A new fortnightly newspaper has been launched by a group of local residents after the town’s long-standing title was suspended pending a search for new owners.
The Glossop Gazette was published for the first time this week after the Glossop Chronicle halted production last month, along with sister title the Tameside Reporter, so talks could take place with potential new owner the New Charter Housing Association.
Now a group of local people with no background in newspapers or journalism have set up the Gazette, which was published for the first time on Tuesday after just two weeks to put it together.
The new title had an initial print run of 5,000 and is being sold at local newsagents for 90p, with editor Daniel Bennett saying the response to it has been “amazing”.
He told HTFP: “We have had a newspaper in Glossop since the 1850s. It stopped being published and we got to where we had three weeks without a newspaper in the town and I thought ‘let’s do something about it’.”
“The problem we have had with local newspapers in the past is that the first three pages have been local then everything else has been out of Glossop. We decided to just cover local news.
“Everybody is telling us that we should just carry on regardless of whether the Chronicle comes back. We are bringing a very fresh approach to reporting news in Glossop which I think people appreciate.”
Since the first issue was produced, the team of volunteers have since had contact with some journalists who may get involved with the publication.
Daniel, who has a background as a wildlife conservation biologist, said the first edition was printed by Archant but they are hoping to find a company nearer Glossop to print the title.
The new title will only include news from the specific local area immediately around Glossop and aims to hold local government to account.
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Set up by “a group of local people with no background in newspapers or journalism”. Get away.
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What with all the capital letters? I feel like I’m being shouted at.
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I agree no NCTJ background nor news gathering experience – bad news.
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Does that mean it’s bad news for Glossop or for the NCTJ? Do you really think only trained journalists should be allowed to make newspapers? I think scientists are at least as good with the truth as journalists, and being born and raised in the town means we have infinitely more knowledge, contacts and experience of local issues than a journalist who wanders in from elsewhere. The fonts and layout might be a bit out in the first edition but the content and quality of writing is superb. If you have actually read the paper then you can criticise our poor journalism constructively. I’m of the opinion that the quality of writing and the investigative work that has gone into this publication is much higher than any of the local rags, past or present.
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Never mind the silly comments Daniel
The proof is in the pudding
and let the people of Glossop SHOUT THEIR APPROVAL
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‘Do you really think only trained journalists should be allowed to make newspapers?’
Erm, yes. Being able to string a sentence together is one thing – but journalism isn’t just about writing.
I have seen first hand how untrained ‘journalists’ have committed some of the worst howlers ever. Identifying incest victims, with a picture of the perpetrator’s house on the front page of a so-called newspaper, being a prime example.
Spend years being trained, learn newspaper law, make the mistakes trainee reporters make and learn from experienced journalists, and then – and only then – should keen amateurs be set free to run a newspaper.
I’m wondering what training the staff of the Glossop Gazette have had, and what will happen when the inevitable legal challenge drops on the editor’s desk.
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Three cheers for Daniel and the Glossop Gazette team on a job well done. Who is better qualified to comment on local news than local people themselves? My only criticism is it’s fortnightly publication. I am sure anyone who read the Gazette would be delighted with a weekly edition.
Having read the edition, I would have to agree with Cezzy P, that the lack of ‘trained’ staff could be bad news as its come across because whilst I would agree with Daniel that it is well written – it’s also slightly prejudiced to views of the writers with stories such as the knot-weed article or the bats mentioning the council but having no response from the council, along with a general anti council tone throughout it.
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It’s good that local people are making a stand and producing their own paper.
It would be worth getting some design tips though as, with respect, it looks a bit unattractive.
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I wish them every success.
I also wish they’d got a newspaper designer in. That front page is hard to navigate, which is a shame as it looks like they’ve got some strong stories for a launch edition:
– Library shake-up
– Bat slaughter
– Knotweed in all local rivers bar one.
All of which is directly relevant to its local readership.
It’s a shame there’s no pictures of people on the front page. They could have been protesting outside the library, looking at the knotweed or taking part in a community event.
Above all, this is a community publication and the team will learn by doing. Hope that first issue sells out.
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Fair play to them but have to take issue with Mr Bennett saying: ” think scientists are at least as good with the truth as journalists.”
You are confusing national journalists at tabloids with local reporters.
As pointed out the council stories have no comment from the council? Was the council even contacted? These are basic journalism fundamentals which stop you from being sued or shut down.
Do the people writing have any media training or have sat the mandatory media law exams all journalists are required to take before doing any reporting on legal matters?
The first time the paper prints something which turns out not to be true (which does happen to even the papers with the best intentions) they will be shut down or sued out of existence, if they continue to not get the opposing sides to stories.
Fair and accurate reporting. Learn it.
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Well done, once started at least they can tweak it as it grows up. Dead easy to criticise on this platform particularly people who have been wage earners all their lives and who have never risked anything other than a mortgage! How are we supposed to rejuvenate an industry without some lads risking their cash!
Give it time. Good news. Let’s see what they do.
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Well done, and I wouldn’t worry at all about the first edition – it’s all the subsequent ones that will be the challenge.
I wish them every success and if nothing else this proves that people still believe in local newspapers. Good News!
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Thanks for the encouragement and advice, we’d welcome any direct input!
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How many words in a paragraph ?
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Hello we are publishing Issue 4 this week and I wonder of any of our critics have read it yet?
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http://library.mampam.com/glossopgazette-issue1-public.pdf
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