More BNP

A couple of weeks ago I attracted the ire of the British National Party after revealing we'd turned down their adverts.

I said at the time it was a difficult decision - it could be argued that all political parties are entitled to the oxygen of publicity, no matter how offensive you find their views.

But we came down on the side of rejecting their material on the grounds I didn't think it was right to take their money.

It prompted a flurry of letters from BNP sympathisers that is only now starting to die down.

Another paper in the capital, the Hampstead and Highgate Express, took the opposite decision and decided to run the adverts, and it's caused a bit of a stink - partly thanks to George Galloway highlighting the issue on Radio 4.

The paper's parent company has now announced all the profits will go to charity - you can read more here

I'm no keener to allay myself with George Galloway than I am with the BNP to be honest, and I think the Ham and High - which is a very well-respected title - took the decision it did for the right reasons, even if I still believe it was the wrong outcome.

There are some situations where whatever you decide to do will attract criticism, and this was one of them.

In other news, the Advertiser (as the Palace paper) has just been challenged to a football match against the Brighton Argus, which we are now in the process of setting up (ie trying to sort out some ringers to complement our otherwise slighly lightweigh side.)

Argus reporter Jonathan Stayton is probably unaware I have a long-standing grudge with his paper, and I can't wait to get stuck in.

Ready, steady, cook

I'll interupt my blog embargo to point out that if you turn on your TV right NOW you can see reporters Aline Nassif, Lizzie Smith, Anna Edwards and Chris Johnson in the audience of Ready, Steady, Cook.

Chris in particular is doing a good job of clapping like a big girl, and Aline apparently is about to ask a question about what makes a good meal for both cats and people.

Enjoy.

One of those weeks

Sometimes you have the kind of week where you spend so long dealing with distractions and side-issues that it's easy to forget you're a newspaper editor.

This has been just one of those weeks, hence the dismal lacl of entries on my blog.

My apologies - normal service will be resumed on Monday.

Ken again

One blog entry all week - how slack. My apologies - I've been at a succession of meetings with the venues ranging from our Kensington mothership to the back room of our Dorking office.

As intimated earlier in the week I've been completely out of the loop as far as the Advertiser goes and handed control to the newsdesk, who have done a fine job.

Not such a smooth job, though, from reporter Anna Edwards when she went to interview Ken Livingstone on one of his rare forays south of the river today.

Anna apparently 'got in a bit of a tizzy' when she tried to get a notebook out of her handbag, and accidentally unearthed a plastic bow and arrow instead, and then proceeded to conduct the interview unaware she had a Bob the Builder sticker on her coat.

Shannon

Some stories just keep on giving.

The Shannon Matthews tale is rapidly evolving into one of the most fascinating rolling news stories for years, and tonight's announcement that her mum has been charged with perverting the course of justice and child neglect means there's plenty more to come.

I'm a bit jealous of the journalists in West Yorkshire who have such a great story on their doorstep, but at the same time I'm glad I don't have to wrestle with the problem of editing a weekly paper with a story that changes every day.

Anyhow, you may wonder why I'm writing about that rather than my working week. The simple answer is I'm having the kind of spell at work that would make for an even more boring blog entry than the time - amid a bout of writer's block - I listed the entire contents of my desk drawers.

Suffice to say, I'm wrapped up in the kind of time-consuming legal issues, IT headaches and strategy meetings that leave me precious little time to look at the content of the paper.

In fact, I'm handing full control of this week's Advertiser to content editor Andy Worden so if you don't like it, blame him. (Or take a leaf out of Shirley High pupils' book and have a pop at us online instead!)

Rod

There was much excitement in our Crawley office last night when two reporters insisted they had seen Rod Stewart walking into a bar across the road.

They went down to investigate and dragged him into the office for a photo and interview, but on closer inspection it seems their excitement may have got the better of them.

I guess it says something for their initiative, but it says even more about their eyesight. Here's their exclusive 'Rod' photo.



Other things that have caught my attention this week: Croydon Voluntary Action have produced what sounds like a rather libellous feature in their latest publication accusing the Advertiser of inciting racial hatred.

It follows a story a good few months ago about an illegal immigrant, Mokhta Tabet, who demanded to be flown home because he thought Croydon residents were 'rude and unhelpful.'

As I mentioned last week, this comes at a time when I'm still receiving a steady stream of hate mail from people angy we turned down BNP advertising.

Much as I might disagree with the BNP's policies, I'll also gladly publicise people who attempt to abuse the immigration system - changing our website means I can't link to the original story, but here's the Evening Standard version.

April 1

I've not had the chance to write anything all week, which means I missed out on April Fool's Day on Tuesday.

I'm no fan of April 1 because I'm a bit of a misery, but I let the news team go ahead with the 'Taberner House to be painted pink' tale anyway.

I didn't expect it to fool anybody, so I was surprised to hear that one reporter on another paper not a million miles away had phoned the Croydon Council press office attempting to follow the story up.

Nothing funny about this week's news list though - the stabbing at the Whitgift Centre has quickly become the most read story on this site since it launched, and it's generating an awful lot of interest.

Some of the comments make interesting - if unpleasant - reading in the light of recent debates about Croydon's image, and people would do well to take note.