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January 2007 Archives

January 26, 2007

Blaenau - capital of news

Blaenau Ffestiniog is once against at the centre of the British media world - although this time it's not Big Brother's Glyn but 46-year-old Derek Williams, a pervert who go caught downloading child porn from the web. As I write, the town is awash with journalists.
Judge John Rogers QC's carefully crafted comments, citing a Home Office request to judges to go easy on our overstuffed prison cells as he let Williams walk free, has focussed a torrent of complaints on the Government in general and Home Secretary John Reid in particular.
Williams' story made our front page this morning and is certain to feature prominently in tomorrow's edition as the storm gathers momentum. Could this seedy little man have a part to play in the decline and fall of yet another Home Secretary? (and what a doomed portfolio that has been during Blair's administration!).
What was slightly depressing was the way the TV stations have turned Williams into some kind of media tart, spouting forth his views from the comfort of the sofa to all who might listen. Who really values the opinions of somoene who revels in the sexual exploitation of children?


 

January 24, 2007

Doctor diagnoses English blight

I wouldn't mind being a fly on the wall at Doctor Richard Landon's GP surgery in Rhyl this week.
He's gone on record as saying that the town is suffering under a blight of criminals and junkies who have moved over the border from Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham.
Dr L had his say at a town council meeting - and speaking to the Daily Post today he stood by his remarks despite howls of protest from a member of the council.
Read the story on page seven in Thursday's edition - and if you agree or disagree then have your say. Post a comment here or on the website at dailypost.co.uk - just follow the links to the forum.
We're especially keen to hear from some of his 3,000 patients (and I have to assume that some of these will be English...and not all that chuffed with their doc right this moment).
Page one has a blurb about this story but the splash is about the police decision to name two of its "most wanted" suspects - and to put their pictures on display. If you recognise them and know where they are then let us and the police know.


 

January 23, 2007

Junk mail/junk telly

Sick of junk mail dropping through your door? Then the story of a North Wales postie who landed in hot water for failing to deliver it should intrigue you when you see it in tomorrow's Daily Post (WEDNESDAY).
We'll also bring you the story of the lonely North Wales farmers looking for love (it involves cartons of milk, I'll say no more than that now).
There is a week every month when I seem to get stuck in meetings all over the place - so if you were wondering why the lazy devil hasn't been blogging it's because he was doing his best to get to Birmingham and back while high winds laid waste to the rail network.
I know it was very windy but the rail network was crumbling before the worst gusts had arrived - which meant a two hour journey down to Brum lasted the best part of four hours (including a half hour wait at Tamworth station, which has leapt into my top ten of "Bleakest Places I Have Been Stuck In".
The one big plus is that I had even more time to stare out of the train window pondering the big questions.
And after long and careful consideration I have concluded that the worst thing you can do Jade Goody is to pay her attention. You're just encouraging her so just ignore her.
And don't give her any more money to go on telly. Ever.


 

January 16, 2007

Rail tragedy

There was a tremendous effort by our late crew yesterday to bring you the most up to date report for this morning's Daily Post on the railway tragedy near Wrexham last night.
They worked flat out to put together a front page and inside page on the story complete with eyewitness accounts and pictures.
Obviously a host of questions remain as to how and why the accident happened but one's sympathies obviously go to the family of the young girl who died and to the train driver who has endured a terrible experience.
While racing the deadline to bring you this story the newsdesk also had to take on the job of responding to a news update released by the police at 9.20pm on the result of a misconduct hearing into two North Wales officers....I wonder if the tribunal chairman was having a long day for this news to be made public at this hour?
Some of my favourite things in news stories are those quotes from spokespersons trying to defend the indefensible or to offer up farcical explanations for things going wrong.
Here's a cracker from Anglia Television who have today had to apologise for a technical error when viewers got to see three minutes of newsreader Emma Baker chatting away with her colleagues and fiddling with her hair, with no idea she was on the air
Anglia spokesman Jim Woodrow said a viewer's claim that Emma called a colleague "shameless" could be explained as a reference to an editor... called Seamus.
What a berk.


 

January 15, 2007

Oh eye say

In the global media village of today it is not surprising to see a Daily Post story re-emerging on some news website thousands of miles away within minutes.
Of greatest worldwide appeal are those wonderful and weird stories that can make you laugh or wince, wherever they come from.
They are also a staple of obscure TV channels, mostly in the States - and those guys are not that bothered how old the story is.
So I was not that surprised to get a request this week from over the pond for permission to use an image of a front page of the Daily Post from October 2005.
It was the story of an angler who had got a fishing weight lodged behind his eye - a gory and extraordinary story in words and made even more dramatic by the X-ray picture on our cover.
And the name of the US TV Series? "That's Gotta Hurt"
You're not kidding buddy.


 

January 12, 2007

A blue day for Y Glas

A packed paper is taking shape for tomorrow. We are leading with the story of a convicted rapist who has been jailed again - this time for life for kidnapping and raping a 15-year-old girl in Wrexham.
We also have the latest from the Dragons where caretaker manager Brian Carey has been told he will be in charge for the rest of the season after Wrexham's sudden parting of the ways with Denis Smith. Good luck to Brian - he needs it.
And we also bring you the news of the impending demise of a North Wales based newspaper. Y Glas, North Wales police's quarterly, will cease print publication this summer. The seventh edition is just out now so I guess that means there are only a couple more editions left to go.
The decision to kill off the 8-page glossy comes in the wake of criticism at its cost by Chris Ruane, MP for the Vale of Clwyd, at a time when beat bobbies are being moved to desk jobs to cover posts lost in job cuts.
But fear not - the Daily Post (now on its 48,009th edition and still going strong) will continue to bring an independent light to bear on policing matters in North Wales, while the bobbies get on with the job of fighting crime.


 

January 11, 2007

Breaking news...and breaking wind

News has broken that Wrexham manager Denis Smith has been sacked. We've already set up a discussion on the website forum page and the sports guys are preparing a back page story and a two page spread for the Daily Post tomorrow (Friday). It's on the front page too in an eyecatching blurb along with the sad story of a Nefyn dad who needs specialist cancer treatment...but the Assembly can't afford to pay for it.
There's also a round-up of the latest weather chaos - after the deluge, the wind. There's storm damage across North and mid-Wales and we've got a full round-up.
Talking of wind, I hope you had a chance to read Andrew Forgrave's article on the front page of our Farm & Country section today. Cows (or at least their gaseous emissions) are responsible for a good chunk of the greenhouse gases that are causing global warming and all the mad weather we are getting these days.
So the next time you are forced to cough up an extra few quid in tax for your flight to sunny Spain, have a private moan to yourself about all those thoughtless people in Chelsea tractors...AND those selfish farty cows.


 

January 10, 2007

Size matters - and so does spelling

We have just advertised for a sports writer to join our team. His or her patch will include covering Man United AND the Welsh rugby squad ...a dream of a job, so we are expecting a lot of good applicants.
I noticed that a trade website which is running our advert had left a spelling error in the copy (fanastic, what's that a fantasist or a fanatic?) so I had to get on the blower to have it fixed. I've become obsessed with spelling errors of late - loads of them have popped up on TV captions, especially on BBC 24 and Sky News. Menus in restaurants are scattered with them.
I saw an absolute cracker last night in the gents of a bar in Llandudno. I don't want to go into some long, rambling explanation of why I was reading the blurbs on the front of a condom machine...but I do think the manufacturer should know how to spell "circumference".
Don't you?


 

January 9, 2007

I'm not a ray of SUNshine today

Oh bum. A national newspaper (I'll let you work out which one) has a front page exclusive story today about a woman from Caernarfon who is under investigation by Gwynedd council - because her neighbour has complained about her cigarette smoke seeping through the walls into her home.
No one likes to be scooped - especially not on their own doorstep so the bad mood I brought to work after being soaked yet again on my morning dog walk has not improved much. All I can say in our defence is that this is a very rare event (in fact the first time it's happened since I came here nearly 18 months ago as editor).
If this relentlessly awful weather is leaving you craving foreign parts then can I steer you towards today's Daily Post which has a 20-page guide to reader holidays in the UK, Europe and further afield. And jolly good value they look too.
Our front page is about the terrifying ordeal of a Kinmel Bay schoolboy who was robbed at knifepoint on a train - plus the revelation that not a single police station in North Wales is open round-the-clock. The police explain why on page three.



 

January 8, 2007

Rhyl cycling club

A difficult front page today. This marks the anniversary of the tragedy in which four members of Rhyl Cycling Club died in a road accident. The vast and complex police investigations are drawing to a conclusion and the inquests are still to take place, meaning that many people are quite understandably reluctant to comment in detail at present.
What I can say is that all of us at the Daily Post were very shocked and upset by the tragedy and equally moved and impressed by the way friends and supporters - cyclists and non-cyclists - have rallied round the bereaved.
I've been a cycling enthusiast all my life (albeit a bit of an armchair one in the past few years). This is a wonderful part of the world to explore on two wheels. Yes there are risks but there are so many benefits to be had by cycling.
One thing I have invested in is a helmet and nowadays I wouldn't dream of riding without one. They've come down in price and they are as light as a feather so don't be put off - get your lid on!


 

January 2, 2007

Video nasties and niceys

I hope you had the kind of Christmas and New Year you were hoping for...whether it involved something vigorous like kayaking in Snowdonia, or something far more sensible like watching eight films a day from your settee.
Great to see Ben Hur, Cleopatra, Jason and the Argonauts plus The Great Escape again, wasn't it? Certainly more pleasant viewing than the ultimate snuff movie - the demise of Saddam Hussein (yep, I went on You Tube and watched it, shame on me). Personally I prefer our video of the rescued seals which you can still check out at dailypost.co.uk
Our merchandising team have been handing over our "Save the Post Offices" petitions to post offices around North Wales today - I gather that the feedback has been very positive. We are doing all we can to save as many post offices as possible from Alistair Darling's scythe so make sure you sign up the next time you pop into your post office.
Also, we are just two weeks away from the launch of a new scheme called Friends of the Daily Post. it will give you a chance to help shape the future of the best selling newspaper in North Wales. My colleague, senior assistant editor Mark Brittain, will be revealing more in due course.



 

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Hello, I'm Rob Irvine, editor of the best -selling newspaper in North Wales - the Daily Post. I reckon mine is one of the best jobs in newspapers - editing a paper with an incredible history, with fantastically loyal readers. And I get to live in one of the most beautiful places on earth with wife Julie and our dog Max. I'll tell you in this blog about life at the Daily Post office in Llandudno Junction together with some s

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