredible decision to recognise the NUJ? It may be that because Bright didn't get the editor's job he felt he had to move on.
At the Tribune Christmas party before Christmas there was optimism that the latest financial crisis might be resolved when the new owner takes over.
But as Dave Osler writes there is a wider issue about making left-wing publications attractive. There are some interesting comments following Dave's piece before it gets into a very boring and debate about angels and pinheads.
My two-penneth? Left-wing/progressive magazines don't pay and because I need to eat I need to look elsewhere. I'd love to submit to them lots of stories which would make readers sit up and take notice but I should be reimbursed for my labour.
Therefore the pool of available writers are restricted to those who don't rely on payment - a very limiting pool.
Red Pepper are among the worst on this as if writing for them is some kind of privilege or they are nurturing new talent. Tribune is at least apologetic and the New Statesman makes an effort.
My left-wing mag of choice? The Nation. You can have crap design in a print edition and still be a must read.

And it's goodbye from him

Settling down to watch Mr Obama yesterday and there was a sight which sent a chill down my spine.
Dick Cheney in a wheelchair. That man's pacemaker was only an electrical stimulus away from the presidency.
Apparently he hurt his back lifting boxes.
But, viewing the clip below, I think we know exactly what he's been up to. He's been making sure there's no mine shaft gap.

Back

Now that's what I call a Christmas break.
Blogging to resume shortly...in the meantime a great post on left wing mags here.