Page 2 of 2

Then the speaker went on to describe "what the Gazette failed to follow up" - a possibility that the boy may have caught hepatitis B. There would be five years of fear and uncertainty for Ashley and his family before that could be established. This was most definitely new but too many ignored it.

Such omissions indicated not only poor reporting of what someone had said but also inability to identify news.

Straining for a good intro, some writers went over the top. For instance, crime was said to have increased after police foot patrols were withdrawn. This did not entitle two reporters to produce intros which blamed the police for outbreaks of vandalism and drunkenness.

Accuracy was far short of 100 per cent in copying names provided. The printed brief, given to candidates at the start, established that Eastwood was a district of Oxdown. Names mentioned such as Wellington Road and Gladstone Road suggested that it was probably developed 100 years ago. But about 20 writers decided to call it a housing estate rather than a district. Inevitably, there was one who changed the name to Eastdown.

The brief also referred to Eastwood Regeneration Association as ERA, for the benefit of reporters accustomed to using initials instead of long titles. But one called it RGA throughout his story and another used EGA three times and ERG once. Two attempted the full title and called it Eastwood Residents' Association.

The speaker had said clearly that young Ashley was "scratched by a syringe needle". Variations of this were that he was pricked, grazed and even accidentally stabbed.

More variations arose when the speaker mentioned "a gang of 15 to 20 children, mainly aged nine to 14". The most confusing was "a gang of twenty nine to 14-year-olds".

Is the simple word "utmost" disappearing from our language? The speaker used it in two places. Three writers reproduced it as "the utmost sympathy" and three others talked of "doing our up-most".

For a full list of successful Autumn NCE candidates, click here.