Tag: regional media

Links I like 10.12.19

Welcome to the ‘chaos theory’ of government – The Observer
The Observer takes an in-depth look at the Government’s Big Society and localism policies, framed around a recent debate where Conservative MP Nick Boles suggested that ‘chaos’ would be more effective than top-down government. In the end, his comments appear to be little more than an expression of the belief that, if power is devolved to local communities, there will be many different approaches to service delivery rather than ‘one size fits all’. That is quite different from the ‘we want to unleash chaos’ piece carried elsewhere on The Observer website. People can watch a video of the debate here.
  
The year’s best regional headline howlers – HoldtheFrontPage.co.uk
On a lighter note, regional journalism website HoldtheFrontPage.co.uk has assembled this collection of headline howlers from the last year – and there are some belters for readers to vote for. The ‘dirty dozen’ includes a couple of entries from my ex-employers, the Sheffield Star. There but for the grace of God…



Locking Parklands deal ‘good news’ all round

How the houses will look (c) St Modwen

Congratulations to HCA colleagues and the South West team at St Modwen for finalising the development agreement that allows work to start at Locking Parklands, near Weston-super-Mare.

The crucial deal unlocks development of the first 100 homes on the former RAF Locking site, which has been dormant for the best part of a decade.

The history of the huge site and the efforts put in by partners to regenerate it is well documented, from its closure as an airbase in 2002 to the HCA’s recent announcement of a £2.5m investment in the delivery of the first homes on the site. It’s great to hear that work is about to start.

It’s also heartening that this latest development has generated plenty of positive media coverage, with national trade titles and regional broadcasters picking up the story yesterday. Twitter was also all a flutter with the news, with corporate feeds syndicating the announcement to their followers. This is well deserved recognition for the work that’s been put in.

It certainly won’t be the last time Locking Parklands hits the headlines either.

Papers prove the best campaigns ‘work’

On the day I complete my latest round of Continuing Professional Development for another year, Roy Greenslade highlights the campaigning newspapers who have created much-needed apprenticeships and training opportunities in their localities.

I remember being impressed by the Bristol Evening Post splash when the paper hit 100 apprenticeships on the first day of its campaign earlier this year. No mean feat in these testing times. It seems, however, the EP got the idea from Ian Mean’s paper, The Citizen, a few months earlier.

It quite literally proves the old newspaper adage that the best campaigns are the ones that work.

Congratulations to the papers who have run these campaigns and made a difference to hundreds of young lives in the process.

Town hall tweets bring budget straight to public

Cornwall Council’s emergency budget meeting last week identified millions in savings, and interest in this was understandably high.

Public sector communicators often wrestle with the question of how best to inform the public about key decisions which impact on the services they receive.

Continue reading “Town hall tweets bring budget straight to public” →

Work goes on after World Cup woes

Maybe we can win it instead?

If the media rage is to be believed today, our hopes of rebuilding the economy (and possibly win a football tournament) are up in smoke thanks to FIFA’s decision to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia.

There’s no doubt that hosting the tournament would have delivered a huge economic boost to England and the South West, where Bristol and Plymouth were candidate host cities.

Regional media in both cities dutifully voiced civic leaders’ disappointment at the result, whose hopes for a share of the spoils from the world’s biggest spectator event were dashed.

Continue reading “Work goes on after World Cup woes” →

We should all get set for a royal party

Global headlines: there's more to come

These are austere times, but the media is off to a flying start in cranking up expectations for a big royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton. The couple announced their engagement today, in case you missed it.

The announcement has rightly led the national news bulletins, and was also heavily trailed in regional media outlets (including BBC Points West, the Bournemouth Echo, the Plymouth Herald, and countless others). On Twitter, William, Kate and #royalwedding are trending tonight. It would be rude not to throw in a blog post about this story too.

Continue reading “We should all get set for a royal party” →