Embarrassing the powers-that-be

Sadly, no whistle-blower tipped me off that Damian Green MP was about to be arrested by anti-terrorist police.
Nine officers were involved in the arrest of Mr Green, a few hours after my Editor’s Comment appeared in November 27's Mid Somerset Series.
I wrote: "We need whistle-blowers to draw attention to official failures and wrongdoing, now more than ever" because big organisations ban employees from speaking to the media.
No organisation in Britain is bigger than the Government and few are keener to keep embarrassing failures under the carpet.
One such failure was the Home Office clearing thousands of illegal immigrants for work in Whitehall security jobs, which was publicised by Mr Green in his role as a shadow immigration spokesman.
This was one of several revelations passed by a concerned employee at the Home Office to Mr Green, who used them to criticise the Government.
Mr Green is a Conservative but this issue transcends party politics.
Gordon Brown may dislike such leaking of embarrassing facts now, but he was adept at it when the Tories were in power. As were his predecessors Tony Blair, John Major and Margaret Thatcher.
Leaking has a history at least as long as politics. Every party has leaked information and this serves a valuable function.
The crowing that can accompany a juicy leak may be distasteful, but the public has a right to know when their tax money has been badly spent, especially if the powers-that-be want to avoid looking foolish.
Philip Welch

Fighting against secrecy

We need whistle-blowers to draw attention to official failures and wrongdoing, now more than ever.
For while more information is available than ever before, there is also a record number of people paid to ensure that only the right messages about their government or private organisations reach the public.
Until recently our main sources of reliable information were newspapers, radio, television and magazines. Now we also have millions of websites on the internet, including the newspapers’ own websites, which are proving remarkably popular and increasing their reach far beyond what is possible with print alone.
The problem with the internet is that the volume of information it holds grows vast beyond comprehension while the number of sites which are reliable for unbiased accuracy remains correspondingly small.
So we rely on the media to trawl the oceans of information for what is accurate and relevant to us.
This the media works hard to do,
obstructed by the policy of major organisations who ban employees from speaking to journalists. An example is Royal Mail, which does not want anyone speaking off message when they are closing post
offices.
These large organisations hire press or communications officers to pump up positive stories and play down or hide the negative.
So we increasingly need whistle-blowers with the courage to reveal truths which are hidden from the public but they should know about.
Philip Welch

Support the Tour of Britain

On its website the Tour of Britain boasts of being the country’s biggest professional cycling race and Britain’s biggest live sporting event.
This year’s race was bigger again, and preparations have started for the 2009 edition which will run for eight days in September.
Somerset County Council wants the race to go through Wells, Glastonbury and Street because it would bring business here and coverage in the national media.
This seems a wise and timely initiative, as interest in competitive cycling has grown sharply following the remarkable success of the British team during the Olympic Games in China this summer.
Thousands of spectators are expected to watch the 96 cyclists, and would spend money here. We can also be sure of heightened interest from the television companies, whose broadcasts would feature background images of the Somerset countryside.
Cycling also should be encouraged because it is effective in countering obesity and reducing carbon emissions.
Bearing all this in mind, the attitude in some of our councils is short-sighted and disappointing. The councils in Glastonbury and Shepton Mallet were asked if they would pay the £5,000 which the Tour of Britain organisers require to route the races through any town.
Shepton Mallet and Wells took only a few minutes to say no, while Glastonbury has yet to decide but several councillors showed a distinct lack of enthusiasm.
Of course, money remains tight, and the racers would cycle quickly through our patch. But £5,000 is not a king’s ransom, while Somerset’s tourism industry and other businesses will need all the help they can get as the recession bites in 2009.
Philip Welch

Goodbye to the old image

A trilby hat with a press card in the brim and a grubby mac (the coat, not the Apple computer) with a notebook in one pocket and half a bottle of Scotch in the other.
That was the cartoon image of journalists when I joined the profession in 1969. Nothing could be further from reality now, but there was an element of truth then.
Twenty years ago, when I was deputy editor of the Bath Evening Chronicle, a posh lady phoned to say: “There is an elderly gentleman here who says he is a reporter for the Chronicle, but that cannot be true as he is obviously drunk.”
In fact he was one of the breed of reporters who went from pub to pub gathering stories before returning to the office to bash them onto an elderly typewriter.
The doctor warned him to stop drinking so much beer and whisky, so he switched to dry Martini in half-pint glasses, and has been dead for many years.
Today’s average regional newspaper reporter drinks little and favours fruit juice, Diet Coke or water at lunchtime.
The main reason for the change is the increased workload, as papers have grown bigger and we have added websites and video to improve our service to readers.The time of long lunch hours in the pub has long since gone.
Today’s Mid Somerset News & Media’s journalists are all committed, hard-working members of their communities.Remarkably respectable too, but I think that was always true for most of our editorial staff.
It is the grubby end of the national tabloids that lets down the reputation of British journalists.
Philip Welch

The way to an editor's heart

Selecting the right staff is a critical part of an editor’s role. In a small office everyone must be committed and able to work as part of a team.
Nowadays the process is rigorous, requiring hours of careful appraisal and comparison. But it was not always thus.
Back in 1977 I went for an interview at a weekly paper in London as chief sub-editor. The deputy editor asked me to design a couple of pages, which met with his approval.
Next I had to pick that week’s front page lead from a list of 30 stories. My choice was a positive and heart-warming piece about a lady called Justine.
But the two crucial tests came at noon when the editor took me to the pub.
First: “What do you want to drink?” I chose draught Guinness, which proved to be the boss’s tipple and the right answer.
Second: It gradually became apparent he wanted to know if I could drink large quantities on an empty stomach and remain sober.
All went well until I accidentally knocked over the editor’s third pint. That’s torn it, I thought.
But my offer to buy the next round was accepted gracefully and after four pints we were the best of friends.
A few days later a contract for the job arrived in the post, with a generous starting salary and a copy of the paper.
The front page lead headline read “Justine’s joy”. I was quite pleased too.
Next time I will tell you how things have changed and why.
Philip Welch

Return of the crossword

I should have known better.
In the What’s On section of September 11’s paper we wrote, in an article above the crossword and horoscope, that we were considering dropping them and seeking readers’ views on the possibility.
The volume of What’s On news sent in to the Mid Somerset Series has grown dramatically in recent years and we wanted to respond to readers’ requests to give it more space.
Only one reader asked us to keep the crossword, while no one asked to keep the horoscope.
So we decided to drop them as part of the paper’s redesign and use the space to publish more local What’s On information from the issue of October 9.
The redesign received almost universal approval, much to our relief, but then complaints began to trickle in from crossword fans who missed their weekly brain teaser and wanted it restored.
As I said here a few weeks ago, journalists must always remember that their job is to serve the readers and respect how deeply established the newspaper is as part of the community.
So from next week the crossword will return with a new regular berth on the Jack Blandiver page.This way we can maintain the increase of space for What’s On and restore a long-standing feature that proved more popular than we thought.
Philip Welch

Bad news from ITV

Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom’s decision to accept ITV News’s proposed cuts in regional programming was predictable but regrettable.
ITV will merge its West and Westcountry regions and the minutes of dedicated regional news we receive will be cut by half. Savings of £40 million a year are sought and the staff will be reduced from 1,075 to about 650.
The main reason for cutting news coverage is diminishing advertising revenues as the television market fragments with the rush of new channels, while the credit crunch has not helped.Somerset already receives a poor service from ITV, with little interest shown beyond big set-piece events like the Royal Bath and West Show, Glastonbury Festival and carnivals.
The BBC’s coverage of this part of the world is not much better, despite the licence fee we pay. Coincidentally, ITV’s cuts come at the same time as Mid Somerset News & Media’s decision to start filming short news videos to be shown on our websites, probably one a week.The first one came out last week and featured flooding in Cheddar.
We don’t claim to have the expertise or resources of ITV or the BBC.We won’t have expensive sets or glamorous presenters with huge clothing allowances, but our videos will be local to mid-Somerset and available free on our websites thisiswells.co.uk, thisshepton.co.uk, thisiscentralsomerset.co.uk and thisischeddarvalley.co.uk.
Philip Welch

Evolving to reflect a changing world

Journalists must always remember that their job is to serve the readers and respect how deeply established the newspaper is as part of the local community.
Sadly this is not always the case, particularly with new editors desperate to make their mark with dramatic changes to the newspaper’s design.
After two or three years the urgency to redesign again will recede with the realisation that most readers dislike change and a few hardy annuals will always berate you bitterly about any improvements.
When you have occupied the editor’s chair for as long as I have, the desire to implement necessary updates to the design and structure of the paper brings sleepless nights.
Newspapers must continue to evolve to reflect a world where change happens at an ever increasing pace, but evolution is usually better than revolution.
The changes will look dramatic if you compare this week's newspapers with those from 10 years ago, because the changes have been gradual.
This has contributed to the success of the series and I hope you approve of the improvements introduced in the last two weeks.
We are also working to enhance our websites, where our first mid-Somerset news video will be posted this week.
As always, I welcome your views. My email is editor@midsomnews.co.uk and the postal address: Mid Somerset News & Media, Southover, Wells BA5 1UH.
Philip Welch

Well done all you bloomers

We take too much for granted and give too little praise in mid-Somerset.
This summer was the seventh wettest on record yet all our towns and many of our villages still managed to boast splendid floral displays.
Sadly, too many people walk by without realising that the flowers are not plastic, do not appear of their own accord and are not provided by a local council with taxpayers’ money.
No, they are the result of months of quiet work by small groups of unpaid volunteers, who are not afraid of getting hands dirty with planting, regular watering and weeding.
Apart from unhelpful weather, their bugbears are dim-witted vandals and even thieves, who can spoil carefully-crafted displays in a thoughtless or selfish moment.
A brief moment of praise comes annually at the Mendip in Bloom presentation evening, where prizes are given and kind words said. This year’s event was in Wells Town Hall last week.
Administrative support comes from Martin Lofthouse at Mendip District Council and prizes are provided by sponsors, including Mid Somerset News & Media, Gaymer Cider Company, Glastonbury Festivals Ltd and Angela Yeoman.
But the volunteers deserve more credit. So next time you see someone working on a floral display in your town, city or village, please stop and offer a word of appreciation.
Philip Welch