Nice to see the Eastbourne Herald today (21 August), published by Johnston Press, with a proper wrap-round before we get to the cover of the paper inside.
The wrap-round advertises courses on behalf of the Hastings based Sussex Coast College and it does it well.
On the main wrapper at the front we have key dates. At the foot some information about A level successes and on the right information bar an outline guide to areas of interest like vocational courses and apprenticeships.
Inside, the poster style display is great. Good enough to pin on the school bulletin board. Some great snapshot real-ife stories of students and what they have achieved and where they are going next with their careers.
Turn the wrap-round over to the back and you get a full page poster style advert for the A level pass rates and a series of quotes and links.
Now turn back to the wrap-round front. Set inside you will see a pointer to a story on page 5 about a selfie picture by a pilot with the Blades at Airbourne Eastbourne as he is sky high above Eastbourne Seafront. Fabulous.
It all makes sense does it not? A wrap-round well done and a pointer to the story on page 5. Open the wrapper and there we are on the cover with a story about the Vulcan bomber at Airbourne Eastbourne.
It is simple to do when you know how is it not? So if the Eastbouren Herald knows how to do it well, why was there so much confusion in the week before the election in May this year about their wrap-round?
Many regular readers will remember exactly what happened.
They disguised the wrap-round on the front. They made it look like editorial. People were led into believing that they were supporting the Conservative Party with what appeared to be an endorsement by the paper.
Bay Life was reliably informed that on the day, the journalists in the building left demoralised and with their heads down in shame at what they had witnessed.
If Johnston Press can create a proper wrap-round today, why did they disguise their wrap-round in the week before the election? We have never been told. How much did they receive for their work that day? Was it £20,000 or was it £30,000? Was it worth it when they trashed the independent values of the newspaper and find themselves still rebuilding the trust with their readers?
They argued at the time that nothing was unclear and that it was obvious that it was an advertisement. Really?
The day after the election (May 8) Editor In Chief Gary Shipton said “the wrap had been available to any political party and had been sold as advertisement space in exactly the same way that any commercial business would have been able to purchase it. Similar wraps had appeared from this and other parties on local newspapers across the country.
“It was marked as an advertiser’s announcement with a message reinforcing this within the paper”.
Having said that he was concerned enough about the impression given to add a further comment, “But it is clear from the comments we have received that some people feel that this type of advertisement, presented as it was by the Conservative Party in an editorial style, gave the impression that the newspaper supported the party,”
Nothing is unclear about the wrap-round today, It is not editorial, it is an advertisement. Everything was unclear about the wrap-round before the election. It looked like editorial. That is because it was intended to look like editorial.
The wrap- round today shows how such a advertisement feature can be done properly and it demonstrates that the Eastbourne Herald knew exactly what it was doing in the week before the election with the wrap-round that caused so much controversy.
The fall out from what they did continues to this day.
The reputation of a sound, well written newspaper with a good range of news, features, history, community content and information about events was trashed for the £20,000 or £30,000 that they got for selling their soul. Many readers have not let them forget what they did.
Let us have more proper wrap-rounds like today and let us hope that the tarnished reputation of a quality regional newspaper can continue to be restored.
The Eastbourne Herald is a quality newspaper. It needs to build trust again with its readers. The warm wrap-round today is a good start in the right direction.
The diversity and liveliness of the local press and the independent connection with a local audience is important.
Simon Montgomery
editor, Bay Life
