Regional papers happy to mention the war

The national newspaper front pages are torn between the Commonwealth Games finale, Gaza and the anniversary of World War I today. The Sun and The Times both lead on the war and The Independent uses it as the main picture. Others put the war in the blurb ... promoting some some very good supplement inside. Some, including The Guardian and Metro, don't mention it at all on Page 1. The regional papers, though, are in no doubt about what is the story of the day. Although there aren't many people alive who can still remember the outbreak of war, the local papers know what it means to their communities. The Bournemouth Daily Echo, The Sentinel in Stoke and the Hull Daily Mail opt for impressive wraps. Here's a selection. If you want yours included, please email it to me at petersandssms@gmail.com.

There are some interesting supplements too, with many papers reprinting their front pages from 100 years ago. Here are a few:

Don't forget to turn your lights out and light a candle from 10pm-11pm tonight.

Regional newspapers ... you're having a laugh

I have long banged on to editors, news-editors, features editors and anyone else who would listen, about using more funny stuff in regional newspapers. Largely, it must be said, it has been with limited success. In the main, the Posts, Echos and Chronicles remain worthy and po-faced. On news-editing courses, I used to ask delegates to identify things in their paper that were genuinely entertaining. The record is three – including the horoscopes and the ubiquitous Horace and Doris. One respected editor once told me humour simply wasn’t part of his remit. “We are here to reflect the community, not tell jokes,” he said. His paper was crammed with crime, courts and coffee mornings – a reflection of his readers’ lives.

There have been some worthy exceptions. Peter Barron at The Northern Echo, Mike Lowe, Alan Geere and, from Norwich, Nigel Pickover are among those editors who have always worked hard at giving their readers a smile. Now, the web has confirmed what we always knew. People like a laugh. The stories that get the big hits are the funny, the weird and the outrageous. So as the holy grail is now unique visitors, local newspapers are hunting down the whacky, particularly if it's on video. So, at last, maybe humour will be the saviour of the regional Press.

I am grateful to InPublishing magazine for allowing me to bang on a bit louder this month and publish my thoughts on humour in newspapers ... who does it well and who doesn't. If you are minded, and you have great eyesight, you can read it on the images above. If not, you can read it on InPublishing's website here.

Regional newspapers: 10 things to expect

Here is my article for the latest edition of InPublishing magazine - the ten things that ought to happen in the regional newspaper industry this year. At a glance they are: 

1. Stop the war

Before we rebuild newspapers we have to rebuild the internal relationships between management and staff.

2. Change (the) management

We have lost subs and editors but what about those who are meant to be guiding us through? The industry needs fresh blood and thinking, right up to the very top.

3. Chase the money

We need a radical approach to sales and innovative, skilled people to implement it.

4. Sort out the content

Readers need a genuine reason to buy the paper or visit the website every day. It means original, quality, targeted and real time content. Without it there is no business.

5. Stop doing things that aren't core

Expect cuts in distribution, printing, accounts. It's all about content and sales now - everything else can be sold, outsourced or closed down.

6. Go weekly

A weekly analysis of events, complementing a comprehensive, hyperlocal digital news service, would be more relevant than a daily print offering out-of-date news. There are nearly 30 evening papers selling less than 20,000. Expect there to be fewer at the end of the year.

7. Stop talking paywalls

Regional newspapers need to maintain and grow our audience and they won't do that by excluding swathes of the community.

8. Stop paying lip-service to local 

Newspapers have to genuinely get things done, organise events, become community leaders, be central to the economic fabric and get their reporters out.

9. Stay at home

2011 should be the year when the industry wakes up to the real advantages of home-working and outsourcing.   

10. Think about running a dry-cleaners 

Regional newspapers' best chance will be owners who genuinely care about the titles, work hard to ensure they succeed and know the community they serve. A local business with realistic margins … like a dry cleaners.

I also asked the great and the good of the industry what regional newspapers should be doing in 2011 - and have included their thoughts.   

Ten tips for regional editors for 2011

For the last three years I have written a column for the Press Gazette aimed at regional newspaper editorial managers. Each edition it covered a different issue facing editors and how they might deal with them. They included conflict, dealing with difficult people, managing change, recruitment, technology, redesigning the title, sorting out the technology, running the budget and the like. It is a sign of the times that I covered redundancy three times - and was asked by one newspaper group if they could use one of the articles as its guidelines for all managers. The column has now run its course. I have exhausted my supply of tips (some of which are included here). So the last column appears in the magazine this month. I will be making occasional appearances in future. In the meantime, good luck to editor Dominic Ponsford and his team. By not relying on the newspaper industry for its revenue, the magazine is now more forthright and direct than it has ever been. It certainly isn't afraid to ruffle feathers - and is all the better for it.
Here is my last column.

Ten tips for editors in 2011

As we lurch towards a new year, the regional newspaper industry is desperately looking for a flicker of light at the end of what has been a very long and very dark tunnel. But most of the editors I speak to are, quite sensibly, steeling themselves for more of the same. So in this, my final regular column, I offer ten tips for those of you still editing regional titles in 2011.
i) Whatever gets thrown at you - the editor's core job remains the same. Set a vision for the title, tell everyone what it is and give them the skills and motivation to deliver it.
ii) Be an architect of change. No editor was ever remembered for padding the same path as his predecessor. What do you want your epitaph to say? He was a good administrator? He stayed within budget? He presided
over a difficult period with dignity and integrity?
iii) You are only as good as the people around you - motivate and reward the key players.
iv) Journalism has to be paid for. Entrepreneurial opportunities are there both in print and online. Editors need to take an innovative approach to how the company makes money. Relying on advertising departments to
finally bring in more sits vac and ROP will lead only to tears. It may be time to take charge.
v) Continually revisit your content. Set standards and give feedback - protect regular slots to talk to your team about the title; what is working, what isn't and what you want changing.
vi) The atmosphere in the newsroom is down to you. I go into some offices that are like libraries, others that are vibrant. That doesn't happen by accident.
vii) Protect your staff, your title and yourself from outside fads and decisions - including those of the company.
viii) Look after yourself - it is a stressful time and I see editors who don't look as fit and perky as they did a year or two ago. It is too easy to get into the habit of always tackling that extra job or clearing the decks for tomorrow. Stop. Go home to the family, or to the pub, and make sure you get your quota of sleep. A stressed out and burnt out editor is no good to anyone!
ix) Be prepared for the curve ball ... you may have dealt with just about everything in recent years but it isn't over yet. There will be further 'radical solutions' thrust upon you. That is certain. But there may also be opportunities. If a buy-out comes your way, how are you placed? If the next round of ‘innovation’ involves culling editors, how well are you protected?
x) Know when to draw a line in the sand. If you fundamentally disagree with the company and you cannot change it, if the job is making you and your family unhappy, then know when to say enough. Your currency in the outside world is higher than you think. The skills that journalists take for granted are very marketable - even in this climate. There is life after editing (trust me on this one).
It is 21 years since I took my first editor's chair. It had its moments - a press that let the paper down, a sabre-rattling union, a round of redundancies - but it was a walk in the park when compared to editing today.
There are many of you, I know, who do it really well under extremely tough circumstances. Good luck … you deserve much better.