Turmoil on the Mount
The Sunday Mail has a page 10 story today headlined “Turmoil on the Mount — Newspaper editor quits, reporter accused of poll bias”.
It’s mainly about allegations of bias against The Border Watch by the Liberal Party.
The story is based on the fact former editor Frank Morello has been assisting independent candidate for Mount Gambier, Don Pegler, with his media releases.
Frank’s wife Sandra is a senior journalist at The Border Watch and was effectively the chief political reporter.
When the Liberals discovered Frank’s connection to Pegler’s campaign they complained that Sandra had a conflict of interest. They had earlier claimed Sandra’s reporting was biased (before they knew of Frank’s connection).
ABC Radio interviewed Pegler about the allegations on Friday. (more…)
Leaving The Border Watch
There may be some interest in the fact I have left The Border Watch. This will be my only public statement.
When you hold a senior position in an organisation you learn to ride the bumps and take the rough with the smooth.
If you’re unhappy in a job you either put up with it, change the things that make you unhappy or leave.
I couldn’t change the things that were making me unhappy, so I chose to leave. I reflected on this while on holiday in January, and handed in my notice the day I returned to work.
The Border Watch is a very good newspaper with a proud history. It will be 150 years old next year.
The Border Watch is unique. (more…)
Old loons and newspapers
The judge, the soroptimist and a cactus
I appeared before a Supreme Court judge this week. More later.
Meanwhile, I’m sure that Soroptimists are lovely people.
In fact, Soroptimist International is a worldwide organisation for women in management and professions, working through service projects to advance human rights and the status of women.
But I wish they would buy their own camera, or use a mobile phone that has a camera inbuilt.
Ever since I started in my current job, and for years before, a Soroptomist drops into the office regularly to collect a tiny battered camera. They use it to take photos of guest speakers, handover ceremonies and the like.
They are the only community organisation that does this and nobody else in the office uses the dilapidated camera.
This week a Soroptimist called in and the camera was missing. (more…)
Text the editor
A newspaper in a neighboring town, The Spectator at Hamilton, has a popular “text the editor” section.
The concept isn’t entirely new, of course. I’ve seen it in many places elsewhere and Mount Gambier’s paper does it as well.
In fact, I was interviewed by a university student during the week, who was researching how independent newspapers have adopted “new media” such as the internet and SMS.
She commented how The Border Watch has a more interactive website than The Spectator, but fewer text messages. I had pondered that myself.
Anyhow, what struck me about Hamilton’s text messages is how funny some of them are and how chaotic the whole thing is in a strangely entertaining way. The ones I receive are normally bagging someone or something.
A couple from The Spec that really amused me were:
“My new year resolution was to try jogging. Trouble is, ice keeps jumping out of my glass.”
And lost the clipping, but quote from memory:
“To the elderly man who advertised looking for a wife, you can have mine, phone now.”
The Columbian Press
The first edition of The Border Watch was published on April 26, 1861 on a Columbian Eagle Press. The original press is on display at The Border Watch office in Mount Gambier today (pictured below).
According to the National Museum of American History, the Columbian iron hand press was invented in 1813 by George Clymer (1754–1834), a Philadelphia mechanic.
From about 1800 Clymer built wooden presses and then versions of the new iron presses from Europe. The extravagant design, incorporating levers and counterweights, was quite original, but Clymer did not find a ready market in the United States, perhaps because printers were not yet ready to give up their old wooden presses. He moved to England in 1818 and acquired a partner. By the 1840s their presses were being manufactured by several dozen firms across Europe, including Ritchie & Son of Edinburgh.
The Columbian press is covered with symbols, including its name as a reference to the United States. An American eagle in full relief serves as a counterweight at the top of the frame. He holds in his talons Jove’s thunderbolts combined with the olive branch of peace and the cornucopia of plenty. The press was adopted in 1819 as the emblem of Washington, D.C.’s Columbia Typographical Society, a local union of journeyman printers, and it represented their republican sentiments both in the larger political sense and as their expression of pride and independence in their craft. The Society met at the “Press and Eagle” Tavern, and members carried banners emblazoned with images of the Columbian press in their parades. (more…)
