It’s still really important that companies and organisations continue to communicate with their audiences

Is your company still open for business?

Or have you had to curtail your operation but are working in some other ways to help your local community?

Although the country is in the grips of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s still really important that companies and organisations continue to communicate with their audiences.

They need to be sharing stories and their current status in a positive way, either focusing on what they can do now to support customers and the community - or what they’re doing to prepare for when things get back to normal.

Picture from Pixabay

The Government has ordered certain businesses and venues to close to help stop the spread of the virus. With the exception of these organisations, the Government has not required any other businesses to close – indeed it has said it is important for business to carry on.

So if your business is still open, let people know, stressing you are following Government guidance but also detailing all the steps you are taking to keep your staff, their families and customers safe and to ensure your business can continue to operate in future.

Many firms are doing their best to support the local community and the NHS. For example, some construction companies have donated face marks usually used by their staff to the NHS. These are positive stories which also contain important public service messages – so make sure you inform the public what you are doing.

Your firm might have shut down for now. But the crisis will pass and you need to be ready for when you reopen to swiftly tell your customers you are back in operation and to remind them of the great services you offer.

Image by Thomas Ulrich from Pixabay

Here are some steps you can take:

*      Put out a press release to the local and regional media that explains how you are adapting to coronavirus and helping staff, customers and the community

*      Take out a commercial feature in a local newspaper or website

*       Use your Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/Linked-in accounts to post regular, positive stories and photographs about what you are doing

*        Post a regular blog on your website about how you are adapting and responding

If anyone is struggling to find the right words and would like help drafting any such messages please contact me at andrew@andrewthomasmedia.com

Here's a piece I wrote about how Skills Shop, which teaches life-saving skills, is adapting its working practices in light of the Coronavirus pandemic

An innovative South Cumbrian entrepreneur is using modern technology to ensure local firms and groups don’t miss out on vital health and safety training during the coronavirus pandemic.

Phil Newton, Managing Director of Barrow-based Skills Shop Ltd, is determined to ensure organisations are able to meet their legal health and safety requirements and that their staff can continue to learn life-saving skills.

“Following Government instructions about social distancing – and it is pleasing that people are adhering to them – we have to look at alternative ways of running our courses,” said Phil, 42.

“So now Skills Shop is going to be delivering innovative online courses which staff can complete at their own pace with automatically marked online quizzes.”

The company covers the whole of the north of England and offers a variety of courses, including emergency first aid at work, mental health first aid for the workplace, manual handling and conflict management.

“We give staff the confidence and skills to be able to react immediately in case of an emergency,” explained Phil.

Phil Newton, Managing Director of Skills Shop Ltd

It is a legal requirement for all companies to have someone qualified in first aid. “If someone gets injured at work a firm runs the risk of being investigated by the authorities if they don’t have a qualified first-aider,” he said. It is also mandatory for companies to carry out manual handling training.

Usually Skills Shop will go out to a client’s place of work or a nearby venue to deliver the training. But with concerns rising about coronavirus, Phil is set to run courses online.

“You can attend the course live online or watch a pre-recorded version,” said Phil. “The theory will be covered online and then we shall come out and complete any practical elements on a one-to-one bases with individuals soon afterwards.”

A conflict management course is already available online. An online mental health first aid course and an online health and safety in the workplace course will be available soon and other online courses will follow.

In another innovative move, Phil has this week launched Skills Shop Pro, a managed training service designed to help companies save time and money.

Under the scheme, firms can type in their specific training needs and delegate numbers for the next three years into a simple online pricing calculator. They immediately see the cost of that training if it was carried out by Skills Shop on an ad hoc basis – and how much they would save through using the Pro system.

The discount is 20 per cent, for example, if they pay for all the training upfront, and 15 per cent if they pay in three instalments over three years.

The training costs are fixed for three years and other benefits include exclusive online content, including being able to chat online to Skills Shop staff. Companies also receive priority booking on future courses.

“The system allows companies to factor their three-year training costs into their budget and it assists with cash flow, which is particularly important at this uncertain time,” said Phil.

I reckon I had most scenic news patch in the country

Having worked in fairly industrial areas of West Yorkshire in the early part of my career, it was a major change when I moved to Cumbria in the late 1980s to join The Westmorland Gazette as a Senior Reporter.

The Lake District was already one of my favourite parts of the country. I had read Arthur Ransome’s classic Swallows and Amazons books as a child and so felt a strong affinity with lakes like Windermere and Coniston Water. I had also already climbed a number of the Lakeland fells.

So I was very keen to get out and about and experience the marvellous scenery this area has to offer.

My first week at the newspaper was largely office-based, with occasional trips out on assignments in Kendal, such as to the local magistrates’ court, which in those days was located in Kendal Town Hall.

But on the Monday of my second week I had the opportunity to finally get out into the heart of the national park.

The News Editor asked me to do a news feature on the work of Wray Castle College of Marine Electronics, which in those days was located in Wray Castle, near Ambleside. RMS Wray Castle was a training college for Merchant Navy radio officers, with up to 150 cadets living in the castle while studying the procedures and regulations regarding the use of radio at sea.

Coniston Water - Image by Dave Noonan from Pixabay

I drove there in the morning, enjoying the journey along the A591 to Ambleside and then on to Wray. I was shown around the college and told about its work by one of its officers and enjoyed lunch with the cadets in the dining room.

Words secured in my notebook, I headed back to Kendal. But, instead of returning on the same route, I chose instead to take a bit of a detour and headed through Outgate, over Hawkshead Hill and down the western shore of Coniston Water, all the time admiring the fantastic scenery.

As I reached the southern end of the lake I spotted Peel Island over to my left. This was one of the islands that Arthur Ransome used as the model for Wild Cat Island in the Swallows and Amazons series. It is shaped like his fictional Wild Cat Island and has the same rock-sheltered ‘secret harbour’ at its southernmost point.

I pulled over and got out of the car. It was a warm autumnal day and I stood for a while gazing up and down the lake and taking in the natural beauty.

I still had to return to the office and write up my feature but at that moment none of this seemed like work. I felt very privileged to be working in such a wonderful place.

Soon afterwards I was given the ‘Lakes patch’ as my specialist district, from which I was asked to make contacts and bring in off-diary stories each week. This patch included Windermere, Bowness, Ambleside, Grasmere, the Langdale Valley and Coniston.

I quickly realised how lucky I was and how there could not be many other reporters with such a spectacular working environment.

Sunny days spent at the bowling greens of Yorkshire

In my last blog “Would you like a drop of whisky, lad?” I paid tribute to some of the ‘many true gentlemen of Yorkshire’ I encountered while working as a young reporter at my first newspaper back in the early 1980s.

Looking back, I recall a whole set of such men – the hundreds in West Yorkshire who spent many of their waking hours on the innumerable bowling greens which, oasis-like, dotted the grey-stoned towns and villages of that largely industrial area.

Crown green bowling was and still is a huge sporting and social activity in the area around Bradford, Dewsbury and Huddersfield where I worked. There were some younger players and some women, of course, but the majority of competitors I came across in those days were retired and fairly elderly men. Their love of the pastime shone through – as did their friendly but fiercely competitive nature.

All good newspapers understand their audience and my first paper recognised the importance of crown green bowling to its readers, giving over many column inches to its coverage.

I was primarily a general news reporter but each member of the news team was allocated a geographical patch to cover and given responsibility for several specialist columns. My specialities included motoring - and coverage of the thriving crown green bowling scene.

Each Monday morning a leading member of the local bowling association – let’s call him Ted – would make his way down the old wooden stairs that led to the newsroom, clutching papers which revealed the scores of the matches that had taken place over the past few days.

Ted was probably in his late 70s and seemed very old to me at the time. He was Yorkshire through and through, a genuinely nice guy and hugely enthusiastic about bowling. I was more au fait with other sports, such as football, but as every reporter knows you have to become knowledgeable very quickly in whatever topic you are asked to cover.

I would take Ted’s papers and let him describe to me some of the more important clashes of the past week and then turn all this into the weekly bowling column for that Friday’s edition.

One duty of the bowls correspondent was to attend the meetings of the local bowling association and record who was due to play who as draws were made for the forthcoming knock-out tournaments. The information went into my column but a copy also went to the association for its records – it saved them a job, I suppose, to have a reporter from the local paper doing the work.

Another duty for the paper’s bowls correspondent and its photographer was to attend some of the big tournaments in the summer to interview the eventual winner. We were always very busy at work, so the first time I was due to attend I wanted to ensure I was not there too early, but still in time to see the final ends and report on the cup presentation.

“What time should I get there?” I asked Ted that Monday.

He paused for a moment, then replied confidently: “It’ll be all over by 3.30pm, lad.”

It all seemed fairly straightforward.

On the day concerned, which happened to be warm and sunny, the photographer and I made our way to the green hosting the big tournament, arriving at 3.15pm to ensure we did not miss the finale.

But as we parked the car and I glanced towards the green, it seemed to be jam-packed with competitors, with numerous matches clearly still taking place.

Finding Ted among the crowd I asked him, somewhat bemusedly, what was happening.

Eyes still fixed on the action of the green he replied: “Ahh, lad, we’re running a little late. We’re only at the quarter final stage. Why don’t you get yourselves a drink and take a seat for a bit?”

Slightly irritated, the photographer and I went to the refreshments booth and ordered some soft drinks. Then we found ourselves a seat near the green and waited.

It had been a fairly long day at the coalface of journalism and, as the minutes passed and the warming rays of sunshine bathed our faces, we started to relax and enjoy the ambience.

Matches continued until the final, where the winner needed to accumulate 21 points. By the time the game ended and we began our journalistic duties we must have been at the green for around an hour and a half and were on our second or third soft drink.

But it had been a wonderful afternoon spent outside in the sunshine and among a friendly bunch of Yorkshire folk. It was certainly better than being stuck in a magistrates’ court listening to criminal hearings or ploughing through a dull and lengthy council meeting.

After that 3.30pm became the time the photographer and I would aim to arrive at the green when big tournaments took place – at least on the days when Yorkshire was drenched in glorious sunshine.

"Would you like a drop of whisky, lad?"

It is only when you start to look back at a career in journalism that you realise just how much has changed.

In the 1980s and 1990s you could hardly move for free newspapers starting up – some households would have three or four delivered each week.  Most have now long gone.

And, of course, the biggest change of all has been the rapid and massive rise in importance of digital media. So many people these days consume their news through websites and social media.

Back in the 1980s, print was still king but there were many assignments a young journalist would be sent out to that would never happen these days.

During my time at my first newspaper in Yorkshire reaching the age of 90 was still considered a milestone to be celebrated publicly in the local newspaper. Word would reach the news editor that someone locally had reached his or her 90th birthday – and a reporter and photographer would be despatched to their home to secure an interview and photograph.

The person reaching 90 was often female but on those occasions that I met a male who had reached his 90th birthday there was usually an engaging social ritual to go through.

After the interview, covering where he grew up, his school days, working and family life and retirement, the old fella would suddenly pause, as if deep in thought. Then came the magic words, spoken in a broad Yorkshire accent: “Would you like a drop of whisky, lad, to help me celebrate?”

Our photographer would be driving, so I was free to imbibe without risk of driving over the limit.

Heartened by my positive response, my 90-year-old new best friend would walk over to a cabinet in the corner, bend down gingerly to open it and then rummage around for some time before emerging triumphant with a very dusty and clearly rarely-opened bottle of whisky. If I was lucky the bottle would turn out to be a best single-malt Scotch.

After glasses – or sometimes just mugs – were fetched, my Yorkshire interviewee would liberally splash whisky into it. We are not talking strict bar measures here – we are talking half and two-thirds-full glasses.

The next ten minutes or so would be spent by me happily sipping and savouring the Scotch and trying to ignore the impatient glances of the photographer, who was stuck with water or orange juice at best and who was eager to get on to his next assignment.

Eventually it was time to leave the house and, after firm handshakes and declining ‘another drop’, I would be driven back to the office.

There, in a convivial and warm glow, I would attempt to write up the life story of one of those many true gentlemen of Yorkshire.

A visit to the lions’ den

For many years every newspaper had a team of experienced journalists called sub-editors.

They had specific roles in the production process. They viewed reporters’ stories, once they had been read and put in a news basket by the news editor, and played a role in deciding on which page each story would appear.

They carefully proof-read every story, looking out for literals and poor grammar and made corrections if they found such offending errors.

They also had a say in whether or not the story had the right angle, if the most important points had been given sufficient prominence, if the story flowed well and had the kind of structure that would encourage a reader to keep on reading until the end.

Most subs would not hesitate to re-write and re-order a story if they felt if would improve it – often without speaking to the reporter first.

Using whatever editorial space was available on a given page – that is, how much space was left after advertisements were taken into account – a sub-editor would then create an eye-catching design aimed at using the available words and photographs to best effect.

Sub-editors were also responsible for writing the headline and sub-heading for each story. Again the main aim was to draw a reader’s eye and entice them to read the story.

These days many newspapers use a series of templated pages and reporters write their own headlines so the heyday of the sub-editor has passed.

Sub-editors were experts on grammar and getting the best out of a story

In my early days in journalism I worked at a newspaper that had a subbing ‘pool’. This comprised a group of journalists who occupied a room just off the main newsroom.

Its occupants were what you might describe as ‘grizzled hacks’ – that is, they were mainly middle-aged, with years of journalism under their belts. They had also witnessed, over the years, every possible grammatical error a young journalist might commit.

And this tended to make them rather grumpy.

Indeed, your heart would be in your mouth if you got a call on your desk ‘phone from one of the subs calling you into the subs’ room.

The call you never wanted to receive was from one particular sub – let’s call him Syd.

Syd was close to retirement and in his long career he’d seen it all. Nevertheless he was determined to pass on his wisdom to new reporters.

I recall one episode involving Syd. My phone rang and I answered it brightly: “Newsroom”. There was a long pause. Then came a voice dripping with weary disappointment: “Andrew - please come through to the subs’ room”.

I sat at the far end of the news room and as I wandered slowly down to the subs’ room I could see the sympathetic half-smiles of fellow reporters, who had been subject to similar doom-ridden calls in the past.

Entering the lions’ den, I could see through the haze of cigarette smoke the subs hard at work, heads down and reading reporters’ stories. No-one looked up as I hovered at Syd’s shoulder.

Eventually he put down his pen and turned to face me.

“Andrew,” he groaned exasperatedly. “Your knowledge of the bloody possessive bloody apostrophe is abso-bloody-lutely appalling.”

Chastised as I was, I had to admire his ability to insert a mild swear word into the heart of the word ‘absolutely’.

Syd then proceeded to exhaustively explain the nuances and rules pertaining to the possessive apostrophe and I left, suitably enlightened.

Looking back, I thank Syd for his trouble because I realise he was teaching me a valuable lesson. Language and grammar do matter and accuracy and detail are vital skills for a journalist.

Suffice it to say my knowledge of the possessive apostrophe is now abso-bloody-lutely oustanding!

Should you ever meet your heroes?

One of the perks of being a journalist for many years is that you have the opportunity to interview some nationally-renowned people, including politicians, sportsmen and women and celebrities.

In February 1991 I was given the opportunity meet rock star Steve Harley – who had a string of hits in the mid 1970s, including the classic number one single Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me).

Steve and his band Cockney Rebel were my favourite group as a teenager. I loved Steve’s theatrical performances on Top Of The Pops, his intriguing lyrics and the music, which combined pop, folk and prog elements. My first concert was seeing Steve play at the Grand Theatre in Leeds and I was blown away by the music, the lighting and the spectacle.

I’d heard that Steve had a sometimes difficult relationship with the music press although – as a former journalist – he got on well with newspaper reporters.

But it was still with some trepidation that I drove to Wood Broughton, near Cartmel, on a bright winter’s morning to interview Steve face to face at the home of Marten Julian, who was (and still is) heavily involved in the horse racing business, but who was experimenting that year with putting on rock shows in South Lakeland.

Steve Harley at Wood Broughton in 1991 (Photo by Steve Barber)

Many people say you should never meet your heroes in case you are disappointed. Maybe, I thought, but that was not going to put me off.

Steve is only about eight years older than me but there is a massive gulf between a music-loving teenager and a twenty-something-year-old rock star selling hundreds of thousands of records and playing packed out concerts at the Hammersmith Odeon. But now I was an adult and an experienced reporter and I was determined to play it cool and be professional.

That said, as Marten greeted me and Gazette photographer Steve Barber at his lovely home and led us through to the sunny lounge, I glanced right and spotted a casually-dressed Steve sitting at the breakfast table reading a newspaper and having a cup of tea – and the nerves kicked in again.

Steve came in, we shook hands and I introduced myself and started asking questions. I was delighted that he was friendly and keen to talk and engage. Steve had been on the road playing nearly 200 gigs all over the world in the past two years and told me that touring and travelling was in his blood and something he relished.

We spoke about how he wrote – often in hotel rooms and during sound checks - and how he had been playing some old, never-released songs on a tape during his and Marten’s journey up from Surrey the day beforehand and how some of those songs might make it on to his next album.

He also recalled a visit to South Lakeland two years previously when he and Cockney Rebel drummer Stuart Elliott had gone out on to Windermere and Steve had taken pictures using a camera he bought in Kendal.

Steve Harley and myself at Wood Broughton in 1991 (Photo by Steve Barber)

With most of what I needed in my notebook, eventually I could not resist and told Steve I was a big fan of his music. He was interested to learn that I had won a copy of his 1976 album Timeless Flight through a competition in The Sun newspaper.

Steve Barber took some great portrait photos in the lounge and some outdoor shots in the extensive gardens. Knowing I was a fan, Steve took a picture of me with Steve Harley.

And then it was back to the office to write up the interview, which appeared in The Westmorland Gazette on February 15, 1991.

For me it was a fascinating and exciting assignment. I have since interviewed Steve many times over the phone and, through my friendship with Marten Julian, which grew out of that day at Wood Broughton, I have met Steve several times. And he has always been open and charming.

So, when people ask should you ever meet your heroes my answer is simple: absolutely yes!

• Steve Harley’s new album, Uncovered, will be released on February 21 - see https://www.steveharley.com/

The strange saga of the ‘Destroyed Chair’

One of the biggest changes I have witnessed during my time as a journalist has been the astonishing rise in importance of digital and social media.

It is absolutely crucial for every media organisation to have a thriving presence on the internet.

Sophisticated analytics mean that it is possible to track just how many people have looked at any particular news story and boosting your number of page impressions and unique users is an essential part of any editor’s job.

It is usually fairly easy to predict which news stories will do well on the web. But every now and then a story will come along that has surprising results. Such was the case with the story of the destroyed office chair in January 2007. Late that day Westmorland Gazette reporter Andrew Daniels uploaded a short item gleaned from routine police and fire calls. It read:

AN OFFICE chair was destroyed after it was set on fire on the grassy area, off Maude Street, Kendal, this afternoon. Fire crews from Kendal attended along with police. A spokesman for the fire and rescue service said: "A delinquent set fire to an office chair in the middle of a grassy area and it was extinguished using one hose jet."

The following Monday it was noticed that two rather dismissive comments had been posted, questioning the story’s news value. A discussion took place – should we remove them or the story itself? No, it was genuine feedback and the story let local people know why fire crews were in a Kendal park.

By Thursday a further 22 comments had been posted. These were more tongue-in-cheek and were coming from all over the world, including Dubai, Los Angeles and Ireland.

They included:

This story has upset me so much I don't think I’m going to be able to sleep tonight - I work with office chairs very closely on a daily basis and they've always treated me well
and to hear stories like this makes me sick to my stomach.

and:

I heard the chair was causing problems with posture, I've had a bent back now for 5 years and am glad to hear of these acts of revenge.

and:

Surely the bigger story here was the contribution made to global warming? Today a chair burns tomorrow the world!

The remains of the burnt office chair on grassland off Maude Street, Kendal

Within another ten days we had around 70 comments – these included various inventive poems, jokes and puns. Someone uploaded the words to Gilbert O’Sullivan’s hit Clair, swapping the word ‘Clair’ to ‘Chair’. Reporter Andrew Daniels did a follow-up story, including a picture of the scorched grassland in the park, which led to a fresh set of comments.

Eventually some of the comments started including swear words and a group started posting offensive material. After a day when monitoring comments and complaints became almost a full-time job a decision was taken to suspend comments.  It was felt the matter had run its course.

Ironically at this stage other media got hold of the story and the reaction to it. Radio Cumbria ran a five-minute item and staff started to hear the story elsewhere - on Radio 4’s Today programme, on Radio 5 Live and on Sky News. There were articles in the trade press and The Times of February 24 carried a full page and an editorial comment on the story and the reaction it has sparked. An office equipment manufacturer used the tale to help promote its products.

"Apparently, it worked its way up from the bottom”

Colin Shelbourn’s cartoon which appeared on the front page of The Westmorland Gazette during coverage of the chair saga

Throughout February and March the chair and subsequent follow-up stories were consistently in the top ten most-viewed stories of the day and week.  Indeed for months afterwards we would suddenly notice the chair story as the most-read story of the day, presumably as a new group of people discovered it and shared it among each other.

Everyone is aware now of items that go ‘viral’ but back in 2007 it felt like a fairly new phenomenon.

If you would like to see the original story and view the comments, go to https://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/1151898.chair-destroyed/

How does a cartoon appear on The Westmorland Gazette front page?

One of my responsibilities at The Westmorland Gazette was to choose the cartoon which appears on the front page each week.

The Gazette cartoons are created by Colin Shelbourn, who has been producing a topical and witty illustration for the newspaper now for more than 35 years.

It’s a popular feature and one which regularly draws praise from readers. Sometimes the cartoons are just plain funny; other times they have a tougher and satirical edge – but they are always eye-catching and provide an independent viewpoint and ‘take’ on an issues making the news in the local area.

So, what exactly is the process by which the cartoon appears on the front page of The Westmorland Gazette each week?

Usually late morning on Wednesday the news editor will receive an email from Colin asking to be sent that week’s news list. This is a document that charts the various major stories of the week and which page they are likely to appear on. It will also indicate what story is likely to make that week’s lead story – although that is not always known at this stage of the weekly cycle.

Colin browses the list and then asks for copies of those stories – or a draft if they are not yet completed – that he thinks might have the potential for a cartoon.

On other occasions Colin will visit the Gazette offices in Wainwright’s Yard for a verbal run-down of the major stories of the week.

An hour or so later Colin would approach me with a series of sketches and captions – usually at least four but sometimes as many as six - or send them to me by email.

Wednesdays can be extremely busy and if it was one of those days when the planned lead story had just fallen through and deadline was fast approaching it was sometimes a challenge to switch from ‘hard news’ to ‘humour’ mode to make the best possible decision about which cartoon to choose.

However, Colin and I have written radio and stage comedy dramas together so we share a similar sense of humour. And he also has a fine and developed sense of being able to find a joke or make a telling comment when assessing news stories.

This tended to make the process fairly simple. Usually it was a case of simply deciding which of several contenders would have the most impact or make the most people laugh.

Of course everything that is published in the paper reflects on The Westmorland Gazette and one of my jobs when choosing the cartoon was to analyse if the cartoon could create a negative reaction among some readers, in terms of taste or tone or if some people might gauge it too critical of an individual or organisation. Cartoons, like any comment, can and should be challenging and make readers think so this could sometimes be a tricky balance to get right. But mostly Colin and I agreed and he was happy to consider some amendments if we both decided they were necessary and did not ‘kill’ the joke.

I also had to be aware that Colin has a wicked sense of humour and at least one of the cartoons each week would be undoubtedly hilarious but totally and intentionally unsuitable for publication!

Once I had chosen the cartoon Colin would go and create the finished artwork and email it to me. This item would often be the final piece of the page one jigsaw and placed on the page shortly before the final page was sent to Glasgow for printing, somewhere between 5.30pm and 6pm.

(Colin’s first cartoon on the start of the 2001 Foot & Mouth crisis)

Over the years Colin’s cartoons have illustrated and provided an alternative viewpoint on a range of subjects, such as the Windermere 10mph speed limit, the spread of second homes in the Lake District, the loss of many rural services and levels of local police funding. While some subjects are difficult to tackle, Colin has astutely found ways to illustrate hard-hitting news stories like the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease and the cockling tragedy on Morecambe Bay in a way that made readers think more deeply about their implications.

Few regional newspapers feature bespoke cartoons based on local, topical issues and it was a pleasure to be involved in choosing a front page element that would make people smile and also make them think – and often both at the same time.

For more of Shelbourn’s cartoons, visit www.radiocartoonist.com