Channel Erm?

Channel Erm?
Originally uploaded by Teasy

Manchester's Channel M TV has been effectively axed following its exclusion from the Guardian's deal which sold the Manchester Evening News to Trinity Mirror.

Lax

Things have been a bit lax around here lately. There was a time we would have seen several updates a year here. Alas, that is no longer the case.
In recent months my days have been spent working for a Government body. It leaves little time for musings on the state of the nation, the price of crisps, etc., and so on.
Hopefully that explains the louche, slouching posture adopted here in recent months. Be under no illusions, that will continue. I'm gainfully employed for a few months yet so you'll just have to make your own entertainment.
That said, I'm still finding time to enjoy the sort of thing reproduced above.

Margin for error?

If you've ever wondered why your local newspaper needs to trim its staff numbers so regularly there's an article in the latest NUJ magazine (edition not yet online at time of writing) which may fill in some of the blanks. It reports on the 2008 profit margins of some of the country's biggest newspaper groups.

According to The Journalist Trinity Mirror posted a margin of 16.66%, Johnston Press a figure of 24.14% and Gannett UK 30.25%.

The same article reports that Tesco, which recently posted record profits, had an operating profit margin of just 5.5%.

Such media margins are nothing new, but they are thrown into stark relief by today's economic woes.

Some doomsayers believe the massive jobs cull now sweeping through Britain's regionals spells their end. Whether it does or not remains to be seen. But I do find myself wondering whether an industry content to cream off such huge portions and then cry poverty as it lays off workers deserves to survive.

The Photo Police

There was a piece here a little while ago about steps to prevent photographers from taking pictures of police officers. This one at chickyog.net shows an enthusiastic police medic and might just fall foul of those moves.

clipped from www.chickyog.net Police medic in job creation scheme

Abe

As the G20 gather in London and Obama jets in, get a load of this. Manchester's Abraham Lincoln memorial has today been made-over. Now sporting 'True Yank' knuckle-dusters, a baseball cap and plenty of hip-hop bling, Abe looks quite the dude.

Sorry for the low-fi image. There's a better one here. The Manchester Evening News doesn't seem to know quite what its all about but Urbis, the city's exhibition centre, does.

Obama

As the week in which Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States draws to a close, it seems that everything there is yet to say about him has already been said - somewhere or other.
The scale of his amazing impact is well-reflected in the UK's regional media, where put-upon newsdesks are vox-popping their own readers/viewers/listeners to discover the local view on the first African-American President.
Of course, such an approach is a quick and readable filler piece, but does it have any real relevance to those forking out 40p to the newsagent? I'm not suggesting that the Wirral Globe starts asking what an Obama White House will mean for Birkenhead, but would something midway between the two extremes be too much to ask?

We're all doomed!

It's a time of gloom and doom in local newspapers ... 'twas ever thus.
These observations on how social changes may be responsible for hitting local papers where they hurt are nothing new, and there may be truth in the premise that many people now have little interest in the community in which they live.
But I don't think it's the whole story. After all, populations have always shifted, eventually they settle and an individual's interest in local issues grows. Perhaps more important is how local newspapers in general have failed to nurture that potential.
Wherever you look newsroom staffing levels have shrunk and duties have swollen. Your average overworked, underpaid journalist has striven to produce the quality stories his or her predecessors did, but they can only do so much. Time out of the office to dig around for stories became a luxury long ago.
So, over the past 15 years (at least) there has been an inevitable drop in quality and the punters aren't daft. Even those who do part with their 30-odd pence have probably noted today's edition contains nothing from today at all, since most papers are now completed the previous evening to reduce costs. Could these also be reasons why news is being sought from other sources?
Whatever the truth, it's a real pity. If the decline is irreversible the only winners are those whom local papers have traditionally harried.