CROWD TROUBLE HEADS EVENING NEWS REDESIGN
Dog was impressed with the Norwich Evening News redesign, and particularly the fine picture of
Norwich City fans posing with the paper that graced the front of the
first issue.
But before Dog could say “digital trickery”, a little bird (possibly
a canary) whispered in his ear. What’s that? The picture featured a
group of reporters, photographic staff and web people rustled up from
the Archant staff.
And there weren’t quite enough of them. As our colour-coded rings show, some of those faces do look suspiciously similar.
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Scots old firm rivalry nets McGill award
There is no doubt that Craig McGill, writer and sub-editor on the
Scottish Daily Mirror, enjoyed substantial support from friends and
colleagues when he was nominated for the Person of the Year award on
the website allmediascotland.com.
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But few gave him much chance of
actually winning, given that he was pitted against the likes of Charles
McGhee, editor of the Evening Times ; Bruce Waddell, editor of the
Daily Record ; and Gethin Chamberlain, of The Scotsman .
But that
was to ignore the power of the biggest institution in Scotland: the Old
Firm pairing of Celtic and Rangers football clubs. With the winner
decided via an online poll on the site, the votes at first began to
pile in on behalf of McGill, thanks to a posting on a Celtic fans
website, suggesting its visitors support him for no better reason than
Waddell should be thwarted. For various reasons, the Record is a paper
boycotted by many Celtic fans.
However, McGill’s rapid elevation
to the top of the leaderboard then came under threat as Rangers fans
were then urged to vote against him because of his Mirror football
column. “All he seems to do is have a go at Rangers,” a Rangers fan
wrote on a message board. “I say it is time to stand up for truth,
justice and the Rangers way and vote for anybody bar him.”
Despite this backlash, McGill still took the title.
MCN publisher’s new compact look is worth the weight
Ex-colleagues of Motor Cycle News publisher Adam Duckworth are amazed by the change in the man.
He is said to be unrecognisable after losing an astonishing 12 stone
in 16 months. Duckworth, a former editor of the Emap title, used to
weigh in at a pants-splitting 28 stone 7lbs.
Despite his weight,
he used to roar around on motorbikes and once tested what was described
as the world’s lightest mountain bike.
Duckworth, now a svelte 16
stone 7lbs, was named male slimmer of the year and picked up a cheque
for £2,000 from diet guru Rosemary Conley. Just enough to take the MCN
staff out for a slap-up curry and a few pints of lager.
An unimpressed poet named Arnie …
A scornful Arnie Wilson contacts the kennel about an item that was published last week.
“The so-called limerick used in your 7 January issue broke most of the rules of good limerick writing,” rages Wilson.
“OK, it had five lines, BUT: it didn’t scan; it didn’t even rhyme.
“As
the former (and only) official limerick writer for the Daily Star and
the Sunday Express between 1987 and 1990, may I offer the following
example of how the limerick could have been written in order to satisfy
the basic requirements.”
After Shipman’s mass murders most vile Brian urged: “C’mon chaps, let’s all file …
“It’d be such a sin “If we don’t all cash in This monster can make us a pile!”
The insincerest form of flattery
There’s surprise fan of the feature by Mike Soutar in this
week’s Media Week, in which he explains the genesis of IPC’s latest
launch, Pick Me Up .
John Dale, editor of Take A Break , against which Pick Me Up ‘s guns
are squarely raised, tells Dog that he’s chuffed with the compliments
that Soutar pays him in the introduction – in which he admits his
admiration for TAB in an earlier life.
“I used many similar
approaches when I was editing FHM, even if I didn’t exactly publicise
the source of my inspiration,” writes Soutar.
Dale is thrilled.
“I’d
like to return the compliment,” he tells Dog. “I’ve looked at Pick Me
Up and I’ve tried and tried – I really have, but it looks like it’s
just another straight lift from a Bauer magazine, pinching all the bits
that Chat hasn’t managed to copy properly in 10 years of trying.
“Sorry
Mike, I’d like to help you, but everything you know about women remains
on the pages of FHM, not Pick Me Up . Still, I’ll be delighted to quote
your complimentary remarks in our magazine.”
No doubt Soutar will be similarly happy with the plug for his new launch in a forthcoming issue of his newsstand rival.
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