A North East daily has published a 40-page supplement listing the top 100 things about the region after a jibe by a national newspaper.
The Journal, Newcastle first published a supplement entitled ‘100 Reasons Why It’s Great Up North’ in 2004, shortly after Brian Aitken became the paper’s editor.
Now ten years on, the Trinity Mirror-owned title has revisited the idea.
And Brian, who is shortly due to step down from the editor’s chair to take up a business development role with publisher ncjMedia,revealed that it was a jibe published in a national newspaper comparing the region with Detroit that spawned the latest update.
The comparison was drawn in a lengthy analysis of the region’s problems by writer Andy Beckett was published in The Guardian last month.
Said Brian: “It was the jibe about Detroit that really hurt. To anyone who lives in the North-East or who knows it well, the comparison was clearly wrong.
“Ten years ago, we came up with 100 reasons why it’s great up north. We’ve revisited it a couple of times since and now, to mark a decade since the first one, we’ve given it a major revision.
“It’s been a joy to do. This is not about putting a positive spin or gloss on our area. It’s the truth.”
Readers were asked for their contributions to the list, with the red squirrel emerging as the No 1 reason why the region is rated such a great place to live.
The supplement can be read here.
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Well I guess they’re reasonably tasty but I’m not sure they’re the best thing about the. North-East. What a load of complete tosh!
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Easy copy. People who read the local paper know what is good and bad about the local area. Space filler.
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Be fair to the Journal here – the 100 reasons list is not a countdown, so red squirrels in Northumberland is just ONE of the 100 reasons, not THE top one. It’s a fantastic list, so stop your cynicism.
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Many of the economic problems in the North East are made worse by a lack of self-confidence in the area. Features like this go a long way to boosting confidence and anyway, we like being reminded of the good things we have here!
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I’d rather see this ‘space filler’ than some below par UGC. It may be ‘easy copy’, but it engaged some readers and was professionally laid out, not detracting from the quality of the product.
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