February 2008 Archives

How lucky am I to have the quality of Maureen Messent to call upon in a crisis?

She is now formally retired, although still 'retained' to write a page of comment per week for the Birmingham Mail, published each Friday.

But today I needed her special efforts to mark the passing of one of Birmingham's great leaders, Sir Richard Knowles. And so at 7am I called her at home, getting her out of bed, to break the news of the death of Comrade Dick (the way he always spoke) and to ask her for 450 words of decent prose.

An hour later, yes, an hour later, it was on my screen, colourful, interesting and as succinct as ever, making today's coverage of Sir Richard's death really shine.

Maureen painted a picture that elegantly recalled everything from Sir Richard's gravelly voice to the gentle way he looked after his first wife in her latter years of illness. From his soft side witnessed tending to a lame horse to his hard side verbally kicking the teeth out of opponents in the council's debating chamber. After reading Maureen's piece, you could vividly picture this great man.

Not many people who work for us can accomplish such rousing journalism in so short a time.

We are lucky to have access to her much-envied skills.

You can read Maureen's piece here: http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2008/02/18/personal-memories-of-sir-richard-knowles-97319-20489691/

Is it just me, or should domestic animals be allowed?

Smelly, dirty, flea-ridden, noisy, hairy, sneeze-prompting hounds. Evil-eyed, posey, snobby, scratchy sometimes screechy cats. Ban 'em all!

Well, if I can't get the animals banned, I can at least remove soppy stories about them from the Birmingham Mail. Until, that is, I'm away, it seems...

A day off yesterday (Friday) led to a page three story about good-pal dogs who couldn't bear to be away from eachother. Yeah, right. Sounds a bit sniffy to me, if you know what I mean. Plus as well as the dogs they had other pix of friendly cats and guinea pigs. Urrggh.

And by today, the paper has a story headlined: 'Movie star dog lost in snowstorm'. No lie! (good riddance, I say). And the old infamous 'cat rescued from roof' was on the same page six. Noooooo! (Why, oh why, does the fire service spend hundreds of pounds of council tax money rescuing cats?? That should be the story, guys.)

I'd only just recovered from that page in today's paper when I turned to page 9 to read 'Brum fits bill for a duck far from home' about some foreign mallards enjoying a dip in Brum's canals. How about 'New style ducks on the menu of Mailbox restaurants after tasty birds wander from usual flight route' instead?. Mmmmm.

A few words in Monday's review conference on our news policy re. animals are needed, methinks.

A letter distributed to binmen depots today makes the amazing claim that the Birmingham Mail is in cohorts with the city council over the current single status pay dispute.

The letter goes on to claims that the editor (me) is a 'fully paid up member of the Tory party'.

It also, in what I can only think is an attempt to be threatening, prints the name and home address of the editor (me) and local government correspondent 'for information'.

Now, everyone has a right to their opinions, although I would reject any suggestion of imbalance in our coverage, (indeed, many at the council would claim we are on the side of staff striking!!).

Facts are important, however, and so, for anyone interested, I am not a member of any political party and would be in breach of my own journalistic integrity, let alone company policy, if I was.

As for printing home addresses, it should worry trade unionists and/or binmen that someone amongst them appears to want to suggest some kind of personal approach or harassment.

I'm not too worried about this myself, as I'm pretty tall, heavy and can look after myself. But because staff addresses are also included in this weak attempt at coercion, whoever it was should know that as a matter of policy the letter is now in the hands of the authorities.

And, just in case anyone's wondering, the Birmingham Mail will continue with its balanced coverage on this dispute. Nothing will change that. The council will be praised or criticised when necessary, and so will binmen or other workers.

It reminds me of when the BNP, whose policies we argued against in the paper, posted my address on its website in 2005, implying that someone might want to send something offensive through my letterbox.

Again, their details were sent to the appropriate authorities. And again, the Birmingham Mail will continue to knock the BNP.

My point? People should know that threats don't deter good journalists.

At a business dinner last night, and bought a glass of wine for myself and a contact beforehand.

The bill? £21.50 for two glasses of wine! £21.50 FOR TWO GLASSES OF WINE!

Now Hotel du Vin is one of my favourite venues. Swift, polite service, good food and a decent stock of vino. And, if you ever have to stay, fabulous rooms.

But £21.50 for two (albeit large) glasses of wine?

I didn't ask for vintage, simply "two glasses of house white wine please". The waiter asked "large or small", so I guess that was my first mistake. He then asked "Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc or Chablis" and not really thinking I said "Chablis". Perhaps I should have asked the cost.

But £21.50? Daylight robbery.

Received the ultimate in letters that I find offensive today.

The 'head of communications' at a certain organisation wrote to say how he felt "disappointed" with a (true) story we had printed because it was negative and he felt he had "an understanding" with us...!

Not on you nelly!!

We may well work closely with organisations across the city, but none, I repeat none, can ever assume that we are in any way in their pockets or that they are exempt from critical stories.

I almost enjoyed writing my reply to the hapless PR who was very new in his post.

"We will always try to be helpful by publicising successes and needs of (organisation's name removed) by working closely with you. But we are also a watchdog and, when appropriate, a critic and it is important that you understand the distinction between our roles.

"I am sure that once you get settled and get to know the local media, you will enjoy a good relationship based on this understanding. All such matters aside, I would welcome you and wish you the very best in your new post."

Do you think he'll get the message?

Too many weekends result in me ending up depressed at the national media.

Over the years I've been particularly scathing in print about how the nationals savaged Longbridge and the future of car-making during the BMW sell-off in 2000.

I've also regularly hit out at how so many in the national press ignore anything north of Watford, and I have written countless editorials complaining that they are too often smug, London-centric posers.

Today (and yesterday and Friday for that matter) I've been shaking my head at the thousands of column inches and hours of air time the national press and broadcasting world have spent on building themselves up into a frenzy over Archbishop Rowan Williams.

OK. The man hinted at what he felt was the "inevitability" of Sharia law becoming entwined in British law. But does this really make him 'The mad burqa' (headline in The Sun)?. Does that really mean he should resign (suggestions from The Times, Telegraph, BBC and others)?

Yes, perhaps he was little naive with his complex lecture. But what has he actually done wrong?

In my mind, he may well have done more good for race relations and ethnic diversity in Britain than ALL national newspapers put together have done in the last 12 months. Why? Well, for raising an issue that has focused the attention of the world on how best (or not) to integrate diverse ethnicities and religions in an increasingly cosmoplitan country.

Is this considered by the national media? No, of course not. They are too busy milling around in their media circus, snatching pictures of the palpably nervous Archbishop at church, hoping and praying (no pun intended) that he will resign and give them even more days to tear into the subject.

They jump onto eachothers' bandwagon, the national press, on any such story, almost sweating profusely as they try to outdo eachother with pious comment and clever-clog headlines. On this particular tale, the broadsheet or quality press have been no better than the red-tops.

And the uncomfortable truth about this media circus is that it instills fear and foreboding in the many millions who read or watch them, in this case making the nation feel even more at odds with eachother about race and religion... and especially about "the Muslims". This leaves many organisations - including us in the regions - to pick up the pieces in the cities, towns and villages that we not only serve but also live in and work.

Do national editors care? Not a jot. As they sip their champers in the confines of wine bars frequented only by themselves, the only thing they worry about is whether they can outdo eachother in ridiculing the next victim of their uncontrolled rants. I think their lack of responsibility is appalling.

This blog will return to the so-called finest of Fleet Street from time to time, and it would be nice to think that on occasions it might be because they have impressed regional editors such as myself, who should surely be looking up to them in awe.

I very much doubt it.

There are some pretty good things about being an editor. But however much I might wish, they're not all about oak-panelled public houses, real ale and pork scratchings.

No, an editor also has to lead from the front, so says the textbook. And this includes signing up for and taking part in the Birmingham Mail 5km Fun Run on April 27.

Well, according to my three sons it does. They all want to run it, as does Mrs D. I've tried to argue against:

1. I need to be there at the start ("taking part won't stop you," the family argue);

2. I need to be there at the finish ("well practice and you might, just might, be able to complete the 5km," argues eldest son Thomas, 15, without a hint of irony);

3. No, I mean I need to be there when the winners cross the line ("You might be, Dad," says youngest son Daniel, eight, bless him)

4. In any case, people may laugh at what I look like running ("well don't wear the tight white shorts and T-shirt says brutally honest middle son Ben, 11). And so on.

As a result, yesterday saw Mrs D and myself out training in "just about acceptable" attire, and arriving home bright-eyed and bushy-tailed having completed 5.7k.

Not bad, ey boys? "But dad," they chorused, "you took one hour 20 minutes and walked!"

Well, yes. As I say, training... and I've got to start somewhere.

Watch this space to see how I get on... and if you want to join in, you can download an application form here.

I'll get one of my cleverer multi media editors to make this an easier link tomorrow...

**cue smug multi media editor doing just that**

As well as looking after readers, the Birmingham Mail also likes to look after partners... organisations who serve this city.

A potential story today revealed quite a large amount of taxpayers' money being spent on what many would feel was a lavish event for businessmen.

It's a valid story and we will run it.

But the initial response from an off-guard press office was to issue a snappy quote, one that actually made the story paint the organisation in an even worse light.

Easy enough, it would have been, to just run the story and let the organisation cringe at itself.

But no... the Mail has a responsibility here.

I felt it fair to call the people concerned, offer them my opionion that they sounded, at best, silly, and that if they wanted I would wait for a better, more informed comment, from them.

They did this. It's a better comment, not only putting them in a better light but also explaining the situation more fully which, ultimately, is a better service for our readers as well.

I kind of talk in code above, as I don't think it fair to name the oganisation. But the story and new quotes will be in Monday's paper... without the background above.

A local or regional newspaper, like the Birmingham Mail, can NEVER let down its readers.

And so it's always galling when something in our paper does just that.

Two incidents this week enraged me.

The first was an offer by Subway to give all readers the chance to claim a £2 breakfast 'sub'. Good value from a 40p Mail. Problem was, one or two of the chain's outlets got fed up with Mail readers queuing up with coupons, or misunderstood the terms and conditions, and started turning away readers.

Not very nice if you've bought your Mail, seen the offer and have queued and expect your breaky. Even worse if you've cleverly bought five Mails and are there with your whole family each clutching the answer to your daily bread.

A growing number of irate calls to the editor's chair led to my even more irate calls to Subway via promotions.

Fortunately, Subway appear to have been very responsive and the complaints have tailed off, a sure sign it is now honouring the original offer.

The next incident was even more annoying.

A national customer had paid for an 'insert', a 'leaflet', and this turned out to be a 'Golden ticket worth up to £10,000'.

Eager hands tore open the envelope to see what could be won... and in the seven examples I tried I won them all.... only for my winnings to be the equivalent to a packet of seeds that I had to spend nearly £10 on the phone claiming.

All legal, all within ASA standards and regulations, apparantly. But all outrageous to the average Mrs Cannybody who really believed she might win £10k... and then spent half her food money for the week finding out she's actually won nothing worthwhile at all.

And who would she, and scores of other readers blame? The Birmingham Mail, of course. Not good customer service.

Calls have been made. Matters are under discussion.

Watch this space....

I feel a lot cleverer today. I think.

It's come after a day-long editors' forum where the focus was the future of online journalism. So many words came my way and I THINK I now know what they all mean.

I'm on a five minute break before we continue upstairs, so let me share a little of my new-found wisdom.

Twitter: getting the mother-in-law to blog

Flash: online picture contributions from the local pervert in park bushes

Wikis: and various other plural exclamations from switched-on teenagers

Pod: Kiddies' TV link here, the internet versions of my old favourite Bod character

Hypertext: an effective form of exciting the mobile phone network without making your thumbs too sore

Crowd sourcing: it's all about football fans, based around the evolution of terrace chants

Flickr: (that's right, 'flickr' with no 'e')... er, online nose-picking

Mashup: modern online advertising slogan, based on an idea taken from the original Smash spacemen ad

RSS: I think this one is something to to with the sporty Ford Escort community online

As I say, I feel a lot clever today. Not.

I'm back upstairs now to learn some more...