Sunday Post publishes on a Saturday for the first time in nearly 100 years

The Sunday Post published for the first time on a Saturday since 1917 when it launched a Christmas Special that went on sale on December 24th. 

The 2016 Christmas Special from Dundee-based publisher DC Thomson was packed with uplifting festive stories, quizzes, a short story, a free Oor Wullie and The Broons keepsake, and a free in10 magazine as well as the title’s usual columnists including Kenny Dalglish, Lorraine Kelly and Alan Brazil. 

The paper went on sale in Scotland and the north of England for its usual cover price of £1.70, and sales significantly exceeded expectations.

 

Editor Richard Prest said: “Traditionally when Christmas has fallen on a Sunday we haven’t published, but earlier this year we thought why not?  Our readers love the paper so we decided they shouldn’t miss out on their favourite read this Christmas. From there the team set about creating an edition that tried to capture the spirit of Christmas.  

“We made a conscious decision that it should only contain uplifting, inspirational and fun stories given the time of year.  So that’s what we did and we were delighted by the response from the public who bought it in huge numbers, way beyond what was initially expected.

“As clichéd as it sounds, this was true team effort from editorial, advertising, marketing, circulation, production and also the retailers who got right behind a product that wouldn’t ordinarily be on sale on a Saturday.”

ABC: January sees 16% digital boost for national newsbrands

THE official ABC figures for January show that the UK national newspaper market enjoyed a 16 per cent month-on-month uplift across digital platforms, according to analysis from Newsworks.

The figures equate to a total of 36.5 million unique browsers daily across the month, the marketing body for national newspapers reports.

An extra 80 million unique browsers accessed digital content compared with December 2016. Growth was not just limited to digital, with overall print circulations up across all sectors – mids, pops and quals – month on month. The daily market witnessed a 1.6 per cent boost, while the Sunday market’s circulation increased by 0.9 per cent.

In a big month for news, with Theresa May revealing her 12 point Brexit plan, Donald Trump inaugurated as 45th President of the United States and Meryl Streep taking him to task in her Golden Globes speech, it’s unsurprising that people turned to newbrands’ content to stay informed, Newsworks added.

UPM Shotton workers hold minutes silence

A MINUTE'S silence was held at UPM Shotton today in memory of a contractor who died following an accident involving a lorry at the north Wales newsprint manufacturing plant on Monday morning.

The entire UPM Shotton workforce at the Deeside plant joined together at their weekly safety talk to observe the minute's silence at 12.45pm. They were joined by employees throughout the Shotton group as well as employees from a wide number of companies across the UK.

Mr Austin Thomas, a contractor working for transport company Downton, was fatally injured when he was struck by a bucket loader in the recovered paper warehouse at UPM Shotton on Monday.

"We have had many individuals and companies, from within the UK paper industry and beyond, who have made contact with us to express condolences to the bereaved and solidarity with all employees who have been affacted by the tragic accident," said UPM Shotton general manager David Ingham.

"Both UPM and Downton have provided full access to their respective occupational health teams, which will offer counselling to those affected if required," he added.

The mill and warehouse were closed on Monday night until Tuesday morning as a mark of respect to Mr Thomas's family and colleagues.

North Wales Police were called to the scene and the driver of the bucket loader was arrested and later released without charge. Investigation of the incident was handed to the Health and Safety Executive by North Wales Police on Tuesday.

In a statement this week, UPM Shotton said: "UPM and Downtown, who are contracted to provide warehouse services for UPM Shotton, have now fully reviewed all procedures following the incident. The Health and Safety Executive have also been consulted and have approved these.

"UPM Shotton will continue to work closely with all parties to identify the cause of the incident."

News Media Association wins press exemption in Digital Bill

THE News Media Association (NMA) has secured an exemption for journalists from a proposed new law that criminalises the leaking of information held by Government departments.

The Digital Economy Bill permits Government departments to share information on individuals and companies with each other, where the aim is to detect and investigate fraud against the public sector. The original version of the Bill then went on to prohibit the disclosure of this information for any other purpose.

The NMA and Media Lawyers Association expressed concern that this provision could be applied to leaks and whistleblowing by public servants to newspapers and represented a serious risk to investigative journalism.

The Government has now amended the Bill in the House of Lords to include a defence for “publication of information for the purposes of journalism, where the publication of the information is in the public interest.”

The full story is on the News Media Association website.

NCTJ report on freelance journalism published

A NEW NCTJ report into freelance journalism reveals that the self-employed want more training but face financial challenges.

The 52-page report, Exploring Freelance Journalism, provides independent, comprehensive labour market information about the freelance journalism sector and includes the results of a recent survey of more than 600 freelance journalists.

Journalism now has one of the highest rates of self-employment of all occupations, says the NCTJ. From 2000 to 2015, the number of freelance journalists increased from 15,000 to 25,000, a rise of 67 per cent, with the proportion of journalists who categorise themselves as being freelance increasing from 25 to 35 per cent, compared with 15 per cent of all UK workers.

The research found that less than one-fifth (17 per cent) have been ‘pushed’ into self-employment, with 44 per cent saying they have been attracted into freelancing and 39 per cent believing it was a mixture of both.

The NCTJ’s research consultant, Mark Spilsbury, designed the research methodology and authored the report. It is intended to help the charity and its stakeholders understand more about the nature of freelance journalists, self-employment, skills and learning. 

Freelance journalists responding to the NCTJ’s survey reported:

•  working an average of 34 hours per week, but the spread is large
• 13 per cent work two days a week or less
• 23 per cent work longer than 40 hours a week

While the average pay for all journalists from national data sources is £30,884, data from the freelance journalist survey suggests that for freelance journalists it is in the region of £19,500 – although a higher proportion of them work part-time. Freelance journalists identified the single biggest challenge as not knowing how much income they will have from month to month.

Freelance journalists are concerned about financial issues – irregular income, lack of security and inability to save – but appear to be happier with their work-life balance and more content in their lives overall due to flexibility, with 82 per cent not seeking to leave freelancing.

“This wide-ranging research report provides detailed and valuable information about the growing freelance journalism market,” said NCTJ chief executive Joanne Butcher.

“Now that journalism has one of the highest rates of self-employment in the UK economy, the NCTJ must focus more of its work on providing accessible training and qualifications to meet the needs of modern freelance journalists."

The full report is published on the NCTJ website here.

UPM Digi papers at Hunkeler Innovationdays 2017

UPM will be sharing its paper selection for digital printing at Hunkeler Innovationdays 2017, in Lucerne Switzerland on 20-23 February.UPM Digi products for highspeed inkjet printing in both reels and sheets are the latest addition to UPM's paper selection.

"We are prepared for digital sheetfed business and the different technologies, like laser or new inkjet presses coming to the markets," said UPM Digi papers sales manager Ansgar Reiners.

"In addition to our versatile paper offering, we also offer a wide range of finishing options, such as tailor-made cutting and packing for different sizes and formats from reels to reams," he added.

 UPM Digi papers are performing live on partners' HP, Xerox Impika and Screen printing machines at Hunkeler Innovationdays.

Former Express & Star librarian dies, aged 90

A FORMER Express & Star librarian who was responsible for cataloguing thousands of precious photographs has died aged 90.

Hazel Jones, from Penn, worked at the newspaper’s Queen Street headquarters in Wolverhampton after she left school in 1942. Her duties included storing and maintaining an archive of photographs that today includes one million images dating back more than a century.

Among images she stored included ones sent on the train from agencies including Press Association and Reuters from the day Princess Elizabeth married Phillip Mountbatten in 1947, and pictures from the liberation of the Belsen Nazi concentration camp.

She had recently backed the Express & Star’s campaign for Lottery funding to digitise its huge collection of old photographs.

Pictured: Hazel was given a tour Queen Street by Chris Leggett when she visited aged 88