I reckon the best potential splash in the Bridport News on Wednesday 13 June 2012 was hidden away in this ‘Family Announcements’ advert on page 60.
There was certainly nothing else in that week’s paper that would have beaten an interview with the relatives of Mark Sambles, the town’s only man to be killed in action in the Falklands War exactly 30 years ago.
Mark had been a Leading Cook on HMS Glamorgan, and was one of 13 servicemen killed when the ship was hit by an Exocet missile on 12 June 1982 – just two days before the Argentine forces surrendered.
An interview with any of his six siblings, his son, or even his mum if she was up to it, would have been a compelling read: their thoughts 30 years on; memories of Mark; thoughts on Argentina’s renewed claims over the islands; and whether they felt the war’s victims had been forgotten.
And just think of all the pictures that could have gone with such a newsworthy page one and emotive double-page spread: snapshots of Mark; his family gathered together; archive photos from the war; war memorials; and HMS Glamorgan itself.
This may not have been easy, of course. Although the ‘In Memorium’ advert reads like one from a family willing to be interviewed, for all I know the Bridport News may have contacted them and been politely turned down.
But even if that was the case, there would surely have been no reason not to run a decent package anyway, with potential quotes from Mark’s former schoolmates, or from members of the local Sea Scouts he was once a part of , or with members of the HMS Glamorgan Association, which actively remembers those who died.
Again, I don’t know for sure that such efforts weren’t made, nor whether there was good reason for all them not to succeed; but I do know that the lonely advert on page 60 placed by a still-grieving family brought a few questions to my mind.
Had the Bridport News known about and considered the anniversary of Mark’s death as a potential story?
Does the editorial team have a good relationship with the front counter or classified ads department, making sure they are alerted of such newsworthy BMDs?
Do newsrooms these days still use a ‘bring forward’ diary to remind them about significant anniversaries?
If such a diary was in existence, surely it would have contained the Bridport News’ own cutting from 18 June 1982, when they interviewed Mrs Jean Sambles less than a week after her son’s death.
Back then, her chilling quotes read: “I am proud of my son – but not proud of the fact that he died for his country in a war that was not necessary. I accept that it is a serviceman’s duty to fight. But in a futile situation like this, I think it’s evil to put men’s lives at risk when negotiations around a table can save so much heartbreak.”
Strong comments, and surely worthwhile revisiting three decades later, but there was no story anywhere in the 13 June edition, nor in the weeks either side of this landmark date according to my search of the Bridport News website, which publishes every major story from the print edition.
Away from what might have been a missed splash, how else did the Newsquest-owned Bridport News perform for its 8,940 readers who each spend 40p a week for their news in the small West Dorset town?
The page one story was good enough, with ‘Reckless’ as the banner headline on what must be a recurring challenge for police and coastguards to prevent daredevil teenagers venturing along the town’s pier during storms.
There were a couple of notable leads highlighting local council decisions: ‘Concerns over cuts to day care centre’ on page two and ‘St Michael’s plans face hammer blow’ on page four.
And there were various local crime stories, community events, school reports, two detailed 100th birthday tales, a celebrity visit by ex-ITN legend Sandy Gall and a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee picture spread.
In a 64-page paper, there was a healthy total of 185 stories on 36 news and features pages, with an additional 24 reports on four sports pages.
Yet despite this solid enough diet of general reportage, the Bridport News lacked a gripping human tale, and I was left feeling that one seemingly proffering itself might have been forgotten.
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The Falklands tale was a missed opportunity. They should have seen it coming as there were plenty of anniversary reminders but a word from the front counter would have helped. Have they still got a front counter or is it an unfit-for-purpose regional call centre?
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I don’t know what happens at Bridport but on my own newspaper the classified ads are not seen by editorial until the day the paper comes out. In the “good old days” when ads were taken at the front office, a savvy receptionist would alert us to potential stories. Ads these days are set in a different county – some in a different country – so unless there is some arrangement put in place that allows sight of ads pre-press, I guess all newspapers will be guilty of missing the occasional good story. Times have changed, Mr Dyson.
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I think we need to think about the most important person in this – the customer. How irritated do you get when you go into the bank to pay a bill, change an address or something and later the day get a phone call from another department asking if you want a credit card? The same applies here. The family have paid good money to place this ad and have a right to expect that their transaction with the paper is for the ad, not to provide a tip-off to editorial.
If, of course, the front counter or call centre was required to ask if people placing ads minded being contacted by editorial, that would be different. But the idea of reception acting as a monitoring service for good stories being placed as ads doesn’t feel right, and is an example of why many people don’t trust journalists.
As for the story itself, I don’t think it does beat the splash the paper did have. It would have been worth documenting, but the splash story is topical, relevant and should appeal to a lot of people.
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Steve, you know as well as I that editorial and advertising departments never speak. They should, but it doesn’t happen. There are journos who can see across the fence and see potential for longer-term gains on the other side; the problem is the commission-driven sales people who are solely focused on making money that week and that week only. No long-term view required.
Agreed that this would have made for an amazingly emotive piece but more-often-or not, the editorial bods don’t see proofs of ad pages. That would have taken some initiative on behalf of ad sales or production. Not going to happen any time soon!
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Re stories in Adverts. Yeah it is a shame but editorial do not see any adverts now they are all processed centrally.
I am still in my 20s but five years ago receptionists and ad bookers would routinely tip us off.
Now the first we see of adverts is the day the paper comes out as they are booked and processed by a central team 30 miles away (I pity JP journos who will soon have some of their Ad staff in India).
Sometimes (if they are booked early enough) a sub may see them on a page but this is often very late in the day (ie 2 hours before deadline) other times they are just marked with a “holding template”.
Sad but it’s the way of the industry now.
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Why should a 30th anniversary be special , why not 28, 29, and all the others ? It may be the Bridport News already covered this on the 25th anniversary. Why do papers insist on these landmarks – usuually in multiples of 5 or 10 years. I think it’s lazy journalism.
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Oh dear, Lensman, what a myopic view. You’ll be telling us next that the 100th anniversary of the First World War is a “lazy landmark”. You stick to the pics, we’ll stick to the words.
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As always, some good points in the above comments – thank you. One point though. Yes, the ability to mix/share with classified staff/front counter staff may have gone. But the story could still have been found via i/ a good news diary; ii/ local thoughts/research on national news (the Falklands War anniversary had been big in the news); iii/ if all else failed, reading classifieds once it was in print would have provided the nudge for the story the following week.
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And who’s to say the receptionist/booker would have spooted the story potential in this small ad? Being a wannabee reporter has certainly never formed a part of any job ad for an advertising receptionist that I’ve ever seen.
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Spotted. I meant spotted.
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Memoriam. I do hope I’m not the only one who noticed.
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Steve Dyson would look a lot better with sideburns, like Bradley Wiggins. Also, I would like to know: Can Steve play a musical instrument?
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I do like Steve Dyson, but I feel he and the respondents on here are taking everything so seriously. We newspaper people need to be a bit more Jovial, and a lot less Saturnine. The way things are going, we are all going to be out of a job in a couple of years. Let’s try doing things differently.. be more positive !
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