Schools

It's fair to say many Croydon secondary school heads aren't very fond of the Advertiser at the moment.

In fact, one person in the know said the general feeling at their recent conference in Brighton was that they wanted to lynch me and the Advertiser reporting team.

The flippant answer would be that if pupils spent more time studying and less time happy-slapping and stabbing each other around the clock then we wouldn't be writing about them in the first place.

The more considered response would be that yes, I do appreciate their concerns over recent coverage - and their fears that their school could be next to receive negative publicity.

But stories don't just fall into our laps by chance.

The recent articles have all been brought to our attention by people closely connected to the schools at all kinds of levels, and it would be a slippery slope if we held back on stories to avoid upsetting people.

Which brings me onto today's splash about the four schools facing closure in the council's long-awaited education review.

At this point the proposals are just that - suggestions put forward for consultation.

But I've been through quite a few 'consultations' myself, and rarely does the outcome differ from the initial suggestion, so I'm pretty confident the schools in question will be shut down.

I should point out the news was supposed to be released in a press briefing next week, in order for parents and staff to receive official notification first, and the review goes much further than just the four potential closures. So far as I can tell, the council is doing all it can to manage a period of great change in the best manner.

So is it the right thing to do? Well, given the stories I've mentioned above, it would be hypocritical for the Advertiser not to give a guarded welcome to the plans.

The education system in Croydon is obviously in need of radical surgery, and there is no point tinkering around the edges in a situation like this.

It will be fasincating to see how it develops, and is likely to be the current administration's definining moment.

Tomorrow's paper

Tomorrow's front page will, as I indicated yesterday, probably cause a bit of a stir.

It's something that I know some people were hoping to announce on their own terms, but I'm afraid that wasn't to be.

I won't shoot myself in the foot by going into further details now, but will expand on the topic tomorrow.

Apologies for the slow start to the week - no excuse apart from the usual Bank Holiday deadline issues.

We were struggling to think what to put on the front page when we had our news meeting earlier today.

(I'm not sure it's a good thing for Croydon that neither a shooting in Norbury nor a schoolgirl stabbing in Thornton Heath are considered natural front page stories any more, but that's another matter.)

Anyway, by the time I emerged from a lengthy meeting at 5pm things had changed completely and we had a story in the bag which is a guaranteed splash and will cause a major stir to boot. I do like it when that happens.

Slap row

We don't often take any particular stance on stories, prefering to report the facts and let people make up their own minds.

But I'm not ashamed to admit we abandoned that policy in the story about teacher Issabelle DuBois, suspended after losing her patience with a kid dubbed the worst pupil in her school (read the story here .

Is it any wonder our schools have discipline problems when any attempt to control unruly pupils can wreck your career?

Questions, questions ...

1) Which high-ranking spin doctor spent two years wondering why the display on their mobile phone was so poor, before somebody pointed out today they were supposed to remove the protective sticker from the screen?

2) Which Advertiser staffer was very unimpressed at being stopped on his way to work and quizzed on suspicion of being a terrorist yesterday? He's recovering from the trauma by flying off to the US on holiday tonight and isn't looking forward to passport control very much.

3) Which of our newspaper offices was at the centre of a drama this afternoon after an enraged reader kicked in the front door and threatened staff with a skateboard? (Disputed paternity row sparked by publication of a baby photo on the Celebrations page apparently - very messy, but hardly the paper's fault).

4) What am I going to put on the front page of our New Addington edition this week? Common sense says go with the best hard news story, so why am I finding it so hard to avoid the temptation to go with the one with the funniest headline?

5) Why oh why oh why do people still persist in writing comments like: "I have no interest in this story' at the end of stories, as per my moan on last week's blog entry?

My favourite one today, at the bottom of the story about the woman selling her fancy dress shop, complains: "What is funny about a dressing up shop? What is funny is that the Advertiser thinks that anyone cares that this old girl can't sell her business (hint - price maybe too high). Why is the Advertiser giving this woman free advertising space with a colour photo included? Vested interest anyone?...
Not Impressed, Croydon

Good lord. It's a short news item, if you don't like it don't read it. We're not like the BBC you know - we bring you this local news service for free out of the kindness of our hearts.

And if anybody can describe the potential vested interest between the Advertiser and the sale of a fancy dress shop I'd be interested to read it!

Answers to question one on a postcard to Taberner House. Others to the usual address.

Patricia

Ah, training courses. You haven't lived until you've witnessed Crawley News content editor Glenn Ebrey role-playing an IT worker called Patricia whilst being mock-appraised by Advertiser sports editor Hassan Hadi.

Sadly I need to return to the real world now, and it's either going to be a really good or really bad news week in Croydon.

By which I mean there are a lot of stories floating around, but too many of them are doing just that - floating.

Until we've got them fully pinned down with pictures and interviews there's always the danger they are going to fall through, leaving you with a string of blank pages to fill. Fingers crossed.

Elsewhere, and I notice Croydon Council leader Mike Fisher is writing about the press in his sort-of blog here.

I say 'sort-of' blog as there's no facility to leave comments, and until you've had the joyful experience of opening up your inbox on a daily basis to find a string of abusive emails you're not really blogging at all. Or maybe that's just me.

The only point I want to respond to from Mike's entry is his surprise that I am happy to describe my job as reporting the news in the manner that will sell the most copies.

I've never had any qualms about saying that, and I'm pretty confident every other newspaper across the country does exactly the same thing.

(With the possible exception of The Independent, which reports in the news in a manner designed to appeal to media degree students and accordingly sells about 17 copies a day.)

Oh, I lied - one more point.

We - and other local papers - are also mildly chastised for not covering the local schools awards, to which I can only say that if you want us to come along it's important to remember to invite us as this was the first I - or the newsdesk - had heard of it.

School reports

No apologies for returning to the subject of readers' online comments - the ability to gather instant feedback on articles has had a huge impact on all media organisations.

As I've said before, we're happy for the Advertiser to be part of the debate, and so we do not remove comments criticising us - it would be pretty hypocritical if we did.

That doesn't mean, however, that I'm happy to allow accusations to go unchecked, and one of the responses to the latest Selsdon High story (Head told: Quit or be sacked) is a case in point.

You can read Andrea Bovell's submission here.

It's clearly a subject she feels strongly about, but to my mind her criticisms are well wide of the mark.

One of the main thrusts of her argument is that we have not identified the sources who provided us with some of the information.

I'm afraid that is one of the fundamentals of journalism - anyone who provides us with information on the understanding they will not be identified will always have their anonymity protected.

Suffice to say, this isn't the kind of article we would run without having a number of very reliable witnesses verifying each and every point.

I'm well aware the Advertiser's coverage of schools in recent months has put a number of noses out of joint, and in a way it becomes self-perpetuating.

Parents, staff and pupils feel more inclined to come foward with stories of their own when they see that we are prepared to tackle some controversial subjects, and the day we start turning these stories away we really will be deserving of criticism.

A few more bits and pieces beore I embark on a traumatic two-day training course:

The Advertiser has been shortlisted in the newspaper of the year category in the annual Press Gazette awards

I doubt any reader gives two hoots about whether or not their local paper wins any industry awards, but I'd still rather be nominated than not. The shortlist is here and the smart money is on the Bath Chronicle to win - it recently made the brave move to convert from a daily title to a weekly one, and created a very impressive product in doing so.

As the web firmly establishes itself as the place to get breaking news, I can see more daily titles following Bath's example. Anyhow, as long as the South London Press doesn't pick up a gong I'll be happy.

Late

There's no point in pretending everything always runs smoothly, and the production of this week's Advertiser was a case in point.

A combination of factors, including other titles in the series running behind schedule, technical glitches and my bad mood at Palace's semi-final exit all conspired to make it a thoroughly unpleasant experience.

I should be grateful it came out at all as we were in severe danger of missing our print slot at one point, but onwards and upwards...

Mistakes

Hmm. It's one thing industry website holdthefrontpage.co.uk lifting bits of this blog and then rewriting them in a rather smutty manner, but it's another thing entirely to get the name of the paper wrong. More here , unless they've corrected it by now.

Talking of mistakes, reporter Brian Haran insists I got myself in a muddle last week when I claimed he shares a birthday with Billy Joel.

Unless he takes his case to the Press Complaints Commission, he won't be getting an apology out of me, and further investigations reveal he was also born in the same year as Confessions of a Windowcleaner star Robin Askwith and Suzi Quatro.

Large parts of this week's paper are on hold until we know the outcome of tonight's Bristol City v Palace play-off.

If Palace turn the deficit around we'll obviously be going to town on their Wembley date, and if they don't...well, we won't. Here's hoping.

Annoying

Things that have annoyed me so far this week, part one.

1) People who add comments to stories saying 'This article is of no interest to anyone. Shame on you, Croydon Advertiser, for running it.'

These are usually - in fact make that always - the stories which have had the most hits and the most responses.

If you don't like it, don't read it - and certainly don't destroy your own argument about how uninteresting it is by commenting on it.

See 'Couple beg council to revitalise their sex life' here for the latest example - ok, it won't win us the Pulitzer Prize, but at least it's entertained a few people.

2) NCP, who are fast becoming my least-favourite car park operators. (A small field, admittedly).

Not content with fleecing me every time I use a car park in Croydon they are now ripping me off in Crawley too.

A FIVE MINUTE stop outside our office in the town centre earlier cost me a ludicrous £2.50. I won't be making that mistake again.

3) News editors who send me pictures under the pretence of wanting to know if they are suitable for publication, but which I know they are only really doing to try to make me feel ill. If we printed some of the more graphic images floating around our photographic system, we'd be on sale on the top shelf.

4) An old favourite - press officers still sending me rubbish.

Today's contributions: "How to wear skyscraper heels" (thank you Zoe from ccdpr). "Cheer up your home with a cherry French bridge" (I have NO idea what that is about, and I am refusing to find out). 'MP releases charity record' (That would be John Hemming, MP for, um, Birmingham Yardley.)"Soggy cereal health scare' (no comment). And so on and on.

Never mind. The sun is shining, the news list is shaping up well and I'm still confident Palace are going to turn over Bristol City tomorrow night.

Janet Packer

Isn't the web great?

OK, it might be playing havoc with the newspaper industry's circulation figures, and giving a platform to all kinds of fruitcakes, but you can't beat the immediacy.

Within five minutes of Ian Austen receiving a tip-off that Selsdon High head Janet Packer was leaving her post, we had the story confirmed, written and online.

Obviously I'd have preferred it if it had happened 24 hours earlier so it went in the paper as well, but you can't have it all.

Differences

You might notice something different about the Advertiser today, and I'm not talking about the splash involving something other than knife crime.

No, I'm talking about the shape - it's an inch or so longer and wider than it used to be, thanks to our move to a new printer this week.

It may seem a minor cosmetic change, but it does actually make quite a lot of difference to the legibility and layout.

Another thing we've been doing differently for the past couple of weeks is the letters page.

It's no secret that the number of people emailing or writing to newspapers has dropped and the number of people leaving comments on their websites instead has soared.

Rather than fill the letters page with political point-scoring or charity appeals, we've started to take the best of the web comments and run those in-paper instead.

Believe you me, you don't want to wade through all the contributions we receive on thisiscroydontoday, but there are some intelligent posts buried amongst the insults and in-fighting and it makes sense to highlight those.

Talking of which, we've had some fun and games with the web comments this week.

Although it's not particuarly good business practice to criticise your readers, nobody pays to look at our website so I don't feel the same obligation to be polite -and we've got some right oddballs contributing at the moment.

I can't believe that, in this day and age, people still think you can bash out comments anonymously.

People's IP addresses allow us to see exactly which computer they are using to post from, and this week we had one chap conducting a conversation with himself using three different names. Yes, I mean you 'Angry, Purley.'

Finally for now, Caterham reporter Brian Haran is buying everyone drinks tonight to celebrate his 50th birthday (readers included.)

In an attempt to sugarcoat this unwelcome milestone, he's pointed out that he shares his birthday with Modfather Paul Weller. However, a quick Google check turns out he actually shares it with soft rocker Billy Joel. An easy mistake to make.

Video nasty

The other week I was at a meeting attended by various retailers and business people, and one of the main themes was how to improve the image Croydon projects to the rest of the country.

Some of our biggest employers - and I'm mentioning no names here - admitted they feel embarrassed when important clients visit from central London and have to walk through the town to get to their offices.

A lot of people are putting a great deal of time and effort into thinking of ways to put some more personality into the town centre, and to get rid of the slightly menacing air it can have sometimes.

But having seen the video that sparked this week's front page lead it's clear they've got a massive task on their hands.

We'll have the story - and hopefully the video - up online later, but for those of you who haven't seen it, it features CCTV footage shot by a firm of solicitors from their offices in Croydon High Street.

Over the course of a couple of weeks it captured some shocking scenes of violence and wanton vandalism.

Without wanting to lower the tone, it's going to be hard for Croydon to improve its image when some people think it's perfectly acceptable to drop their trousers and go to the toilet in the middle of the street in broad daylight.

And don't get me started on the random bottlings, vomiting and window-smashing.

Max Menon from Allders, who talks a lot of sense, points out in the article that every town centre has problems, and he's right.

But given that out-of-town retail parks like Bluewater and Lakeside present are the real competition for Croydon shoppers, it's clear something needs to be done to keep people visiting the town.

More outdoor events in North End, such as continental markets, may help, and taking a zero-tolerance approach to the alcohol-free drinking zones certainly will, but it's going to be a long fight.

Front page

It will be hard hat time tomorrow, as the Advertiser front page is precisely the kind of thing that sends some people into a rage.

It's unfortunate, but as I've said many times before it's not our job to present a nicely-polished version of Croydon - we have to face the facts, no matter how unsavoury they might be sometimes.

Having said that, there is also a double-page spread featuring reporter Neil Millard, some cash machines and a load of £10 notes that shows the vast majority of people in Croydon are decent types.

We're also going big on Crystal Palace ahead of Sunday's do-or-die Burnley clash - the way they've turned their season around under Neil Warnock has been pretty remarkable, and a day out at Wembley would be a fantastic way to round it off.

In other news, yesterday's post about expenses claims led to various reporters trying to cover their own backs by dropping their colleagues in it instead.

It was an even bigger display of backstabbing than an Apprentice boardroom bust-up, and one reporter in particular has been named and shamed for trying to get a claim for a Kinder Egg past the accounts department.