A South West newspaper published four special collectors’ editions to mark the Olympic torch making its way through the county.
The North Devon Journal printed four editions of the paper with a wrap-around shot of the torch passing through the paper’s main towns Bideford, Barnstaple, Holsworthy, and Ilfracombe.
The Ilfracombe edition showed the very moment Jonathan Edwards burst into tears as he ran past his childhood home.
It is the first time the paper has produced a wrap cover and it proved a hit in the community, with several shops selling-out in one day.
Editor Chloe Hubbard said: “We planned in advance where the photographers would be to ensure we had the perfect shot for each wrap. Inside each edition we had coverage from reporters on the ground in each town/village the flame passed through – we all mucked in, making sure every avenue was covered.
The Ilfracombe edition shows Jonathan Edwards with the torch
“The Ilfracombe edition shows the very moment former triple jumper Jonathan Edwards bursts into tears as he runs past his childhood home.
“We’ve billed it around the towns as “Don’t Miss Our Olympic Torch Collectors’ Edition” – I’m hoping we’ll sell a load.”
The paper sold out in several newsagents on the Thursday, and by Saturday most of the major supermarkets in the area were also sold-out.
Praising the Journal’s work on his blog former newspaper editor Peter Sands wrote: “Good front and back wraparounds are rare in newspapers. The story has to be big enough to warrant the show and the picture has to be good enough to justify running across two pages.
“So well done to the North Devon Journal in using four first class wraps on the same day. I am not sure this has ever been done before.”
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Simple yet clever and inventive. Full marks.
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It shows that a good story with strong images will always sell newspapers. That’s reassuring for those of us still in the local newspaper business.
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Well done to the NDJ. We also did wraps on the three of our editions that saw the torch pass through their areas and a front page picture and story in the fourth edition featuring a local torch bearer. The route had torch relays in seven towns. It all happened on press day and we had reporters and freelance photographers in each location with our chief photographer on the back of the media truck in three of the main towns. The torch had left us by 12.30pm, and we had wraps, double page spreads on each area with individual features on each of the four towns and an eight page picture special running through all four editions ready to go to press within our usual deadline that afternoon. It was a real team effort – the photographers and reporters did great work and the subs did a fantastic job, as did the press guys and the sales team. Everyone had a real sense of achievement at the results which looked amazing. The papers flew off the shelves. Well done to all involved. Anyone who is expecting the torch should put the effort in – nobody, not television, nor nationals nor the internet contributors could do it like this.
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Well done to all concerned on producing some great editions, often against the clock. My one concern is that a virtue seems to have been made out of ‘selling out’ at newsagents and supermarkets. I know from experience that these things are never easy to judge yet when I was involved in producing ‘specials’ there’d be an inquest if outlets ran out of copies. We would have been embarrassed to admit we couldn’t cope with demand. That said, congratulations again on those souvenir editions.
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