A weekly newspaper is offering readers a £500 reward in a bid to catch an attacker who has assaulted nine women since January.
The Whitstable Gazette produced a poster to be displayed in the windows of people’s homes as well as shops and newsagents in an effort to jog people’s memories.
The poster has also been turned into a news bill and readers can download a version via the company’s KentOnline website.
The story – and the poster – also featured on the KM Group title’s front page this week.
Editor Leo Whitlock said: “We are determined to do all we can to help the police track down whoever is responsible for these attacks.
“Whitstable is a gorgeous seaside town on the north Kent coast and this sort of thing simply does not happen.
“We wanted to play our part in helping Kent Police to catch whoever is responsible.”
Since January, nine women have been assaulted with the latest incident involving a plucky 80-year-old who punched her attacker in the mouth.
A daily editor looking to do a similar thing in a murder case last week (trying to get £100k together for reward) told me about 1 per cent of awards are successfully claimed. In that context, I am sorry but £500 seems utterly trivial and not worthy of a splash.
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Idle Rich – Let’s see. Just having an impactful front like that in a small-ish place like Whitstable might just do the trick?
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Let’s hope that £500 doesn’t come out of the editorial staff’s presumably pathetic, paltry wages.
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£500, come on confused. £5,000 bare minimum.
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I doubt whether the reward value will make any difference on the outcome. £500, £5000, £50,000 – it doesn’t matter.
For the newspaper, the monetary value is beside the point. Local people will see the effort that the newspaper is making in an attempt to have a positive impact on the community it serves and that can only be a positive. Well done, Whitstable Gazette.
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Of course its a token gesture to pull in a few readers but its pretty decent PR so don’t knock it.
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