March 2008 Archives

Pleased at the hits rate, but disappointed at the number of people who didn't feel confident enough to enter last week's comp.

The result is that both entrants won boozy prizes!

Steve Hayes wins for his multiple entry for Thursday's page one headline. The official version read:
Brum beach is
all washed up

Steve offered three alternatives. To quote him direct:
"1) Brum beach plans all at sea
OR
2) Tide goes out on Brum beach plans
OR even (a Sun-esque)
3) Wave goodbye to Brum beach (with some sort of effect on 'wave' of course!)"

A bottle of vino awaits you, Steve, so please email me your postal address at steve.dyson@birminghammail.net

For the same day, Colin Peel's "No more sandy bottoms for city office workers" was a good (and only) second.

But Thursday aside, the rest of the field was clear for Mr Peel. For last Monday's news on HP erasing Brum's role in it's sauce, we wrote:
What a
sauce!

Mr Peel's offering of HP wiped out again wins a bottle of plonk.

Mr Peel's Tuesday entry (see previous blog for details) was judged too bland... no prize. But his Wednesday entry for the Tata Land Rover/Jaguar deal of Posh car workers' Indian takeaway raised a smile and wins another bottle.

Mr Peel also entered for Saturday, but again scored zero.

Send me an email, Mr Peel, and I'll have your two bottles of vino delivered. Plus a bottle of bubbly for entering the most times! Well done.

OK Editor's Chair watchers, here's a real competition with even better prizes.

I'm away from the office next week chilling myself out in Cornwall (literally, it seems) while our friends enjoy our Brummie home.

While I'm out of town, I challenge you all to write better page 1 splash headlines than appear in the print edition of the Birmingham Mail each day from Monday March 24 to Saturday March 29.

The rules: 1. The headlines you write must related to the main p1 story of each day. 2. They must fit, or thereabouts, the space available. 3. The funniest wins. 4. The Editor's decision is final (I love saying that).

There will be a bottle of classy wine PER DAY awarded to that day's winner... and a bottle of champagne up for grabs if you are the top entrant across the whole week (total number of entries, regardless of actually winning).

I'll judge and announce all winners on the day of my return to the office (March 31).

Happy headline writing!

Well done Tam Nadaks! In his post on yesterday's blog, he said: "Surely 'golden gloves' Tom can't be your off-spring and pride and joy? You don't look old enough!"
'Fraid I am old enough, Tam: I'm 40, Tom's my eldest at 15.
You get the bottle of plonk and I will email you for your address for delivery.
Sorry Colin Peel... be faster on the button for the next comp...

I'm unashamedly proud of the main picture story on page 47 on tonight's Birmingham Mail. The first person to guess why will get a bottle of decent plonk on me...

As I blog, a shocking story is just going off-stone for today's first edition front of the Birmingham Mail... A maths teachers at a local Catholic school jailed over his affair with a teenager.

'Teacher is jailed over pupil affair'.

Legal challenges exist with such cases. The victim most certainly cannot be identified, and yet justice would not be done to leave out the name of the convicted teacher; and for clarity and local information, the school he worked at should, if possible, also be named.

But does this threaten to identify the victim?

In this case, we decided to name the teacher (that's almost always the case) and the school. It's a large school, with 950 pupils, which is a factor to consider. Harder to identify the victim among that many pupils.

We also removed the dates that the incidents occurred, and referred to the victim as a 'teenager', not specifying her actual age, which again blurred which year she is or was in. We have not referred to whether or not she is still at the school.

The result is a story that specifies enough detail for justice to be detailed and seen to be done, but also protects the identity of the victim involved.

I started a 10-day countdown to my Cornish break some days ago. Four days to go now! We head off on Good Friday. The only problem is that Mrs D has spotted a change in the weather for the weekend. Apparently, it's going to snow...

The best answer phone message was left over the weekend by a dear old lady who'd spotted a gem of an advert in the Birmingham Mail... but the number she tried to call was out of order.

When I returned her call this morning she was so excited. "Do you think you can help?" I'll try, madam. "Well, the advert says here that we can get a seven-day holiday to the coast by coach for £105 each... that's amazing isn't it?" It certainly sounds like a good deal, madam.

"But when I call the number it's out of order. Do you have the right number?" I'm not sure, madam, but if you tell me when and where the advert was published I'll take a look and see what I can do. Was it definitely from the Birmingham Mail? "Yes, it was definitely the Mail, but because my husband cut it out I don't know which day it was from."

Can you remember the name of the company advertising the break? "Yes, National Coaches, it's here in the advert." (Quick live Google search). Well there is a number here, madam, but it appears to be a northern company serving people living in the north. I've got the number if you want to try it. It's 0870 (etc). "No, dear, the number I have here is 0121 622 (etc), definitely not an 0870 number."

In the end, I asked the lady to see if she could trace the actual paper the advert was cut from, so that I could then make inquiries for her. Several hours later she called back, laughing. "You'll never guess what, dear, my husband's only just gone and cut out the advert from your archive edition in 1979!" (We print 8-pages from the past each Saturday, each page carrying an 'archive' watermark, but this reader had not noticed.)

Well, we laughed together, and she ended up thanking me for my trouble. Thinking about it, though, I may speak to my Reader Travel colleagues and see if there's some deal we can offer this couple who thought they'd found such a great deal in their Birmingham Mail.

This might make a good story and, well, it's the least we can do.

One of the most important roles of an editor is to answer all readers' calls. Sometime stories result; sometimes complaints. At other times they are cries for help and assistance. And occasionally simple, but heartfelt queries. We are, after all, their Birmingham Mail and readers feel, rightly, that they are entitled to a service.

At 7am this morning the answer phone was flashing with six messages from the weekend and so, with a deep breath, I diligently set about the business of returning them all.

1. A relative of a women who had died in an alleged murder: could we call to get the family's side of the story and a fresh picture? Passed to the reporter on the story.

2. A reader whose phone number had inadvertently been used in a classified advert due to a keying error, leading to unwanted calls. Sincere apologies and a few calls to find the right person to deal with this properly in another department, (once sorted, the paper will be sending this member of the public a bunch of flowers).

3. A gent who wanted to know why the time in Canada appeared to have changed. A check on 'tine zones' via Google revealed Canada put the clocks forward in the second week of March. When I called (at 8.30am) he took ten minutes to put his teeth in, find his glasses and get downstairs to speak. When I told him he informed me that he'd found out for himself. Nevertheless, he thanked the Mail for their trouble!

4 and 5. Both potential stories, passed to reporters to chase.

6. Worth waiting for... read onto the next blog to find out about this one!

Fantastic news that Shannon Matthews was found alive this afternoon.

I was with the Chamber of Commerce in Edgbaston when the first line of a story came through just after 2pm today. This, for information, was after usual 'final' deadlines with the normal Birmingham Mail print order already being delivered by vans.

The call came through from Alf Bennett, assistant editor on duty back in the office. First things first, the breaking story (and updates by the minute) were uploaded to birminghammail.net by multi-media editor Anna Jeys. Then: "Can we publish an extra final?" Yes, was the answer Alf needed, but a couple of checks first.

A quick call to the presses (The Fort, Erdington) and manager Nick Cahm confirmed that the plates were still in place and a final edition could be produced. A quick call to newspaper sales manager Keith Leeming and yes, he could call enough people in to distribute.

Then zooming back to the office to watch as chief reporter Emma Cullwick pieced together the emerging story from the agency wires. A quick tweak from news editor Jim Levack and it was over to page planners.

Today's splash sub Russ Youll cleared the entire front page, chief sub Gary Denning rejigging stories inside in preparation. The story was laid out in minutes, including breaking updates as the live details changed twice in five minutes. Where she was found changed. A man arrested.

By 3pm, the completed new front and inside pages were over at The Fort, and vans were waiting with idling engines as the papers rolled off the press.

A minimum of 1,500 copies for distribution to our dozen-plus street vendors, city centre sales outlets and eight supermarkets across the city.

The new page one showed a half page picture of Shannon with the huge headline...

SHANNON
ALIVE

...and the overline read...

Missing girl, 9
found in flat -
Man, 39, arrested

A real team effort from editorial, print works and newspaper sales.

Newspapers are many things in 2008. But nothing beats the buzz of a live story like this.

For those interested in local government.

Tomorrow's Birmingham Mail (March 14) will carry a major announcement on the result of the petition for a referendum on elected mayors.

This will appear in the print version of the Mail.

Happy reading.