April 2009 Archives

There appears to be a political momentum building towards release of the secret Hillsborough Files. Jacqui Smith made the right noises over the weekend, and clearly Andy Burnham has jogged a few elbows since his rough ride at Anfield last week.
This is a Government looking for friends amid the scandals over expenses and smear campaigns. It's a good time for them to deliver to a popular cause.
What is essential though, is that we can trust the content of the documents if the government demands they are produced.
Altering, sanitising, documents is easy. Losing stuff is easy.
It is vital that an independent scrutineer (and I mean independent) reviews the information and announces them to be free of tampering. Otherwise more frustration, disappointment, and resentment will be directed at the Government.

Had lunch in Liverpool One at the weekend, Glorious weather - people sitting at tables outside. Whole place looked great.
Also great was Wagamama - the noodle bar on the top level. Good service, good food, nice atmosphere, reasonable prices and my six-year-old found loads of stuff she would cheerfully eat.

There are some morons about. The low-life-scum-ometer must be off the scale today.
Just looked at a YouTube Video that features images of dead and dying at Hillsborough, overlaid with vile messages glorifying the deaths.
People capable of this stuff aren't worthy of a place on the planet. And yes - before you start - I think the same about Scousers who sing songs about Manchester United players dying in Munich.
These people are beyond sensible reproach - they are too stupid to reason with. What pisses me off far more is the corporate morons of YouTube who are refusing to remove this muck.
They hide behind policies and say it can't come down because it's not pornographic. The fact that's it's worse than any routine dirty movie seems to matter not a jot.
Get it down fellas. You shame yourself.

Horns of a dilemma: Was the Hillsborough memorial crowd at Anfield wrong or right to barrack Government minister Andy Burnham?
I was in the Kop and felt uncomfortable as he was shouted down; but I believe his response in going to the Cabinet to seek disclosure of information proved that the crowd's actions had merit.
My colleague - Paddy Shennan - a brilliant journalist and versed in this city way beyond what I can ever hope to live or learn - felt that in the end they had gone too far and had breached the sanctity of a religious ceremony.
Paddy believes the mass chanting at a key point was valid and should have been left at that. The subsequent catcalls and isolated shouts from around the stadium were unnecessary and unworthy of the occasion.The 'Justice for the 96' chant at Burnham's first pause on mentioning Gordon Brown's name was understandable, acceptable, and perhaps should have ended there.
Burnham is, I believe, a good bloke. A Labour high-flyer but a man who understands basic human sentiment. He knows more than most about The Truth.
He was placed - or placed himself - in a difficult position. Speaking was ill-judged on the face of it, but may be for the greater good ultimately.
The families of the 96 have been betrayed by the Establishment. Of that, both Paddy Shennan and I now have no doubt. More scrutiny is needed and Burnham's trip into the Lion's Den may bring it about.
He is a brave man. There are none braver than the families of the 96 and the empathy they discover may promote a satisfactory conclusion to 20 years of misery.

What a cracking game of football last night.
It is wrong to compare the heroics a footballer may produce on a field of play to the heroics a soldier may produce in battle.
However, I did not begrudge Pepe Reina his comment today that he and his Liverpool teammates had 'played for the souls of the 96'.
Liverpool's footballers produced a blistering start and a barnstorming finish. That they lost was no reflection on their spirit and endeavour.
A win would have been perfect,set in context of the eve of Hillsborough's 20th anniversary. Yet this was the most noble defeat I can remember.
I support neither Liverpool nor Everton, but will them both to win for the good of the city and the good of the Echo. I hope Liverpool win the League and Everton the Cup.
And that Newcastle stay up.
But beyond all that I hope the Hillsborough families one day, somehow, find peace.

I wandered down to the waterfront last week to have a look at the new Canal Link.
I have to say they've made a superb job of it.
It looks great - high-quality stone and wood work. No corners cut, by the looks of it.
I look forward to warm summer days when narrow boats sail into the docks, past the Liver Building and the new cruise liner facility. It will add a spledid new dimension to a city born of the water.
I fail though, to see the need for, or the appeal of, the fast food outlets for the area, which are being considered by the local authority.
Not everyone can afford to wander up into town and eat at a restaurant or cafe. I appreciate that.
But believe me, this is a fantastic spot for a picnic.

I despair at the knee-jerk manner in which some media treated the news that five people had been held in a counter-terrorism operation at Liverpool John Moores University campus yesterday.
One national newspaper threw out a front page announcing that the police had thwarted a terror attack on Anfield. A London-based radio station said the plan was 'to blow up the Trafford Centre'.
Both claims were wholly unsubstantiated and probably nonsense.
They only serve to scare people - and that sort of behaviour is utterly out of order.
Would I have run a story about a folied terror attack on Anfield? Of course I would - but only if our sources convinced me it was true.
The Echo's sources indicated a planned explosion of major proportions. And that's what we're running with.

FOR 130 years the Liverpool ECHO has brought you the news and views that matter to Merseyside.

The launch of our newspaper companion website, www.liverpoolecho.co.uk, in 2007 and creation of our ECHO Mobile site allowed you to access all the information you needed when and how you wanted to.

And now we are delighted to unveil an exciting new look to our Echo website, which has been completely redesigned with the aim of delivering the very best in news, views, features, video, and comment as it happens, when it happens.

To ensure you get the best informed local coverage of the things that affect you most, our new-look website is now even easier to navigate, and our commitment to being first with what's happening means it is constantly updated with local, national and international news, video reports and daily news bulletins, photo galleries and opinion.

You can also get breaking news and sport via our new Twitter feeds, and use them to send us information or your comments. If you have a Twitter account already you can simply follow @LivEchonews for news updates, @LivEcholfc or @LivEchoEFC for Liverpool FC and Everton FC news, match reports, breaking news and comment. If you don't have a Twitter account yet, just sign up for free at http://twitter.com.

And our RSS (Really Simple Syndication) option makes it simple to get your favourite ECHO content delivered to one convenient place - simply click the here and follow the clearly-explained guide.

Alongside the redesigned www.liverpoolecho.co.uk, our online users will also find a new online business directory, www.LocalMole.co.uk.

Designed to easily connect local users with local businesses the site, created by the ECHO's parent company Trinity Mirror, contains a database of over 1.8 million business listings featuring business names, addresses, contact information and maps.

Highly searchable, it gives you the opportunity to rate and review your experiences, while businesses have the option to enhance their presence on the site and advertisers see their listings appear as text links across relevant Trinity Mirror websites.

The website redesign was done with you the reader in mind - we wanted to make it as fast and easy to use as possible and we think the new look achieves this. I think users, businesses and our advertisers will be delighted with the new LocalMole directory - it's a fast, easy way to access information.

The ECHO has always been the number one for news on Merseyside and these latest innovations just underline our commitment to retain that crown.

And we want to hear what you think of the new-look site. Leave your comments below.

IT remains a tough old time in regional journalism.

As one commentator said recently, we are caught in a 'perfect storm'....rising newsprint prices, frafmented advertising spend, falling circulation, rising fuel costs...and chuck in a horrendous global economic downturn for good measure.

Tough times mean tough decisions at the the Echo we've taken more than our share lately.

But they also mean innovation and excitement.

If we can innovate our way out of bother then we'll do so.

So I'm pleased today that we're launching LocalMole.co.uk.

It's a new site that allows businesses to market their services to Trinity Mirror's 5 million regional users, benefit from the group's online and in-print promotional power and enable users to rate and review their favourite local businesses.

The site will be accessible under the LocalMole.co.uk brand and through Trinity Mirror's regional network of 200 local and hyperlocal websites, reaching five million regional users.

At launch, LocalMole.co.uk contains a database of over 1.8 million business listings featuring business names, addresses, contact information and maps.

Users can search for businesses based on a range of criteria and can also rate and review their experiences.

Businesses can enhance their LocalMole.co.uk listing with a fully-featured microsite, offering customers more information including photographs, special offers and company information.

Advertisers will also see their listings appear as text links across contextually relevant Trinity Mirror websites - offering added-value promotion to local audiences.

The site has been developed with leading business data provider Central Index and web design agency StormID.

It is being supported at launch by a major promotional campaign across Trinity Mirror's regional print and online media.

Wish us luck!

And talking of luck, wish some to Alan Shearer as he takes over the reins at my beloved Newcastle United. They may not be savable, but if anyone can do it it's him.

Harry's on a school exchange trip to Spain and not answering my texts. He may not know...