Quote:
Originally Posted by gynn
A word of advice to the new administration. Take it from someone who spent 30 years learning how to deal with the press.
Don't wait for journalists to write the story. Write it yourselves with whatever spin you wish to put on it, and present it to the journalists as the finished article. They are a lazy breed who always look for an easy life, so they will welcome someone else doing the hard work.
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It's something I've been doing since last May when I was elected, trying desperately to get Rishton news into a wider audience. Very little has been printed in the Observer whilst the Lancashire Telegraph couldn't have been more receptive. Any political stories have also included quotes from the Conservative group for balance and when events from a Hyndburn ward get better coverage in a Blackburn paper than an Accrington one, despite repeated attempts, I'm more mindful to keep feeding the reporter that actually wants the information we send.
The Observer were going to run a story on kissing gates in Rishton, taking the trouble to phone me up, ask for a press release and even sending a photographer, and yet two issues down the line it hasn't appeared. Dozens of other stories have never materialised and an open invitation to raid my blog for information and photographs has seemingly never been taken up.
It's no skin off my nose as we now have a reasonably good information network for residents within the village but Rishton currently has half a page and is lumped in with Great Harwood, one would imagine due to a lack of stories.
It's disappointing that the local news they apparently crave is being eschewed in favour of adverts.