Recently by Steve Dyson

IT WAS only a matter of time before Labour MP Frank Cook had his mouth washed out with soap and water in public.

The 74-year-old 'F-word' politician is infamous in the media world for picking up the phone and firing expletives at journalists or editors who dare to write or publish anything he doesn't agree with.

I remember dozens of such occasions from when I edited the Teesside Evening Gazette and, though annoying, you tended to let the abuse roll off your back, as it really wasn't something you wanted to share with readers.

But what a great decision by stalwart editor Malcolm Warne in the Friday November 13 edition of the Darlington & Stockton Times!

Cook was one of many Parliamentarians who'd been told to pay back expenses by Sir Thomas Legg, the lawyer and former civil servant who conducted an independent audit of MPs' expenses.

Cook's response when phoned for comment by D&S Times reporter Rob Merrick?

"I won't pay up without justification and, if the one they provide is not good enough, I will tell them to piss off."

Given that Cook is still pondering over whether to stand as an Independent for Stockton North following his deselection by Labour, the D&S Times has carried out a great service for democracy by revealing the foul-mouthed MP for what he really is.

And they did it with such class. A page five lead was felt to be front-end enough; no screaming headlines; and appropriate asterisks avoiding any blushes for readers not used to reading the swearing of MPs.

But the story puts Cook exactly where he deserves to be... in the public limelight for 1/ his expenses misdemeanours, 2/ his disrespect for authority and 3/ his general uncouthness.

The D&S Times, which is based in Priestgate, Darlington, alongside sister newspaper The Northern Echo, first published in 1847.

Published by Newsquest, it's one of those traditional weekly newspapers full to bursting with local news, comment and reports from community groups.

In the Cleveland edition I was sent, readers got 124 news stories (including business, farming and entertainment), more than 50 local pictures, and 25 sports stories (although only seven sports pictures).

On top of this were various sections crammed with very local information, including (to name just a few): late chemists; hospital visiting hours and planning applications.

And on another five pages of Town & Village were a total of 58 detailed community reports from a network of linage correspondents in neighbouring towns, hamlets, Young Farmers' Clubs, Women's Institutes and the like.

In all, there were 96-pages (including a 16-page Property and a 12-page Weekend Times section) for just 70p.

Many of these pages and community reports completely change for the D&S Times' separate North Yorkshire and County Durham editions.

And this local 'good value' service speaks for itself in sales: nearly 25,000 people buy it every week (24,859 in the first six months of 2009, according to the latest ABC).

The jury may still be out on its most recent development... it switched from its traditional broadsheet format to a smaller 'compact' layout in March 2009.

But whatever its size, I was impressed with how the D&S Times is still prepared to stand up to would-be media bullies like Frank Cook.

Lancashire Telegraph

TAKE a quick glance at the page ones of these two daily newspapers...

A mate of mine visiting from up north dropped them on my desk last night and, when I found them this morning, my first instinct was to start assessing what I thought were publications from separate days.

Even the front page adverts were different.

And with the heavy editionising continuing on 11 of the 12 local news pages, it wasn't until I got to the Motors section on page 15 that I realised that both editions were from yesterday, Thursday November 12.

The Lancashire Telegraph has two editions, the 'home' one serving Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley.

But readers in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale are not short-changed just because they don't host the paper's headquarters.

As well as multiple change pages on news, the editions also proudly display major sports changes from Blackburn Rovers to Burnley FC, as can be seen here...

Even the paper's 'lookingback' nostalgia section gives readers specific local history and memories from their own areas....

Now that takes a bit of effort, but the result is a classy example of the importance of 'local, local, local' newspapers.

Yes, flick through the media industry websites and you'll find that the Lancashire Telegraph, published by Newsquest, has had its share of cost savings in recent years.

It's gone overnight; district offices have been closed; it's switched its printing to Deeside, Flintshire; there have been editorial redundancies, etc.

Despite these cutbacks, there is obviously no distraction on the editorial floor from providing the best local news service possible for its different sets of readers.

And there is no predominance of press release fodder. There are plenty of hard news stories, court convictions, council rows and local human interest reports throughout.

They've even got local MP and Justice Secretary Jack Straw to write a weekly, mostly readable column.

It's what a committed editorial team led by a hard taskmaster editor can achieve.

No wonder readers in both edition areas continue to shell out their 40p a day.

While sales have fallen, they are only 6.2% down to 28,569 in the latest ABCs, which is a better-than-average performance during the current downturn.

Top marks for the attention to local detail to editor Kevin Young and team.

I'm sure this dedicated service to readers will see the Lancashire Telegraph through the current recession.

Staffordshire Newsletter

WHO'S the happy chappie in this picture, and why was the scantily-clad kissogram sitting on his lap in the old editorial offices of this proud newspaper?

The aging 1970s-style snap had been found by modern-day hacks, but long-gone were the in-office memories, and no date or caption was available. Oh, how to solve this mystery...

The answer, of course, is to ask your thousands of readers... one of them is bound to know.

And so was the case in the November 5 Staffordshire Newsletter I picked up in the little village of Brocton after my taxi duties for my lad's football team playing in this weekend's junior Staffordshire Cup tie.

There on the Nostalgia Notebook page was a full recall from reader Anne James, the former front desk manager from way back when.

Apparently, then cub reporter Aiden Goldstraw had a string of speeding and parking tickets, so the office asked Cheryl the kissogram, a regular classified advertiser, to perform a freebie trick.

"He was gobsmacked," remembers Anne. "Great times, great people, great place to work!"

I bet... Oh for those newsrooms before political correctness crept in!

But while this mystery was solved, the Newsletter created another one with a report lacking a few details on page 1.

A shooting at a Stafford industrial estate was a good story, and a painful one for the victim who was shot in his buttock.

But with my news editor's hat on, what was the name of the victim? (The incident happened nearly two weeks before, so there must have been time to find out).

Also, having read the incident was "just the latest in a catalogue of problems at the site" involving "boy-racers", I almost assumed that it was an air-rifle prank. But the story doesn't specify the type of weapon. (If it was a 'real' gun, far more alarm for readers).

Nor was there any police number for witnesses to phone.

The shooting took place at the estate's car body shop, but there were no quotes from anyone there.

We don't know how hard the Newsletter reporters tried, of course, or how obstructive the local police were, and there may well be a follow up in this week's paper or on the website.

The good thing is that the story was the hardest news in the paper, rightfully made the splash, and caught my attention long enough to pose these questions.

Elsewhere, the Newsletter, which sells around 18,000 copies* a week and is published by Iliffe News & Media, is a solid, informative read. The edition I bought was 64-pages, which included a 12-page Property pull-out.

In the remaining 52-pages, there were a total of 83 news, business, farming and entertainment stories, 33 related pictures, 36 sports reports and 18 sports pictures.

Plus there was a Community News spread with a total of 80 short but detailed reports from local villages, churches and neighbourhood groups.

Not bad for 60p.

Yes, the county town of Stafford, with a population of 60,000+, is served well by editor Killoran Wills and team, whose sense of humour I commend in including that kissogram on the nostalgia pages.

Just a few more hard facts for the page 1 splash please.

* ABC Jan-Jun 2006

STAFF at the Weston & Somerset Mercury have quite rightly pointed out their stonking splash in the latest edition.

The online version is clickable here.

Fantastic human interest story!

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!

Whitby Gazette

WALKING on the North Yorkshire coast was supposed to be a break from the hurly-burly of journalism, but it wasn't long before a headline caught my eye.

Whitby raid by 'Mustard Gang' sang out from the top of the page 1 nibs column of the Whitby Gazette, along with a colourful picture of a jar of Colman's Mustard.

A lovely, eye-catching touch I thought, and a news sub's trick that certainly caused me to part with 42p.

Was it a raider armed with a jar of the hot stuff who'd flung it at the face of a shopkeeper before grabbing the takings? Or was it a gang that specialised in running off with sacks of mustard for some spicy black market somewhere in this remote countryside? I was determined to find out.

In the end it was a far simpler tale of a gang of supermarket till raiders who described themselves to arresting cops as the 'Colman's Mustard Gang' because they reckoned they were so 'hot' at what they did.

Not so hot in the end, as the Glasgow-based criminals had been identified by sharp-eyed detectives reviewing the CCTV-footage following a raid at Whitby's Co-op store.

And it was local bobby DC Neale Graham who led the investigation that saw the five criminals jailed for a total of 15-and-a-half years at York Crown Court.

The full court story, headshots of four of the gang and a huge cut-out picture of the much alluded-to Colman's Mustard adorned page 3. This was the way to tell and illustrate a top local story that must have been the talk of the pubs in this close-knit seaside town.

The Whitby Gazette has been doing just that since 1854. The Johnston Press paper now publishes on Tuesdays and Fridays and covers Whitby, nearby coastal villages and the villages of the Esk Valley, still selling more than 10,500 copies a week according to the latest ABCs. Not bad for a paper where only 13,500+ people live in the main town it serves.

The 'mustard' edition was the 40-page Tuesday version of the Gazette, the slimmer companion to the more-expensive and fatter Friday publication. This soon became just 28-pages once you subtracted the 12-page commercial House & Home pullout.

But unlike some 'midweeks' I've seen, there appeared to be no slacking in the editorial quality of this October 20 edition coming from the white-washed Whitby newsroom that prominently sits smack in the centre of the town, next to the harbour bridge.

Personally, I'd have splashed on the mustard, so to speak, but, as described, it was enough to tease me with a classy page 1 nib.

The actual splash was a softer tale about the Queen Mary 2 liner paying tribute to a recently deceased Whitby lifeboat volunteer by sailing past close to the harbour and sounding its horn. He'd been a close friend of the ship's captain, who'd wanted to pay his special respects.

Although not hard-news, in this sea-faring town this too would have been discussed by all. And judging by the size of the crowd pictured watching the sail-past from Whitby's West Cliff, it would also have helped sell some extra papers.

With only 28 true editorial pages, the Tuesday Gazette provided a total of 43 individual local news stories, plus 34 reports on the 'Community Noticeboard' spread on pages 10 and 11, and 17 sports reports packed into the last four pages.

If this doesn't sound too-high a story-count, then consider that there were also a total of 20 local sports pictures and 58 - yes 58 - local pictures in the news pages. These included three picture spreads, with as many as 22 pictures from the annual wartime weekend held at nearby Pickering.

But while that particular history spread may have been overkill, there was plenty of other real news, such as 'Who claimed what in council expenses' on page 5.

This highlighted the top claimers at Whitby district borough council, costing a total of £34,810 in expenses - more than any other district council in the region.

The real show-up was the inclusion in reporter Carl Gavaghan's detailed despatch of the 'cheapest' councillor who claimed no additional costs. Coun Pat Marsburg was reported as saying: "My constituents elected me to help them and I don't expect them to pay my way. I'm fighting for them to get extras, not for myself."

Can we imagine many MPs saying that? Great quotes for an excellent local story.

Well done to acting editor Jon Stokoe and team for the detailed read I enjoyed after climbing the famous 199-steps.

COMING SOON...

EDITOR ON TOUR #2: The Weston & Somerset Mercury

LAST Tuesday, the long-awaited announcement on the future of the Birmingham Mail was made to staff, and then to the wider world.

Along with the changes to newspaper publishing strategies in Birmingham, the company also announced the departure of its Birmingham editors, including yours truly.

Since then, I've had many calls and emails from friends, colleagues and contacts asking all about the changes.

As I'm sure you'd understand, here and now is not the right place or time to discuss the new strategy. That has already happened (eg: here and here and here), and the time is now right to move on.

The company owns the papers and has every right to plan their futures. It has done so after lengthy consultation with many parties, including me.

But what I can say is this.

It has been a privilege working on these fine newspapers. (I'm referring to the Birmingham Mail, Sunday Mercury and the Evening Gazette in Teesside here, the three papers I've worked for in my time with the company).

They have provided me with great experiences, from my days as a reporter to my last seven years as an editor. I've been really lucky and will never forget my 17 years with the company.

It has been quite a wrench to come to the decision to move on, but I feel it is the right time to seek new challenges elsewhere. I leave wishing everyone at the company the very best for the future.

The only thing I'd like to add re. my forthcoming departure is a note on the newly-announced editor David Brookes.

I've known David since I first spent some time on work experience with the Birmingham Mail as a student in 1990. He was then chief sub on the Mail.

Since then, he has served as deputy editor (production) on the Mail, moving on to around ten years as editor of the Sunday Mercury before the last year as editor of the Coventry Telegraph.

He has great experience on the Birmingham newspapers, and a life-long knowledge of the city.

David is committed to accuracy and quality, and loves to give readers something in their papers that they just have to pick up.

While it was a wrench to leave the Mail myself, I know that in David is a worthy successor. And whatever the various opinions on the new strategy for the paper, I know that David will lead it well and that it has the best chance of success with him in the chair.

Although I'm currently on a pre-booked holiday, I'm pleased to be returning to work as normal on November 2 and to be staying on until December to help pave the way for David.

It's going to be a difficult period to assist with taking 40-odd journalists into redundancy, but I'm wanting to be involved in that as I know all those affected, and want them to have the best-possible, most consistent approach as they go through this consultation.

And then, come the end of 2009, it's the time for new beginnings for many of us.

Any Editor's Chair followers keen on cute animals? Or do you have wives/girlfriends or children who are?

If so, for a fiver you can buy the Birmingham Mail Charity Trust's Animal Magic Calender 2010, adorned by touching pix of our furry, and sometimes muddy, friends.

Thanks to free contributions from the paper's skilled photographers, we've had a batch published and these are now ready to make that purrrfect stocking filler ('scuse the pun).

We're aiming to sell the entire 1,000 run which will double the investment made by the Trust, providing more funds for its grants to worthwhile community causes across the city.

The calendar showcases cuddly snaps taken at locations across the region, with a different type of animal for each month.

From cute cats to p-p-p-penguins, a huddle of hippos to plump puppies, the images are really heart-warming.

Just £4.99 plus 72p postage and packaging.

Click here for an order form

Funny how newspaper campaigns never quite die off...

In early 2007, the Birmingham Mail launched its 'Elected Mayor: Let the People Decide' campaign, insisting that the city council should allow its electorate to decide whether a change in the form of local government was wanted or not.

Many at the council were not happy, as councillors of the ruling parties enjoy selecting their own leaders.

That may well be the eventual wish of your average Brummie... but because of previously flawed consultations we'll never know until we ask them. See HERE for a full discussion on this issue.

Anyway, that campaign was calmed after a year, because the only way we could legally force a referendum was to have collected 36,000 signatures of registered voters. We managed 10,000+, but were well short of the total needed.

But the subject just won't go away.

Annoyed by various councils' intransigence, civil servants at the Dept for Communities and Local Government have been working away at new trigger levels (2% is the understood target in a white paper) and have also been researching digital petitions (the one we ran had to be in ink, with signatures, with no email or online support accepted).

And that's just the Labour government's attempts to further the idea of elected mayors.

The Tories, meanwhile, have long promised a forced referendum in all major cities, something that local council leader Mike Whitby, a Tory, has already clashed with his political boss David Cameron about.

Now, at this week's Tory conference, the party has confirmed that this will happen, with shadow local government minister and Meriden MP Caroline Spelman saying they would hold referenda across the country on the same day as soon as possible after coming to power.

This could be as soon as May 2011, a year after a general election, with voting coinciding with local council elections.

The BBC's Politics Show came to our offices at Fort Dunlop to film an interview with yours truly on the matter, and this will be shown in a special report tomorrow, (noon Sunday, BBC1).

Here we go... Friday night has arrived, a mad-busy week has flown past, and now is the time for a crucial note on the newspaper story of the week.

The above link was to a fairly straight report in the Birmingham Mail, so there are other, more detailed versions on media-specific websites here and here and here for those who want variety.

And to complete the circle for those who want full initial research, you can also read the official announcement by Trinity Mirror.

In summary: despite recent changes, closures and cost-savings, Trinity Mirror Midlands is making a loss as a region, and the company projects that this will continue in 2010 if more action is not taken.

Among possible ideas it has to save more money are: 1/ turning the morning Birmingham Post into a quality weekly newspaper; 2/ turning the Birmingham Mail from a live, evening newspaper into an overnight publication (produced the day before its dateline).

The company has stressed that no decisions have been taken, and its announcement explains that it wants to fully consult before any plans are made.

At the Post there are already preferred options, with one favoured by both the company and the editor, Marc Reeves. It is consulting on these options to make sure its thinking is right.

There are as yet no preferred options at the Birmingham Mail.

Yes, the company wants to explore the idea of overnight, but stresses it's made no decisions and atm has no plans.

It's announced a much earlier stage of consultation, and genuinely needs to be told people's views.

That's readers, advertisers, newsagents, community leaders, councillors, MPs, emergency services, schools, hospitals, government agencies... anyone with an interest in the Birmingham Mail.

Without strong views, insight and local background knowledge, either arguing for a status quo 'live' newspaper or 'overnight' publishing, the company can only base it's decision on basic facts.

The issue is much bigger, of course... the Post is a historic title but has less than a fifth of the Mail's circulation and revenues.

Changes on the Birmingham Mail, if any are made, have to be so carefully thought through before any decision. There's so much more to lose, or gain.

And because it's so early in the process, not much has been shared about the financial benefits or competitive risks of an 'overnight' Birmingham Mail.

So, at the moment, most (but not all) opinions on the subject are simply that... gut feelings (some passionate) with little or no evidence.

In some ways, that is not a bad place to start.

As the process continues, consultation and analysis between management, staff, unions and outside organisations/individuals will reveal more and more about the upsides and downsides of a 'live' or 'overnight' paper.

But for now, it's the beginning when the company is looking for initial reactions to its announcement that it wants to explore the option. And it needs them quickly as part of it's 30-day initial consultation that started on Tuesday August 25.

So, to amplify:

Should the Birmingham Mail continue as a 'live' newspaper, completed on the morning and early afternoon of the same day it is printed and sold?

Or should it change to an 'overnight' strategy, where the paper is 'put to bed' the previous afternoon and evening, then on sale the next morning?

As said, little data on either option has yet been discussed, but suffice it to say that the 'overnight' option is substantially less costly, and would therefore assist the Midland company's return to profit.

But at what risk re. readers/competitors?

Comments posted here will be taken on board (along with those on the previous, unrelated blog).

But for direct input, or to ask for more detail, email ideas@trinitymirror.com

Thank you for reading.