No Surrender by HSE over Springsteen gig

Two of the easiest targets for journalists are often Press Releases and the Health and Safety Executive. But both combined brilliantly this week to counter claims that the HSE were somehow to blame for the plug being pulled on Bruce Springsteen's Hard Rock Calling concert on Saturday. This is what Kevin Myers, Deputy Chief Executive of the HSE, sent out:

As a longstanding Bruce Springsteen fan and one of the crowd at Hard Rock Calling, I was doubly disappointed to hear Live Nation give 'health and safety' as the reason for cutting short Saturday's gig.

The fans deserve the truth: there are no health and safety issues involved here. While public events may have licensing conditions dictating when they should end, this is not health and safety and it is disingenuous of Live Nation to say so.

It's ironic that this excuse has been used in relation to Bruce Springsteen, who certainly knows what real health and safety is all about - look at the words of 'Factory' from Darkness on the Edge of Town referring to the toll that factory work can take on the health of blue collar workers.

People will now only be able to speculate what the final number should have been. Given that he'd already played Wrecking Ball and that Paul McCartney was on stage, how about Don't let me down?

Mr Myers certainly is looking after his own. Glory Days.

Couple of old chestnuts ...

Here are a couple of links that have been pinging about on the web which illustrate some of our old favourite points. The first, forwarded to me by Tony Johnston, is the most amazing press release ever written. A little bit of satire that has gained worldwide publicity for Pitchpoint Public Relations. It's the same theory as non-stories in newspapers - write something particularly bad and the world and his dog will visit your website. Previous examples include the dog with the injured nose, the Whitstable custard shortage, the Kidderminster mattress chaos and my personal favourite, Irma's banana drama. The lesson is that publishing nonsense can get you noticed and lead to all-important hits on your website - madness or genius? We might have to write it into our training courses for young journalists - bring in at least one non-story a day.

Thanks too to David Bailey of the Sligo Weekender for drawing my attention to this Facebook exchange. When I bang on about grammar and spelling these days, I am increasingly faced with youngsters from the 'lol, OMG, cul8r' generation who ask whether such archaic rules will be relevant in the post-newspaper age. It's all about communication and understanding, they say. It is indeed.

Don't walk: It is way too dangerous

Woah! Things are definitely more dangerous on our pavements than we thought. Thanks to Andrew Howard from the Express & Echo in Exeter for this daft headline on a Press Release from the Institute of Advanced Motorists.