This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/magazine/8015245.stm
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Local man in 'tell all' drama | Local man in 'tell all' drama |
| (29 minutes later) | |
| As many local papers struggle for survival, Mike Lockley explains how the ups and downs of his career in local journalism reveal much about why newspapers matter to communities. And we ask readers to help us document a week in local news around the UK by sending us pictures of newspaper billboards. | As many local papers struggle for survival, Mike Lockley explains how the ups and downs of his career in local journalism reveal much about why newspapers matter to communities. And we ask readers to help us document a week in local news around the UK by sending us pictures of newspaper billboards. |
| Was it really 31 years ago that, as a cub reporter in a mining community on the fringes of the Black Country, I sat straining to hear details, in a cavernous courtroom, of an all-too-common tale of domestic violence? | Was it really 31 years ago that, as a cub reporter in a mining community on the fringes of the Black Country, I sat straining to hear details, in a cavernous courtroom, of an all-too-common tale of domestic violence? |
| SEND US A PICTURE LIKE THIS Help us document a week in local news - send us a picture of your local paper's billboardUpload it to our Newspaper Billboards group on the photo sharing website Flickr by clicking here Tag it with the newspaper name and where you took the pictureNot on Flickr? E-mail your picture to yourpics@bbc.co.uk, subject: "BILLBOARD" Newspaper billboard Flickr group | SEND US A PICTURE LIKE THIS Help us document a week in local news - send us a picture of your local paper's billboardUpload it to our Newspaper Billboards group on the photo sharing website Flickr by clicking here Tag it with the newspaper name and where you took the pictureNot on Flickr? E-mail your picture to yourpics@bbc.co.uk, subject: "BILLBOARD" Newspaper billboard Flickr group |
| After a three-year apprenticeship - "indentures" they called it - I was ready to cover court without being chaperoned by a senior. In Cannock, hardly the most refined destination on the fringes of the West Midlands conurbation, I had arrived. | After a three-year apprenticeship - "indentures" they called it - I was ready to cover court without being chaperoned by a senior. In Cannock, hardly the most refined destination on the fringes of the West Midlands conurbation, I had arrived. |
| The case was a sickening example of domestic violence. An enraged husband had struck his wife repeatedly about the head with a candelabra. | The case was a sickening example of domestic violence. An enraged husband had struck his wife repeatedly about the head with a candelabra. |
| It made page three of the weekly newspaper, now sadly deceased like the mines that spawned Cannock. "Man bludgeons wife with candelabra", the banner headline screamed. | It made page three of the weekly newspaper, now sadly deceased like the mines that spawned Cannock. "Man bludgeons wife with candelabra", the banner headline screamed. |
| I returned to the same court next day - to be greeted by howls of laughter from ushers, solicitors, clerksÂ… even defendants. | I returned to the same court next day - to be greeted by howls of laughter from ushers, solicitors, clerksÂ… even defendants. |
| "Is this the level of reporting we can expect from you?" asked the chairman of the bench, studying my exclusive. | "Is this the level of reporting we can expect from you?" asked the chairman of the bench, studying my exclusive. |
| Nervously, I pointed out every detail had been checked: the charge, the attacker's name, age and address. | Nervously, I pointed out every detail had been checked: the charge, the attacker's name, age and address. |
| "Every detail," huffed the JP frostily, "except the implement used in the incident. I think you'll find it was a can of lager." | "Every detail," huffed the JP frostily, "except the implement used in the incident. I think you'll find it was a can of lager." |
| Close to four decades on, in the pubs and working men's clubs, they still remind me of that. I'm glad they do. It means they remember what I write. It means they feel part of the local paper. It means what I produce can fall into folklore. It means I'm within touching distance of our readership. | Close to four decades on, in the pubs and working men's clubs, they still remind me of that. I'm glad they do. It means they remember what I write. It means they feel part of the local paper. It means what I produce can fall into folklore. It means I'm within touching distance of our readership. |
| Off road headlines | Off road headlines |
| Occasionally, the national newspapers will be intrigued enough by a tale to write ABOUT the people of my patch - I write FOR them. Their reporters can get the facts wrong, ruffle feathers, then disappear into the distance. I can't because there's always someone at my local ready to loudly broadcast the inaccuracies. | Occasionally, the national newspapers will be intrigued enough by a tale to write ABOUT the people of my patch - I write FOR them. Their reporters can get the facts wrong, ruffle feathers, then disappear into the distance. I can't because there's always someone at my local ready to loudly broadcast the inaccuracies. |
| I tried Fleet Street once... soon after we decided to part company Mike Lockley, in his cub reporter days (above left) and now, editor of Cannock Chase Post | I tried Fleet Street once... soon after we decided to part company Mike Lockley, in his cub reporter days (above left) and now, editor of Cannock Chase Post |
| Like the time when reporters, heaven forbid, wrote headlines by hand and nervously presented them to all-powerful print workers to turn into type, I was tasked with producing a front-page on the battle to save British Leyland. | Like the time when reporters, heaven forbid, wrote headlines by hand and nervously presented them to all-powerful print workers to turn into type, I was tasked with producing a front-page on the battle to save British Leyland. |
| Fighting against deadline and feeling the effects of a boozy lunch, I scrawled the banner headline: "Big Drive To Save Jobs". | Fighting against deadline and feeling the effects of a boozy lunch, I scrawled the banner headline: "Big Drive To Save Jobs". |
| The all-powerful print workers, who had previously complained about my illegible handwriting, grabbed the note and rushed to the waiting presses. | The all-powerful print workers, who had previously complained about my illegible handwriting, grabbed the note and rushed to the waiting presses. |
| Almost the entire population of Birmingham woke-up next morning to a front page proclaiming: "Big Dave To Save Jobs". | Almost the entire population of Birmingham woke-up next morning to a front page proclaiming: "Big Dave To Save Jobs". |
| I appeased my furious editor by claiming "Big Dave" was a union leader and his quote was cut from the finished story. | I appeased my furious editor by claiming "Big Dave" was a union leader and his quote was cut from the finished story. |
| I still can't believe I get paid for spreading stories. You might call it gossip, but one man's tittle-tattle is another's key local information. | I still can't believe I get paid for spreading stories. You might call it gossip, but one man's tittle-tattle is another's key local information. |
| Billboards, the sort you see outside newsagents with the latest local scandal distilled to five punchy words, are the modern-day version of the town crier - bawling out their wares, entreating passers-by to part with a few pence to find out more. | |
| Silly word fall-out | Silly word fall-out |
| I, for one, will never under-estimate their influence - it was the sight of one, while holidaying abroad, that decided my career path. It proclaimed: "Woman in owl attack dies of diarrhoea". Boy, I wanted to do that story. | I, for one, will never under-estimate their influence - it was the sight of one, while holidaying abroad, that decided my career path. It proclaimed: "Woman in owl attack dies of diarrhoea". Boy, I wanted to do that story. |
| It's been a career devoid of owl attacks, but I've tracked panthers on Cannock Chase, ghosts and even a one-legged lottery winner who spent his/her windfall on a sex change. | It's been a career devoid of owl attacks, but I've tracked panthers on Cannock Chase, ghosts and even a one-legged lottery winner who spent his/her windfall on a sex change. |
| Local paper billboards - though maybe not local news | Local paper billboards - though maybe not local news |
| I tried Fleet Street once. One leading tabloid asked me to write 120 words on the most personal part of a pop star's anatomy. I was given a public dressing down for using a "bloody silly" word - "phallus". | I tried Fleet Street once. One leading tabloid asked me to write 120 words on the most personal part of a pop star's anatomy. I was given a public dressing down for using a "bloody silly" word - "phallus". |
| They changed it to something more sensible - "todger". | They changed it to something more sensible - "todger". |
| Soon after we decided to go our separate ways: a "you call it phallus, I call it todger, let's call the whole thing off" moment. | Soon after we decided to go our separate ways: a "you call it phallus, I call it todger, let's call the whole thing off" moment. |
| I'm something of a dinosaur. I know this because the exasperated IT expert who spent a week trying to teach me computer skills called me a dinosaur, or was it a fossil? He'd demanded from me a password for my new piece of kit - "something with seven characters". I came up with Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy and Sneezy. | I'm something of a dinosaur. I know this because the exasperated IT expert who spent a week trying to teach me computer skills called me a dinosaur, or was it a fossil? He'd demanded from me a password for my new piece of kit - "something with seven characters". I came up with Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy and Sneezy. |
| I may not have the new technology skills, but I have a contact book crammed with "curtain twitchers" and devoid of numbers for gushing PR gals, usually called Gemima, Hannah or Suzi. Poor "Hannah" rang, close to hysteria, this morning to proclaim: "My client's done something reeeeally exciting with milk." | I may not have the new technology skills, but I have a contact book crammed with "curtain twitchers" and devoid of numbers for gushing PR gals, usually called Gemima, Hannah or Suzi. Poor "Hannah" rang, close to hysteria, this morning to proclaim: "My client's done something reeeeally exciting with milk." |
| He hadn't. It's still white and hasn't started coming out of cow's noses. | He hadn't. It's still white and hasn't started coming out of cow's noses. |
| And I, like every other weekly journalist, can play a part in the community I work in. I've helped save schools, stopped telecommunication towers being erected and even put pink custard back on a school menu. | And I, like every other weekly journalist, can play a part in the community I work in. I've helped save schools, stopped telecommunication towers being erected and even put pink custard back on a school menu. |
| "So basically," scoffed one colleague, "the BBC want the memoirs of a local hack." | "So basically," scoffed one colleague, "the BBC want the memoirs of a local hack." |
| They've come to the right person. I'm a hack, often beer-sodden, and proud of it. | They've come to the right person. I'm a hack, often beer-sodden, and proud of it. |
| Times and technology change, people's desire to know what's happening in their community doesn't. A town without it's own weekly newspaper is a town without a heart. | Times and technology change, people's desire to know what's happening in their community doesn't. A town without it's own weekly newspaper is a town without a heart. |
| And what the hell would I do without the daily fix of larger-than-life tales from my area? Find someone who's done something reeeeally exciting with milk, probably. name="billboards_form"> | |
SEND US A PICTURE LIKE THIS | SEND US A PICTURE LIKE THIS |
| Help the Magazine document a week in local news - send us a picture of your local paper's billboard: | Help the Magazine document a week in local news - send us a picture of your local paper's billboard: |
|
|
| Add your comments on this story, using the form below. | Add your comments on this story, using the form below. |
| The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide. Terms & Conditions | The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide. Terms & Conditions |