Staff at a weekly newspaper worked through the night to provide up-to-the-minute coverage of the general election.
But this isn’t an 18-month old news story….the newspaper in question was the Manx Independent and the election took place last week on the Isle of Man.
The island went to the polls last Thursday to elect new members of its Parliament.
Staff at Isle of Man Newspapers not only produced a special morning edition of the Manx Independent but also updated its website as news of every count came in.
Editor Richard Butt said: “It was one of those occasions that you’re reminded why you went into journalism in the first place.
“Everyone helped. We had staff at all the counts. The newsroom was buzzing as results came in and, even though it was hard work, I think we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.”
Usually the Manx Independent is printed at lunchtime on Thursdays and delivered to newsagents in the afternoon.
Added Richard: “We felt we just had to delay printing so that we could include the news from the election. We got the press hall staff in during the small hours to print the paper so we’d be in the shops first thing on Friday.”
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I’m sorry, what’s the story here? Newspaper covers election? Wow…
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What next? Postal workers starting early to sort mail!?
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Years ago it was routine to shift the print slot to cover a general election, even a local election (the midnight pie and chips one of the editorial highlights of the year). That all stopped when the big companies launched round-the-clock printing of six or eight weekly titles plus the odd daily thrown in. Suddenly it was no longer practical to cover elections in the traditional manner. It still baffles readers why their local paper publishes without the constituency result the following morning. A website announcement is very much second best.
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Come on, don’t be too harsh on ’em ….this is the Isle of Man we are talking about!
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*Bong*
Cynical, washed-up hack slates ‘news’
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