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Award win gives news staff a rare chance to reflect

The Wiltshire Gazette & Herald was last month named EDF Energy South West Weekly Newspaper of the Year. We speak to editor Gary Lawrence and turn the spotlight on the award-winning title…


The Wiltshire Gazette & Herald’s recent conversion from broadsheet to compact prompted just one letter of complaint – from a reader who said there was too much news in the paper and it took him too long to read it.

The paper’s “page after page of news and good strong coverage” was also noted by judges at last month’s EDF Energy South West Media Awards, who awarded it the Weekly Newspaper of the Year title – something that editor Gary Lawrence said came as a “pleasant surprise”.

He heads a team of 22 which produces five editions covering Chippenham, Devizes, Malmesbury, Marlborough and Swindon, as well as numerous supplements, and said the award gave them a rare chance to reflect – the day after the award ceremony, once that week’s edition had been put to bed!

He told HoldtheFrontPage: “We were very fortunate to win. To even be shortlisted in the same category as the other papers was very flattering.

“We have such a fantastic team who go above and beyond and you don’t always get a chance to say thank you because we are so busy.”

He added: “I’ve got to mention my deputy, Joanne Moore, who makes the job easier for me and is in charge of the news and keeps the reporters in line. The paper couldn’t do without her.”

The Gazette & Herald prides itself on being a true community paper and a mouthpiece for its readers, and this is reflected by its many campaigns and appeals, which have included raising £40,000 for a special needs school and £50,000 for three-year-old Lydia Cross, who lost her legs after contracting menegitis.

Its current bid is to raise £30,000 for the Dorothy House hospice, which is celebrating its 30th birthday.

The paper has also being doing its bit to try to save hospitals in Devizes and Chippenham.

Gary said: “Health is a huge issue here. The Primary Care Trust is slashing and burning and we are the only opposition. Readers use us as a mouthpiece, which is what a local paper should be doing.”

The Gazette & Herald also prides itself on being a paper of record, something which Gary says is important in a highly competitive patch which includes three daily papers, broadcast media and a string of other weeklies.

He said: “The challenge is make sure the paper is full of definitive stories. We really push staff to get everything, to get the whole story.

“Each issue is a thumbprint of Wiltshire on that particular week.”

Before beginning a content review, staff are now focused on adjusting to the conversion to compact – which has brought a two to three per cent sales increase.

The paper’s supplements – which were given high praise by the EDF Energy awards judging panel – also help to boost sales, with a pull-out dedicated to Shelley Rudman’s Winter Olympics success credited with helping the paper achieve its biggest ever sale of 30,000.

Gary said: “It was particularly pleasing that the supplements were praised because we don’t have a separate design or features department.

“We have no extra staff or budget and produce them in between producing the Gazette.”

  • The Gazette & Herald is published every Thursday and has a circulation of 27,345 (ABC, July – Dec 2005). Gary has edited the paper since 1999, having previously been editor at the Wiltshire Times from 1996 to 1999 and deputy editor at the Gazette & Herald from 1994 to 1996.