March 8 2007. Negative Echo. John Heggarty. MS.
Taken to task by more than one reader (a nun amongst them) over perceived negativity. It's an old chestnut for any newspaper editor but people do feel we focus on the negative rather than the positive when it comes to choosing our front page headlines.
A reader was bewildered last week when I splashed on a policeman being stabbed and relegated Peel's £5.5bn waterfront plan to Page 3. I responded saying that the Peel story had been in the morning papers and on the radio and TV and I was looking to freshen things up a bit.
I was. But were my thought processes correct? Even if many of my readers are aware of the story do they still look to the Echo to confirm it, to assess its importance, to analyse it?
And if a story is of that magnitude should it transcend normal news decisions?
A difficult one and I'd appreciate your views.
I was pleased to be able to point to our front page coverage (main extra edition) on Tuesday when the Echo got the first artists' impressions of the scheme. Exciting news. Good news. And we threw the kitchen sink at it.
Click on the video link at:
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/liverpoolecho/
Took a day's holiday and played golf yesterday in a competition at Royal Liverpool to mark 25 years service by the club's professional John Heggarty. Great weather, lovely golf and wonderful to see John's milestone marked by so many people. A testimony to his standing and popularity.
Lynne's MS not showing any signs of improvement. Change in medication starts today. The lack of progress is starting to really get her down and the last thing she needs is depression on top of the condition. Morale of whole family suffering. We need to see her take a step forward now.
