After a month of parties, Phil makes a Swift exit

Phil, fifth from left on the bottom row, with Howden colleagues

One of Fleet Street’s most likeable characters, Phil Swift, was due to shuffle off into retirement this month. But in truth he didn’t shuffle at all - he went out with several large bangs. I guess it is hardly surprising that, despite being 67, a man who has worked for newspapers for almost half a century knows how to throw a good bash. I was working a long way from the party venues in Howden so couldn’t go (I was disappointed, but my liver was so happy). One event was fairly civilized with speeches and a meal, with Swifty true to form picking up the tab. Most of the revellers were in bed by 4am. But my spies tell me that at another one there was early-morning shirt swapping, people locked in cupboards and plenty of drinking shenanigans. The landlord gave up at 2.30am and Swifty baled out at 4.30am. Others didn’t turn-in until 7.15am. Some night, some stamina.

Charles Griffin's caricature

One of the highlights was a caricature of Phil by Daily Mirror cartoonist Charles Griffin. Charles and Phil worked together at the Mirror but had not seen each other for 20 years. One of Phil’s colleagues, Kay Harrison, sent a snatched picture of Phil to Griffin who replied saying: 'Thanks for the picture of Phil's dad. Now can I have one of Phil?'
Other gifts included an inscribed lighter from one of his former trainees Laura Wileman, a ball made of elastic bands to remind him of when they used to play late night indoor cricket matches in the Mirror newsroom, enough wine to start a business, books and Bose headphones.
I first met Phil when he joined PA Training a decade or so ago. I was able to use him as a senior consultant - doing production and training work, particularly in Ireland - and we became good friends.

Phil receives gifts at his desk

Phil’s career began as a Daily Mail news sub. He then spent more than 20 years at the Daily Mirror, sub-editing, chief sub-editing and night editing - before becoming features editor and deputy editor. He also worked at the People, the Sunday Mirror and Today. Up until his retirement he had been working for the Press Association team in Howden which was producing the Mirror’s pages.
Phil was a great newspaper production man - but he was also an excellent trainer. It is a testament to his popularity and mentoring skills that his many leaving parties were attended by dozens of people less than half his age - many of them his former trainees. I wish him a long and happy retirement - though I suspect he won’t be putting his feet up just yet.

Whacky headlines and bills of the week

With all the dog-eat-stuff dominating the media this week here are some more obscure headlines you might have missed.

This one, from the Irish Independent, has a bit of everything. The use of the word 'innocent' makes it special. After all, had the cow been guilty, the story just wouldn't be the same.

It is a clear winner of the whacky headline of the week, although this one from the Mirror is certainly a contender.

Meanwhile the Worksop Guardian makes another contribution to the growing list of headlines based on song titles. There are more of these here, here and here.

There were a couple of good bills doing the rounds this week too. This one from the News & Star in certainly Carlisle caught the eye. All is explained here.

And finally, let's finish with some good news from the Kent Messenger. 

Interstate helps give Mirror a fresher look

The old Mirror

... and the new

Page 6 explaining the blank pages

I woke up to a fresher Daily Mirror today ... yet another makeover in its long history. The blank pages on pages two and three caused a bit of a stir. These are a way of getting the paper talked about - and are explained in grand terms on Page 6. 

The new back

... and the old

The gimmick aside, the paper has a much cleaner look.
I was never a big fan of the excessive Spanish-influenced coloured pages, particularly on sport, or the italic black sans caps. Interestingly, the Mirror has chosen Interstate for its headlines. There are many who thought the font had its day. The typeface, designed by Tobias Frere-Jones in the 1990s, is based on the font used on American roadsigns. It was de-rigueur ten years ago, with the Mail, Telegraph and Express all using it as their main sans display font. Many regional papers also use it and by 2006 it had pushed its way into the list of the ten most used newspaper typefaces. In the corporate world Sainsbury's was one of the many companies that used it as its brand. Inevitably in the design world its prevalence quickly made it unfashionable - some said boring - and it fell out of favour almost as swiftly as it arrived. Even Sainsbury's ditched it. Today the Mirror has resurrected the font, using the full family all the way through the paper, in news, sport and features, with a slab serif as a contrast for some straplines. And it works. It's always been a clean, legible font. Its greatest quality is that it has a good count so that even with big display, the subs can write meaningful headlines. I am not sure why the Mirror goes for big caps headlines on inside pages (my thoughts on caps are here) or why sport has retained the italics. But overall today's Mirror is a neater, more modern and easier to read newspaper than it was last week.  

Editor Lloyd Embley's vision of the new Mirror is explained here ... using cats!

Every picture tells the strain

Tough decision for the picture editors today, with some quite brilliant portraits of Gordon Brown. The back of his head and the hunched shoulders work well in The Guardian and The Sun, although the door number gets lost a bit on the Sun's version. Simple and effective in The Guardian. The Independent and the FT use similar pictures but the Indie, even with the missing chin, really shows the strain. Why the background in the FT? Then there is the Mirror - strain and defiance. Excellent photographs that sum up the moment. The Express, on the other hand, chooses to splutter on with a shabby, sordid stitch-up-type headline. The Daily Star quite remarkably opts for three dull headshots of politicians in suits (when was the last time that happened?). Its headline though sums up the whole affair perfectly. Memorable front pages. Thanks to The Guardian for drawing them all together.

  

Court jester

I wouldn't normally draw attention to the seedy story of a man having sex with a donkey and a horse in today's Daily Mirror. But I was intrigued by the defence counsel's comments when applying for bail: "The defendant does not have a stable address." Under the circumstances, probably a good thing.