"Where do you get your stories from?" It's a question journalists are often asked. At parties someone alway chips in and says: "You write the headlines and make up the stories to go with them, don't you? Ha ha ha."
To which I reply "that would be silly, there are loads of interesting stories in the real world, and why would we go to the bother of employing reporters to find stories if we just made stuff up? Besides, this is a private party to which you were not invited, so kindly leave my house."
There is a host of sources of news - contacts, tip-offs, official sources, leaked reports, the list goes on and on.
And now there is a new addition. The blog of the chief constable of North Wales. What a feast of stories appeared in his entry earlier this week when he wrote about a busy weekend on duty. The blog was eagerly read by news organisations across the region who were keen to follow up the mentions of rape, siege and other crimes that the chief had alluded to. Many journalists were puzzled as to why these stories hadn't been detailed to us by the police press office.
So we asked them - and here is their answer.
“Several news agencies have queried the content of the Chief Constable’s Blog for the weekend of 5th/6th August set against North Wales Police press releases for the same period. The Blog is, by its very nature, a personal reflection by the writer – in this case of the amount of material (in brief and anonymous overview) an on-call chief officer would be expected to consider over a couple of days. This is wholly different from the synthesis provided by the media liaison officers who are responsible for assessing the appropriateness of revealing the detail behind those incidents. Issues of public safety, criminal justice procedure and confidentiality are considered before any press disclosure is made; and of course many of the reports simply come to nothing.
The openness of the force and the media liaison office in dealing with calls for information stands comparison with any large public organisation. The Blogs are a further manifestation of this openness.”
Well, there you go.Glad we cleared that one up.
Personally I am delighted that Mr Brunstrom is so candid about his work. He sets a fine example to other chief officers and their staffs. The police are there to serve the public - and it's your taxes and mine that pay for them to do it.
Nick Bourne wrote...
Here, here! He gets lot of stick but you have to hand it to the Chief Constable - he says what he thinks. Personally, I like the guy.
Posted by: Nick Bourne | August 10, 2006 9:11 AM