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February 28, 2007
Mobile madness
As regular readers of my blog will know I have previously had several rants about motorists who use their hand-held mobile phones whilst driving.
Therefore I was heartened by the tougher new laws that came into force yesterday and I can only hope that they stop the idiots who insist on driving while at the same time talking on their mobile.
We all know the dangers - or at least we should - of this senseless act which is on a par with drink driving and excessive speeding.
However, early reports suggest that alarmingly many people will continue to flout the law. I have just read that in Sussex yesterday morning four people in the space of 10 minutes were caught on their mobile whilst driving.
There has been extensive media coverage on the new tougher penalties so no one can claim they didn't know they came into force yesterday. I fear that they have done little to halt this dangerous practice and perhaps for some people a £60 fine and three penalty points is a small price to pay for making or receiving that 'all important phone call.'
We will certainly be reporting in the Gazette at the earliest opportunity how many offenders have been caught in the borough since the new tougher penalties came into force this week.
Posted by aseal at 8:05 AM | Comments (0)
February 27, 2007
Tasty recipes
It's been a cracking effort by the news team and as the last few pages are checked off this week's Gazette is another strong edition.
A severely depleted team have really pulled out all the stops to produce some great stories and we have some strong splashes on the edition front pages.
In several cases we have had to really dig around to turn good stories into really strong front page leads and reporters Chris Longhurst and John Hughill have risen to the challenge and delivered the goods.
I have not mentioned any other reporters because over the last few days Chris and John have been 'the news team' with support from content editor David Tilley and news editor Chene Koscienly.
As I mentioned in a previous blog The Mall Pavillions Shopping Centre in Uxbridge is planning to launch a cookery book featuring recipes from creative chefs in our community.
We have featured the story in this week's Gazette and at the same time want to know what dish you think best reflects the borough's tastebuds.
Some early contenders have been kebabs and chicken burgers, fillet steak and pineapple fritters with spicy barbecue sauce.
I would be interested to hear your favourite recipes so let me know and perhaps we can start something of a cooking theme to my daily blogs!
Posted by aseal at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)
February 26, 2007
'Good news' section
After a day out of the office on Friday much of this morning has been spent playing catch up and responding to the usual daily flurry of emails.
I am shortly off to our Ealing office for a meeting which looks like it will last most of the afternoon but the good ship Gazette is in the capable hands of content editor David Tilley and this week's edition is progressing well.
Despite a somewhat depleted reporting team this week we look like having strong splashes for all four edition front pages and several other stories are also developing well so I expect another strong Gazette come tomorrow lunchtime and our final deadline.
I was interested to receive the comments from Lynn Hall to my previous blog (Most popular stories) and her suggestion that we should have a 'Good News' section in the Gazette.
We do try to include as many good news stories as possible in the paper each week and ensure we have a balance between negative and positive stories. The point I was making is that generally it's the stories that you would define as 'bad news' that boost newspaper sales and get the most hits on the website.
However, I am always interested to receive comments from Gazette readers and would welcome your thoughts and views on the paper.
Posted by aseal at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)
February 22, 2007
Most popular stories
I have been looking at the statistics for the website to see what stories have attracted the most page impressions this week.
Once again it tells me that crime and tragedy are the most popular stories being read on the site.
The three news headlines that have attracted the most hits so far this week are:
1. Body found near canal identified
2. Girl grabbed by youth
3. Man charged after domestic fight
I’m often asked why there’s no good news being reported and we always try to balance both the paper and website when it comes to good and bad news coverage. However, the simple fact is that bad news stories generally attract a higher readership.
I am not around tomorrow so have a good weekend and I will be back on Monday.
Posted by aseal at 4:04 PM | Comments (1)
Northern takeover
Posted by aseal at 12:42 PM | Comments (0)
Reporting crisis
I have the distinct feeling the newsdesk are going to be feeling the pressure over the next few days.
For the last few weeks we have started off with a cracking news list which has developed as we approach the Gazette deadline and resulted in some really strong papers.
However, this week things are generally looking a little quiet and to make matters worse we have something of a staffing crisis.
We have one reporter off ill, another on holiday and the 'loan period' with our Harrow office for reporter Tara Brady has expired and she has returned back across west London. Added to this our replacement reporter for Tom Parnell does not start for another two weeks so, we are effectively three reporters down at the moment in the newsroom.
But in the spirit of things although content editor David Tilley may secretly be a worried man he is putting on a brave face and promising that everything will be alright and the stories will soon come flooding in.
It's still early days and I am sure he is right and as usual the dedicated Gazette team will be pulling out all the stops to ensure that next week's paper is another first class edition.
Posted by aseal at 7:29 AM | Comments (0)
February 21, 2007
Domestic bliss restored
Domestic bliss has been restored in my daughter's new house (see yesterday's blog) and the Ikea bed saga resolved.
The happy ending is that the king size bed now has a king size mattress to fit - the not quite so happy ending to this saga is Ikea's refund policy if you happen to pick up the wrong size mattress by mistake and then make the even bigger mistake of unwrapping it.
I won't go into great detail but just make sure that when you buy something from Ikea it is the right size or measurement. I know there are signs everywhere telling you to check these details but it's easily forgotten when you are battling with the crowds in a busy store.
Anyway, back to the real world of newspapers and I have to say this week's Gazette is a cracking edition.
There is a great mix of hard news and human interest stories and our page three lead on the Hillingdon pensioner who 'died and went to heaven, and then came back to life again' is a must read for everyone.
We also report on how the council is promising a tough line when the public smoking ban comes into force in July. This is a subject which is likely to generate plenty of news stories and features over the coming months and you can get more information on the ban on http://www.smokefreeengland.co.uk
Posted by aseal at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)
February 20, 2007
Back ache
It's good to be back.....
After spending the weekend and yesterday helping my daughter move into her new house I have come back to work for a rest.
It was a pretty frantic few days and my back is still aching from lugging what seemed a never ending succession of boxes.
Part of yesterday was also spent on a mercy mission to Ikea in Croydon to ensure that my daughter had a bed to sleep on last night. Having purchased the bed some time ago when it came to putting it together she realised that the slats and mattress were for a double bed and the bed frame was for a king size bed!
Her boyfriend blamed Ikea for the mishap and she blamed him ... and so domestic bliss in their new house was quickly shattered ...
Anyway, I have to say the 99p breakfast at Ikea is jolly good value for money and took some of the pain out of trailing round the store early on a Monday morning.
It's now time to get my work hat back on and check how things are going with this week's Gazette. It looks as though we have another strong news week with a vicious Valentine's Day attack in a town centre bar looking the likely splash for the Uxbridge edition at the moment.
Posted by aseal at 8:10 AM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2007
Essex here we come ...
I am heading off for Essex shortly well Basildon to be exact.
Apart from my role as editor in chief of the Gazette I am also responsible for the production unit in Uxbridge which produces a number of other papers for Trinity Mirror Southern including the Yellow Advertiser Series, based in Basildon.
Today I am taking our production edition and one of the subs to Basildon for a meeting with YA editor Greg Fidgeon, to look at some new design ideas for his titles, which cover a vast area stretching from Southend to Walthamstow in East London.
You can always expect a warm welcome when you visit the Basildon office and I hope that Greg has got the coffee brewing and the chocolate biscuits ready as we will probably need them after our journey around the M25.
One thing that always strikes me when I visit Basildon is that it always seems to be blowing a gale in the town centre and feels a few degrees colder than anywhere else.
I don't expect today to be any different so I am going ready prepared with my thick coat and scarf. Yes I am just a southern softie at heart...
Posted by aseal at 7:34 AM | Comments (0)
February 15, 2007
Purple rage
I was in a good mood - despite a number of gremlins having struck the papers this week - until I saw a group putting on bright purple jackets and lurking menancingly by the entrance to the Chimes Shopping Centre.
Hopefully they would have moved on by the time I returned from a quick stroll around Uxbridge town centre in the winter sunlight.
How wrong I was and who are these people I am talking about....
They are the dreaded 'charity chuggers' who appear to have returned to the streets of Uxbridge in force this afternoon.
And when one of them in his bright purple jacket and smiling face suddenly jumped out in front of me I quite simply told him to 'get lost'. Not very nice you might think but, my view is these people should be banned from town centres with their pathetic antics to try and get people to hand over money for charity.
I don't even know what charity he was collecting for and I really don't care....
I will happily donate money to any good cause but I will decide when and where. I certainly do not need some idiot in a purple bib jumping out in front of me waving a clipboard in my face to make me hand over my cash.
Yes, I am now in a really bad mood.....
Posted by aseal at 4:02 PM | Comments (3)
February 14, 2007
Scene of crime
My office resembles a scene of crime....... and it's got nothing to do with the same page appearing twice in this week's Gazette.
The windows have been 'blacked' out and bright red and white tape declaring ' Caution Wet Paint' now covers the door and somewhere inside is a decorater busily painting away - well at least I think so!
However, the only crime that has been commited is that he is covering over the 'Tango orange' walls with a much more tranquil shade of cream.
Quite how long all this is going to take I am not sure but, for the next few days I have moved into residence of our operational director's office - and very nice it is too.
Another busy day beckons with plenty of paperwork to catch up on and another interview to carry out for a replacement reporter on the Gazette team.
Our eagle-eyed pre-press manager has just phoned me to say he has spotted a big fire in the Greenford area at a disued pub site. I now need to alert the newsdesk of our sister paper the Ealing Gazette to this. As they have a deadline of this morning for the paper they will need to get out to the scene quickly and capture the drama for this week's edition.
Posted by aseal at 1:40 PM | Comments (0)
Frustrated by missing pictures
When you least need something to go wrong with the paper you can bet it will - and that's what has happened with this week's Gazette.
Having sung the virtues of producing a cracking paper this week the gloss have slightly been taken off by the fact that the same page of pictures has appeared twice in our nine page First Day at School special feature.
This means that an entire page containing eight class pictures has not appeared at all and, we have had plenty of phone calls already from distressed parents asking why their child's class picture is not in the paper this week.
Mistakes do happen but this one is very frustrating as otherwise it's a really strong paper and the First Day at School pictures are a cracking feature.
I can only apologise to those disappointed that the pictures did not appear and the missing page will definitely be printed in next week's Gazette.
Posted by aseal at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2007
Memories and comebacks
While proofing the sports pages for this week's Gazette something really caught my eye.
In our popular weekly sporting memories column I noticed that 50 years ago Hayes Football Club attracted a crowd of 7,000 for an FA Amateur Cup clash with Ferryhill Athletic from Durham.
How times have changed. Today Hayes would be 'over the moon' for a crowd of 700 let alone 7,000 as the club struggles to pull in the punters for their Nationwide Conference South matches - which attract on average around 250-300 fans at Church Road.
There may be millions, or in some cases billions, of pounds being pumped into football at the highest level but at the lower end of the scale it's a weekly struggle for clubs like Hayes who, can only dream of the days when four figure attendances were the norm rather than a one off.
Talking of memories, I was delighted to hear that the Police have reunited and made a comeback. For an 'old British rocker' like me it's great to see the band back on the big performing stage.
There are combacks and there are comebacks but, this is one which I am sure will be of the successful variety and not just another fallen sporting star or rock group trying to relive their golden days badly.
The Police comeback certainly can't be for the money because Sting is believed to have an estimated wealth of £97million - it's just because they still love playing great music.
Anyway, back to the future and this week's Gazette is now finished and all the pages are safely with our pre-press department, which is based in Rickmansworth.
As I said earlier (previous blog Class Act) it's one of the best papers we have produced this year and I fully expect this to be reflected in the sales figures.
PS: Hayes decided against paying the £250 to charter a 36-seater plane to fly them to Durham for the cup replay.
Posted by aseal at 12:48 PM | Comments (0)
Class act
This week's Gazette promises to be a class act.
We have more than 70 pictures from reception classes across the borough in a nine-page First Day at School special feature.
It's sure to be a big hit with proud parents and grandparents as our pictures capture that magic moment of a child's first day at school.
When we ran a similar feature last October we saw a large surge in sales and I am expecting this week's Gazette to be just as popular.
It's looking like another cracking paper this week with strong splashes for all four editions. And, there will also be a few romantic tales to tell as the newsdesk frantically search this morning for that heart throbbing last minute Valentine's Day story.
I have my own ideas on how I want the main Uxbridge edition front page to look this week so with deadline fast approaching I must crack on otherwise I will have the production editor chasing me up.
Posted by aseal at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)
February 12, 2007
Whiter shade of orange
Gazette House is under going a facelift - well that's probably a slight exaggeration.
However, for those of us who have had to endure looking at bright orange walls in our offices on a daily basis it will certainly feel like it.
The brightly painted orange walls - it must have been a job lot from somewhere - have been a constant talking point for visitors to my office but, soon they are to be no more (that's the orange paint not the visitors).
One by one the offices in Gazette House are being re-painted in a whiter shade of orange - and I had the exciting news this morning that my office is next on the decorator's list.
So, by the end of the week the orange walls will have been replaced by a nice shade of white and I can put the sunglasses away until I really need them in the summer ...
Posted by aseal at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)
February 9, 2007
Sharp minded editors
Today started with an early morning editors' meeting in Reigate - a gathering of the sharpest editorial minds in Trinity Mirror Southern.
I am now back in Uxbridge and preparing to catch up on some paperwork and approve a bulging basket of invoices to ensure that all our contributors are paid on time.
The other main task of the day is to prepare for several interviews we have lined up for next week as we look for a new reporter to replace Tom Parnell, who recently moved to the South London Press.
You will know from my previous blogs that the person we appointed to replace Tom did a last minute U-turn and let us down so I am hoping for better luck this time.
No matter how impressive a person's CV might look you never know until you actually interview them whether they are the kind of person you really want to join your news team.
Past experience has taught me that you can either be pleasantly surprised or bitterly disappointed when it comes to interviewing for new recruits.
Ian Carter, my colleague at the Croydon Advertiser and one of the sharp minded editors' I was with earlier, has an interesting theory that if somebody emails their application under the name 'sparklepops@h*****l.com' they probably won't be his kind of person.
However, none of the people I will be interviewing next week have such fancy email addresses so I can't put his theory to the test this time ...
Posted by aseal at 1:04 PM | Comments (1)
February 8, 2007
Snappers on snow patrol
While some people hate the snow it seems to bring the best out of our two photographers Chris and Toby.
The first sight of a few flakes of the white stuff and off they rush to capture the wintry scenes across the borough.
And today they have been in their element with the heaviest snow for a number of years turning the whole borough into a winter wonderland. They have so far got some cracking shots and Toby is now off in search of a 10ft snowman which is blocking a road in Hayes - yes, it's true.
Our chief reporter Chris Longhurst was also up at the crack of dawn taking some fairly dramatic pictures in Eastcote and with a number of readers emailing in their snowy scenes we will be spoilt for choice when it comes to next week's Gazette.
I know it will be old news by then but I am still a firm believer that any dramatic weather pictures are always of interest to readers.
Posted by aseal at 2:05 PM | Comments (0)
Love is in the air
I thought my journey to work this morning would be a nightmare - but it turned out to be not much different than usual.
Once I had cleared the snow and ice off the car and negotiated a couple of snowy Surrey backroads the M25 was running remarkably smoothly and I had a trouble free trip into Uxbridge.
I just hope that the rest of the team at Gazette House have a similar journey in so we can get off to flying start for next week's paper.
The newsdesk will tell you that one of my constant moans is about the lack of nibs in the paper and at yesterday's weekly paper review meeting I was all set to once again tackle this issue.
However, before I could get on my soap box news editor Chene put her hands up to the lack of nibs in this week's paper. It had been a tough week for Chene as she was standing in for Content Editor David Tilley, who was on holiday, and having done a sterling job I quickly moved on to other subjects!
We already have a busy news agenda for next week's Gazette - which will include plenty of nibs - and with the paper coming out on Valentine's Day we are busy searching out some romantic tales to bring you.
PS: Nibs are a term used in the newsroom for short stories - usually no more than 50-80 words - which we often run in columns on the outside edge of news pages.
Posted by aseal at 8:18 AM | Comments (0)
February 7, 2007
Chilling fact
It's a chilling fact that tragic stories sell newspapers and that is also the case when it comes to viewing stories on our website.
The story which we posted on Monday about the pensioner tragically killed while crossing Vine Street in Uxbridge registered more hits than any single story we have put on the site since it was launched.
We have covered this story in more depth in this week's Gazette which, also includes an excellent spread on the problems passengers are facing on buses across the borough due to anti-social beheaviour and vandalism.
This is an issue which affects a lot of our readers, many of whom have already voiced their grave concerns about safety issues on buses. I expect a heavy postbag of comments over the next few days following our in-depth feature looking at the problems.
All in all I am pleased with this week's paper which is an excellent mix of hard news and good human interest stories along with several strong features, including the one on the closure of Sellenby, the second hand record shop in Eastcote.
However, all is not lost for those trying to get their hands on that long-lost rarity as the family are continuing to run the shop's original branch in nearby Harrow. It is situated at 245, Northolt Road, South Harrow.
Posted by aseal at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)
February 6, 2007
Breaking news ...
As I said earlier things can change all the time in a busy newsroom - and that's exactly what has just happened.
We were planning to report on Big Brother star Jermaine Jackson's visit to Uxbridge last night as part of his anti-bullying campaign.
However, the former Jackson Five member got stuck in traffic on the M4 near Swindon and never made it to Uxbridge.
But for all you Jackson Five golden oldies Jermaine has promised to return to Uxbridge at a later date to fulfil his commitment.
We will be posting more details on the local headlines section of our website soon ...
Posted by aseal at 9:09 AM | Comments (0)
Keeping the subs happy
It's been a busy news week at Gazette House and we have a number of choices for our front page splash.
Usually we plan to have a different front page story for all four editions of the Gazette truly reflecting what is going on in each area - Uxbridge, Hayes, Ruislip and Harefield.
However, at the moment I am planning to splash on the same story across all four editions as it is something that will affect everyone in the borough - plans to introduce water meters to all households.
There are a number of other stories still on the boil and our inside news pages are planning out to be particularly strong and, there is still a chance with a few hours to deadline that everything could yet change - that's the nature of newspapers.
The newsdesk will certainly be a full stretch as they race to turn everything around and at the same time keep the subs happy as they scream for copy - or should I say ask politely!.
Anyway, it's going to be a typically busy Tuesday morning with plenty of news and sport pages to check over and then an early getaway as I have meetings to attend this afternoon in Reigate and Worcester Park.
Posted by aseal at 8:22 AM | Comments (0)
February 5, 2007
Shattered rock dreams
For one brief moment this morning I thought that Uxbridge was about to become the rock capital of Britain.
As I was looking through the pages of the guide section for this week's Gazette the headline 'Uxbridge Rock Show' caught my eye.
I suddenly had visions of top bands like the Arctic Monkeys, Razorlight, McFly and The Feeling (now you know my taste in music) arriving in town for a giant music extravaganza. I eagerly read on to find out when and where they would be playing.
However, on closer inspection I discovered that the Rock Show is being held at Uxbridge Central Library this coming Friday, not quite the venue to host the likes of Razorlight.
And there will be no rock stars at the Library either, because the said show will be examining rocks of the mineral kind. Harrow and Hillingdon Geological Society are staging the Uxbridge Rock Show where you will be able to find out more about the evolution of rocks.
The show runs until February 22 and you can find out more about the HHGS by going to their website http://www.hhgs.org.uk.
Talk about shattered dreams. Although I am sure the Society's show will provide a fascinating insight into the world of rocks - but just not the musical kind...
Posted by aseal at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)
February 2, 2007
Putting the record straight
It seems my colleague Ian Carter, the editor of the Croydon Advertiser (http://www.croydonadvertiser.co.uk is in a mischievous mood today.
He currently has a number of vacancies to fill and goes on to describe one of the tests he puts aspiring reporters through to see if they are up to the high standards he demands on his papers.
However, he also claims that when I sat a previous version of the test I scored 'somewhere in the region of zero.
I would just like to put the record straight and say that Ian has used some journalistic licence with his comments and remind him that he fared little better when he sat the spelling part of the test.
For those interested the questions he claims I fared so badly on are as follows:
1) Who is Secretary of State for Education?
2) Who came second in Celebrity Big Brother?
3) Which company has withdrawn support for the Wallace and Gromit films?
5) Who is captain of the English cricket team?
6) Which teams are in the final of this season's Carling Cup?
7) What do the following abbreviations stand for: PCT; ASBO; COI; CD; TUC.
If you have nothing better to do over the weekend have a go at the questions and let me know the answers - seeing I did so badly myself...
Posted by aseal at 12:47 PM | Comments (0)
Brighter outlook
I have to say I will not be sorry when this week finishes - it's certainly had its ups and downs.
They say things come in threes and that's certainly been the case at Gazette House. First our sports editor went sick, quickly followed by the production editor and then to cap it all the newly recruited Uxbridge reporter failed to show - yes I am still angry about that.
However, on a more positive note the newslist for next week's Gazette is maturing like a fine wine and joy of joy we will have some crime stories to report on (see previous blog 'There is no crime this week').
Already we have a number of strong stories that are potential front page splashes and other big issues we will be covering in depth is the latest on plans for a Tesco store in Yiewsley and the possibility of water meters being introduced across the borough.
Big Brother contestent Jermaine Jackson is due to visit Uxbridge as part of his anti-bullying campaign so, we will be seeking an interview with the Jackson Five singer and we launch our popular Top Toddlers competition in next week's Gazette.
And with the start this weekend of the Six Nations Rugby I am starting to feel a whole lot more positive about things.
However, I am not going to make any rash predictions about England's chances against Scotland. I don't want to upset my Scottish friends and anyway me son lives and works in Scotland so I had better be careful what I write.
Let's just say I will be raising a glass or two on Saturday night if Jonny Wilkinson has his kicking boots on ....
Posted by aseal at 7:17 AM | Comments (1)
February 1, 2007
Tackling mindless vandalism
Our weekly review meeting of this week's Gazette produced some interesting debate.
Most pressing point was a contingency plan to deal with the failure of our 'new reporting recruit' to turn up - leaving a big hole in our newsdesk resources over the coming weeks.
It looks like a last minute transfer deadline 'loan deal' with our sister title in Harrow may have saved the day in the short term, as we go through the interview process all over again for a new reporter.
Considerable time was spent looking at the issues that seem to really affecting people in the borough and how we can tackle these through the pages of the Gazette.
Graffiti and wanton vandalism on buses is a constant complaint we receive and this now seems to be escalating into threatening behaviour and a general uneasiness amongst some users about their general safety on certain routes across the borough.
We regularly print CCTV pictures of youths the police want to talk to about acts of graffiti and vandalism on buses. This has proved a highly effective way of catching these mindless people and has resulted in a number of prosecutions.
However, it still does not deter what seems to be an escalating crime. The damage done to buses costs about £8m a year and many of the offenders think they are faceless and can avoid justice.
We will be stepping up our efforts to ensure this is not the case and that people can safely travel across the borough and that buses are not defaced by mindless acts of pure vandalism.
Posted by aseal at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)