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G20 gathering is big news for local weekly

The G20 Summit may not be top of every local paper’s news agenda this week – but for one weekly in East Anglia it certainly constitutes headline news.

For the summit has presented the Herts & Essex Observer with so many local angles it even changed its masthead to mark the event.

Not only did US President Barack Obama touch down on its patch when arriving in the UK on Tuesday, but celebrity chef Jamie Oliver – who is cooking a banquet for the world leaders at Downing Street – is also from there.

Footage of Mr Obama’s arrival at Stansted Airport appeared on the paper’s website www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk within minutes while today’s souvenir edition of the paper will carry blanket coverage of the gathering, including:

  • An overview of the weeks of preparation leading up to Mr Obama’s arrival as the eyes of the world were focused on Stansted for a few minutes.

  • A colour piece by reporter Elizabeth Reeve who spoke to onlookers at the airport’s perimeter fencing and trainee reporter James Burton in the main terminal.

  • The airport’s origins as a wartime US bomber base and Mr Obama’s ancestral links with the region.

  • Jamie Oliver’s Downing Street meal for G20 leaders.

  • Essex Police’s role in the security operation.

  • A piece on what Michelle Obama was wearing when she landed and how you can replicate her outfit with the help of local shops in Bishops Stortford.

    The video of Mr Obama touching down in Air Force One on Tuesday night was shot by one of the paper’s receptionists, Claire Watts, who filmed the landing on her mobile phone and then emailed it to digital editor Richard Stainton.

    It was followed quickly by an online slideshow of pictures, taken by photographer Vikki Lince, of the president’s plane landing, plus the Marine One helicopter in flight and the massive security operation around the airport.

    Observer editor Paul Winspear said: “The fact that one of our receptionists turned newshound for a night is a reflection of the tremendous enthusiasm, drive and commitment across the entire Observer team to continue to provide a first-class paper and website for our local community.

    “Set against the industry backdrop of falling revenues and limited resources, their efforts make me even prouder than usual.”

    In addition, both the newspaper and the website also changed their masthead to incorporate the ‘Stars and Stripes’ to mark the occasion.

    Meanwhile the Evening Star, Ipswich, is celebrating a G20 scoop after having correctly predicted last November that Mr Obama would fly into Stansted on his first visit to the UK.

    Editor Nigel Pickover said: “We were the first UK paper to reveal how President Obama would come to UK – and are delighted that our revelations on the glitzy Stansted arrival proved to be spot on.”

    He added: “It’s a shame he couldn’t find time to come over to lovely Suffolk – but if he wants to have a day off at any time I’ll stand aside and he can edit Britain’s Daily and Regional Newspaper of the Year.”

    Comments

    Baracker (02/04/2009 11:11:19)
    Barack Obama is well on the way to becoming the next Nelson Mandela – that is, a GIANT disappointment and let-down. At least Jamie Oliver can cook.

    Dave (02/04/2009 11:24:50)
    Oi, the President makes a really nice cooked breakfast.

    Obamaballs (03/04/2009 15:41:35)
    Congratulations to The Observer – this truly was the most momentous day in the history of Stansted, Bishop’s Stortford and probably the whole of Essex. Just think, the President’s shoes actually touched the Stansted tarmac for a few seconds – tarmac probably laid by a local person – and you can imagine my overwhelming pride in the thought the great man may have even glanced fleetingly towards my home town of Bishop’s Stortford as his helicopter left for London. With such incisive commentary provided by our esteemed local rag, who cares about the G20 summit itself or indeed anything else that might have actually happened in our humble town over the past week.