Tagged: Northern Echo
When a picture tells a thousand words (and makes a great front page)
The front page of last Thursday's Northen Echo. A dramatic picture which leapt off the news stands. But it got me thinking - why such a big byline for a writer, and such a small one for the photographer when it's clearly the photo which sells the paper?
Proof Twitter has changed the newsroom (sort of)
There was a time when you’d only find out if the editor was happy with the paper you’d worked on the night before once you’d got into the office.
Anyone who has been on the newsdesk of a morning newspaper will know the sinking feeling caused when you listen to the radio headlines first thing to realise you’ve been scooped or, worse still, when you spot something you got wrong in the paper.
Mistake/miss established in your own mind, the next question is: Has it been spotted by the editor? Will s/he mind?
I’m sure it’s a ritual played out in newsrooms for generations. Now Twitter has changed it, so long as your editor uses it.
Here’s proof from Peter Barron, the editor of the Northern Echo (and one of the best editor tweeters in the regional press), who shared his annoyance at his paper not being quite right:
The dreadful waiting game to find out what the editor thinks appears to be no more….
MC Hammer, his flamboyant pants and the Northern Echo
If I did a headline of the week competition on this blog (which I don’t) then this would be my winner this week:
The story goes like this: “A teenager used a stolen bank card to go on a spending spree, including buying pants to make him look like MC Hammer.”
And just to be sure everyone knew who MC Hammer was, this brilliant blob par at the end was added:
As descriptions of former pop stars go, it’s brilliant. And entirely accurate:
You read it here first: How to report the end of the world as a nib
Reading the Northern Echo the other week, this nib made me smile. How to report our impending doom as a news in brief:
FOI Friday: CCTV in high schools, parking charges, bad tickets and swine flu
1. CCTV cameras in secondary schools
Submitting FOI requests to schools can be endurance test compared to approaching a local education authority for summary information they hold – but it can be worth it, as this story from the Coventry Telegraph proves. It used FOI to ask secondary schools how many CCTV cameras they had and where they were placed. One school revealed it had 112 cameras, roughly one for every 10 pupils. (Source: Coventry Telegraph)
2. Luxury cars at a time of cuts
Durham Police says it needs to save £6million and has just made 86 people redundant as part of government cuts. It also plans to have 110 fewer police officers. But the Northern Echo has reported on an FOI which revealed that £100k was spent on four luxury cars for senior officers. (Source: Northern Echo)
3. Paying extra parking charges
PARKING ticket machines kept almost £100,000 for Mole Valley Council last year by not giving change, the Advertiser newspaper reported. It used FOI to ask the council to reveal the total value of parking charges in council car parks, and how much was actually paid. There was a £100k difference, attributed by shopkeepers to the fact a lot of parking costs £1.80 for two hours, rather than £2 – and the machines don’t give change. (Source: Thisissurreytoday).
FOI Friday: Rammed trains, enforced redundancies at councils and a gun licence for a 12-year-old
1. Reasons why teachers are disciplined
The Bradford Telegraph and Argus reports on the number of teachers who faced disciplinary action last year, 69 in total. The local council also reported that the allegations included theft, child protection issues, gross misconduct and drugs misuse. (Source: Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
2. Restorative justice for children
Remember the restorative justice schemed launched by the government a while back? The Derby Telegraph reports on the results, or rather the numbers involved, and the ages of those involved. A boy of 4 was among 166 under 10s – and it was used to sort out more than 7,000 crimes. (Source: Derby Telegraph)
I blogged the other week about the farcical situation at the Department for Transport, which won’t release details on overcrowded trains in case they upset (!) the train operating companies, who then wouldn’t give the department the numbers it needs to work out the new franchises. Really. Anyway, the data they would release – the most overcrowded services into London from two years ago, has been put to good use by the Reading Post, which also put a reporter on one of the trains to see what life was like two years on. A public interest case waiting to happen, I think. (Source: Reading Post)
FOI Friday (On a Tuesday again): Jet-setting council bosses, over 50s redundancies and racist schoolkids
1. ‘Culling staff aged over 50′ claim
A fascinating FOI from an organisation called Wise Owls, which campaigns for older workers, made an impact in the Carlisle News and Star. It revealed, using FOI, that of 24 people made redundant this year, 14 had been over 50. An FOI which could run and run this year? (Source: News and Star)
Fascinating figures from the Manifesto Club, the civl liberties group, which used FOI to find out how many reports of children being racist and homophobic were being logged by councils. The numbers are somewhat mindboggling – and proof of the stories you can get if you know the data councils store. (Source: Daily Telegraph)
3. Fat kids fail to lose weight
A good example of returning to a public project to see whether it has worked out, demonstrated by the Aberdeen Press and Journal. It asked NHS Grampian to reveal how many children had lost weight through a Healthy Weight Intervention Programme. Of 150, the answer was: 6. (Source: Press and Journal)
FOI Friday: Parking tickets, pot holes, first class travel and international phone calls
With cutbacks looming, FOI request success stories relating to public spending seem to be rising, and dominate this week’s round-up of FOI stories from across the UK:
1. The fines issued to motorists for driving without due care
Remember the famous story about the motoring ticket handed out to the driver who was eating an apple at the wheel? The Birmingham Mail due up a heap of other random reasons for getting a ticket when it used FOI to ask West Midlands Police to list the things people get up to behind the wheel – using a water pistol being one of the more surreal.
2. Blackberries and laptops at the council
The Northern Echo reports on the number of Blackberries and laptops handed out ‘for free’ to senior staff and councillors. The paper also found out, via the information released, that several councillors had returned their laptops and insisted on paying for their own broadband. With tight times ahead, could this become an interesting political issue at councils up and down the country?
3. Challenging what the council says
An interesting use of FOI, rather than one which instantly replicable across the country, from the Bath Chronicle. The council there raised eyebrows when it employed an expensive troubleshooter. The council’s defence was that it had led to reduction in the amount spent on consultants for various projects. Only it hadn’t, as the paper revealed using FOI.
FOI Friday: 10 things we’ve learnt this week thanks to the Freedom of Information Act
The councils which tell us to recycle – but don’t do it themselves
The Northern Echo came up with a great story thanks to FOI – asking councils how much they spent on promoting recycling. It also asked what recycling they carry out – and remarkably few composted food, recycled green waste or even made a point of recycling paper.
Groping and sexual assault in the classroom – by pupils on teachers
I found this, using Google News, on the Christian Institute site, so I’m not sure where it began life. Nationally, 305 cases of teachers being subjected to sexual abuse were reported by councils.
Cost of PR in health trusts revealed
The Express and Echo in Devon reports on how much health trusts in the county are spending on PR – some £1.1million a year, of which almost £800k is spent on employing 19 press officers. It’s not a simple ‘PR is bad’ story – it makes the suggestion, from county councillors, that in these tight times, maybe one, smaller PR unit would be more effective.
FOI Friday: 10 things we’ve learnt this week thanks to the Freedom of Information Act
1. Local jobs for local workers?
We kick off this week with one which could be replicated in lots of places. The Manchester Evening News asked the region’s passenger transport executive for any statistics which revealed where construction workers employed on the Metrolink extension came from. This sort of stat is increasingly kept by public sector organisations when delivering big projects because a condition of tender is often that the work must be done by local people. The MEN found out as a result that just a third of workers on the project were from Greater Manchester.
We’ve had FOIs on several occasions about the number of people being attacked by dogs, but this one from the Cambridge News is the first time I have seen an FOI about the amount paid out by police for injuries caused by their police dogs.
Back on the speed camera trail again, and the Lancashire Evening Post reports on how 3,000 speeding tickets went unpaid last year – because police couldn’t track down the cars, probably because of fake number plates.
