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Sales manager brings in hat-trick of scoops

Any reporter who managed to bring in three front-page stories in a single week would almost certainly be the toast of his or her newsdesk.

But for a newspaper sales manager like Archant Norfolk’s Mervyn Freeman to manage the same feat takes some beating!

Mervyn, left, supplied tip-offs for the Norwich Evening News about a swine flu alert at the city hospital, a father dying after choking on food in a local pub and another tragedy when a devoted family man suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 51.

All three stories made the front page, earning the former special constable plaudits across the company.

Evening News editor Tim Williams said: “Like all good reporters, Mervyn knows his patch. And no one knows Norwich quite like Merv!

“In his role he mixes with newsagents, vendors and a whole host of people as he works to increase our newspaper sales.

“His contacts are endless and often come up with important stories – as soon as we hear his dulcet tones echoing across the newsroom we can usually bank on a good tip off!

“If we’re going to maintain our role as the most vital source of news and information in the city we need help from everyone at Archant. Mervyn is a great example of how important all our staff are to our newspapers.”

Said Mervyn: “If there is something that people feel is relevant as a good story they will tell me and I would pass this onto editorial.

“That’s the best part of my job, meeting lots of different people and travelling around our circulation area and it seems that I’m in the right place at the right time to get these stories.”

Archant Norfolk’s head of sales and audience growth, Don Williamson, added: “Mervyn is never off duty and his eyes are always wide open to any opportunity to increase our audience numbers.”

Comments

EagleEye (19/06/2009 09:15:31)
Wonder if the reporters actually leave their desks to mix with the kind of people the ad staff do?

martin dawes (19/06/2009 09:47:40)
When I was a trainee reporter on the EDP/EEN at King’s Lynn (1964-65) the best news gatherer was a semi-illiterate young paper seller who had a nose for stories. He could find ’em because he knew his territory but just couldn’t write ’em.

hilary (19/06/2009 13:28:14)
I remember many an enthusiastic circulation meneger coming up with the best stories – and the best circulation boosting ideas. But the big conglomerates are centralising their distribution departments too, so there goes another nail in the coffin of “at the heart of all things local”.