Editor Barrie Williams outside the Western Morning News nautical glass HQ

A six-part TV documentary about the Western Morning News begins next month.

Called Hold The Front Page (no relation to this website) it will be screened in Carlton’s West Country region from 7.30-8pm each Tuesday from April 4.

The series goes behind the scenes at the WMN’s Plymouth HQ to discover what it takes to produce the paper.

From ex-tabloid journalist and deputy news editor Ian Mean to Young Journalist of the Year Clara Penn, cameras follow the fortunes of WMN staff as they chase and file stories. Agricultural editor Carol Trewin is profiled and freelance photographers are followed on location.

The programme was made by Plymouth-based Denham Productions. Filming spanned almost a year but camera crews were in the WMN offices for about three months.

Producer and director Matt Bennett said: “I’ve known for a long time that the Western Morning News is a very popular paper in the region and I thought people would like to see how their news was gathered and came to land on the breakfast table every morning.

“Essentially, we followed several characters throughout their day-to-day routine and tried to show how modern journalists work.

“Films portray journalists as being old hacks sitting in an office smoking 78 fags a day, drinking half bottle of whisky and occasionally typing out a story and, obviously, it’s not like that any more.”

Do you have a story for us?
Ring the HoldTheFrontPage newsdesk on
01332 291111 x6022, or e-mail us now