The woes of a freelance journalist

02/11/2009 by admin.

Above are two versions of the same story. The first was written by me a month ago and sent to both newspapers. The second newspaper chose to ignore it until Rochdale MP Paul Rowen issued a press release after the story had appeared in the railway press.

Now, I absolutely respect the right of any newspaper not to pay me. ..

But a MONTH????

Posted in Media, Journalism, Business, Transport | Print | 1 Comment »

Roadworks

27/10/2009 by admin.

I have driven today along the M62 between Greater Manchester and the M1. It was horribly busy.

They are preparing for new roadworks -and building the gantries for average speed cameras along what seems to be a 10-mile stretch around Leeds.

Be very afraid

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | 1 Comment »

In mortal danger

26/10/2009 by admin.

A couple of weeks ago, a gym-owning friend of mine expressed some mild horror at the fact that I was able to go to the gym at Todmorden Sports Centre at 7am, an hour before the instructor started work. “What about Health and Safety?” he asked.

What indeed…

This morning, two of the three treadmills were not working properly. I was on the only one which was when a fellow fitness seeker of advancing years decided to switch off the mains plug to see if the two miscreants would reset themselves when switched back on.

But he managed to switch all three off – almost propelling me through the mirror on the wall in front of the machines.

Not wanting to upset him, I did not protest…and I swear he didn’t even realise what he had done!

Posted in Sport, Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

Losing my memory, honesty and dishonesty

23/10/2009 by admin.

I returned to my car at the National Trust car park at Aira Force on the banks of Ullswater after a walk of about 8 miles. I felt in my pockets for my car keys and, to my horror, they weren’t there.

The options were:

1. call the AA
2. take a cab back to Staveley, 20 or so miles away for the spare key
3. Retrace my steps over the hills, eyes fixed on the ground.

We argued about my failing faculties until, quite by chance, I tried the car door. It was open. I looked at the ignition…they keys were in it.

It is hard to describe the cocktail of reactions:

• horror at what could have happened
• relief that I didn’t have to do any of the above
• respect for the honesty of my fellow parkers
• horror again at the stupidity I am capable of.

And that brings me to the events of the previous week when I took a Virgin train to London and enjoyed it so much, I tweeted about it from on board.

As soon as I got to my hotel, a minute from Euston, I realised that I had left my raincoat – a fairly new £200 Rohan – in the luggage rack.

I dashed back, persuaded the security guard to let me back on the platform but, sadly, the train had gone. Lost property at Euston is at Left Luggage (and they will charge you a fiver to give you back your property) but to no avail…though after pressing the case, I was invited to fill in a form.

I was directed to station reception where I was treated in such an off-handed way that I almost asked to see somebody’s boss.

I didn’t…but later that night in the House of Commons, I did bump into their boss, Virgin’s chief executive Tony Collins with his Director of Communications Arthur Leathley. I mentioned my missing mac, but not my doubts about the reaction I had got.

Arthur passed the case to customer service who rang me a few days later. There was one moment of light relief when the man asked about my missing computer (as in Apple Mac) but he rang again after a couple of hours to say he had had no luck.

Now, I know that I have no-one to blame but myself but the dishonesty of somebody walking around in my raincoat is quite upsetting.

Posted in Society, Transport | Print | No Comments »

Oldham loop

18/10/2009 by admin.

The rescue plan for the stranded passengers of the Oldham Loop fiasco will swing into action tomorrow but there are fears that it will not be enough to avoid leaving commuters behind on platforms for yet another week of misery.

For local transport bosses, who stepped in last week with a reluctant offer to pay for extra carriages are providing them for just one morning rush hour train and two in the evening.

A meeting of Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority voted on Friday to finance extra carriages after the Department for Transport demanded cash to use any of the five Pacer trains by the two year closure of the Oldham Loop line for conversion to Metrolink.

Extra carriages to strengthen overcrowded services on the Calder Valley line through Rochdale and Mills Hill will be funded for by council tax payers until the end of next June while officials and councillors try to persuade the government to fund them from the £8m a year it is saving in grants from the Oldham loop closure.

But the only morning strengthened train from today is the 07.44 from Todmorden which reaches Rochdale at 08.00 and Mills Hill eight minutes later, arriving at Victoria at 08.22. Homeward-bound commuters will get extra carriages on Leeds trains which leave Victoria at 17.00 and 17.18.

In addition, there will be extra carriages on the 06.57 from Mosley to Victoria and on the 17.27 from Victoria to Huddersfield.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis was among MPs and officials at a reception House of Commons last week which heard GMITA chairman Councillor Keith Whitmore announce the decision to help out.

The authority is to collect more data to support its case for more carriages permanently. Northern Rail says it cannot buy extra trains itself because its franchise is to end in 2013.

Veteran rail campaigner Richard Greenwood said: “Despite the announcements over the past few days, the actual improvements to the Rochdale line at the moment look rather thin.”

Posted in Transport | Print | 1 Comment »

Heathrow’s third runway

12/10/2009 by admin.

Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers has revealed the Tory vision of high speed rail and better regional airports to replace the third runway at Heathrow.

She was speaking to TransportMatters after telling her party conference in Manchester: “There will be no third runway at Heathrow”. She dismissed Lord Adonis’ claims that long haul travellers would switch to Paris, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt if they couldn’t land at Heathrow.

“We are adamant that we need to make Heathrow a much better airport,” she said. “It is hugely important because it is our major link to long haul routes around the world. But we think there’s a better way to do that than a new runway, concreting over an entire village, and 46 per cent more flights.

“We will do it by providing a realistic high speed rail alternative and by starting to use the significant spare capacity at regional airports around the rest of the country.

“If we can find a way to help regional airports some of the traffic from their local population, that is fewer people getting in their cars, trundling down to London and contributing to the overcrowding crisis.”

And she added there would be no problem axing the third runway.

“It is very easy to kill the third runway. People just have to come out and vote Conservative. They are not even anywhere near putting in a planning application. If we win, and I am Secretary of State, I will just go the House of Commons and say it is not going to happen. ‘Take your bulldozers home.’”

For the full story, see TransportMatters magazine, out this week

Posted in Politics, Transport | Print | 1 Comment »

The Times

08/10/2009 by admin.

“Dear Alan,

Further to your application for the post of Education Editor/Transport Correspondent, I am writing to inform you that unfortunatly (sic) your application was unsuccessful and this position has now been filled.

Thank you for your interest.

Yours sincerely,”

At least, they had the decency to reply but I think we should have one rejection for the Education Correspondent and one for the Transport Correspondent. I only applied for one!

Posted in Journalism, Transport, Uncategorized | Print | 1 Comment »

Written during David Cameron’s speech to the Conservative Conference

08/10/2009 by admin.

Whatever his message, I really do think Bono has ideas above his station…and I still think video presentations just make you think the speaker hasn’t turned up.

At least we haven’t had his missus….and I think he’s speaking without an autocue.

A long climb ahead “but the view from the summit will be worth it” – they said he would say that kind of thing. But Afghanistan is a lot further up his agenda than it was Gordon Brown’s. And so is the first standing ovation.

“We could have come to Manchester and played it safe…” Well they have played it pretty safe, apart from the pensions bombshell.

Interesting reverse on the Sarah Brown thing, he’s paying tribute to his wife – but he’ll take some flak for mentioning the death of his son, however briefly.

“Not everything Labour did was wrong”…but it’s a backhanded compliment ending with a swipe at the Attorney General.

Not sure he should have offered options 1 and 2 on dealing with the national debt. There are some who will think them more attractive than paying it off.

“Don’t you dare lecture us about poverty. You have failed and it falls to us, the modern Conservative Party, to fight for the poorest who you have let down”. Pretty audacious stuff.

Better than Brown? Hard to call.

Posted in Politics | Print | 1 Comment »

Theresa Villiers

07/10/2009 by admin.

The highlight of my Tory conference – a 1 to 1 with shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers – turned into a bit of a damp squib.

I was promised half an hour and got 20 minutes as she arrived late and then remembered she was in a hurry when I started to ask about buses.

Still, beggars can’t be choosers…and I’ll just have to analyse her responses even more carefully to get enough out my considerable efforts.

Posted in Politics, Transport, Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

O2 Winners

02/10/2009 by admin.

O2 MEDIA AWARD WINNERS CROWNED

The region’s press gather for glittering event at the Manchester Urbis

Reference 080-2009

1st October, 2009

The region’s most talented writers, broadcasters and photographers were honoured at the inaugural O2 Media Awards in Greater Manchester and Lancashire tonight (Thursday, October 1, 2009).

The winning line-up featured a mixture of daily and weekly newspapers including The Manchester Evening News, which scooped the award for Newspaper of the Year. Judges said the paper was “as good as any regional newspaper you might find anywhere in the country and was putting out quality editions day after day.”

The Gazette in Blackpool won the award for O2 Editorial Team of the Year for “punching well above its weight” and Gazette reporter William Watt was also crowned Digital Journalist of the Year.

The Lancashire Evening Telegraph’s young reporter Catherine Pye was identified as one of the region’s rising stars and picked up the O2 Young Journalist of the Year award.

Amongst the weekly newspapers, the Salford Advertiser’s Lucy McGuire was named Feature Writer of the Year and the Rochdale Observer’s Tim Bradley was presented with the award for Photographer of the Year. Tim was described by judges as an ‘editor’s dream’ and ‘a brilliant all-rounder with that unique ability to bring emotion into his images.”

The awards evening was held at the Urbis exhibition centre in Manchester. It is the latest in a series of media awards contests launched by O2 across the North to honour local and regional press.

In Broadcast, BBC North West Tonight’s Dave Guest scooped Broadcast Journalist of the Year for the moving series of interviews he carried out with Jessica Knight, the school girl stabbed to within millimeters of her life while walking through a park in Lancashire.

Their rival Granada Reports did not go home empty handed and picked up two awards for Entertainment Journalist of the Year and Sports Reporter of the Year. Winner of the entertainment award, Caroline Hacking, was described as ‘a rare talent’ while sports reporter Mike Hall was praised for his expert coverage of boxer Ricky Hatton’s world championship bid.

The judging panel included Paul Newman, Head of Communications at Media City; Alastair Machray, editor of the Liverpool Echo; Steve Hothersall, news and sports editor at Radio City and Nicola Priest, editor of Warrington Guardian which won Newspaper of the Year at the Cheshire and Merseyside O2 Media Awards for the second year running.

O2 employs more than 1200 people at its award-winning Customer Service Centre in Bury, which this month celebrated ten years of business at the Dumers Lane site.

Glenn Manoff, O2’s Director of Communications and Reputation, said the awards recognised outstanding media coverage of issues affecting communities across Manchester and Lancashire.

“We’re delighted to be able to celebrate the huge service local and regional journalists provide in our towns and cities,” he said. “This is a region rich with quality journalism which has been reflected in the high level of entries we have received from writers, broadcasters and photographers working in the area.”

O2 Media Awards Winners and Finalists

Digital Journalist of the Year

Winner: William Watt – The Gazette Blackpool

Runners up:

Paul Cockerton – Lancashire Telegraph

Martin Hamer – Lancashire Evening Post

Editorial Team of the Year

Winner: The Gazette Blackpool

Runners up:

BBC North West

All Together Now

Young Journalist of the Year – Weeklies

Winner: Natalie Banks - Chorley and Leyland Guardian

Runners up:

Robert Dawson – Stockport Express

John Siddle – Ormskirk Advertiser

Alice McKeegan – Rochdale Observer

Young Journalist of the Year - Dailies

Winner: Catherine Pye – Lancashire Evening Telegraph

Runners up:

Nafeesa Shan – Lancashire Evening Telegraph

Joe Robinson – The Gazette Blackpool

Radio Broadcaster of the Year

Winner: Lauren Moss – Wish FM

Runners up:

Paul Lockitt – Key 103

Rachel Murray – Tower FM

Reporter of the Year

Winner: Michelle Livesey - Key 103

Runners up:

Abbie Jones – BBC North West Tonight

Stef Hall – Lancashire Evening Post

TV Broadcast Journalist of the Year

Winner: Dave Guest – BBC North West Tonight

Runners up:

Rob Smith – Granada Reports

Andy Gill – BBC North West Tonight

Newspaper of the Year

Winner: Manchester Evening News

Runners up:

The Gazette, Blackpool

Crains Manchester Business

Bolton News

Sports Reporter of the Year

Winner: Mike Hall - Granada Reports

Runners up:

Chris Hall - Granada Reports

Andy Cryer – Lancashire Telegraph

Photographer of the Year

Winner: Tim Bradley – Rochdale Observer

Runners up:

Ian Robinson – Lancashire Evening Post

Helen Brown – Lancashire Telegraph

Entertainment Journalist of the Year

Winner: Caroline Hacking – Granada Reports

Runners up:

Jemma Humphreys – Lancashire Telegraph

Caroline Dutton – Lancashire Telegraph

Business Journalist of the Year

Winner: Ben Rooth – Manchester Evening News

Runners up:

Chris Maguire – Chorley Guardian

Ben Briggs – Lancashire Telegraph

Feature Writer of the Year

Winner: Lucy McGuire – Salford Advertiser

Runners up:

Lesley Richards – Leigh Journal

Alan Salter – Transport Matters

Chris Visser – Lancashire Evening Post

Scoop of the Year

Winner: Paul Keaveny - Bolton News

Runners up:

Vanessa Cornall - Accrington Observer

Ken Bennett - Oldham Chronicle

ENDS

O2 contacts

Ann McCracken Communications Manager, North O2 ann.mccracken@O2.com m 07850 708009

All O2 news release can be accessed at our website: http://mediacentre.o2.co.uk/

About O2

• Telefónica O2 UK Limited is a leading communications company for consumers and businesses in the UK, with 20.7 million mobile customers and 457,000 fixed broadband customers as at 30 June 2009.
  

• Telefónica O2 UK Limited is part of Telefónica Europe plc which is a business division of Telefónica S.A. and which owns O2 in the UK, Ireland, Slovakia, Germany and the Czech Republic, and has 46 million customers.
  

• In 2006 Telefónica Europe acquired Be*, the UK fixed broadband provider, and in October 2007 O2 launched its broadband service using the Be* network.
  

• O2 is the naming rights partner of The O2, the world-class entertainment venue.
  
• O2 was ranked highest in customer satisfaction for both UK mobile and fixed broadband customers according to the J.D. Power and Associates UK Mobile and Fixed Broadband Studies 2009..
  
• In February 2009 O2 became the first UK mobile operator to be officially certified with the Carbon Trust Standard in recognition of O2’s commitment to reduce its carbon footprint and the 15% reduction in energy consumption achieved over the past three years.
  
• O2 was launched on 1 May 2002 and now has more customers than any other UK mobile network.
  
• O2’s UK mobile network covers 99% of the UK’s population. O2’s 3G network covers over 80% of the UK population and is fully HSDPA-enabled, providing speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps for customers with an HSDPA-enabled device.
  
• Telefónica Europe also owns 50% of the Tesco Mobile and Tchibo Mobilfunk joint venture businesses in the UK and Germany.
  
• For further press information about O2 go to http://mediacentre.o2.co.uk
  

 

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