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Speech – 180 candidates; 87 passed – 48%

This speech dealt again with the problems of Eastwood, a district of Oxdown beset by neglect, vandalism and drug problems. Eastwood Regeneration Association was reporting on its successes and failures since its formation two years earlier.

Of the 180 papers completed, about a dozen offered first-class stories which their newspapers would have been pleased to use. But the majority were run-of-the-mill accounts and many were well below an acceptable level.

The speaker indicated clearly what was fresh news and what was old. There was plenty of drama and a wealth of emotive quotes in the new material but too many candidates became bogged down in the old. They doggedly repeated stale material to such an extent that there was little space left for the new.

Strong angles that would have made good intros, such as reports of vigilantes about to patrol the streets and harassed householders wanting to name and shame young vandals, were often dismissed in a few words at the end or omitted entirely.

There was a touching section about five-year-old Ashley Watson, who had been scratched by a syringe needle which he picked up in a back lane. He was given emergency treatment in hospital and doctors could find no trace of Aids infection. The speaker made clear that this had already been reported in the Oxdown Gazette, so there was little excuse for the many reporters who covered all the details again.

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