The kudos of Paris

I find it very easy to dream of living and working in France. Paris ideally.

It’s not quite as fanciful as it sounds. Michael Thomas is teaching me French as I travel to and from work each morning, I am working my way through a primary school’s reading list ( Le Petit Nicolas et les Copains is my current book of choice) and to really get in the spirit of things I have also bought a book called How To Shrug Like The French. I have yet to reach the shrugging lessons but am now well versed in the importance of opening my shutters and shaking my bedding.

My French is perfect in my little dream, I have a job where I switch seamlessly from English to Francais, and I proudly say “I live in Paris now”. I am able to use the free bikes which are scattered around the city but sadly not for tourist use. (As an aside Boris Johnson’s idea was based on the success of the Paris scheme.)

Just to keep up my stereotype I’d specifically meet friends of the Eurostar at Le Gare de Nord complete with said velo, and a baguette in my front basket.  I’d be wearing the latest outfit I picked up at Galleries Lafayette, and talking about a crazy artist I’d seen in Montmartre.  Bliss.

Now I find that Parisians are losing kudos in their own city and shunning the 75 car number plates which indicate where  a car is registered. Parisians no longer want to be known as Parisians.

Pah!

Times correspondent Charles Bremner, explains residents of the Seine-Saint-Denis, the rough north-east suburbs which make the headlines for riots, want to ditch the 93 associated with their address.  While this is understandable to hide an anti-des res I have yet to imagine why one would like to hide their Parisian address.

How do I now learn the art of shrugging like the French if the very art of that means almost turning up my nose at a city which I have placed on a (rather tall) pedestal.

My task just got a little more difficult. It is yet to be impossible.

Now where is Nicholas and his friends, we have work to do.

Police statement on phone tapping

Statement from AC Yates from the Met.

I have been asked by the Commissioner today to establish the facts around our inquiry into the alleged unlawful tapping of mobile phones by Clive Goodman and Glen Mulcaire. I was not involved in the original case and clearly come at this with an independent mind.

Just by way of background. In December 2005, the MPS received complaints that mobile phones had been illegally tapped.

We identified that Goodman and Mulcaire were engaged in a sophisticated and wide ranging conspiracy to gather private and personal data, principally about high profile public figures. Clearly they benefited financially from these matters.

Our inquiries found that these two men had the ability to illegally intercept mobile phone voice mails. This is commonly known as phone tapping.

Their potential targets may have run into hundreds of people, but our inquiries showed that they only used the tactic against a far smaller number of individuals.

In January 2007, Goodman and Mulcaire were jailed for four and six months. They pleaded guilty to conspiring to unlawfully intercept communications.

Mulcaire also pleaded guilty to an additional five charges relating to similar matters.

Sentencing the two men, Mr Justice Gross at the Old Bailey said the case was “not about press freedom, it was about a grave, inexcusable and illegal invasion of privacy.”

The police investigation was complex and was carried out in close liaison with the Crown Prosecution Service, Senior Counsel and the telephone companies concerned.

The technical challenges posed to the service providers to establish that there had in fact been interception were significant.

It is important to recognise that our enquiries showed that in the vast majority of cases there was insufficient evidence to show that tapping had actually been achieved.

Where there was clear evidence that people had potentially been the subject of tapping, they were all contacted by the police.

These people were made aware of the potential compromise to their phones and were offered preventative advice.

However, after extensive consultation with the CPS and Counsel, only a few were subsequently identified as witnesses in the proceedings that followed.

I said earlier in this statement that these two men were engaged in a sophisticated and wide ranging conspiracy to gather personal data about high profile figures. One was a private detective and one was a journalist. It is reasonable therefore to expect them to be in possession of data about such matters as this is part and parcel of their job.

I emphasise that our enquiries were solely concerned with phone tapping. This, as far as we are aware, affected a much smaller pool of people.

There has been a lot of media comment today about the then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. This investigation has not uncovered any evidence to suggest that John Prescott’s phone had been tapped.

****

This case has been subject of the most careful investigation by very experienced detectives. It has also been scrutinised in detail by both the CPS and leading Counsel. They have carefully examined all the evidence and prepared the indictments that they considered appropriate.

No additional evidence has come to light since this case has concluded.

I therefore consider that no further investigation is required.

However, I recognise the very real concerns, expressed today by a number of people, who believe that their privacy may have been intruded upon.

I therefore need to ensure that we have been diligent, reasonable and sensible, and taken all proper steps to ensure that where we have evidence that people have been the subject of any form of phone tapping, or that there is any suspicion that they might have been, that they have been informed.

I misread!

How sick is the New York Times?

I read the headline and I’m thinking, strweth what did it do? Publish a picture of a dead kitten? Stand-by while innocent children died? What exactly?

But ah, no, the writer is merely asking is the NYT in the same boat as every other newspaper. Falling advertising, lower pagination, that type of thing. How bad are things at the NYT? Well, writer Mark Potts asks if Rupert Murdoch, Bill Gates or A.N. Other should be brought in to save it. Wow. I guess it is really sick.

Fires

The fire service came to my house the other week. No, I wasn’t rescued in dramatic firemen lift style-e.
Cheshire Fire And Rescue Service were going door-to-door fitting smoke alarms.
The idea is that fire services should be proactive not reactive – they should do more to safeguard against a fire than rescue people in the event of one.
So one fireman put up two smoke alarms in my house. One went at the top of the stairs and one went at the bottom. All free of charge, no batteries to change and quite-importantly not likely to go off if I overcook my tea.

The other fireman helped me plan an emergency exit route. I will only have to break out of my bedroom window and shimmy down the drainpipe IF there’s a fire AND it’s on the stairs AND i start to feel hot. Each door in my house buys me 30 minutes apparently. But we all know the TV adverts and roles, Get out, stay out ring the fire brigade out.
How sad it is then that in Cheshire and Staffordshire recently there has been so many fires.

In Eccleshall an elderly man died in his cottage.
In Cheddleton, an elderly sister died after her clothing caught light from the open fire in the home she shared with her sister.

Last night, there was a fire in Walthall Street, Crewe and the road by my house was cordoned off.
The corner shop – the blue one – was so badly damaged that firefighters – were not allowed to go into the building for fear of it coming down on top of them.
I’ll go home that way tonight and have a look at what’s happening. And see if I can add a picture.

Today, I also learned of the terrible story of Ghazala Yasin who set fire to herself because she thought her husband was having an affair.

Then , I turn to the front page of the local rag and found that a man is standing trial at Stafford Crown Court for murder of his wife by setting their home on fire with her in it.
The Alan Stead trial is expected to last a long time.

Dentists

When I moved to Crewe, I have to admit, I didn’t immediately search for a new dentist.  My ‘old’ one was very near to my then job, and it wasn’t a priority when I was suddenly thinking about paying bills, coughing up for a tv licence, and the dreaded mortgage.
I bought a property because I thought it would be foolish to pay for rental – now I think my personal finances would be in a better state if I had rented.
But, as always, I digress.
The point I was trying to make was that it wasn’t a priority. Eventually, however, I switched jobs, traveling 40 minutes to a dentist appointment, even if it was only once every six months, seemed daft in the extreme.

So I registered with relative ease, at a dentist in Crewe on Edleston Road. There was no waiting list, no real issue.

But what would I have done if that NHS service wasn’t there?

Today, it was revealed that kids are losing their teeth in North Staffs at a shocking rate.
Five-year-old children in the county have an average of 1.3 decayed teeth compared to an average of one tooth in the West Midlands.
Maybe Staffs youngsters are budding entrepreneus – chomping their way through out-of-date Woolies pick’n'mix at an astounding rate so as to put their personal finances in order by cashing in out the tooth fairy.

One idea is to give kids, or rather their parents, free toothpaste in a “blitz on tooth decay”.

Toothbrushes and toothpaste will arrive in the post.

Meanwhile, a team of dentists has opened a new practice at Moorland Road, Burslem much to the delight of patients I imagine.

But the question remains why is dental health so much worse in Stoke-on-Trent / Staffordshire than it is in other places. And it’s not just dental health, but lung disease, smoking, obesity, on and on, we’re at the top of these health lists for all of the wrong reasons.

Sigh.

Heroes walk among us

When a lorry crashed on the M6 in Staffordshire, quick thinking medical student Emily Hancock was able to put her training into practice.

And what a strange site it must have been. The teenager, from Uttoxter, was dressed for her school leavers’ ball, when she tended to the injured lorry driver.

Now studying medicine at Leed’s University, Emily was able to pull the driver out of harm’s reach, and dress his head using knowledge she had learnt as a cadet for St John Ambulance.

Emily Hancock was awarded with a medal at St John Ambulance Young Achievers’ Reception at Buckingham Palace last week.

Also receiving an award was Bradley Ford. The 21-year old was the first at the scene of an horrific coach crash in the village of Alton, Staffordshire. In the crash one man died and 70 were injured. Its affects will be permanently etched on Bradley Ford’s memory. Patients were treated across Staffordshire and at hospitals in the surrounding area including the University Hospital of North Staffordshire

Both Bradley Ford and Emily Hancock were able to put into practice the training of Staffordshire’s St John Ambulance Service when faced with injuries.

I only hope that youngsters are continuing to sign up and that the efforts of Bradley Ford and Emily Hancock can be seen as a shining example.

Newcastle

Whenever I walk around the town of Newcastle-Under-Lyme I can’t help but think of some of the more surreal stories that I have read.

Take for example a wander down Castle Walk and there at the bottom of the street is Wilkinsons.

Now, to most this a general bits and bobs, credit-crunch god send ( which reminds me do you need a song to get through the credit crunch? Yes such things exist!) but back to Newcastle Wilkinsons. I can’t help but thinking something is missing.

Back in July a stag wandered off from whereever he normally was, where his presence was unremarkable and sauntered into Wilkinson.

I think I’d like to see a blue plaque on the outside of the store. “Stag visited here”. And a little bit about his journey.  Eventually he was caught, at a BT phone depot, no doubt in some phone-home ET style and the RSPCA ensured his safe return to somewhere he wouldn’t stand out as much.

Now, I don’t know his full route as he trotted around Newcastle town centre before being ushered out of Wilkinsons but perhaps he made a pit stop at the bar on the High Street known as Edwards. It has recently been refitted and re-named as Lakota and you guessed it, the icon outside is a stag. Maybe that’s as close as I’ll come to my blue plaque dream. I’ll have to mention it to Newcastle Borough Council. They seem one of the few councils in this area where they won’t be too busy wondering about the financial collapse of Icelandic banking to at least reply.

Just past Lakota is where Pablo Frankies once stood and which is being converted to a Mexican restaurant. I’m a fan of mexican food so I’ll have to let you know what it’s like.

After shopping in town I head to Asda to do a spot of shopping and yet another story jumps out at me. Video footage has been shown to the jury in the Mohammed Asha car bombs trial which apparently shows the University Hospital of North Staffordshire doctor sorting out his recycling. We don’t know the real significance of this yet. However, if the prosecution case is to be believed, Asha, from Chesterton was involved is plotting “wholesale” murder and then nipped to finish his recycling. I’m sure more will follow.

Here’s One I Made Earlier

Well actually I didn’t. I’m writing this right n-o-w. But the classic line can only mean one thing. Blue Peter.

The children’s TV show has been going for 50 years and I think it’s fair to say generations of children have grown up watching it, buying sticky-back plastic and keeping cornflakes boxes, becoming too cool for it before finally remebering it with a wistful look in their eye and thinking back to the good old days.

Ahhh Bisto.

‘My’ presenters  were Yvette Fielding and Anthea Turner. I’m 27 so you can stop doing the maths.

In fact, in Staffordshire, my current county of choice, although I do live in Cheshire, people like thinking back to the old days. Potbanks, a dialect no-one outside the area understands, pottery.  There was a time when Stoke-on-Trent seemed like it was on the verge of greatness. It just never materialised. Don’t get me wrong I’d like nothing more than for that to change.

There’s talks of regeneration and re-building the city which other places experienced decades ago. And now the shining example for Hanley is Barnsley – or it’s bus station at least. Here’s One Barnsley Made Earlier.

People in Barnsley giggled when the new bus station – or interchange – to give it it’s real name was introduced. But I’m reliably informed some people said it looked more like Tellytubby Land than the Barcelona landmark the town planners hoped for.

But I digress.

Nostalgia? Staffordshire? Thinking back to my Blue Peter days.

As a kid Alton Towers was a mythical land. It advertised on the TV and along with WaterWorld was one of the few places in Staffordshire that I knew by name. It was most definitely on my summer holidays wish list. The days when Blue Peter left the studio for a spell in the garden.

And the most exciting ride at Alton Towers was the all-mighty Corkscrew rollercoaster. Well before the days of Nemesis, Air and Oblivion, the yellow double-helix track of the corkscrew was the utimate in rollercoasters. Now, it’s soon to be dismantled because it’s all a bit rickety. Here’s One I made I damn bit earlier and now need to take down. To be honest I’m quite pleased. Last time I went there it made me feel a bit queasy.

Rickety rollercoasters is part of the appeal for Blackpool Pleasure Beach or so I’m told but not for me.

While most in the county are mourning the loss of the ride there are some planning for the future. The theme park this summer opened it’s pirate boat ride ( yes you get drenched) and now there’s talk of them opening a Sea-Life centre. Ahoy me heartys!

Let’s only hope the combined ooos and aaahs of the customers and the animals don’t get the nearby Roper family up in arms.

By Nci1,
Blue Peter badge holder.

In search of Stoke’s Joe The Plumber

Does anyone care about what George W. Bush is doing today, or tomorrow, or the day after that?  Days are numbered for the American president who has necessitated the term bushisms for his continuing gaffs.

Who cares about Bush Jnr when they can ride of the coat-tails of Barack Obama and his mantra of change. Alternatively, there’s the new (old) approach from John McCain and Sarah Palin.  Even Joe The Plumber is getting more air time than the outgoing president.

Without doubt George W. Bush is well and truly in his lame duck presidency.

Now, Stoke-on-Trent, England, has it’s own sitting duck. Or should that bit it’s own sitting duck, duck.

Mark Meredith will be booted out of office in May 2009 after the electorate of Stoke-on-Trent decided to do-away with the position of elected mayor.

With Meredith out we can only muse on which of the current crop of council leaders will  hope they can clinch support from the council chamber to take the new top job.

Where’e our Joe The Plumber to give his two-cents, sorry two-pence worth, on who should get the job.

Is Joe job hurting because of the credit crunch? Is he helping trains return to Stoke Station after flooding.

Joe The Plumber, Stoke, show yourself! Your people need you and your thoughts.

Maybe average Joe was one of the few who turned out to vote for the referendum on Thursday, October 23 but there were thousands who didn’t. Is politics, and local politics just not sexy?

I’ve a bee in my hat

I noticed the phrase “I’ve a bee in my hat” written down a few days ago. It drew my curiosity not least because the phrase which rolls off the tongue is “I’ve a bee in my bonnet“.

My assumption is that at the last minute the writer was unable to check the spelling of the “is-it-double-n-or-double-t” word and opted for the all-together easier ‘hat.’ I suspect there was a chance they could have used the word cap. It would have been better, if you’ve eaten your hat the last thing you want to find is that it had a bee inside. That’s why sayings use the various words to indicate head wear.

Being a grammar vigilante has landed two American ladies in trouble. They were so annoyed by rogue apostrophes they took matters into their own hands and pen to paper but ended up being done for graffiti.

On Radio 4, they have to point out to listeners that website addresses which require apostrophes don’t have them. It says a lot about the Radio 4 listener and what the BBC think of them.

In Crewe they don’t have such issues with grammar.

Round the corner from my house is the takeaway “to good”. I don’t go there on principle.

An English teacher at my high school had a bee in her bonnet over Max Spielmann’s sign “we develop photo’s”. Eeeks.

Who’s to blame?

Teachers, politicians, writers? Whose job is it to preserve language.

A university don is suggesting that texting actually encourages the use of proper English. To write in text language. “It is gr8 2 c u m8″. It means you have to know the correct spellings to start with.

Please report any mistakes in this posting by using the comments facility. Keep me in check!

A boost for the little town

For all the stereotypes of living up north I have to admit, my street conforms to several.

Cobbles – check.

Little alley way at the back of the house – check.

Neighbour to chat to over the garden fence – check.

But then there’s certain things you realise living in Crewe, or Stone, or any small town, certain things you know you won’t get to see. Madonna turning on the Christmas lights, the first branch of Harrods in the North.

Certainly the town buzzed with excitement when Costa Coffee opened and it had nothing to do with the coffee they were serving. It was just as much as we could take.  Suddenly, people in Crewe were drinking latte and sitting around reading books and looking at their lap top. I cheat when I go. I don’t drink coffee so I order a babyccino. What’s a babyccino? It’s the frothy milk no coffee and it’s yummy.

Now I learn that the town might actually get an ice rink to help shoppers get into the Christmas spirit. It’s not Madonna but it’s a little something that bigger towns have. I’ve seen these in several cities. Last year I went to Manchester to enjoy the ice rink which was put up in Piccadilly Gardens. There was plenty of mulled wine served. To think I’ll be able to pop for a skate in town is enough to make me go out and buy a pair of gloves in readiness. They are essential. The Christmas ice rink in Leicester always drew crowds to the Haymarket where it was based. It won’t beat the rink in Central Park, NYC but it’s something different.

And for little towns make good think of the excitement in Stone. The train station will have an hourly service to London from December 1 when the timetable changes.

Crewe – the home of the railways

Crewe is undoubtedly the home of the railways.

Every town has it’s one thing. Melton Mowbary has it’s pork pies, Worcester has it’s very tasty sauce, Stoke-on-Trent is the Potteries for a very good reason and Crewe has it’s railways.

The suggestion by Network Rail is to upsticks and move the railway from Crewe to Basford.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not far when you are on a train. It is just too far if you want to as I do, walk to the station. Now, I like walking but I’m not going to set off an hour before my train is due to walk to a station.

To rub salt into the wound I’d walk past the old station. And to add further insult to injury I’ll be able to see the new station in the distance along the tracks but you can’t walk that way.

I now understand the furore when football clubs deliberate moving the ground from the city in which is was established to a more convenient location outside the city limits.

Stoke City had that very issue when it was moving from the Victoria Ground to the Britannia Stadium.

For Leicester City the new Walkers Stadium is within walking distance of the old Filbert Street ground.

And I now appreciate not only the sentimental value of this but a purely practical reason.

If I did not live in Crewe and can’t travel there easily by train it will make it a chore to visit. Tourists will be less likely to visit. The little tourism trade we do have, people visiting the heritage centre, will fade away.

It’s the same as using Ryanair to get a flight to Rome only to end up in a small place 50 miles away.

Basford is not 50 miles away from Crewe but I whole-heartedly support the efforts to keep the station where it is.

And not least because there are plans in place to upgrade it, to transform it and modernise. All of which it does need.

The affect of creating a station at Basford would also have a knock-on affect for people in Nantwich. With a station in Basford, only a stone’s throw from Nantwich on the A500, would the town have justification for it’s own station?

I use to work in Middlewich. A town proud of it’s Roman heritage and importance in the country’s salt trade.

The town had endless campaigns for it’s train station to be re-instated. Crewe can not be allowed to have to fight in the same way for what it rightly owns as part of it’s heritage.

Five go to Smugglers’ cave

What child didn’t like the adventure that Enid Blyton offered in her books? I was, make that am, a thoroughly delighted fan of Blyton be it the Famou Five exploring the Dorset coast line, the Secret Seven finding intrigue closer to home or the multiple mischief at various boarding schools – Mallory Towers, St Clairs.

So bearing this in mind I was thoroughly delighted to find that a secret tunnel was discovered at a St Edward’s Church in Leek.

I can only imagine the excitement of Brian Hartley who found the tunnel.

Incidentally, the Famous Five has been brought up-to-date for a new series for the Disney channel. The story behind the new five is that they are the sons or daughters of Blyton’s original five. The jury’s out on the decision to update in the way it has been.

Keith Montgomery is a man whose knows something about adventure.

A regular competitor in the Original Mountain Marathon in Lake District he was forced to abandon this year’s race when hazardous weather conditions moved on to the mountains.

After two-and-a-half-hours Keith, from Leek and his running partner were only 700 meters from the start.

The thought of the race fills me with dread. I love watching running, marathons, athletics, you name it, but to do it myself? I much prefer to head to the gym – aka my second bedroom. Should the event have gone ahead? It’s easy to argue no with hindsight but lets see what happens next year and if more precautions are put in place.

Angelena inspired us all

I consider myself very lucky to have met Angelena Buxton and her family. Angelena was a remarkable woman who, while suffering with kidney cancer, was fighting to get drugs paid for and approved for use in England.

The drug Nexavar is already used widely in America and Europe but there were delays in making it available in England.

When Angelena was diagnosed in November 2006 she was given about “three months” to live.

But Angelena was not happy to accept the word of the doctors and her and her family plundered the internet looking for ways to help keep Angelena alive for longer.

Their hard work paid off. Her family paid their final respects at a celebration of her life last week, two years after diagnosis and a year after a petition for the drug to be made available was handed in to Downing Street.

The drug she campaigned for is called Nexavar. Her request for the drug was initially rejected by North Staffordshire PCT but Angelena fought on. Eventually she delivered a 10,000 name petition to Downing Street to campaign for the drug which had helped her.

When her body was saying no her self-proclaimed stubbornness helped her to fight.

Angelena was pleased that her fight helped other people fight for the drug. And like Herceptin campaigned Dot Griffiths her voice made a difference.

Go Lewis go!

Please Lewis win in style. Fingers crossed your fuel lasts until the end of the race.

Quick it’s on the blogs!

A journalist friend of mine recently recapped a story from his newsroom. Footage of Sarah Palin, the vice-president candidate for the Republicans, had landed online, showing her in a beauty contest.

The only problem was that, as quick as Flash Gordon, the powers that be had it removed from the site.

Luckily some eagle eyed Flash ripper had managed to pull the video from the original site and had saved it and it was now on the blogs.

Everyone was scrambling to get that footage and this one man had saved the day. The video ended up on a national website and the rest as they say is history.

I’m undecided as to whether Sarah Palin will be consigned to the history books as a footnote orif she will blossom into a political force to be reckoned with. Bloggers are certianly having their say.

Once an issues is on the blogs it acts as a confirmation a story is newsworthy. Guido Fawkes is now a household name.  One blog became so popular it was turned into a magazine. It may be unconventional journalism but who cares. News rooms use to come alive at the sound of ‘It’s on the wires’ now the phrase is ‘it’s on the blogs’!

Crewe and Nantwich was a hot topic for bloggers earlier this year. With the sudden death of Gwyneth Dunwoody a by-election was called for the traditional Labour seat. Cast your mind back to May 2008 and the big issues was the 10p tax cut and Labour losing standing in the polls. Northern Rock had been nationalised but the credit crunch was barely a nibble.

Gwyneth’s daughter Tamsin stood for Labour but was thoroughly beaten by Edward Timpson. A man very much in the mold of post-West Wing, post-Blair politicians. The kind of guy who attends a meeting on a Saturday and ditches the tie.

Edward Timpson (yes of the cobbler family trade) had a resounding victory. Bloggers tapped away at their computers on election night as the results came in from Nantwich Civic Hall.

But what is happening now is possibly more interesting. Labour has just selected it’s next Timpson rival. David Williams.

But will Williams be true opposition for Timpson ahead of the next General Election, likely to fall in 2009 2010.

It could be as early as 2009 if Gordon Brown is ambushed in some way.

What will Williams do next?

Hollyoaks continuity gaff

For TV addicts who like to point and moan check out Wednesday night’s Hollyoaks on C4 at 6.30pm.

Frankie and Newt move in to their new home after selling the Dog In The Pond at auction to Neville Ashworth.

Frankie was excited she was getting the Ashworth’s four-bedroom detached house but ends up living in a flat next to Justin and Ste.

So about the ‘Oaks gaff.

Justin walks out to say ” it’s not bad in there if you don’t mind the bugs”.

We then cut back to the SU bar to find Leila chatting to her new flatmate at the bar. And guess who’s now serving them yep it’s Justin in different clothes.

Back to the cutting room.

Missed Wednesday’s Hollyoaks at 6.30pm? Catch it again at Channel 4+1, or on E4 at 4.25pm on Thursday or E4+1 at 5.25pm or there’s the omnibus on E4 on Saturday afternoon from 2.30pm and again on +1 or on T4 on Sunday morning and again on C4+1 and there’s always the C4 on demand.

I’m a big fan of the TV revolution which allows us to watch stuff when we want but C4, ever heard of over kill?

What else have you spotted?

And where is Winsford?

If you’re a fan of Mock The Week you’ll know who Frankie Boyle is.

The Scottish comedian is not over the line, he’s completely passed it. More than half of the jokes he makes on Mock The Week have to be scrapped so the BBC don’t end up in serious trouble. (Evidently a different set of principles govern MTW than do Radio 2, recovering from the Brand and Ross incident).

I had the pleasure of seeing Frankie at Winsford Civic Hall. I had originally tried to get tickets to see him in Hanley but it had sold out. Luckily I was able to get my Jimmy Carr tickets for December.

Frankie was amused by Winsford. It is a small town which, once he decided was not near Wales, he warmed to.

‘What do people do in Winsford?’ He asked from the stage.
‘Nothing,’ shouted the crowd.
‘What do you do, love?’ He asked to one front row victim.
‘Work in the Job Centre’.
Aahhhhhh! and with such an exchange he understood the town.
“Oh it’s a chav town! That’s why it looks like than holding pen for the Jeremy Kyle show!”

People had paid £17 to hear their town slagged off. But this was Frankie ‘off the tele’ so it went down really well and everyone was happy.

It is with some certainty, therefore, that when Frankie comes to Hanley later this month I can honestly say the audience will enjoy it.

But what has he got instore for them?

How will he cope with the one-city-six-towns concept? Will he generalise about “Stoke” thereby alienating everyone from Burslem?

Will jokes run thick and fast about Stoke City and Rory’s throws with no thought for the city’s other club Port Vale. The humour of it all.

Will he ask if people like oatcakes and then actually admit he’s never had one – or that the Scottish ones are better and Stokies are merely pretenders to the crown.

There’s something in the water

Be it Severn Trent in the mother town or United Utilities in Crewe we’ve got something to thank our often berated water companies.

True, they’re more use to fielding customer complaints than compliments but this time credit where credit is due.

They’ve gone and put something in the water.

A sprinkling of magic, some fairy dust, call it what you will but how else do we explain the FA Cup first-round success enjoyed by our local clubs?

Port Vale’s away win at Huddersfield in the first round of the FA Cup and even more impressive, Crewe Alex’s first win since September against Ebbsfleet United. Surely, the thank-you must go to the water companies.

Perhaps Robbie Williams enjoyed a glass of council pop when he visited his nearest and dearest, and Port Vale.

What else can explain his sudden and somewhat unexpected testimony that he “also supports Man Utd“.

I was in Burslem on the day Robbie was at Port Vale and I said to some young lads, quite excited to see the home lad on his home turf: “Robbie’s meant to be here, have you seen him?” “Neh, sorry, if I see him I’ll tell him a girl is looking for him”.

Surely that’s the story on his life? I can only wonder what Robbie would then do with this information. Would he then be wandering around looking for me? The mind boggles.

You have to hand it Robbie. The boy done good. He dreamed he would head to the stage and via his Take That days he became England’s biggest solo star.

And ambition is not a bad thing to have.

Now, also signed to Robbie’s label is teacher Elinor Moran from Blythe Bridge. She is due to go on tour performing hits of Gilbert and Sullivan. The album deal is worth an estimated £1.5m. Fair enough it’s not the £80m Robbie secured but most people would be happy with that success.

But would 11-year-old Gemma Mills be satisfied? She recently put pen to paper to write about the new Famous Five book. She came up with her own story to clinch the prize.

But the pupil doesn’t dream of writing for a future job. Oh no. Pah.

She considered being Prime Minister but then decided that wasn’t good enough and her new ambition is to be a high court judge.

When I was little I wanted to be a spaceman.

Just to clarify, I’m not a spaceman. If it was I’d include more pictures in my blog!

Tinkerbell, what time is it?

Staffordshire Police believe that youngsters look at their phone to check the time. Apparently, no-one wears a watch anymore. In an effort to fight crime, the police installed a huge clock in Central Forest Park, Hanley to make sure that no-one inadvertedly flashes their Nokia or iPhone to a would-be theif.

I have plenty of clocks in my home. I even wear a watch but yesterday, just to be sure of the time I rang the talking clock – yes, it does still exist you ring 123.

Evidently the credit crunch has had an affect on life at the clock.

For as long as I can remember the voice on the end of the phone has said: “At the third beep, the time sponsored by Accurist wil be XX:XX and ten seconds”, beep, beep beep.

But Accurist has ended it’s sponsorship of BT’s talking clock service in favour of its own project where thousands of Brits will add their voice to the online version of the talking clock.

The clock receives “only” 70million calls a year a dramatic decrease from the 250million when it first started sponsorship. The actual clock started its beeps in 1936.

I found all this out this morning. Imagine my shock yesterday when I was greeted by “hi, this is Tinkerbell, at the thrid bell the time will be xx:xx and ten seconds”. bell, bell, bell. If I wasn’t running late, I definitely was by the time I’d hung up, checked the number and rang back.

The chirpy American accent was confusing enough. The name Tinkerbell was just plain bizarre. It sounded like a dodgy premium rate number.

I’ve a recording of the clock you can listen too.  Listen to Tinkerbell.

What is art?

Back in the day I used to be a fan of Saved By The Bell.

Zack Morris was the king of his High School, Bayside, he got in so much trouble the principal ( don’t forget there’s a friend in the princiPAL) had a recurring role and his mobile phone had more in common with a house brick than anything turned out by Sony Erricson, Nokia or Samsung in 2008.

For some reason, I guess endless re-runs, some of the quotes of the TV show have stuck with me.

“What is art? Is art, art? Are we Art?,” Asks main character Zack as he tries to philosopher on a subject he knows nothing about it.

The dictionary defines art as:

the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.

So is a car, positioned so it looks like it has crashed art? What about if a recording is added to the boot to make it sound as though someone is stuck inside?

I’m not too sure but Glasgow-artists LittleWhitehead installed such a conscript outside Staffordshire University as part of Conjunction08 a new festival for the city of Stoke-on-Trent.

The only problem being that, for two people at least, it didn’t seem like art but a very real scenario. So real in fact they smashed through a window in order to get inside the car and ‘rescue’ the trapped victim. Alas, it was a voice on a tape, but you have to hand it to these would-be heroes they were certainly doing their bit for the community.

Anthea, why do the advert?

Anthea Turner markets herself as the most amazing housewife.

She may be known for her Tracey Island on Blue Peter and the whole ‘did-Flake-sponsor-her-wedding’ to Grant Bovey but, her career at the moment is based on the fact she’s a dab hand in the kitchen and, should you want to, you could eat the meal of the bathroom floor.

In fairness, although I’d watched Anthea Turner’s TV show, I didn’t actually think her house would look quite so immaculate if the TV cameras weren’t there.

But now in a shameless marketing swoop she’s now advertising Flash. The advert has Anthea telling how you can clean, clean, clean and it’ll make a perfect home. Then, for the final shot the camera pulls back, shows Anthea sat on the couch with her feet up and her cleaner being told what to do.

Cheeky Anthea then has the balls to say “You didn’t actually think I did it all myself did you”.

Well, no Anthea, we didn’t but we didn’t need you being so explicit about it.

I don’t know if on TV cookery shows Jamie, Delia or Gordon cook all of their own food. I’m not overly concerned if they don’t. It’s their recipe and we know they’re busy – just show me how to make it and let me know it tastes good.

The point, Anthea, is don’t then lord it over us meer mortals who can’t afford a cleaner going “ha ha ha”.

I’m not surprised you’re a bloody good housewife if there’s staff back at the mansion.

And it’s not the only reason Anthea has annoyed me this week. It was pointed out, by way of a letter, that Anthea also plugs pottery at Matalan. There’s a giant picture of her outside the branch at Longton and within the city limits of Stoke-on-Trent, home of the pottery industry. The pottery she advertises, in her home county, is that from overseas. Just have a bit of thought, love. Please.

TV leads the way?

When Barack Obama moves his family, and new puppy, into the White House in January there will be a definite aura of change in Washington.

Not least because Obama’s campaign was based on the mantra ‘change we need’. (Unashamedly poor English but, what the hell) But as has been reported, and commented on, thousands of times, the 44th President of the U.S.A will be a black man. Or rather a man of mixed race.

As an aside, a brilliant piece I read in The Times pointed out that Barack Obama is not a black president. He is mixed race and that to refer to him as black denied his mum had any race at all.

But for TV-Land it won’t be the first time the man who calls Air Force One ‘his’ has been not white.

In 24, Keither Sutherland goes all out trying to save the life of president David Palmer. Portrayed by Dennis Haysbert, the president in 24, was recently voted the most popular president ever in a survey carried out for LoveFilm.Com

Martin Sheen’s Jed Bartlet (The West Wing) came second. Outside of the survey, The West Wing, famous for its walk and talk, also led the field with Hispanic Jimmy Smits running, and securring, the presidency in the final season.

It may have been two years since the Bartlet administration de-camped from the White House but you have to wonder if the TV shows helped to make a difference.

Did they in someway, suggest something that people could understand? That the race for the White House was anything but about race? That it needed to be the best man for the job? That’s why Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) backed Smit’s character Matt Santos to run for office. Does it help further, than Santos was based on the up-and-coming Illinois Senator Barack Obama?

In Stoke-on-Trent where the BNP have an unfortunate tendancy to do quite well what will they make of a non-white president and not just one on the TV?

Money makes the world go round

It’s interesting to see that on the day a couple announce their £2.6m Lottery win, Staffordshire police announce a woman has been duped out a substantial amount of cash by international con artists.

I am definitely a glass-half-full optimist. Translation? I play the lottery. I got suckered in when I was younger and play regular numbers. (Which offer a glimmer into my interests – at least when I started playing)

14 – That’s how old I was when the National Lottery started.
17 – The losing score of the Pittsburgh Stealers for the superbowl in 1995
21 – Deion Sanders jersey number for the Dallas Cowboys
27 – Dallas Cowboys winning result for the superbowl in 1995 ( Go Cowboys!)
32 – OJ Simpson’s jersey number
49 – The San Francisco 49ers.

Anyway I can’t shake those numbers. I dare not think about the feeling of dread if I actually won and didn’t have those numbers. So, I carry on playing and, just so I’m not uber forgetful and remember late on a cold Saturday night that I don’t have the all-important ticket, I play online by subscription.

It’s a sheer joy when, as has happened, I receive an email telling me there’s activity on my account and I’ve won. I think the most my numbers have netted me in one go is £78 but, bloody hell, I’m not giving up on those numbers.

Another email that pops up much more regularly is spam or rather, scam spam.

I receive countless emails from long lost princes, oil tycoons, ambassadors and overseas bank workers. Apparently, I am the only person they can trust and they send me an email (typically in poor English) asking for help.

They have to get a large amount of money out of their country or organisation.

I know it’s a scam but I read it anyway. Heck, there’s always so many zeros on their emails! But, even as an optimist, I always know never to reply.

It makes me incredibly sad that the World Winner Circle would play on the very good nature of an eldely woman from Newcastle with their international scam. Staffordshire Police are now looking into the theft.

A quick google search of World Winner Circle, brings up no results of note.

We’re told we’re in a recession. The credit crunch bit, it became an economic downturn, and it’s now a recession. House prices are falling, there’s uncertainty like I’ve never seen over jobs and money continues to make the world go round. If there’s a time for people to be vigil of scams like this, it is now.

In Staffordshire, good natured people have wished Jackie and John Livesley, of Longton, good luck with their lotto cash. Jackpotters! screamed the front page story dedicated to their win, bearing in mind their club of choice is Stoke City aka the mighty Potters. But look around the county and it’s a tale of misery in hard times.

The Times reported that the workforce in Stoke-on-Trent is down by more than 5 per cent.

There’s job losses at JCB, Spode, and more besides.

The old addage to remember, if an offer looks or sounds too good to be true it probably is and that’s coming from an optimist.

Holidays

Hello,

I’m off on my holidays for a while so it’ll be a bit quiet around here. Check back in a few days for the next blog.

Thanks,

Nci1.

Space Centre was on-par with Beagle-2 – a failure

During my week off I had the pleasure of visiting my old stomping ground of Leicester.

I’d planned a day out at the National Space Centre which I thought would be on a par with London’s Science Museum. I’m sad to say it wasn’t. It was a huge waste of time and the day was only saved by a lovely afternoon in Leicester city centre, but, back to the Space Centre.

Leicester has few national attractions so you would think everyone involved in the project – Leicester University, Leicester City Council, BT, the East Midlands Development Agency and the Millennium Commission would want it to be a success.

The national space centre web site promises….

‘The award winning National Space Centre is the UK’s largest attraction dedicated to space. From the minute you catch sight of the Space Centre’s futuristic Rocket Tower, you’ll be treated to hours of breathtaking discovery and interactive fun.’

I actually wanted to learn something about space but exhibts were overly simplifed to appeal to children. Except it doesn’t even do that. Some of the children I saw there were bored. The most exicitng bit being a simulated space mission which was a rather uncomfortable ride and even broke half way through.

I’m all for interactivity to help children learn about science but by attempting to appeal to the lowest common denominator it appeals to no-one. Children complain there is too much reading. Anything I read was not in-depth enough.

The thing is I really did want it to be the success so if I’m disappointed, I hate to think what would have been the reaction from someone dragged there by parents, other-halfs or school trips. I’ve been wanting to go to the Space Centre for ages and it only added to my dissapointment that it was a let down. The eye-catching building which dominates the surrounding skyline has a rocket, just as advertised, but it’s just not all that great.

Much is made of Beagle-2 and it’s trip to Mars but only a single line is dedicated to it’s failure. Which is the very essence of what the National Space Centre is. A failure.

As I wanted the space centre to be such a success I will offer in its defence that maybe I didn’t see it at it’s best. The day I went I inadvertly stumbled across a world record attempt for the most Doctor Who Daleks in one place. Enter stage left, middle-aged man with life-sized Dalek they had built themselves and hyper-active kids dressed in suits picked up in Woolies for a tenner.

But the Doctor Who theme aside there was just not enough there to keep me entertained for “hours” as the website suggested.

I can only wonder if my experience in Leicester was anywhere near similar to that people have experienced at Ceramica, Burslem. It too is a Millennium project this time supported by Advantage West Midlands.

But Stoke-on-Trent City Council now may have to sell off the building in order to repay the cash to the project. That will be the end of Ceramica.

Which other Millennium projects are sturggling in the wake of the recession with talk of credit crunch, jobs losses, redundancies and interest rate cuts to steady the economy.

Money spinner in these difficult times

You take two popular products, put them together and you’re sure to have an easy winner.

Frosties – cornflakes with ready added sugar, ready salted crisps ( although nowadays the little blue pack would be quite exciting) and a hat that doubles up as a bag ( really? Yes.)

Now author Garry Marsh, a teacher has decided to follow in the ways of winning combos and decided to make a book about the Beatles and Christmas. And ooo would you look at that. It’s December and people are Christmas shopping. There’s fab four fans to buy for and ch-ching. Garry and his American pal Scott ‘Belmo’ Belmer are surely on to a winner.

I have to say when you here the doom and gloom in the papers and on the radio, tv and web you can’t hate but worry if Christmas should be given a miss this year.  With talks of job losses at some of the biggest employees in the area, JCB, Wedgwood, Spode, Bentley… unfortunately the list goes on it’s hard to imagine a Christmas at all for some families.

But I do wish well to Garry Marsh. He seems utterly bonkers – and that’s meant as a compliment – and hopefully the extra cash his well timed book brings in will spread a little joy in Stoke-on-Trent and help him to beat the credit crunch-but-that-sounds-too-friendly-now-it-should-be-called-a-downturn-or-recession.

Actually I don’t want you to collect MY bin at all

Call it controversial, call it liberal, call it what you will but I don’t want the council to collect my bin at all.

Let me start at the beginning. Let me head way, way back to when I was about seven and started to have to do little chores around the house for my parents. Recycling wasn’t something people did unless you are referring to exchanging old milk bottles for new ones.

I never minded emptying the bins in the house. It was such an easy job.  You simply started in the room the furthest away from the back door armed with a big black sack. And when you’re seven black sacks are really big. So it goes -  bathroom empty bin, old shampoo bottle, used tissue, toilet roll tube all into the big sack.

Next stop bedroom, old magazine, an envelope from a letter. You pick the little bin up in the corner of the room and tip it up. It all falls into the big black sack.

I’d finish in the kitchen and, at the age of seven, I’d be dragging the sack by this stage. Just enough room for the kitchen bin. Empty tin of tomatoes, cereal box,  plastic that fruit comes in, old duster, scappings from food.

Nowadays, it’s not quite so simple. I live alone in a two-up-two down terrace house in Crewe. What’s the point in having a bin in the corner of my living room because at no point can I wander round with my black sack collecting it all? I feel almost notalgic for the old days.

So it means my kitchen is designated rubbish central. If I finish reading a newspaper it goes into a random carrier bag slung over the back door, next up my junk mail, well that’s got my name and address on it so that better get shredded. Don’t want anyone stealing my identity and screwing up my credit rating. The shredded paper that can go in the same carrier bag. Phew. The envelope? Somewhere else. The tins of soup, another bag, the glass bottle a separate section.

And so it continues. I sort kitchen waste , letters from envelopes, plastic wrapping from their respective boxes.

Actualy I don’t mind. The recycling and environmental message has worked on me so don’t think this is a grumble.

All this rubbish, painstakingly sorted I can then nip out and put in a wheelie bin. And then on alternative weeks I put them out. Except I can’t get out of my back door because there’s bags and boxes everywhere!

Also, it’s dark when I get home from work, slugs and spiders lurk in my garden and I’m not keen on going out and facing them. That’s before I’ve encountered a dark alley way (recently alley gated and primed for redevelopment).

Councils like to have what they call ‘bring to’ sites all over the place. And there’s quite a few near my house. So-called because the public bring their waste to the sites. So I nip to Tesco to get rid of plastic in all shapes and sizes.  I go to a car park near the tax office (hello striking tax workers) to drop of glass and paper.

And don’t try to fill a whole black sack with newspapers. You’ll never lift it and as for pushing a wheelie bin filled with papers and magazines call in Geoff Capes.

Imagine that you lived in a block of flats. Would everyone need their own wheelie bin? No. They would drop their carefully sorted stuff into very local recycling bits.

Ta da. All the money the council would save from not having to trawl the streets. No problems at Christmas and New Year. Or when you take holidays and specific bins go a month without collection.

There would be no more talk of wheelie bins tripping people up. No more talk of smelly bins.

A great idea. But it would never work. Councils aren’t brave enough to suggest something like this. And who can blame them. The narrow-minded NIMBYS wouldthink it terrible.

So here’s my challenge for Crewe and Nantwich borough council explain why this wouldn’t work? Or is it in the pipeline?

What do the people of Crewe really think?

No calculators? But I do want my hoverboard

We’re not that far away from the future that Michael J Fox envisaged in Back To The Future 2. The age of hoveboards, self-tying shoes and self-drying jackets was 2015. And forget the M6 for getting to and from places.

Doc told Marty “Where we’re going we don’t need roads!” as he fired up the DeLorean.

Now, youngsters in Uttoxeter are helping to prepare for the future. They have buried a time capsule in readiness for the 500 centenary – 50 years in advance. Forward planning on a whole new level.

Anyhow the headteacher from Thomas Alleynes school tells The Uttoxeter Post & Times. Schools will be so different in 50 years. Kids won’t need calculators.

Erm.

I disagree. I don’t think education will change that much. You might have McDonalds giving out A-levels and JCB with it’s own academy but surely kids will need calculators.

And to any scientists reading. You have six years to invent the hoverboard. Get your skates on!

Shopping

What is really the answer to the impending recession, economic downturn or credit crunch?
My understanding of the ins and outs of how our economy works is more Newsround than Robert Peston.
Without understanding the true cause of it I look at what I can understand – the reality of what’s happening.
Wedgwood is in administration and work is likely to be shipped overseas. The company which helped give Stoke-on-Trent the nickname of The Potteries is on the verge of moving out.
Incidentally, Stoke-on-Trent is the only city which has its main industry as a recognised name of the area.
But the problems faced in Stoke-on-Trent and in the surrounding areas of the Moorlands, North Staffordshire and Cheshire are experienced across the country.

I look around and I see there are boarded-up shops, MFI, Woolies, Adams and Zavvi.

As an aside, the Zavvi store in Crewe was the Woolworths shops in times gone by.

And everywhere that there’s a sign which says ‘closing down sale’ it means there are people losing their jobs. I read that the average USC store, of which there is one in Hanley, has 20 staff. Just think about it.  That’s 20 people who are now looking for jobs and the dole queue is getting longer.

If people aren’t earning, then they are not spending. They are worried about their homes, of negative equity, worried of terms not bounded about since the 1980s and nervous of their future.

Sales of unemlpoyment cover for mortgages and credit cards have gone up and up and up.

What started off as a credit crunch – something quite friendly sounding, like a deal for a bargain sandwich with a bag of crisps – has now definitely bitten.

Christmas with its glitzy lights and decorations offered a slight distraction from all that was going wrong. People cast aside thoughts of their personal finances, had a what-the-hell attitude and spent. Some shops have faired better than expected with Next and Debenhams saying things were OK while M& S reveal their state of play tomorrow.

It’s not thought to be good.

Welcome to 2009.

Great British

There is a risk that Royal Mail will be part privatised and it would appear that the Dutch and German mail operators are the frontrunners to take over part of the business.

Call me nostalgic, old-fashioned but there’s something very English about Royal Mail.

Lord Peter Mandleson says that Royal Mail definitely needs a new partner to invest in the business.

But take a step back from the economic turmoil and look at the nice things that Royal Mail does.

And this week it secured its ture-Brit position by unveiling 10 designs of stamps.

It features Reginald Mitchell’s Spitfire.

Included in the list of design greats is the Spitfire, Mary Quant’s mini-skirt, the London Underground map by Harry Beck and Sir Giles Gilbert Scott bright red telephone kiosk.

The rest of the list is the Penguin book jacket designed by Edward Young,  Mini of Sir Alec Issigonis, the Anglepoise lamp by George Carwardine,  a Polypropylene Chair, Concorde by Aerospatale-BAC and a Routemaster red bus by AAM Durrant.

If Royal Mail is going to celebrate British-ness it can’t be owned by a foreign country – can it?

I’m going the gym, the jungle gym

There’s only two things which are certain in life – death and taxes – or so says the phrase.
I’d like to add a few more.
People overeat at Christmas, people diet in January, no-one can explain why the two blokes on Masterchef on BBC2 shout at each other when they are sat so close together.
Alas, the post-Christmas tightening of the belt – both around the waist and a cut-back on expense is a certainty as far as I’m concerned.
Now. North Staffordshire PCT reckons it can improve the health of people with an outdoor gym.
So the PCT which claims it hasn’t enough cash to fund fertility treatment, and in the past the drugs sutent and nexavar is now shelling out £120,000 to put a gym into Bathpool Park, Kidsgrove and Lyme Valley Parkway in Newcastle.
Now, another thing is certain. There will be as many doubters as believers in the wisdom of this scheme.
On the one hand, rising obesity levels in children and young people – as well as the population as a whole – causes a strain on the NHS. Obese people, fat people, are unhealthy and cost money.
So make them fitter and ‘ka-ching. The NHS is quids in?
What happens if people from Porthill, Burslem or Tunstall nip to the Newcastle park and do a few stretches next to the balance bars? What happens if someone from Goldenhill heads north rather than south on the a50 and nips to Kidsgrove for a quick workout?
Private gyms are pricey. They aren’t exactly a friend of the credit-crunch. So maybe an outdoor gym is the answer and in fairness, it’s something we all grew up with.
Back when I was younger they were called playgrounds. Apart from getting dizzy you got a work-out pushing the other ( usually bigger) children on the merry-go-round. And your arms remembered it for days after you’d travelled the length of the monkey bars once, twice, three times. And for an abs-workout,  head back to the swings. Maybe there is something about an outdoor gym after all?!

And jokers – I’ve already heard the one about the showers only being available when it rains. Funny ha ha.

Shortner-whacking

Initially I was going to tweet this idea but I realised it needed slightly more than 140 characters to do the job justice.

Remember Google whack? You put two random unconnected words into Google search in the vague hope you can find something which returns just one result. Dave Gorman led the field and even wrote a book about it.

Well my new idea is shortner whacking. I like to use http://ow.ly as a shortner and I know it creates a four-letter redirect. For example http://ow.ly/dZjg so I decided to have a whack and just type some random ones into my URL bar.

It is quite fun and you know you’re going to find stuff that is midly amusing, rude, newsy or just plain odd because someone went to the effort of setting up a shorty in the first place. You can try it with Tiny Bitly. is.gd etc. Anyone dudes have fun. I ended up here http://ow.ly/dZjg

Not Yet Rain

About this film: Not Yet Rain
It is difficult to convey the real-life impact of unsafe abortion in a way that does justice to women facing impossible reproductive choices in places where abortion is restricted and poverty determines health care options. How much more powerful and informative if these women were given a forum to speak for themselves?

Not Yet Rain, a short film by Lisa Russell in association with Ipas, addresses the issue of unsafe abortion through the voices of women who have faced these difficult choices.

Reporters preparing news for the internet.

I think similar things will happen in a lot of newsrooms. As long as the quality of copy is not compromised there is no reason why reporters can’t help prepare a story for the web in the way they prepare it for print.

And more than that, reporters need to get to know their websites to understand where their stories are positioned on homepages and in topic channels.

Reporters should care just as much about being having the best read story online as they should having a page 1 byline.

Originally posted as a comment by nci1 on Press Gazette using Disqus.

Reporters preparing news for the internet.

I think similar things will happen in a lot of newsrooms. As long as the quality of copy is not compromised there is no reason why reporters can’t help prepare a story for the web in the way they prepare it for print.

And more than that, reporters need to get to know their websites to understand where there stories are positioned on homepages and in topic channels.

Reporters should care just as much about being the best read story online as they should having a page 1 byline.

Originally posted as a comment by nci1 on Press Gazette using Disqus.

Reporters preparing news for the internet.

I think similar things will happen in a lot of newsrooms. As long as the quality of copy is not compromised there is no reason why reporters can’t help prepare a story for the web in the way they prepare it for print.

And more than that, reporters need to get to know their websites to understand where there stories are positioned on homepages and in topic channels.

Reporters should care just as much about being the best read story online as they should having a page 1 byline.

Originally posted as a comment by nci1 on Press Gazette using Disqus.