Desolation row is gold for North's newspapers

There's nothing quite like a misinformed Southerner slagging off the North-East to get the region galvanised. And if that person is a Tory toff all the better. When I was at The Northern Echo we had all kinds of slurs directed our way. There was the Tory minister who said 'the problem with the North-East is that there are not enough golf courses.' Cue outrage. And when there was a proposal to relocate MoD jobs from London to Teesside, business editor Terry Murden went South to discuss perceptions of the North. Everything he needed to know was found on a map of Britain hanging on an MoD wall. Someone had drawn a line across the country, just north of Birmingham, and above it sketched smoking factories and written the word 'permafrost'. Did we have fun with that one. Now Lord Howell of Guildford has added his name to the notorious list. During Lords questions he dropped in the remark that 'there are large and uninhabited and desolate areas, certainly in part of the North-East where there's plenty of room for fracking.' Cue even more outrage. What makes it all the more perfect is Lord Howell's credentials. He is Margaret Thatcher's old energy minister, George Osborne's dad-in-law and you don't get any more southern than Guildford.

This great stuff for North-East loyalty … and the newspapers did themselves proud. 

The Northern Echo carried this front page which appeared on national TV and has been retweeted hundreds of times.

Editor Peter Barron also covered the issue in a robust blog and has now encouraged readers to send in their photographs to show how 'fracking beautiful' the North-East is.

The Journal also carried a cracking fracking front page. Lord Howell has apologised - but it's all too late. The newspapers are not going to give up on this one. It's all just what is needed in the height of the silly season - a silly Tory peer with foot in mouth disease. This one will fill page after page, get the readers involved and run for weeks. Newspaper gold.

Illustration: Huffington Post

Headlines from the musicals

The Wisbech Standard is definitely living up to its front page promise to teach the world to sing. Since the splash earlier in the month it has gone on a roll with old musical headlines. 

Following the tribute to Tommy Steele it has now turned its attention to Gilbert and Sullivan. Last week Flash Bang Wallop from Half a Sixpence ... this week A Policeman's Lot from The Pirates of Penzance. 

Barely had I tweeted this and along came another - this time a Queen tribute. I suspect we haven't seen the last of these. What next I wonder?  

Why paper will always be around ...

If you ever needed definitive proof that paper is not dead ... here it is. Thanks to @george_dearsley for making me smile with this one.

Sun gives Pope the Manilow treatment

Following last week's Tommy Steele headline in the Wisbech Standard, it's the The Sun's turn to put an old singer into the limelight. It uses a Barry Manilow headline and strapline over an astonishing picture of crowds on Rio's Copacabana beach. So blindingly obvious now you see it ... but brilliant nonetheless.  

We need more Tommy-Steele inspired headlines

Headlines based on song titles are a valid weapon in the headline writer's armoury - but I have never seen one like this before. 'Flash bang wallop' has been used many a time - but the whole lyric, right down to the 'um-tiddily-um pum' and the 'stick it in your family album' is a new one on me. It just doesn't really have anything to do with the picture. Still, as @christofflennon who drew it to my attention says, we don't really get enough Tommy-Steele inspired headlines in newspapers these days. So, if anyone has any more Tommy Steele headlines, I would love to hear from you. Previously mentioned song titles headlines can be found here, here and here. 

Nice one, Son ...

Here's the challenge. There are no pictures of the baby, no name, nothing that hasn't been online and not even a picture of the beaming dad leaving the hospital. So how were newsrooms going to pick the bones out of that one?

Well, full marks to The Sun ... a flash of brilliance. The po-faced Twitterati didn't all like it but credit where credit is due. And it's arguably more interesting than the event itself. Heirs to the throne come along every so often ... but when was the last time a newspaper changed its name into a headline? 

The Times goes for one of its trademark wraps - a striking picture of Kate is self contained on Page 1. Bizarrely it doesn't mention anywhere on the front or the back that it's a boy (I guess everyone knows already). It does look like it could have all been done in advance so everyone could go home. Powerful coverage though.

The Media Blog put together this neat spoof for The Times instead, reflecting the mood of the hacks outside the hospital ... and possibly the nation. It even mentions that it's a boy.

The Daily Mail took the focus off the couple and on to the grandad. Charles was out and about in York so live pictures were available. A nice bit of sideways thinking. Plenty of knockers for this angle too - but, come on, it's a live picture (and a good one too). An original front.

The Independent also deals with the story in its time-honoured way - by not leading on it.

My friends at The Irish News in Belfast can go one better than that though. Sticking to its Nationalist roots, the paper doesn't mention the Royal Baby at all on Page 1. A newspaper that knows its audience.

The Guardian, perhaps surprisingly, does lead on the story and manages to conjure up a lot of front page words.  It uses the easel picture and a headline that tries hard to be profound.

And here's another question. When was the last time The Daily Telegraph had the same splash headline as City AM, the Star, the Express and The Irish Sun?  My Twitterfeed was strangled by the words It's a boy yesterday, so we might have expected something that takes the story forward a little. And a hat-tip to @helenlewis who tweeted to point out that a Royal Baby pullout wasn't the happiest of phrases ... sounds like a forceps delivery, she said. I would have thought hanging on until the pictures of the baby were available would be the time to run the souvenir pullout. Can there really be enough new material to warrant a supplement?

The Mirror also carries a pullout, a file picture and an Our Little Prince headline. 

All very nicely executed ... but I was hoping it might have had a bit of fun with its front page from March.

In the regions, I like The Sentinel in Stoke - going for a blue for a boy makeover, right down to the choice of picture, and a nice headline on the fact that Potteries firms will make millions from the birth.

The Northern Echo also went for It's a boy - but the King Edwards tag on the fish and chips blurb is a nice touch.

Meanwhile Private Eye simply tells it as it is. 

Thanks as always to @hendopolis and #TomorrowsPapersToday

Holiday reading list for journalists

The silly season is upon us ... when depleted newsrooms become even more depleted as weary hacks jet off to sip cocktails and expose their pallid skin to a quick burst of sunlight. But if you are one of those lucky journalists packing your holiday bag there is one thing you must do before you go - consult my poolside reading list. With the help of colleagues, I have updated the list of novels worth reading that are all based in newspaper offices or feature a reporter as one of the main characters. There are now around 40 books, from 1850 to modern day. The list is here. There are plenty of great reads that are guaranteed to remind you of the cut and thrust of the newsroom while you lie on the beach ... and make you appreciate your break even more.  

Tony Metcalf - a great newsroom character

I am deeply saddened to hear of the death of my former Northern Echo colleague Tony Metcalf. When I was editor, Tony had not long arrived from the Scarborough Evening News. He was a tall, amiable Geordie who supported Newcastle United. He was also a naturally gifted reporter who quickly rose through the ranks. He became assistant news-editor and regularly demonstrated his natural eye for a story. His news-lists were always dominated by hard news. He was a really good footballer too - an asset to the Echo's formidable team. I moved south and Tony's career progressed, becoming news-editor and then assistant editor before spending time heading up the journalism course at Darlington college. The last time I saw him was 16 years ago, when he came on an editor's chair course in Hastings. He was still the same ... ambitious, enthusiastic and great company. The last time we were in touch was in 2010 when another of our Echo colleagues, Patrick Lavelle,  prematurely died. 

By then Tony was in New York, working as editor-in-chief for Metro US. He was taken into hospital this March for a routine bowel operation but was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He died in Darlington yesterday morning. He was 50. There is a fitting tribute to him by Nigel Burton in The Northern Echo today. It includes a quote from editor Peter Barron: “Tony was not only a fine, passionate journalist but a great character to have around. He brought infectious energy and fun to the newsroom, led from the front, and The Northern Echo was lucky to be one of the newspapers which benefited from his great qualities. He will be greatly missed.” Says it all.