Interesting that rumours about the Mail have re-surfaced recently. The talk is of it going bi-weekly sometime around October. No idea if it's true or not.
Looks as though we will have to rely on Heartbeat for our Local News then..............
Will Ms Yates & her team just go & work for Alaister Rae direct then ??????
I just wonder if HBC has suggested it may be cutting or reviewing its annual spend with the newspaper.
It is quite sad to think that soon (if the rumours steveL talks about are true) what was once a great read will be going from its 6 day a week format.
Does anyone know exactly what the annual HBC spend is with the Sheffield Echo?
I do understand that the HBC public notices may be necessary, however over the last few years I have noticed what could be unnecessary overkill, basically throwing good money away, our money away, especially when the Sheffield Echos readership is dwindling down by thousands each year, like steveL I was told the readership here in the Borough of Hartlepool is as low as 6,000 (discounting sales in Peterlee, the villages, Sunderland, Billingham, Stockton, Middlesbrough and any other place outside of Hartlepool), a lot of HBC advertisements and promotions for the Indoor Market, Brougham Business Center, the Fostering Service, those fun days down by the Art Gallery, Education Facility's, the swimming baths, Summerhill, Farmers Market, Maritime Experience, Halloween, Christmas fun, Seatons fireworks, I am sure there is more that I can list but I will be here all day!
My point being that if HBC targeted a more effective spend in advertising than the presumed 6,000 readers we could have a booming town and the Sheffield Echo would have looked at alternative methods years ago for continuation of the 6 day a week newspaper, Poor Business Planning by the News paper and a very bad choice by placing expensive adverts in that Newspaper by Councillors or Council officers.
With all that said, it will still be a big shame for it go in the format we know it to be today.
MDT recently popped up on a local board where he suggested the group might like to 'work' with the Mail. The response was 100% negative!
MDT is the initials of the person who deletes all the Labour-unfriendly content on the Mail site and is in fact Mark Desmond Thompson and you can find him on facebook. Be aware though he instantly blocks anyone who is les than 100% supportive of him and his employer.
Quote from: mk1 on July 24, 2014, 02: PM
MDT recently popped up on a local board where he suggested the group might like to 'work' with the Mail. The response was 100% negative!
MDT is the initials of the person who deletes all the Labour-unfriendly content on the Mail site and is in fact Mark Desmond Thompson and you can find him on facebook. Be aware though he instantly blocks anyone who is les than 100% supportive of him and his employer.
Does not like the truth then mk1 mind you he has about 6 followers not a great catchment. :o
Quote from: mk1 on July 24, 2014, 02: PM
MDT recently popped up on a local board where he suggested the group might like to 'work' with the Mail. The response was 100% negative!
MDT is the initials of the person who deletes all the Labour-unfriendly content on the Mail site and is in fact Mark Desmond Thompson and you can find him on facebook. Be aware though he instantly blocks anyone who is les than 100% supportive of him and his employer.
I don't understand what he meant by saying this. What group? What kind of work?
Quote from: craig finton on July 24, 2014, 05: PM
I don't understand what he meant by saying this. What group? What kind of work?
It was mentioned in regard to efforts to save Tunstall. Nothing specific really. I suspect MDT was acting on his own initiative and trying to raise the Mail's profile rather than having any real intention of changing the subservient attitude of the paper to every council decision.
Mark made a few posts but soon gave up as the mood was against him and has not been seen there since.
This is therefore the best time for the Hartlepool Post to be posted through everyone's doors, at least five days per week!
Any plans guys?
PostItNote, yes now would be a good time to have an honest non bias Local News Paper prepping itself for a launch as the current one dwindles yet further.
Whilst we are on about it, just bought a copy today (60p, I hate handing that much over as its so thin and full of out of town stuff) to see yet another desperate waste of tax payers cash been handed over by HBC Officers, this time they have pushed the boat out and treat the 6,000 or so people in town that purchase it to a whopping double, yes "Double" page spread over pages 34 and 35!
Please don't think that I am against HBC Officers spending money (our money) in getting messages out and telling the residents of our Town what is on locally, but a more cost effective strategy is what is needed.
Dear HBC's Officers, please take a look at the success of Putting Hartlepool First's local campaign during the last election and the small, in fact tiny budget that they had and what the achieved from it.
Oh my goodness Tommy, totally. Not a better example could be had, the video should win awards for the students and supporters who developed it. And it was made in the town, which is something I think town people in these hard times would appreciate.
It is such a shame that even though there is a fantastic readership of this site, many people do not know about it or access it because they have little or no internet.
Even if the Hartlepool Post was something that circulated in a print out, to doctor's surgeries etc, where people can read it, be exposed to the information they need to make an informed choice about who they have running the council, paid, co-opted (or should that read corrupted) or allowance based?
It's a money thing. The Post is run on a shoestring with the Google ads paying hosting costs (almost) and contributors writing articles for free. We would have to take paid advertising to pay for any publicity campaigns and then everything would start to get complicated. I suppose we could always ask HBC for an enterprise start-up grant - what do you reckon to our chances? ;D ;D
An excellent idea. I am sure you would get some very good references!
Seriously, it is good that there is the internet ads paying towards your honorable efforts. Disgraceful that there is a need to work relentlessly on highlighting bad practice, with an ease to find examples but a difficulty in getting the message out!
I have been speaking to an ex employee of the Hartlepool Mail (with no real axe to grind) and this person mentioned the October date as a time when the newspaper is likely to become a twice weekly bumper addition, with a purchase price hike too. The trusted informant went on to say the Hartlepool Mail will contain more photographs and will focus on the towns community groups, however went on to say that the relationship between itself and a select few HBC Officers (those that hold the purse strings) will continue to flourish albeit from 6 additions a week to two.
The same person said that HBC's Public Relations Office is fully aware of this or at least one person in that office is.
There is an obvious opportunity here for any local entrepreneur, any takers? (no duff jokes about "takers" please! or have I just opened the back doors with my post).
I can imagine the Northern Echo will be ready to rule the world if no one takes up on this opportunity to deliver real news.
The circulation figures have been published today for the local rags and The Fail is down to 8,820 - 16.2% down on the same time last year. The Sunderland Echo isn't doing great as well, with a considerable drop.
They didn't replace a reporter who left last month and some of the spelling mistakes lately have been dreadful (haedlandbeing one). As pointed out on another thread, the moderation of online comments seems to have disappeared. I expect the workload on the small team is getting too much.
I can hear the axe swinging from here.
Do you have a link to where the figures are?
Quote from: PostItNote on August 06, 2014, 08: PM
I can imagine the Northern Echo will be ready to rule the world if no one takes up on this opportunity to deliver real news.
I don't mind the Echo - usually a decent read.
It's a pity we didn't have a graph of the falling circulation figures over the last few years. To me it looks like the fight to keep the circulation up was given up years ago and now it's a case of finding income from somewhere- anywhere.
Isn't that the cynical thinking behind the 'bonnie babies' racket which pressurises mothers to buy the full colour photograph of their little angel? I see that the idea has now been extended to include older children hence widening the market. We've gone from Bonnie Babies to Tiny Tots.
It's only a matter of time before the Mail photographer (do they still have one?) is standing outside the magistrates court offering high resolution reproductions to offenders for a price.
Quote from: for fawkes sake on August 28, 2014, 07: PM
It's only a matter of time before the Mail photographer (do they still have one?) is standing outside the magistrates court offering high resolution reproductions to offenders for a price.
They do have two photographers, one of which has been promoted to head up the photography for the regions papers.
They are relying more on readers contributions. Notice how they don't pay a freelance contribution for use of photographs, but state 'supplied by Mail reader Fred Smith'. More cost cutting.
Quote from: steveL on August 28, 2014, 05: PM
Do you have a link to where the figures are?
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/uk-dailies-loses-sales-135-cent-year-year-price-rises-make-newsquest-titles-biggest-fallers
(Quite a way down the page)
This is the official document of the decline of the Hartlepool Mail
http://abc.org.uk/Certificates/19227890.pdf
Doing some simple calculations as a pretty fair guesstimate and taking away from the current average circulation 8,820 those papers that are sold outside the Borough of Hartlepool, I think its fair to suggest a Hartlepool readership of less than 5,000.
Its of my thinking really that the only reason its not going in total (rumors say a twice weekly circulation from October) and shutting shop is the cash it sucks from Hartlepool Council, the public purse is the need to publish public notices.
I know of another local media that should really be rubbing its hands and welcoming these figures if they have their buttons about them and should be planning for the Mail throwing in the daily towel.
All in all when it goes to a twice weekly (based upon rumors and common sense) it will be a downward spiral and I mean this when I say "such a shame this is happening to our towns long standing traditional media".
Quote from: Tommy on August 28, 2014, 08: PM
Its of my thinking really that the only reason its not going in total (rumors say a twice weekly circulation from October) and shutting shop is the cash it sucks from Hartlepool Council, the public purse is the need to publish public notices.
I know of another local media that should really be rubbing its hands and welcoming these figures if they have their buttons about them and should be planning for the Mail throwing in the daily towel.
All in all when it goes to a twice weekly (based upon rumors and common sense) it will be a downward spiral and I mean this when I say "such a shame this is happening to our towns long standing traditional media".
I see where you are going with this and it would not surprise me to hear that the council will announce 'Heartbeat' as a weekly publication and put their advertising fully into this and editorialise it fully with Labour propoganda. I can see it now 'Chris column' and 'Ste says' but hope they draw the line at having Mad Marg as the page 3.
The figures were 11,473 at the end of 2012 .
http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2013/news/abc-figures-how-all-the-regional-dailies-performed/
That is losing 150 readers a month.
Quote from: Ted Bass on August 28, 2014, 08: PM
I can see it now 'Chris column' and 'Ste says' but hope they draw the line at having Mad Marg as the page 3.
Mad Dog will be the Sports Reporter-covering all the Table Tennis!
I'm sure Allan Barclay (who was parachuted into Owton Manor faster than Action Man) could be the wine reviewer.
They should hand the editorial over to the HP guys.
A local paper is vital. Do remember a sizeable part of the electorate do not use the internet and traditionally rely on their local' paper for news. Any local politician with half a brain will realise this and act accordingly.... and be on good terms with their 'local' paper to get their message over.
Quote from: Riddler5 on August 29, 2014, 07: AM
A local paper is vital.
Obviously not to the people of Hartlepool or they would still be buying it every day. Local papers are going the same way as the dinosaurs, they have had their day and its time for them to be replaced by something else. Personally I like the "i" for 30p its a good read. What would encourage me to read more on line newspapers is if I could buy them an edition at a time as I wanted to rather than having to take out a sizeable annual subcsription in advance.
Agree with o.d on his points.
For a sizeable percentage of the electorate their only contact with local politics is the Mail.......and if in true 1984 fashion we get repetetive pics of Punch and Judy.... that section of the electorate will associate with Punch and Judy.
The Mail is just following the money. Once the paymaster changes so will the editorial stance. It is clear from recent highly unflattering photos of Councillors and the end of the blanket deletion of negative personal comments on Labour /Tory worthies that the relationship is strained. Something has happened that we do not know about-yet!
I bet the press office in the Kremlin can't wait for Orville and Oliver Hardy to move on.
From the looks of the figures, the Hartlepool Mail might as well throw in the towel and call it a day, at the rate they are loosing readers, to offset the cost of the Hartlepool mail will soon be 80p.
4 rolls of Bog Roll from Tesco's costs 60p and its more interesting to look at the dimples in the roll than whats in the mail.
It would seem that the Mail is suffering what can only be described as the Blockbuster Video effect, where people have chosen to do their reading and watching online and the Hartlepool Mail's business model just hasn't seemed to keep up with the changing attitudes of its readers. More notably the fact that they seem to publish one sided Labour Propaganda like a fachist Newsreel straight out of Nazi Germany.
I for one wont shed a tear when the Mail finally dies a terrible death,
Its already on the Terminal list
Think its high time it was "Put To Sleep"
It has to continue for public notices, deaths, births and marriages.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-widespread-demand-for-local-journalism-remains-undiminished-8839603.html
Some interesting points in this article.
"John (Stapleton) deeply regrets the decline of local papers, and the subsequent harm this does to our democracy. As a cub reporter in Oldham, he used to cover every council committee meeting, and now many local papers don't even report from meetings of the full council. The local paper was a focal point of a town back then, and district reporters played a significant role in the life of the community."
Sums it up really!
The full figures suggest that generally a hike in the price of a newspaper is followed immediately by a significant drop in circulation. I don't suppose this is surprising really as every time it happens a reader will question whether the paper in question is really worth the money.
I wouldn't mind little stories like this if they were just page-fillers but the paper seems to be full of these things while the really important stuff is virtually ignored. I'm more likely to read what is actually going on in Hartlepool these days through Private Eye than the Hartlepool Mail.
While we're being run by a bunch of free-loading crooks, the Mail really is running a 'who's got the biggest Sunflower' competition.
http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/proud-hartlepool-boys-sunflower-stands-over-8ft-tall-1-6816665
Mildly irritating. The Mail are making a big thing about the new Art College Development claiming to have 'an exclusive' - a full week after it appeared on this site.
Funny how predictable these things are:
taken from the HP story:
"Although Hartlepool Borough Council played no significant part in the deal, preparations are already under way within HBC in an attempt to link the development to its 'Vision' plans for the future of Hartlepool and a press release is expected shortly."
The word 'lapdog' springs to mind.
For anyone who likes reading last week's news:
http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/local/student-boost-cleveland-college-of-art-and-design-rebuild-will-help-shape-hartlepool-s-future-1-6818806
Only a tiny relatively subtle reference to the vision I see.
Probably best given that this deal has been literally years in the making and completely pre-dates the vision.
Quote from: DRiddle on September 03, 2014, 06: PM
Only a tiny relatively subtle reference to the vision I see.
Probably best given that this deal has been literally years in the making and completely pre-dates the vision.
. . . oh it will be in tomorrow's Mail - front page, I reckon, with CAB sweating all over it