A good start to the week

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 1:02 PM | add or read comments (0)

Last week was a tough one but we have started off better this week. A strong paper yesterday (Monday) with stories about a drink-fuelled mini riot in Criccieth, the alarming diesel spill in the Menai Straits - plus wonderful photos by readers in our new photographic competition. We will definitely be making that an annual contest!
And today's is even better - the moving story of a woman who, on disastrously poor medical advice, aborted two baby boys, plus part one of our exclusive interview with Welsh rugby skipper Alfie Thomas.
Hope you've all dashed out to buy a copy -, we're not just doing this for the love of it, you know!
Still waiting to see tomorrow's newslist. Poor Maria the news editor is just back from hols and is no doubt piling through a million unanswered e-mails.
I've been tied up this morning with our friends from ITV's Wales This Week show who wanted to interview me for a documentary being broadcast next Monday. Better not say what it's about as it's their tale but it sounds like a good show. I wouldn't be surprised if I end up on the cutting floor, though. I'm okay on radio but stick a camera and mike in front of me and I'm twittering away like the lovechild of Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck.
Today sees the first of a new fortnightly gathering I've organised for my most senior team - deputy ed Gregg Fray, senior assistant editor Mark Brittain and night editor John Williams. High on the agenda will be a plan to create a readers' forum to discuss the kind of content people want to see in the Daily Post. Not sure what format this forum will take - I would like to have regular meetings across North Wales PLUS an online "virtual forum". If you are interested in getting involved, let me know.
That's all for now (and thanks again to Mr Ashton - it's a good job one of us can spell foul-up!)

Horse shoe nail requisition slips

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 11:49 AM | add or read comments (0)

Blast, forgot to listen to myself on Radio Wales the other night so I have no idea if they cleverly edited my pearls of wisdom to make me sound like a fool.
Can't have been too bad as someone else from the same station has phoned to ask me to join their rota of regular newspaper reviewers. I'll loook forward to that, apart from the early starts - the first review on their breakfast show is at 6.40AM.
One question I was asked was whether or not I was being really honest about our day at the office - especially when it goes wrong. So in answer to that, I will be very candid about a host of foul-ups of late.
I've already mentioned the first crossword cock-up. A couple of days after that we managed to lose one of the clues. On Wednesday this week we managed to put the wrong race card in. And today, we have run a series of crosswords with the right clues and the right grids - but no numbers on the grids.
I'm not best pleased.
So first of all, more apologies - this is totally unacceptable. Second, we are drawing up a checklist - as thorough as the kind they have on aeroplanes before they take off. We are going through everything in the paper that is regular material - such as puzzles and x-words, imagining everything that can go wrong, noting down everything that needs to be in place, and introducing a rule that the page cannot be sent to the press until the checklist has been completed.
Just be assured that when things go wrong which annoy you, they annoy me too.
A lot.
Anyway, to the title of today's blog. We now have two journalists trained in shooting and editing videos. We have got state-of the-art digital kit and editing software.
But the chap in charge of the kit requisition has forgotten to order the computer upgrades we need to run the editing kit. I could nip into PC World and grab it, but oh no, the whole thing has got to be sent to a project board to go through a great big approval process. No idea how long this will take so all we can do in the meantime is shoot some footage and stare at it.
Sometimes I wish we adopted the JFDI business method - just *@@%£* do it.
On a happier note our writer David Powell and his wife are celebrating the arrival of twins - a boy and girl. It put a smile of the face of everyone in the office.

Enjoy the weekend!

Wisdom of ages

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 5:03 PM | add or read comments (0)

Tomorrow's Daily Post features the story of some poor soul from Colwyn Bay who has been waiting four years in agony to have treatment on a wisdom tooth. What a mess the NHS dental service has got into! We'll also have the latest from the World Cup - will England top the group? Will they avoid the Germans? Will Trinidad battle through?
My interview with the BBC will be broadcast on Radio Wales sometime after 6pm tomorrow - there you go, a free advert for Auntie at no extra charge. They asked some odd questions, including "do I write the blog in work-time" and "did your boss tell you to do it". The answers are 1) Yes, usually very hurriedly and 2) Course not, don't be so soft.
I've been blogging on and off for well over a year now because it's good fun - and you can get things off your chest. If you want to do a blog yourself drop me a line so we can set you up for free on our website. My favourite blog is by a Liverpool-based comedian called Stanley McHale. Very funny chap. Visit his site at http://stanleymchale.merseyblogs.co.uk/

Wales at the World Cup!

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 7:31 PM | add or read comments (1)

A lovely story in tomorrow's paper about a little lad from Bangor who has won a prize to be a mascot at one of the World Cup semi finals! Hard to imagine on current form that he will be clutching an Englishman's hand - but you never know, the Three Lions usually are slow starters on the grandest stage. I recall Italia 90 when one national - the Sun, I think - demanded "Bring Em Home" on the front page after a dismal start in the qualifying group. And on they went to the semifinal of "blubbing Gazza" folklore.
There is promising news over the plans to merge the Welsh police forces - looks like new Home Secretary John Reid has other matters on his mind but is eager to re-open negotations. A full merger now looks far less inevitable. We have a full report and comment piece in Tuesday's edition.
Tomorrow sees the meeting of the Daily Post "product development group" - a monthly meeting where we thrash out our ongoing plans for changes to the newspaper and strategies for sales, marketing and advertising. We will be looking at the latest draft of our plans for a weekly "food and drink" spread plus getting some thoughts together on a restaurant guide, a big summer "what to do with the kids" guide with special offers for readers and their families - plus lots more. I'll keep you posted.
Also, a nice lady from the BBC has phoned me. Radio Wales are doing a slot on blogs and have asked me to record an interview tomorrow. Very sporting of them considering all the rude things I said about Auntie in my last entry.
My favourite story of the moment is Geoffrey Robinson MP, the Labour MP for Coventry North West who has been using a private bore-hole to water the lavish gardens at his Surrey home.
Today he claimed to be "behaving with a great sense of civic responsibility" by not filling up his swimming pool from the same source.
As a young reporter on the Coventry Evening Telegraph many years ago I was sent to Mr Robinson's home chasing a story about how one of his dogs had had an altercation with a neighbour. I was stunned that the entrance of a Labour MP's home should have a notice pointing to the "tradesmen's entrance".
Personally I had a lot more time for his fellow Coventry Labour MP Dave Nellist. A devoted MP he knew EVERYTHING that was going on his constituency and worked like a dog to better the lives of the people he represented in Parliament.
Quiz time - can you guess which of these Coventry MPs went on to be Paymaster General, and which one got thrown out during Kinnock's Militant witch-hunt?

New on the internet - blurryvision

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 4:45 PM | add or read comments (0)

People walking past my office must see me gazing intently at my screen and say to themselves "there's Rob, hard at work on some major editorial project on behalf of the company".
Well just in case anyone REALLY important at Trinity Mirror reads my blog, this is obviously the case. And my latest efforts have been devoted towards exploring the manifold possibilities of the Internet. Which brings me to blurryvision on the BBC.
Now, this is probably the right moment to share my views on Dear Old Auntie.
She makes me bloody sick.
Us journalists and our colleagues in advertising, newspaper sales and marketing beat ourselves up day in, day out to produce high quality commercial products. We do everything we can to make people want to buy our papers - and buy advert space in them.
And how does the Beeb get its money? By getting a huge chunk of cash out of everyone who owns a telly, regardless of whether they EVER watch its programmes. And if you don't cough up, you go to jail.
The latest way they are spending your licence money is to turn their websites into TV stations - so be warned, chances are they'll be asking Gordon Brown to demand everyone gets down to the post office to buy a PC licence soon.
So, absorbing my attention on my computer today was Ithe men's quarter finals from the Queen's tennis tournament. At least I think that's what it was. The picture was so blurry and pixelated, When Leyton Hewiitt hit a serve I could barely make him out, never mind the ball.
Still, I'm sure the Beeb will be pushing for a hike in the licence fee to pay for better software.
As for us, tomorrow's paper has the usual Saturday extras - 20 pages of Welsh telly (and not just the BBC, mind!) plus Weekend Post with our ever-popular eating out review. And on the news front, we'll bring you some surprises from the Queen's Birthday Honours List - can't tell you tonight who has been honoured as this would be an act of treason and I would be sent to the Tower.
Don't miss the Daily Post next week by the way - we've got a competition to meet opera star Bryn Terfel!
That's all for now.
Hwyl, wela i chi wythnos nesa. Have a great weekend!

Cross words over crossword

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 3:04 PM | add or read comments (0)

Ouch! We have committed one of the worst offences possible in a newspaper - today's paper has got the wrong grids for the crossword clues.
Please, please accept my sincere apologies for the error. If you would like me to send you a copy of the proper grid and clues - plus solutions - e-mail me your name and address or call 01492 574455 - Chloe or Paula will take your details.
It's lousy when we make a mistake like this - and when people phone to complain and ask how we managed to get it wrong, it's hard to know what to say other than "human error". Just rest assured that we all feeel VERY BAD about it.
On a happier note, I was very pleased with the first piece from our new columnist, Wrexham FC's Dennis Lawrence, who has joined us for the World Cup. The Trinidad & Tobago star is relishing the prospect of taking on England in tomorrow's Group Match. I wonder who you'll be cheering for?

We're Czech mates

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 4:16 PM | add or read comments (0)

Just back from a week in the sun (that explains the lack of blog activity). Silly us, we went all the way to Mallorca for a few rays and find out it's been beating down back here in Wales.
The heat must have got to everyone here as the office is festooned with flags from nations competing in the World Cup. No St George's flags, mind. The newspaper sales team appear to have thrown their hat into the ring for Ghana while advertising are backing Spain, with IT cheering for Tunisia. Turns out to be some complicated sweepstake being run in various offices across the region (not sure who got Sven's boys). Editorial has drawn the Czech Republic
Can't get too excited about matters in Germany yet - far more gripping down in South America where Wales came within a whisker of beating the Pumas. Better luck for the rematch, guys.
As usual, the first day back has involved clearing out the mountainous backlog of emails. Mercifully we have a spam filter which removes all those unsolicited offers for pills to, ahem, "keep you going".
A busy few weeks ahead - we are getting a new computer system that will help us to produce a great paper every day AND give us much capacity online. Two of our guys are on a course this week learning about how to produce online videos. The media world is changing - we've even got one of those big microphones that are covered in fur. I kid you not, it came with its own comb - how's that for progress!