Sunday predictions...

Let's be daring: Blues 1, Blackburn 0.

Reading draw; Fulham lose.

Blues stay up! C'mon you Blues.

Villa beat West Ham 2-1. Everton lose 0-1 to Newcastle.

Villa in Europe! YEEEEES.

Editor's wishful thinking?

Let's see...

Doom merchants! Do they do your head in or what? Or has the credit-crunch brigade got it right this time?

What am I on about? Well, in summary, are we on the precipice of economic disaster or not? If you listen to some - largely London-based - commentators, we're already falling over it.

Indeed, according to some of them, the economic world has already seen certain businesses disintegrate at the bottom of a cartoon-like drop.

PUFF!

Extrapolate their worst trends and many household names will also be out of business in 18 months, unless they halve their costs.

ARRGGHHH!! Close branch offices! Slash the product range! Cancel the research! Cut the training! Freeze recruitment! Negotiate pay cuts! Re-write contracts to a fraction of their worth! We're all doomed if we don't.

Well, call me cynical, but I'm tiring of this Fleet Street-style hyperbole. Especially when it's picked up by semi-local 'experts' who choose to spread the PANIC.

I reckon one of the main factors in the current fast-lane downturn is the constant, the perverse, the almost gleeful talking up of the re-run of the 1930s depression we're supposedly in.

So, as editor of the biggest daily newspaper in Birmingham, I've come to a very important decision tonight. Whatever the news from London, from share-price watchers and bonus-dependent private school fee payers, the Birmingham Mail is going to headline GOOD economic news on tomorrow's front page.

Nothing false or untruthful. Certainly nothing single-sourced or rumoured. Just a piece of news that I know we have and that MIGHT have been reserved for an inside page or even the business spread until now.

But tomorrow, in an effort to LIFT our regional economic spirits, we're going to HOLD THE FRONT PAGE for a POSITIVE local business SUCCESS story. Something that might make hundreds of local employees finally BOOK their hols rather than cancel them.

So put the flags out tomorrow. Announce a £1 rise in the kids' pocket-money. Or at least take the missus out for a prawn cocktail treat. Because tomorrow, do we have GOOD news for you? You bet we have.

AND WE'RE GOING TO SHOUT ABOUT IT!!

Watch this space.

How recently has the fate of ALL three main Midland teams rested on the last match? It certainly makes the job of being the newspaper that reflects their joys and woes an exciting one.

WBA confirmed their promotion AND the Championship title with their 2-0 yesterday. WIth the Premiership results inconclusive, this will see WBA's victory fill the front and back of today's Birmingham Mail.

Villa's 0-2 loss to Wigan means they have to wait until next weekend to see if they clinch 5th space and straight Uefa qualification. (Everton now need to lose at home to Newcastle and Villa to win v West Ham).

But it's the Blues who really face the, er, blues. They can beat Blackburn convincingly but will still plunge to relegation unless both Reading and Fulham draw or lose. That said, they can still stay up if they draw, as long as Reading and Fulham lose, because of goal difference.

A real belt and braces weekend to come. And next Monday could be full of football for two very different reasons. 'Blues down' or 'Blues up' in itself would fill the space and grab the readers. 'Villa in Europe' with 'Blues up' would be the icing on the cake.

Almost hidden among the political results today is the success of the Birmingham Mail's latest 'No More Chinese Whispers' campaign.

Just seven days after launching the public call for direct communications, SAIC/Nanjing have agree to meet the paper's Business Editor Jon Griffin in a one-to-one meeting with senior management.

Several onlookers urged caution lest the Chinese car giant was offended by the Western free press. But the decision to talk at last has justified the seven-day campaign.

And t's saved my budget lots of money... we had been prepared to send Jon Griffin all the way to China to get the answers we needed...

Read more on p3 of tonight's paper or on this link: http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2008/05/02/mail-brings-down-the-wall-of-silence-97319-20853410/

After the overnight team's effort, the 7am crew came into all copy, counts and pictures ready to place this morning. I'd commissioned a special colour cartoon from our own Colin Whittock... and here it is:

He sums up the entire national story with his clever mind in ink. After 40 years of gags, it never fails to surprise me how Colin still comes up with such readable and ironic detail.

'Labour's night of misery' is today's front page, with more coverage of Birmingham on pages 4, 5 and 6.... and the full run of election counts, Black Country reports and other district results on pages 23 to 26.

For the Black Country Mail edition, we are this second in the process of switching pages 5 and 6 for pages 24 and 25, to make sure readers get the detail from their area in the first few pages. A changed front page also reflects that Labour held onto Sandwell.

Once again I'm proud of how the Mail team's efforts will see today's paper carrying the first full results for the whole circulation area. It's crucial that local newspapers cover local politics fully.

Of course, planning such huge publishing operations change through the day. After close liaison with my counterpart on The Birmingham Post, I agreed that it was senseless him trying to stretch his team to take in every count when the Mail reporters were already there. Hence this update email this morning to my team as a response to the first email:

EMAIL
From: The Editor
To: All election reporters
30/04/2008 13:36
Subject: election memo - additional requirements
Thanks good planning.
One extra thing has now come up for all reporters and news editors to make note of.
I have agreed with The Post that we will save and send whatever counts our reporters have gathered at two points during the early hours to meet their deadlines.
This needs to happen in all areas bar Birmingham, which the Post are staffing themselves.
These 'save and sends' of counts need to happen as near to 1am as possible (but no later) and as near to 1.45am as possible, (but no later).
The counts should be sent to PCOPY and marked appropriately (ie: RES Dudley).
Many thanks to all for taking on this last change to the plan.
That aside, good luck to you all tonight.
Regards
S

Here's the peek into the organisation I mentioned...
For info, the Mail's shifts usually start at 7am each morning, working towards printing times of 9.45, 11, 12.30 and 2pm through the day for different editions.
But election night will see a whole extra shift starting at 10.30pm and working through to 7am to prepare the results for the start of the day. If you're interested, read on:

EMAIL
From: Head of News
To: All election reporters
30/04/2008 13:36
Subject: election memo
Afternoon,
Here are the details in connection with our election coverage tomorrow (01)
Firstly, will all reporters send their up to date mobile phone numbers to the late news editors desking the operation tomorrow night.
Will you all please call in at 11pm ish to let them know things are under way etc. They will be on the usual news desk numbers from that time.
Our coverage will take the same format as last year and we will be using page 1, 3, 4 &5 as a spread and then four pages further inside with the full results and more stories and pics.
The desk will co-ordinate which stories go where, so please keep in close contact with them to flag up the best stories of the night.
We require a page lead, at least, wrapping up all that has happened, plus additional copy on rows/ issues/shocks/surprises etc. The best of this copy is likely to be used on the 4&5 spread.
Photographers will be at the Birmingham counts and also at Dudley for the Black Country.
You will all be sent a template to fill in with your results. That should get to you today. Please WAIT until all your results are in before sending them to DTI, together with the overall new council make-up.
When you have filed your copy and sent your result, please ring in and confirm with the desk that they have been received.
Very importantly, you will also need to email a copy of these results to multi-media for use online.
Copytakers will be on duty but will only be used as emergency back-up, or for the likes of freelancers covering the Wolverhampton count for us.
If there is anything you are unclear about, please call either myself or other desk heads.
Thanks in advance for all your hard work, it's much appreciated.

No media covers local council elections like your regional evening newspaper.

On Friday morning, the first edition will start printing at 9.45am and will contain each and every one of the results from literally hundreds of wards across the Midlands that were counted overnight.

We'll more than likely splash on the result. There will be a run of pages from three to five on the leading stories and pictures from the various areas. Which locally famous councillor lost his seat; how the BNP were ostrichised ostracised (with thanks to David the spellchecker!) by the majority of voters; the scuffle over a recount; and so on.

And then deeper in the paper will be a four page run of the fully detailed counts from each and every ward, each one personally entered by a Birmingham Mail journalist on site.

So I do hope that readers will remember how hard the team will have been working to put all this together. The planning of rotas started weeks ago. The result is a slimmed down shift tomorrow and Friday. Because on Thursday night, the election team won't be in until 10.30pm. They won't go home until 7am. If they're lucky. And the subs who put the pages together will need to come into fairly ready stuff by 6am Friday morning.

Add to that the staff updating the internet in the early hours of the morning; the photographers rushing to get all the main count results and speeches; and our own Colin Whittock drawing the topical sketch live for Friday's publication.

I'll publish some of the emails that have been whizzing back and forth to ensure the process all works in the next day or so, to give Editor's Chair viewers an insight into Election night at the Birmingham Mail.

Here's proof that I got out of my Editor's Chair this weekend!

I was leading from the front (er, well, from near the back, actually) in the Birmingham Mail Fun Run that more than 2,000 runners enjoyed taking part in on Sunday. I managed the 5km in 44 mins (but remember, I was talking to as many runners as poss.... that's my excuse...)

From Villa Park to the Alexander stadium was the route, and it was real joy to join in a mix of enthuiastic Brummies raising money for charity. We're told that around £75k is expected, all helping Macmillan Cancer Care and the Birmingham Mail Charity Trust (the latter an independent community charity).

It was great that we managed to persuade several personalities to run as well, as I'm sure the publicity about their involvement encouraged more runners to turn out.

I was joined by Mrs D (40 mins) and 8-year-old son Dan (30 mins).

If any viewer wants to contribute by sponsoring the Dysons, please send a cheque (£1 a km = £5 x 3 = £15?) made payable to Macmillan Cancer Care to me at the following address and I will make sure this is added to the day's funds raised.

Steve Dyson, Editor, Birmingham Mail, P.O. Box 78, Weaman Street, Birmingham B4 6AY

Meanwhile, who can you spot on the run in the picture below?

A bottle of good wine to the first poster on this blog with BOTH correct names...

Naming a suspect during a police investigation before charges are brought is a fairly unusual move.

The reasons for the Birmingham Mail's action today - see link - are worth airing for chair watchers.

As those who have followed the death of Villa fan Christopher Priest death will know, The Sun on Monday published an incorrect story. Under the headline 'MURDER AT THE MATCH - Villa fan run down by rival' it reported speculation that the car involved was "said to be driven by a Birmingham fan".

This was officially denied by police, who said fan rivalries were not involved. But rumours have persisted, partly as a result of The Sun's reckless report. In some parts of the city, tensions were running high, and so I believed certain facts needed spelling out.

Our full story today tells how Blues fans and a Villa fan were in the same car and had been driving around after the match together. They were driving away from an incident when the collision happened. The collision is not thought to have been intentional. It was certainly nothing to do with football rivalry. Read the full link above for more detail.

Naming the driver and confirming the Blues/Villa fans in the same car came after a full Friday of chats with senior sources and lawyers, but was deemed by me to be sensible in putting rumours to rest.

It also named the driver in an environment of accuracy, with the police warned it was going to happen and therefore able to keep an eye on things. Rather that than hotheads naming people on websites with no warning or, even worse, national red-tops naming people with misleading headlines.

It is these major facts and juxtaposition that are crucial at times like this, and the Birmingham Mail is determined to play its part in helping in any way it can.

(PS: Close chair watchers will note one poster's concern at the Birmingham Mail's Monday report which described fans "pouring" out of the ground after the match when the collision occurred. He even thinks this puts us in the same boat as The Sun's crass reporting.

Hmm. Entitled to his opinion, of course. And as the time of the incident now appears to have been confirmed to be 3pm, it's likely that it was the tail-end of the crowd departing rather than the initial waves of fans pouring. So point made. But a little pedantic, methinks. )