Phew!

Well, the new-look paper is out on the streets.

It's a huge relief for everyone here. We're very pleased with the revamp, although there might well be a little 'tweeking' here or there in the next issue. You can never tell what things will really look like until you get it in your own hands.

We didn't have a great amount of time to complete the redesign but then again I suppose we're used to deadlines.

While everyone worked full tilt, a special mention must go to our sports section who managed to fill an Echo-best 12 pages of sport. All this and they were a man down due to holidays.

Having gone through it first hand, I can safely say I know why the Echo has only had three radical face-lifts in its 117-year history.

But this is isn't end. There'll be another big announcement next month, I think. After that, I'm going to have a lie down!

Design for life...

If you pick up a copy of this week's Echo (and I recommend you do!) turn to page three and you'll see somewhat of an announcement.

Yep, the Echo is having a makeover.

We're not reinventing the wheel but you'll be amazed how much discussion and pulling of hair goes on behind the scenes when we're coming up with a new look.

WOBs, gutters, anchors, indents... I won't bore you with the technical details, but suffice to say it's been a big job. Some readers will like it, some will hate it. Though being honest most won't care!

You buy a paper for what's in it, not what it looks like, surely?

Design is a much discussed topic at any newspaper. What works, what makes the reader experience vertigo. Every so often we have some design guru arrive at the Echo to tell us how we should be doing it. They always seem to say we should plaster huge photos everywhere. Not easy when you have to pack in up to 15 stories on page 18!

I shouldn't dismiss all this. Lots of clever people have spent lots of time working it all out. The gurus have been to university to do design. They know far more about it than I will ever do.

But if you're ever in the Wolverhampton area pick up the monster that is the Express and Star. It breaks every rule of design. In fact, it laughs in its face. From a semi-trained eye it looks all over the shop. Stories seem to be thrown on the page.

It is also very successful. Everything little thing is poured into the paper. They get as much news into each issue as is humanly possible. Nothing is left out.

A newspaper isn't a glossy holiday brochure. I always try to remember this when I enviously look at another rag with all the bells and whistles. Design is important, bit the stories are vital.

I think everyone here is pleased with how the Echo will look (even though my 'great' idea of ditching headlines for news in briefs was given a big thumbs-down!). But there will be a huge collective intake of breath on Thursday morning when the paper comes out. What will the readers think?

Admission Time

I have an admission to make. I'm not English. Well, half of me is. The other half is made up of Septic Tank. Yes, I'm half Yank. My father was an oilman from Texas (no joke!). I've got the passport to prove it.

So what? Well it's the American election. I can't get enough of it. I'm addicted. I've got a huge list of blogs and news sites I visit every night to find out the very latest. And the election proper hasn't even started yet.

I might even get to vote. The process looks a little tricky but I'm going to give it a go.

The candidate I'm rooting for is Obama. My girlfriend is fed up with the 'Go Obama' jig I do whenever he picks up another state.

He seems too good to be true. Intelligent and a great orator. The polar opposite to George W. Hopefully Obama can start to repair the damage done to the US's reputation over the past few years.

If you'd have asked me a year ago I would have supported Hillary Clinton. But her negative attacks on Obama have put me off. You could also ask that if this is the way she runs a campaign, how would she run a country?

Obviously she has her strengths. But the more I see of her, the less I like her.

On the Republican side you have John McCain. He's a likeable maverick who has battled through everything from torture (in Vietnam) to malicious rumours (courtesy of George W).

He might have an anger-management problem and I'm a little nervous of his 'Bomb Iran' song, but at least he seems to be immune from all the weasely Washington lobbyists. And he believes in global warming. Which is a good start.

So whoever gets in it'll be an improvement. Americans are not the dumb, insular folk they are made out to be. Although I might be the exception that proves the rule!

Contacting the Paper

Bus crashes, unexpected births and men's pants... just your usual Echo this week!

One of things I'm most asked by readers is how to get something in the paper. It really is as simple as contacting us.

Say if you're advertising an event. Just e-mail (or phone, or even post) in the details and hey presto, it's in.

What details to include? My advice is to keep it simple. What, when, where, why and perhaps a how.

Don't try to write the story yourself. This is not to say nobody but us reporters can write, but we do know house style.

And always, ALWAYS, include a contact number (preferably daytime) so if the reporter does need to contact you they can. It is amazing the number of times when we have been given an incomplete story and no contact details to chase it up.

Some people can get a little nervous calling up a paper, especially if it's their first time. That's understandable, but never forget it's the reporter's job to get the info and write the story.

I anything goes wrong, it's our fault!

Books, Relaxation and Pain!

I will be updating my blog a lot more than just once every two weeks. Honest. I've been enjoying a very laid-back break in France. The weather was wet but it didn't matter.

I spent most of the time in front of a log fire reading books or listening to podcasts. I also drank and ate. A lot. I've never been so rotund.

So spare a though for me as I've been coerced to take on a challenge which is pure madness. Visit www.toughguy.co.uk and you'll see.

Something tells me I'm going to be regretting all those croissants.

Does a Newspaper Need a Voice?

Look closely at the front of the Echo. The bit where it actually says Loughborough (or Shepshed) Echo. In little letters you'll find the tagline 'Your Community Champion.'

Is this corporate branding or an accurate description of what the paper is about? I'd like to think the latter.

Our reporters are drilled to think how the stories they report on affect the readers. Also, no story is seen as too small to matter. If you call up complaining about a broken curb on your street, we will run the story in the paper. It might be just a couple of paragraphs, but it will get in.

But while 'Your Community Champion' is, I believe, accurate and harmless for a town weekly, it does lead to an area which I must admit makes me feel uncomfortable.

The nationals all have their own identities, their own 'voice.' Just turn to the comment section in any of them. Here you will no doubt find a section where the paper 'tells it like it is.'

These editorials are supposed to be the paper's views on a few of the main stories of the day.

This makes me curl up inside. Why? Well, why should the views of the editor (or probably one of the reporters) matter?

I know plenty of journalists. As a group, they are neither more or less intelligent than anyone else. They are just people - some can't to math, some can't spell (sorry!), some are sports-mad, while others couldn't pick Rooney out of a line-up.

People who work for a paper are no different from the people working in the mobile phone place next door. They might be naturally inquisitive and calm under pressure, but is that any different from the office gossip or the hot-shot salesman?

If I feel ill I would consult a doctor, if my washing machine packed up, I'd call an engineer. I wouldn't get the page designer from across the office to fix my car. They'd be great at designing a news page but pretty useless at fitting a new fan belt.

So why on earth should we take the advice of a paper on what to think about the US election, immigration or Kate Moss?

I always thought it was a newspaper's job to report fairly on what is going on. Presenting the views of people who ARE in the know in a thought-provoking and interesting way.

But I believe these comment pieces give the game away. They reveal the prism you are reading the news through. What you are often reading is news filtered to fit what the paper thinks – or what they think the readers think.

Of course, sometimes it's not that sinister. In many cases a paper hasn't a clue what's going on and just makes up a view.

Reporting on a science or medical story often catches them out.

The MMR jab, global warming, encouraging people to think they can win the lottery while laughing at the bloke who's concerned about a big rock smashing into our planet (which one is more likely?) – these are just a few subjects in which papers find themselves in a twist.

It's not the fault of editors or reporters. These things are complicated and not a lot of people understand them, so how can they? They don't. But they're confident enough to lecture us on what we should think.

Other editors will say having a paper having its own voice is essential. Otherwise they'd be dull and wouldn't connect with readers. They have a point. The Independent was set up to offer just the 'news' and I must admit it's pretty boring!

It just makes me squirm to think we are expected to believe this stuff, or that journalists think they are experts on everything.

For instance, I know less than nothing about religion. I'm not proud of my ignorance. I've tried my hardest to learn the difference between a Bishop and a Vicar, Hindu and Sikh, Catholicism and the CofE. But I've reported on many stories about religion. I've relied on people who do know. I've called a Bishop.

Would I write an article advising on what a church should be doing? In my job, there's a chance I might have to.