North West Evening Mail editor handbags blogger
‘Does he think the scores of newspapers, websites, TV and radio stations who followed up the story were all stricken with the same lapse of editorial judgement?’
Steve Brauner, editor of the North West Evening Mail (which reaches 75 per cent of adults in Barrow-in-Furness, so there) has reached for his handbag and taken a good hard swipe at yours truly for daring to question his editorial judgement. Ouch!
Steve Brauner felt that a relief shop manager opining that Barrow-in-Furness was a ‘sh*thole’ (manager’s own asterisk) was front page news and promptly whipped up a mob to run him out of town. Brauner’s right to say I need, ‘…to realise that cyberspace is not a sim world where it doesn’t matter what you do or say. Free speech comes with responsibility and consequences, on Myspace or anywhere else’.
Indeed I made that point myself before concluding that on this occasion an editor short on real news had irresponsibly blown the whole thing out of proportion. After all, there can’t be a town on Earth that somebody somewhere doesn’t think is a shithole. I am sure the people of Barrow-in-Furness are more than capable of rising above such pettiness.
In defending himself by reference to the wider coverage the event generated, Steve Brauner does neither himself, nor the North West Evening Mail any favours. That someone had called Barrow-in-Furness a sh*thole wasn’t news elsewhere. ‘Chocolate sends town into meltdown,’ thundered The Times, as the town’s reaction to the petty slight caught its imagination.
Far from making an heroic stand for Barrow-in-Furness, Steve Brauner’s North West Evening Mail presented the townsfolk as a petty, vindictive, over the top and rather stupid rabble. And who needs a local paper like that?
Contact Stephen Newton
Comments (2 comments)
“Hell at the end of a forty mile cul-de-sac.” as someone once described Barrow to me. I’ve only been there a couple of times and it did seem quite grim.
Ian / February 10th, 2007, 11:04 am / #
I would think the Barrow in Furness Evening Mail a very petty and non descript paper, however unfortunately there is no competition for this poorly written and condescending rag!
“Mr James Chapelhard” of “Action Desk” the Evening Mails newspapers problem solving column is so arrogant and dismissive, you would not believe how such an incompetant can keep his job!
“Chapelhard” was very dismissive of my valid complaint of an incompetant training company called “Trainrite”which is based in “Barrow in Furness” and “Workington”
This complaint of mine was passed down to chapelhard from the “Workington Times and Star” a sister paper of the barrow evening mail both part of the CNN group of newspapers.
“Trainrite” is a Fork Lift Driving training company run by a Mrs Angela Caffrey.
After failing the get a satisfactory explanation as to why my vital paperwork went missing i complained to Mr Jamieson R Reed MP Minister of Parliament for Copeland Cumbria.
I received a character assassination of Director Angela Caffrey Workington Trainrite someone i have never met by the way.
Barrow Evening Mail has now received welcome competition in the form of Ulverstonrant! a great website and a good alternative to the awfull barrow evening mail.
Mr Alan M Stone
Mr Alan M Stone / March 10th, 2007, 1:36 pm / #
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