Bias local newspaper

[torquemada]

no body seems to have picked up on the childish behaviour of Peter Britcliffe with his nomination to the Buckingham Palace Garden Party that wasn't for the first citizen Councillor Colette McCormack, but for his hopeful Councillor Dad.

[garinda]

Originally Posted by torquemada

no body seems to have picked up on the childish behaviour of Peter Britcliffe with his nomination to the Buckingham Palace Garden Party that wasn't for the first citizen Councillor Colette McCormack, but for his hopeful Councillor Dad.

No one 'picked up on it', because you accused the local press of political bias, and that's what's been discussed in the thread. Which handily has the title of 'Bias local newspaper', so we don't go off thread.

If you want to discuss the matter you just raised, you could always post about it in the thread you started about it...

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/f...yor-58002.html

You might even notice in that thread that someone kindly points out that Accrington doesn't actually have a Lord Mayor.

[cashman]

Originally Posted by torquemada

no body seems to have picked up on the childish behaviour of Peter Britcliffe with his nomination to the Buckingham Palace Garden Party that wasn't for the first citizen Councillor Colette McCormack, but for his hopeful Councillor Dad.

Perhaps folk have, but as its no big surprise are leaving the bitching to the politicos?

[garinda]

Why don't we play Let's Pretend We Run a Local Newspaper?

You just post the letter you want published here, verbatim.

We'll pretend we're the Editor, and decide if it's going in our next Letters Page.

[flashy]

A couple of weeks ago i was reading the observer and correct me if i'm wrong but......Miles asked for the columns name to be changed, when i read it i smiled to myself because i thought it was a refreshing change to see a leader letting other politicians speak out .....thats the way to do it Miles, good lad

[garinda]

Originally Posted by flashy

A couple of weeks ago i was reading the observer and correct me if i'm wrong but......Miles asked for the columns name to be changed, when i read it i smiled to myself because i thought it was a refreshing change to see a leader letting other politicians speak out .....thats the way to do it Miles, good lad

I bet he wasn't expecting your uncle to be the first politican to take advantage, and speak out.

[flashy]

Ey....we'll have less of the uncle thing Mr, i may be strange but i aint part of the Adams Family.....yet

[garinda]

Originally Posted by garinda

I bet he wasn't expecting your uncle to be the first politican to take advantage, and speak out.

For legal reasons, and also so she won't kick me in the nads, I would like to point out that although Flashy sometimes refers to him as 'uncle' on the forum, herself and Cllr. Britcliffe aren't actually blood relatives.

[flashy]

And neither was he a 'friend' of my late mothers

[cashman]

Originally Posted by flashy

And neither was he a 'friend' of my late mothers

relatives apart, has he any friends? i am aware of a couple of ass kissers that don't regard him as such.

[flashy]

He lost his friends when he lost his money

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by flashy

And neither was he a 'friend' of my late mothers

Who was your late mother?

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by gynn

A word of advice to the new administration. Take it from someone who spent 30 years learning how to deal with the press.

Don't wait for journalists to write the story. Write it yourselves with whatever spin you wish to put on it, and present it to the journalists as the finished article. They are a lazy breed who always look for an easy life, so they will welcome someone else doing the hard work.

It's something I've been doing since last May when I was elected, trying desperately to get Rishton news into a wider audience. Very little has been printed in the Observer whilst the Lancashire Telegraph couldn't have been more receptive. Any political stories have also included quotes from the Conservative group for balance and when events from a Hyndburn ward get better coverage in a Blackburn paper than an Accrington one, despite repeated attempts, I'm more mindful to keep feeding the reporter that actually wants the information we send.

The Observer were going to run a story on kissing gates in Rishton, taking the trouble to phone me up, ask for a press release and even sending a photographer, and yet two issues down the line it hasn't appeared. Dozens of other stories have never materialised and an open invitation to raid my blog for information and photographs has seemingly never been taken up.

It's no skin off my nose as we now have a reasonably good information network for residents within the village but Rishton currently has half a page and is lumped in with Great Harwood, one would imagine due to a lack of stories.

It's disappointing that the local news they apparently crave is being eschewed in favour of adverts.

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

It's something I've been doing since last May when I was elected, trying desperately to get Rishton news into a wider audience. Very little has been printed in the Observer whilst the Lancashire Telegraph couldn't have been more receptive. Any political stories have also included quotes from the Conservative group for balance and when events from a Hyndburn ward get better coverage in a Blackburn paper than an Accrington one, despite repeated attempts, I'm more mindful to keep feeding the reporter that actually wants the information we send.

The Observer were going to run a story on kissing gates in Rishton, taking the trouble to phone me up, ask for a press release and even sending a photographer, and yet two issues down the line it hasn't appeared. Dozens of other stories have never materialised and an open invitation to raid my blog for information and photographs has seemingly never been taken up.

It's no skin off my nose as we now have a reasonably good information network for residents within the village but Rishton currently has half a page and is lumped in with Great Harwood, one would imagine due to a lack of stories.

It's disappointing that the local news they apparently crave is being eschewed in favour of adverts.

Let's not forget that the Lancashire Telegraph is published six times per week, rather than once, as the Observer is. Meaning it's much easier to get a story featured in that paper, because they have many more column inches to fill.

Although the LT is based in the town, it isn't a Blackburn paper. The whole of Hyndburn falls in it's geographic area of coverage.

Trust me, I honestly don't think the Observer has any political bias. I'd be the first to jump up and down if I saw evidence that it was.

It was only last week that they reintroduced the local 'news' pages. Most areas are lumped together with a neighbouring Hyndburn town.

If people suspect there is some right-wing bias at the Observer, can someone please explain why nearly every other week's letters page features a letter from the leader of the local Communist party?

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by garinda

Let's not forget that the Lancashire Telegraph is published six times per week, rather than once, as the Observer is. Meaning it's much easier to get a story featured in that paper, because they have many more column inches to fill.

Granted, I'll happy concede that point. However, a major gripe was brought up on their behalf by Cllr Britcliffe at Tuesday's AGM, namely that they will be a week behind with council news stories when meetings move to a Thursday night. This unfortunately carries little weight with me as you could say the same about any event which happens late in the week - why couldn't it have been sooner so that the weekly paper could report on it? As Miles Parkinson pointed out, we are here to run the borough, not write a newspaper. There is certainly no reluctance to help The Accrington Observer find stories and I remain happy to submit information on any topic within Rishton if they truly want it.

However, it felt at times as if every page up until this point has been almost exclusively devoted to stories from the controlling Conservative group and when the trend is apprently continuing with Cllr Britcliffe now that he is in opposition it is no wonder that people question it.

I don't ever remember Miles or Graham having their own 'Political Column' in opposition.