A regional daily was the first UK newspaper to report the Brussels terrorist attacks in print yesterday.
The Oldham Evening Chronicle covered the atrocities, which are estimated to have left 34 dead, on its front page yesterday.
Two explosions happened at Brussels Airport shortly after 7am UK time, while a further blast took place at a metro station in the centre of the Belgian capital around an hour later.
The Chronicle is one of the last daily newspapers in the country to still print ‘on the day’.
Elsewhere, the Eastern Daily Press changed its masthead to the colors of the Belgian flag in memory of the victims of the attacks in today’s edition.
The EDP also decided to remove an advert from the front page tribute, pictured below.
Editor-in chief Nigel Pickover said: “We guessed the nationals would go with the horror/death toll angles of the Brussels attacks – and most did – with later deadlines we decided on our front page in late evening.
“With the masthead changing to the colours of the Belgian flag, and for one day moving an advert off the front page, we think the picture-led front is both poignant and powerful.”
The Western Daily Press decided to convey the “carnage” of the atrocities on its front page today, pictured below, printing a photograph of a woman injured by one of the blasts.
The Northern Echo focused on those responsible for the attacks on its below front page, publishing a CCTV still of three suspects at the airport.
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Once upon a time regional dailies used to excel at delivering national and international stories.
Nowadays, live news is the domain of the internet only.
It’s a great nostalgic hark back for these titles, but is it the best use of a regional daily’s dominant pages? I don’t think so.
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I never understand why regional and local newspapers dedicate so much time and space to INTERNATIONAL news like this. If people want national and international news they’ll go and buy a national or international newspaper or go online to find it. Stick to your own patch, honestly. Who are people going to come to first for an international story? You or Sky News?
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I say well done to the editors and editorial staff of these papers.
Yes, TV and the web did have first dibs on this breaking story but this was probably the first opportunity for many people to sit down – on a bus, train, over a cuppa and properly digest the big story.
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They’ll look online. Failing that, a national.
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Confused is spot on and avacado is spot off! Congrats to the Chron for doing something which was “unremarkable” ten years ago. Not everybody in this world sits by a computer or a TV news station every day of their working life. Some people don’t actually work in offices. They spot a bill declaring “Scores die in terror attack” and buy a paper, possibily on impulse They still like to read the paper on the way home, throw it down on the bar in the local and argue the toss. Those outside our wonderful media bubble still expect their regional daily to carry “news”, avocado, with that magic word: “Today”. Ex-Buryite, do you expect them to wait until the next morning to buy a national, or their own “up to date” regional daily?Sadly, their number is decreasing, as they realise that their evening newspapers can’t meet that remit while the suits wet themselves about digital.
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‘do you expect them to wait until the next morning to buy a national, or their own “up to date” regional daily?
No that’s the point,no one buys a paper for the news, they check their phone, they look at their laptop or tablet,the check the 24 hour news channels, they want instant news, rolling breaking news as it happens,video clips, eye witness accounts ,no one these days sees a headline and thinks to buy a paper knowing its out of date soon as its published having been written and printed hours ago.
Regional papers should stick to local news not available elsewhere ( and I’m being kind as even the most local news can be found quickly and in more depth on line too)
@barbarossa you’re describing how people sought news in the 1970s.the worlds changed and moved on.
Time to accept how people access news these days and face facts.
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Expresser. Did you not read what I posted? “Not everybody in this world sits by a computer or a TV news station every day of their working life. Some people don’t actually work in offices.” Some people still enjoy reading the printed, written word – in newspapers and books – and we should cherish that. As it is, regional papers don’t even have the capability to stick to local news, to put in papers or websites. But that is another story. PS: how do digital journalists maintain a cuttings book?
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I’m missing the bit about the exclusive lines, the in depth analysis, the insightful commentary… oh wait, local newspapers print rehashed agency news on their front page about a story that is off patch… and this is worth a story?
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“…local newspapers print rehashed agency news on their front page about a story that is off patch…”
I think some people here don’t actually know people who aren’t journalists. Non-journalists generally are unaware of “agency news”. They are interested in news, local, national or international. As Confused stated earlier: “This was probably the first opportunity for many people to sit down – on a bus, train, over a cuppa and properly digest the big story.” Sadly, we have stopped catering for these people.
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Confused and Barbarossa, when was the last time you saw anyone reading a paper on a bus or train, rather than looking at their smartphone? It happens, but it’s rare. Expresser, Percy and everyone else are absolutely right!
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Barbarossa
” How do journalists keep a cuttings book?”
Seriously?
That went out with the ark
nowadays a print screen, a web link or an electronic file: psp, jpg or pdf are easy,clean and simple methods widely used and easily accessed and shared
And whilst you’re right majority of people don’t sit at desks or work in offices they are very well catered for as most have a mobile phone or portable device or access to the Internet for instant round the clock news in seconds.
The days of reading ‘news’ in a local paper have all but gone and are probably the last place folk look these days when they want to know what’s going on.
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Be very interested to know what it did for sales. In my experience, going with these kind of stories (ie ones that are old and already very well told) is not popular.
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“In my experience, going with these kind of stories (ie ones that are old and already very well told) is not popular.”
The whole point is that when the Oldham Evening Chronicle splashed on the story it was not old or already very well told. It had happen that day.
Tell you what, just give up on print altogether. Oh, and let’s burn all our books, ‘cos we’ve got Kindle!
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@Barbarossa
I’m not anti-newspapers. I’d just question whether this is what local papers are for and what readers want.
As I said, in my experience, with national/international news, the answer to the question as to whether to go big on these stories – reflected in sales and hits – is a resounding no.
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Barbarossa, it doesn’t matter how current it was; it was old the second it hit the press. Local newspapers shouldn’t be trying to keep up with the pace of digital with international news; it just doesn’t make sense. They should be providing a completely different experience.
This is just journalism for other journalists – ‘We beat the nationals to it!’. Big whoop!
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@barbarossa
‘ the news happened that day..”
That in itself is out dated as news is assessed in hours and minutes, not days.
I’m sure there were those urging a continuation of the stage coach and pony express once the telegraph was invented but times have changed and everyone involved in media and news gathering needs to move with it, like it or not.
The news was available instantly on line and on news feeds via phones so all this paper excercise will have done ( unless sales went through the roof which I very much doubt but will stand corrected if they did ) will be to have alerted people to head on line to get breaking news and live updates so it’s not a case of ‘burning books’ it’s more a case of horses for courses ,sadly and as much as we try to deny it, or resist it getting ‘news’, national or hyper local, is not what traditional news papers are good at any longer.
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no wonder the industry is in such a mess. Look at the confusion in these comments, although very interesting.
Choice 1. Great chance to read in print a major story.
Choice 2. Waste of space as everyone (sic) has seen it online.
Conclusion:
No-one knows what a good story is for a local paper now.
You takes your picks folks.
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Choice 3. Print is finished. Move on. Oh wait, the bosses haven’t yet figured out how to make digital pay.
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