Apologies for the lack of a blog on Friday, but there's a very good reason.
We are currently in the midst of a major revamp of our sister title in East Grinstead. I won't go into the details here but two papers are being merged into a single, bigger paper.
All sounds exciting, and it will be, but first I have to get my head around all the computer/staffing/content issues this creates.
On top of this, our new website launches in two days time. It is true what they say - these things do seem to come in pairs or, in this case, bucketfuls.
Still, onwards and upwards. Wednesday's News is shaping up quite nicely, with a highlight being the announcement of the winner of our Miss Crawley contest.
I know who has won - we'll tell you all on Wednesday morning.
Monday 18 August 2008
Thursday 14 August 2008
Exam failure
Just a footnote to our exam result coverage today.
Four town secondary schools provided their results, spoke to our reporters and let us take happy, smiling pictures of the students.
One school told us to bog off.
Take a bow - Ifield Community College.
Fair enough they might not want us around the school on a busy day, but why on earth would they refuse to even give us the results over the phone or by email?
I know some people have little time for newspapers, but has it occured to the school's hierarchy there might just be a few parents who actually quite want to see coverage of their child's school.
Worse still, not disclosing the results will simply make people think the school has something to hide, like duff A-Level grades, for example.
This probably isn't the case, so why create this cloud of suspicion?
Four town secondary schools provided their results, spoke to our reporters and let us take happy, smiling pictures of the students.
One school told us to bog off.
Take a bow - Ifield Community College.
Fair enough they might not want us around the school on a busy day, but why on earth would they refuse to even give us the results over the phone or by email?
I know some people have little time for newspapers, but has it occured to the school's hierarchy there might just be a few parents who actually quite want to see coverage of their child's school.
Worse still, not disclosing the results will simply make people think the school has something to hide, like duff A-Level grades, for example.
This probably isn't the case, so why create this cloud of suspicion?
Results Day
It is eight years since my A-Level results day but I still remeber it fairly clearly.
I woke up feeling nervous, got to school feeling more nervous, picked up my results, and headed for the nearest Wetherspoons to drink cheap beer.
In a nutshell, probably what most 18-year-olds in Crawley are doing right now.
Some things don't change, but others do - like the Crawley News website, for example.
This time next week (gremlins permitting) this website will look very different, but still with the same mix of breaking news, sport and entertainment you already get from us.
Stay tuned.
I woke up feeling nervous, got to school feeling more nervous, picked up my results, and headed for the nearest Wetherspoons to drink cheap beer.
In a nutshell, probably what most 18-year-olds in Crawley are doing right now.
Some things don't change, but others do - like the Crawley News website, for example.
This time next week (gremlins permitting) this website will look very different, but still with the same mix of breaking news, sport and entertainment you already get from us.
Stay tuned.
Wednesday 13 August 2008
Northern Monkeys
A bizarre report by a Conservative think tank says people from certain towns in the north of England should move south to improve their prospects.
This would see hundreds of people vacating places like Sunderland and Bradford, and swarming into home county towns such as Oxford and Cambridge.
The Tories have immediately distanced themselves from the report. Hardly surprising, it's not exactly a vote winner is it?
Here at the News we have our very own north south divide - reporter Kirsty Rigg hails from Rochdale, which is oooop narf.
She is a strong supporter of her native land, as you might expect. And true, people in the north are generally friendlier and more welcoming.
They do, of course however, all wear flat caps, string vests and eat tripe.
This would see hundreds of people vacating places like Sunderland and Bradford, and swarming into home county towns such as Oxford and Cambridge.
The Tories have immediately distanced themselves from the report. Hardly surprising, it's not exactly a vote winner is it?
Here at the News we have our very own north south divide - reporter Kirsty Rigg hails from Rochdale, which is oooop narf.
She is a strong supporter of her native land, as you might expect. And true, people in the north are generally friendlier and more welcoming.
They do, of course however, all wear flat caps, string vests and eat tripe.
Friday 8 August 2008
Maddie
When little Madeleine McCann disappeared in May 2007, wall-to-wall coverage dominated the 24-hour news channels and newspapers.
Scroll forward 15 months - and nothing has changed.
"Maddie: 3 sightings in Belgium", says today's Sun.
"Did they snatch Maddie? First pics of Dutch sighting suspects," says The Mirror.
It goes without saying that this is a dreadful, tragic case and everyone must still cling to the hope that she is alive and well.
But I wonder whether the daily diet of tabloid tip-offs and conspiracy theories is really helping matters.
How legitimate, for example, are these three sightings in Belgium? Who exactly are these Dutch suspects?
The Daily Express is famous for getting Princess Diana on its front page in some form as often as possible. Diana = sales, is the theory.
I hope these stories help in the hunt for Maddie, but the cynic within me says they do more to boost the sales of the red-tops.
Scroll forward 15 months - and nothing has changed.
"Maddie: 3 sightings in Belgium", says today's Sun.
"Did they snatch Maddie? First pics of Dutch sighting suspects," says The Mirror.
It goes without saying that this is a dreadful, tragic case and everyone must still cling to the hope that she is alive and well.
But I wonder whether the daily diet of tabloid tip-offs and conspiracy theories is really helping matters.
How legitimate, for example, are these three sightings in Belgium? Who exactly are these Dutch suspects?
The Daily Express is famous for getting Princess Diana on its front page in some form as often as possible. Diana = sales, is the theory.
I hope these stories help in the hunt for Maddie, but the cynic within me says they do more to boost the sales of the red-tops.
Thursday 7 August 2008
Changes
Pretty soon, you will notice some big changes to our website.
A couple of weeks from now the site will be undergoing a major revamp which, we hope, will make it a bit easier on the eye and also, simpler to navigate and use.
One thing we are particularly hoping to do is expand the blogging section of the site, so we can hear the views of a wide variety of voices from across Crawley.
If you fancy having your say on a regular basis and reckon you can do a better job than me (not hard, let's face it) then please drop me an email - editor@crawleynews.co.uk
A couple of weeks from now the site will be undergoing a major revamp which, we hope, will make it a bit easier on the eye and also, simpler to navigate and use.
One thing we are particularly hoping to do is expand the blogging section of the site, so we can hear the views of a wide variety of voices from across Crawley.
If you fancy having your say on a regular basis and reckon you can do a better job than me (not hard, let's face it) then please drop me an email - editor@crawleynews.co.uk
Wednesday 6 August 2008
Back in blightly
I've been back in the office for five hours now but still don't quite know where I am or what I'm doing.
It's that kind of post-holiday, out-of-body experience which seems to take at least a day to wear off.
Before I left, I was set the challenge of finding a Crawley-related story while sunning myself in Cyprus.
This was inspired by Chief Reporter Michael Connellan, who once stumbled across a Crawley Town FC fan while on a skiing holiday.
I struggled on this mission (not that I tried very hard, admittedly) until, the day before I left, I met an Irish woman who told me she had spent Saturday night in a "lovely market town" just outside London.
"Where?", I asked.
"I think it was called Crawley," she replied.
Bingo!
Not exactly newsworthy, but I'm sure our town's hierarchy will be happy with the "lovely market town" label.
It's that kind of post-holiday, out-of-body experience which seems to take at least a day to wear off.
Before I left, I was set the challenge of finding a Crawley-related story while sunning myself in Cyprus.
This was inspired by Chief Reporter Michael Connellan, who once stumbled across a Crawley Town FC fan while on a skiing holiday.
I struggled on this mission (not that I tried very hard, admittedly) until, the day before I left, I met an Irish woman who told me she had spent Saturday night in a "lovely market town" just outside London.
"Where?", I asked.
"I think it was called Crawley," she replied.
Bingo!
Not exactly newsworthy, but I'm sure our town's hierarchy will be happy with the "lovely market town" label.
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