THE FOURTH ESTATE

We are able to talk about regional newspapers because they are numerous and were featured in the inquiry chaired by Lord Justice Leveson about the ethics and practises of the media.One got the impression that they are under pressure because there has been a fall in small ads which was previously the principal source of income and the way round this has been to combine  into groups where many titles are published and edited from a central hub.-of which -in Essex -there are a couple.

Considering the evidence they gave to the inquiry one might expect that individual papers would continue to display conservative attitudes which means that they would be reluctant to offer items which might upset the authorities or the advertisers.Under financial pressure this trend might perhaps continue ?

*******************************************************************************

I came to examine the files of one group and put in a search for "Dale Farm" which may have yielded a total of 140 pages each containing  10 items.One identifies the stories by the headlines quoted..The first observation I made was that the majority of them were marked as having no comment.This seemed to me to indicate that the publishers did not have an open relationship with the readers and this might be thought of as a subtle form of censorship.To offset this impression some papers posted comments in a column alongside the articles which you could scroll down and it was there during the build up to the BIG EVICTION that one came across vituperation and hate mail.Eventually many readers,after trying to argue for reasonableness to prevail,gave up and started to report the troublemakers to the police,who I understand, responded in a responsible manner. 

***********************************************************

JANUARY 2012

THE FIRST CASE TO COME TO THE MAGISTRATE'S COURT AT SOUTHEND ON SEA CONCERNED A YOUNG LADY WHO WAS ALLEGED TO HAVE COVERED HER FACE AT THE TME OF HER.ARREST.THE CASE COLLAPSED AND SHE WAS TOLD THERE WAS NO CASE TO ANSWER WHEN SHE PRODUCED TWO VIDEOS OF HERSELF AT THE SCENE.The BBC gave a little more information,saying she had supporters in the gallery who raised a cheer and local gossip was that the official witnesses gave contradictory accounts of what had happened .

 ALL THIS WAS A DISASTEROUS START FOR THE POLICE CAMPAIGN.THE LOCAL"ECHO" GAVE OUT THE BARE BONES OF THE STORY,SAYING THAT THE CASE HAD BEEN DISMISSED.........HOWEVER THEY PROMISED THAT THE FULL STORY WOULD BE PUBLISHED ON THE FOLLOWING DAY. THE FULL REPORT NEVER APPEARED AND EVEN THE WHOLE OF THE DAY'S ARCHIVE COULD NOT BE TRACED.

COULD THIS BE BECAUSE SOMEONE WANTED TO PREVENT THE POLICE FROM BEING  EMBARRASSED 

*****************************************************************

OCTOBER 2012

A PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE VISITED THE FORMER HOME OF THE TRAVELLERS AND REPORTED THAT LIVING CONDITIONS ON THE SDE OF THE ROAD WERE ABOMINABLE-MOREOVER LORD AVEMORE (WHO HAD OFFERED TO FIND LAND WITH WHICH TO HOUSE THE TRAVELLERS PRIOR TO THE EVICTION) SAID THAT THE EVICTION ITSELF WAS A COLOSSAL WASTE OF TAXPAYER'S MONEY.

THIS SENSATIONAL NEWS WAS TOO HOT FOR THE EDITORS TO HANDLE BUT THEY COULD NOT AVOID IT ALTOGETHER - - -SO THEY BURIED IT IN THE MIDDLE OF ANOTHER STORY,DENYING IT OF HEADLINE STATUS,AND THE OTHER STORY WAS PUT OUT AS NEWS BUT WAS BY THEN OLD HAT INDEED.......THAT THE COUNCIL WERE PLANNING A SECOND EVICTION.

"COUNCIL POISED FOR NEW EVICTION AT DALE FARM" RAN THE BANNER.

On this occasion a search based on the headline might not have yielded the full story.

***********************************************************************

Another twist came when I mentioned to friends that a certain item had been published on a certain date but they were unable to locate it,Quite by chance I came across the article in a remote part of the archives and all the evidence was that it had been printed in 2012 but it was filed away in January 2007.

Was this a mistake or are things moved so as not to catch the attention of the casual reader ?

***********************************************************************

I must here mention my credentials - I only have experience of the time before computerization when printing wa done by lynotype and everything was measured by column inches,I had work experience when I was a student in a weekly religious newspaper.There the editorial staff numbered 1.+typist+student.

During the week in a piecemeal fashion copy was transferred to the printers who seemed to have a similar arrangement with the advertising dept.Towards the deadline time the Editor would go to the printers and negotiate the layout....perhaps they would find themselves a bit short -with space to fill ?,,,,the message would come back to me can you produce this week's Horoscope...or can you do a short editorial in the manner of the Soar away Sun about the hot weather ? NO PROBLEM = SCORCHIO !

In such a manner is history recorded.