EDITOR ON TOUR #2: Cat-killing pandemonium but plenty of value in Weston

Weston & Somerset Mercury

THERE are two things that readers of this weekly newspaper cannot complain about: pagination and story count.

In the October 29 edition that I purchased when walking in North Somerset last week, there were a total of 136-pages - and all for just 60p.

OK, 60-pages were a pull-out Homes section, although this in itself will always be a popular read for locals interested in buying, selling and renting homes - or those just nosy at neighbours' prices.

But even leaving the Homes section aside, there were another 76 pages jam-packed full of local news, views and sports reports.

A total of 102 individual local news stories, to be exact, published along with 61 pictures; at least 36 sports reports on six sports pages, also rammed full of tables and results, everything from football and rugby to bowls, sea-angling, cribbage and skittles; and 16 local sports pictures squeezed in among them.

The Weston & Somerset Mercury is a weekly tabloid newspaper sold in the town of Weston-super-Mare and surrounding parts of North Somerset, extending from Portishead, Clevedon and Nailsea in the north to Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge in the south, and inland as far as Winscombe and Cheddar.

According to the latest ABCs, the Archant publication sells 15,817 a week, up 4.4% year-on-year.

And its pages almost glow with interactive popularity: there were 32 detailed community reports from local town, village and estate correspondents on the 'Signposts' page; plus 18 despatches from local treasurers and organisers on the 'Clubs and Societies' page; and more than 100 paid-for entries of its Family Announcements pages.

It looked vibrant on the advertising front as well, with a 6-page 'Prepare for Christmas' run-of-paper supplement full of ads. In fact, there was a healthy ad count throughout, with thorough classified and motors sections.

The only problem with such cat-killers can be a lack of structure, and a tendency to 'pour' the news in rather than arrange it on merit and in clearly identified sections.

For example, it was great to see as many as three letters pages. But why, oh why, run these separately with repeated 'how to' furniture on pages 6, 8 and then 30?

There was a neat looking package on page 9, possible created as part of a design template. But the 'Two shop assistants send hooded raiders packing' lead just didn't gel well with the 'Front line injections' swine flu health story in the shoulder, nor with the 'Oo-la-la' picture caption on a French day at a local school under the same 'raiders' headline.

In the index on page 2, the paper proudly heralded its regular 'In the Dock' section on page 14. Yet this was just two half columns containing nine minor cases, when pages upon pages of other court stories and columns appeared with no signposts throughout the book.

Perhaps the most telling weakness was the choice of page 1 splash.

'Don't dump druggies on us - says MP' (sic) was the centralised headline, well shy left and right on three of its four decks.

And the intro par gives you a feel for the writing style and news judgment:

"Weston's days as a 'dumping ground' for addicts and a free market for drugs could be over thanks to an 'unthinkable' Government U-turn. The strategy swerve [is]... on the agenda of public health minister Gillian Merron..."

I flicked onto page 2 without reading any more.

Surely a better page 1 tale would have been a collation from what was buried on pages 16 and 17? As it stood, this was a haphazard collection of 15 'druggies in court' stories, many of them telling of the convictions and long-term jailing of local heroin dealers, several with custody pictures of the criminals concerned. Although the content was fascinating, the spread was unannounced, with no collective strapline or standfirst. And the figure '10' clashed in the main headlines on both pages.

But whatever the critique from what is, after all, a one-off reader, this was more than made up for by the sheer volume of local stories and local pictures throughout the book provided by editor Judi Kisiel and what is obviously a hard-working editorial team.

Perhaps just a bit more organisation and story selection needed to help the reader through those pages...

Now, following an enjoyable holiday week viewing other papers around the country, it's time to head back up the M5 to make sure tomorrow's Birmingham Mail is in a fit state to stand up to scrutiny!