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Thank you everyone for all your kind greetings in the introduction thread.

As I start at the Observer soon, I would like to ask you:

What do you think are the main local issues our paper should cover?

cheers, Vitty

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Council misdeeds, malfeasance and general incompetence.

I would also like to see the Observer take a much more campaigning role; there are a lot of issues which affect the locality which are merely reported as who said what and when.

In addition I think that the people who write the restaurant/fast food reviews and the "Mr Angry" column are badly in need of something better to do with their time.

Could someone also explain why the vast majority of Situations Vacant appear to be in either Rochdale or Bury?

Oh, and by the way, Welcome to Accyweb. I hope you find it as much fun as I do.

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[quote=Acrylic-bob Could someone also explain why the vast majority of Situations Vacant appear to be in either Rochdale or Bury? .[/quote]

I have worked for the company elsewhere before coming to Accrington.

The central office for the northern division is in Rochdale. Advertisements are placed here over the phone for all the group's newspapers.

My presumption is, some employers in Rochdale and Bury just decide to place ads in all Greater Manchester Weekly Newspaper titles for convenience.

It's only a guess though.

On your other points, as an experienced town hall reporter, I will get to know the councillors shortly.

However, if you have specific information that might be usefull, feel free to let me know.

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Abide by Twains dictum, Vitty and take no crap off 'em. Watch out for any dodgy brown envelopes they may slip your way. And good luck.

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I've been around long enough to know that happens, but also long enough to know if reporters were in their job for money, they would have chosen a different career :)

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I would also like to see the Observer taking more of a campaigning role. The Arndale Clock may be a start.

I would like to know where our council tax money actually goes, and how much is wasted on useless council meetings where nothing actually gets done. I would like to see profiles of top management working in our local council and what they actually do to earn their money.

Mr Angry has got to go. It is a direct rip off from the old Steve Wright in the afternoon radio show, and lacks originality.

A bigger nostalgia section would be nice, where people could send in their old photos of Accy, especially of streets and events which no longer exist.

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Can you give me some background on this one?

They have such a feature in Rochdale, which is very popular. Let me see what I can do.

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The Arndale clock was removed to make way for that pathetic little cafe in the Arndale centre. We have had a few threads about it on here, mainly trying to find its whereabouts and to reinstate it somewhere else in the town. If you type Arndale clock into the search feature on Accyweb, those threads should come up.:D

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Aye. Get rid of Mr Angry & the stale butty column. Every good newspaper has a health correspondent these days, so why not the Accy Observer? I would respectfully suggest Nurses Lettie & Margaret, whose daily health tips we have been following on the Accy Web for several years now. I'm sure they would be quite prepared to bang out a few words for the Observer, providing of course, the price is right.

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Could I ask, if it is not impertinant, whether you actually live in the borough, Vitty?

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Yes, definitely get rid of Mr Angry. I would suggest that pupils from the local secondary schools could be encouraged to write on local issues that affect them.....or that that they feel strongly about.

It is a good way to encourage the young readership too.

Health issues are poorly covered. The column that tell us about the likes and dislikes of a local person is rubbish too.....I would ditch that.

And surely, even if the main office is in Rochdale, the job adverts could be tailored to the local area.

Vitty.....I think maybe it is a big job you have ahead of you there. Good Luck .

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Less pages of Steve and Leanne's engagement party. All pictured having a jolly time with friends and family at the Canine club. Very nice for the people concerned, but as boring as hell for every other reader. Just seems like a total waste of space, and an easy filler.

Agree with everyone else, Mr Angry makes your reader's angry, not because interesting issues are raised, but because it's rubbish.

Lastly, if you are going to have a best takeaway/ pub grub feature, make sure you have one judge or the same panel visiting all the entrants. Very often the reviewer will say they are vegetarian, and the next they will be enjoying beef in ale pie. Consistency pays, your readers aren't daft, and I for one hate being hood winked.

Good luck. It's a much loved paper, and I for one hope your enthusiasm helps make it more locally relevant.

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First, I live near Bolton. I must admit, I much prefer reporters to be from the town they cover.

However, this is nearly always never the case and it's due to the way the industry works at senior level.

Second, we definitely encourage worthwhile, constructive opinions like these to the letters page.

It would be a great help if you could all could write/email in on the subject of the Mr Angry column.

Third, the Arndale Clock. I'll make a deal with the people concerned about it: I will strive to get a 'restore the clock' campaign piece in if you are kind enough to supply me with some quotes on the subject.

The standard layout for such quotes is as follows:

John Smith, aged 33, of Smith Street, Church, said: "<whatever he said".

So those details would have to go in.

Finally, all your suggests have been constructive and in some cases superb.

Rest assured, I will be looking into it.

Keep them coming, and thanks.

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try looking in the archives of the past posts on here .........+campaign to save arndale clock you may find it interesting its on the 2nd page

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Now that would be good news.
People of Accrington get back their clock.
Good Luck
I'm sure you will be a success.

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I always love a good challenge. Leave it with me.

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agree with lettie about the nostalgia,possibly bits of old local history,i remember hearing stories of accy victoria hospital being funded by local workers,would love to know the real story. mr angry is a definate no-no though utter rubbish. hope you do well vitty.:)

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To be honest, I think the absence of a nostalgia column is probably logistical.

With the Rochdale column. on the quietest day of each week, one reporter reads a newspaper from 100, 50, 20 and 10 years ago and simply retypes the original story and scans a few pictures....

...which is simple because the archives are stored in the next room.

Whereas I don't think the Accrington papers are stored in the Accrington Office.

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Other issues that have been raised on this forum are the shambles that the Town Centre and the Markets have become, the utter pantomime that is the refuse collection "service".

The proposed Waste Processing site in Huncoat. The shocking state of dereliction in all but two of the boroughs parks. The oldest Park, Milnshaw on Hyndburn Road, is just about ready to be bulldozed and auctioned off for re-development.

And the complete lack of any form of public accountability by officers of HBC and councillors alike; the fiasco that was Nigel Rix has been very swiftly swept under several carpets at enormous financial cost to the borough.

The police in Accrington have also come in for a fair bit of stick too.

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i'd like to see some constructive tub-thumping on behalf of Accy Stanley. The Reds have some very committed and very active fans, they have a product on the pitch and off the pitch it is coming together (slowly in terms of the roof on the Sophie Khan Stand). What they lack, however, is the backing of a biased local paper. We have missed The Accrington Observer since it became T

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..... (cont) The Greater Manchester Accrington Observer. The two pages and back page of coverage are nice, the introduction of a fans column and the captains column are nice. But, there is still no hype for the club. It is as though the paper does not know what is a big game and what isn't. Come on Local paper get behind the town team. If Stanley do well we have a feel good factor and surely more people will buy the paper anyways to read the match reports. I understand that sport will not be your forte but have a word eh?

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i live in cleveleys ,so i dont read the paper,,,,,,,but i wish you all the best ..and i hope you do well ...GOOD LUCK.

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Maybe there is no work in Accrington anymore.

I think what really happens is when you place an advert in a Rochdale/Bury paper it gets put in ours free as well. We are the smaller area so it looks like most jobs are from the bigger area.

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What happened in the Rix case, Bob?

Rest assured, I am keen to look into all these issues.

Sportswise...you're right, I have limited influence with that side of things and in particular, Accrington Stanley.

However, we can write about the community side of AS/sport i.e. volunteers, off-the-field schemes etc. Any information would be gratefuly received.

Coverage is quite awkward for the Observer as the publication date is a day before the game, so the previous match is long gone. But I take on board everything else that was said.

If there are any other issues - no matter how big or small (people seem to think community group meeting dates, fund-raisers and fun days aren't local news...they are) post on here.

cheers, vitty

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I have to say I think the coverage for accy stanley in the observer is excellent apart from as vitty said the fact it comes out the day before most matches so it is a week before you can read the match reports. :)

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Rix came to HBC with a golden handshake and then proceeded to milk the council for all it was worth with one failed improvement scheme after another. lots of government dosh spent on consultancy fees and feasibility studies but very little to show for it in terms of material improvements. After ten years of Empire building his bubble burst and he "resigned" with another, even bigger, golden handshake. His stated aim at the time was to go into private consultancy work. HAve a look at Hyndburn First and The East Lancashire Partnership, they are largely his creations and as such are more or less unaccountable to the people of the borough in whose name and for whose benefit they were set up.