Accrington Observer Thanks For Nothing

[Leon Kelly]

Obviously a few of you will know that i own Level One Nightclub in Accrington, and recently i have been elected on the Accrington Regeneration Board with other people in the town.

I have tonight seen this weeks Observer and i am gobsmacked that they have the cheek to call themselves the ACCRINGTON OBSERVER. and by this i mean they are supposed to look and report on stories of relevace to the town and not make up or over embelish a story that isnt even a story.

I have sent four emails to Gareth Tidman the editor, Giving him the option of letting us do a colum everyweek, with news, pictures, whats on events in the town and we have heard nothing, then they decide to run a story saying that the licensing trade in accrington has had its day pubs shutting 1 a month, then they list the pubs and venues are they having a laugh.

Thwaites have sold that many venues privately to generate cash for their failings and a brewery, no one who is free of tie would use Thwaites as their prices are ridiculous, So they sell the Adelphi, Black Horse, Regency and many more venues, They SOLD them, they didnt close because of trade, otherwise why didnt they re invest in the regency and did what weatherspoons did, how is it that weatherspoons is now packed, if thwaites had done the same and spent the cash they wouldnt of had to sell it.

I am going on a tirade here as the observer has morealess put, dont come accy its crap everywheres shutting, lets just run down their so called facts,

Bliss Bar - Closed because the building was purchased off amber taverns and is now the bees knees stock room as they expanded the upstairs, hardly a huge closure

Warners Arms - Re opens this weekend, Only closed due to Scottish & Newcastles previous tennants running up an electricity bill and leaving them with it, and Scottish and Newcastle wouldnt pay it, so now re opens after a 8 months battle.

Black Horse - Building Sold is now being a Japense Treatment centre

Industry Closed as they received an investment from spar to become a off license

King Streets - Been shut for over 4 years and then they tried to make it into a Indian Restaurant.......

My point being is that the way that article reads to people not in the trade is that the its all doom and gloom and negativity, wheres the part that 13 venues are striving in the town centre and doing well......

Really annoyed that the observer is trying to create a story that isnt a story, and damaging peoples buisnesses

[garinda]

An Accy nightclub owner, tellingly also working as a taxi driver, recently drove me home and said he was toying with turning his place into a 'swingers club'.

That would make headlines in the Observer.

[lindsay ormerod]

Thought Black Horse was becoming some deli/food hall thing?

[garinda]

Originally Posted by lindsay ormerod

Thought Black Horse was becoming some deli/food hall thing?

Supposed to be.

Don't think the plans have gone in yet.

Not that I've seen.

Probably letting the dust settle a bit, after Ye Olde Sausage Shop, who are behind it, only scored a 1 for food hygiene in the recently published tables.

Still the locals will probably embrace their artisan made nibbles, to line their stomachs before a night on the alcho-pop.

[garinda]

I do think, after publicly slaggin' off the Observer, seeing as they do read this forum, that it does lower the odds on them giving a column to anyone.

[odders]

Go to the LET and plead your case, just don't drink it on the way there

[hedman2003]

Originally Posted by Leon Kelly

Obviously a few of you will know that i own Level One Nightclub in Accrington, and recently i have been elected on the Accrington Regeneration Board with other people in the town.

I have tonight seen this weeks Observer and i am gobsmacked that they have the cheek to call themselves the ACCRINGTON OBSERVER. and by this i mean they are supposed to look and report on stories of relevace to the town and not make up or over embelish a story that isnt even a story.

I have sent four emails to Gareth Tidman the editor, Giving him the option of letting us do a colum everyweek, with news, pictures, whats on events in the town and we have heard nothing, then they decide to run a story saying that the licensing trade in accrington has had its day pubs shutting 1 a month, then they list the pubs and venues are they having a laugh.

Thwaites have sold that many venues privately to generate cash for their failings and a brewery, no one who is free of tie would use Thwaites as their prices are ridiculous, So they sell the Adelphi, Black Horse, Regency and many more venues, They SOLD them, they didnt close because of trade, otherwise why didnt they re invest in the regency and did what weatherspoons did, how is it that weatherspoons is now packed, if thwaites had done the same and spent the cash they wouldnt of had to sell it.

I am going on a tirade here as the observer has morealess put, dont come accy its crap everywheres shutting, lets just run down their so called facts,

Bliss Bar - Closed because the building was purchased off amber taverns and is now the bees knees stock room as they expanded the upstairs, hardly a huge closure

Warners Arms - Re opens this weekend, Only closed due to Scottish & Newcastles previous tennants running up an electricity bill and leaving them with it, and Scottish and Newcastle wouldnt pay it, so now re opens after a 8 months battle.

Black Horse - Building Sold is now being a Japense Treatment centre

Industry Closed as they received an investment from spar to become a off license

King Streets - Been shut for over 4 years and then they tried to make it into a Indian Restaurant.......

My point being is that the way that article reads to people not in the trade is that the its all doom and gloom and negativity, wheres the part that 13 venues are striving in the town centre and doing well......

Really annoyed that the observer is trying to create a story that isnt a story, and damaging peoples buisnesses

Looking at the Observer article it seems pretty factually correct to me and personally I dont think its as one sided as you make out

In addition to listing the clubs and pubs that have closed it also gives the positive side of pubs that have bucked the trend and have re -opened and also those that could re-open. Clearly you have some other knowledge regarding individuals would not have

I know there has been previous press articles regarding Thwaites selling pubs but then not allowing them as part of the sale that they could not re-open as a pub and the Adelphi is one that this applied to.

PS I don't think the Black Horse was a Thwaites Pub

I'm not sure if it's the Observers role is to promote the town as such but more to accurately reflect whats going on within the town and the article makes it clear that they have relied on information from the Licencing information rather than delving deeper into the reasons for some of the temp closures now perhaps thats a bit of lasy journalism

Nobody can deny that the pub trade nationally is going through difficult times and we can all debate the reasons for it ie smoking ban, greedy breweries, cheap supermarket booze, etc, etc

I'm not in a position to argue over the 13 venues that are "striving and are doing well" and I do hope that this is correct however perhaps if some of the pubs hadn't closed perhaps they wouldn't be doing so well. My days of frequenting Accy Town Centre over a weekend are behind me but I would say that the times that I passed through town late in an evening the towns only sometimes busy on Church Street

As you have invested money in your business in my town I do feel you should be supported in what you do and perhaps the press article will allow you to put a more positive slant on the successes within the town

[jaysay]

I actually think that the article in the Observer hasn't done the town any favours and I can understand Leon's frustrations when he his trying to show Accrington in a positive light, I don't think anybody needs reminding that numerous pubs have close in this area, in fact pubs are closing almost everywhere, has have been discussed many many times on here, surely its in the best interests of our "local" paper (I use the term very loosely) to help promote the plus factor of businesses trying to make things better

[hedman2003]

Its an interesting question: Is it the"local" papers responsibility to promote the local area and give its readers a feel good factor. If so the content would be severely reduced once you've taken out news of firms closing, appearances in court, criminal actions etc

I'm all for our paper to contain good news stories as there are lots of people and groups in the community that deserve recognition which could be a follow on to the features in the Observer like meet the Landlord, meet the Shopkeeper items that are currently running

It seems to me this was one of those press articles that could have been on the shelf for weeks waiting for a no news week and as I said before there doesn't appear to have been a great deal of investigation into the article

I think some of the facts in the original posting would not be known to the general public and for instance everytime I walked past the Warners I couldn't understand why it was closed

Perhaps the approach should be to the letters column to balance the item up

[wadey]

Originally Posted by lindsay ormerod

Thought Black Horse was becoming some deli/food hall thing?

The workmen were in yesterday, looks like a big job

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by hedman 2003

Its an interesting question: Is it the"local" papers responsibility to promote the local area and give its readers a feel good factor. If so the content would be severely reduced once you've taken out news of firms closing, appearances in court, criminal actions etc

I'm all for our paper to contain good news stories as there are lots of people and groups in the community that deserve recognition which could be a follow on to the features in the Observer like meet the Landlord, meet the Shopkeeper items that are currently running

It seems to me this was one of those press articles that could have been on the shelf for weeks waiting for a no news week and as I said before there doesn't appear to have been a great deal of investigation into the article

I think some of the facts in the original posting would not be known to the general public and for instance everytime I walked past the Warners I couldn't understand why it was closed

Perhaps the approach should be to the letters column to balance the item up

Your letters have no guarantee of being printed

[hedman2003]

Originally Posted by jaysay

Your letters have no guarantee of being printed

I agree there's no guarantee of a letter bring published and if it's not then we can enter a debate about free speech however letters correcting articles or even those critical of the Observer have in the past been published

If the letter is not published then perhaps Leon can update us on here and we can then make up our own minds about the integrity of the Observer

[garinda]

A newspaper's main concern is to report what's happening, or has recently happened.

Let's not forget they're in business too, and that's why people purchase their product.

If it's merely to be an aid for public relations, and promotion of the area, many people would stop buying it.

People expect local news stories, and facts. Not the world as seen through rose tinted glasses, plastic or not.

Mind you, H.B.C. would breathe a sigh of relief, if only positive articles were to be published in the Observer.

No more reports of tantrums in council chambers, no more expenses scandals, no more 'silly cow' gates.

[garinda]

Originally Posted by jaysay

Your letters have no guarantee of being printed

Perhaps it was just your's they thought we'd got tired of reading.

[gynn]

The sad fact is that the Accrington Observer isn't there to support the local community. It is there to sell papers and make lots of profit for its shareholders, most of whom have probably never set foot in Accrington in their lives.

Unfortunately, bad news sells more papers than good news.

However, as I've said on this forum before, the reporters are a lazy lot who look at the easiest way of writing stories as possible. So my answer, Leon, is to write the stories yourself. Give them a punchy headline which will appeal to readers, and present them to the paper as a fait-accomplis. Don't wait for them to ask you. My experience is that they will be so grateful for such an easy life that they will print them!

You may have already done the damage with your public criticism of the paper, but its still worth a go!