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There were worse examples of ignorance about council procedure. Allcandidates must have previously passed the NCTJ's preliminary exam in publicaffairs. Yet two seemed not to have heard of the term "working party". Onecalled it a workers' group, the other a management group.

As ever, there were some who could not copy names correctly, even whenthey were printed in the exam brief. The speaker's surname was Richards,which sometimes became Richardson. Thoughts of the theatre's name must haveinfluenced those who changed his name to Councillor Jonson and evenCouncillor Johnson. But we can probably blame a keyboard slip for "thecelebrated playwright Ben Jolson".

The printed brief always provides information about where the speech wasdelivered. In some cases this is hardly worth mentioning. In this case itwas (at a public meeting held in the Jonson Theatre).

Some produced facts, qualified by "Councillor Richards said at thetheatre" (as though he were being interviewed). Others ignored the locationentirely.

Markers know that reporters with shaky shorthand will pounce on the finalwords of a speech if it may offer a decent quote, which can be noted inlonghand if necessary. In this case the last sentence was: "If you cameexpecting a fight, then let us all fight on the same side - to save theJonson Theatre."

This bonus gift proved to be the quote most used. But candidates who hadnot mentioned the meeting at the theatre created mysteries for the readersby now quoting the first phrase: who were "you", where had they come and whyshould they expect a fight?

The theatre, built 78 years ago, was referred to by many as historic.Would the newspaper's readers in their late seventies or eighties wonder ifthey too were historic?

For a full list of successful candidates, click here.

Click for more from the examiners' reports: