Poll results hide the true picture

11:37am Friday 10th May 2013

THE reporting of the local election results nationally was rather at odds with the experience in the North East and North Yorkshire. After all the bally-hoo and talk of a sea-change in British politics, the political map in our part of the country has changed barely a jot.

Thanks to all who go the extra mile

2:38pm Friday 3rd May 2013

THIS weekend, one of the major events in the North Yorkshire calendar – the Dales Festival of Food and Drink – takes place. Depending on our fickle weather, about 15,000 people will attend over the three days. One would think this was a well established event, and yet it is only in its 12th year. The Bishop Auckland Food Festival last month is even younger.

Questions that need an answer

10:09am Monday 22nd April 2013

THIS year’s county council elections will be different in as much as the traditional offering of candidates will be supplemented by a significant increase in the number of UKIP would-be councillors in wards usually occupied by Conservatives.

Thatcher legacy remains divisive

2:21pm Friday 12th April 2013

ASSESSMENTS of the character of Margaret Thatcher and her contribution to British history this week have dwelt upon they way she almost single-handedly steered the country in a different direction and, in doing so, attracted equal amounts of wondrous acclaim or implacable hatred.

More to pay but more to enjoy in the Darlington & Stockton Times

12:45pm Saturday 6th April 2013

FIRST, the bad news. From next week, the Darlington & Stockton Times will rise in price to £1. Yes, that is an increase of 25p, or a third. By any measure, it is a substantial rise, the biggest since the newspaper’s cover price increased from 25p to 35p in the early 1990s. Why are we doing this and why now? While the D&S remains one of the strongest and best selling weekly newspapers in England, as an editor in 2013 I face an uncomfortable choice. In the face of an increasingly fragmented media landscape and declining classified advertising revenues which at one time used to, in effect, subsidise papers like the D&S, do I ask the readers to pay more, advertisers, or do I cut costs? I have decided to take the first option. In the current climate, asking our advertisers to pay substantially more is not very attractive and cutting costs will simply harm our editorial service to North Yorkshire and County Durham. Journalism costs money and in 2013 those costs have to be born equitably between readers and advertisers. Now the good news. In return for the extra 25p, we will provide a substantial bigger and better newspaper. There will be more local news and by combining our two Yorkshire editions – Richmond & Dales, and Hambleton – our readers will enjoy a broader geographical range of news. We are also including Stokesley, Great Ayton and Hutton Rudby in our new North Yorkshire edition, a response to readers’ views that these communities naturally belong in North Yorkshire rather than Cleveland. We are also improving our features section. Weekend Times is renamed simply Weekend and goes up in size by four pages. We are using the extra space to expand our What’s On service, include new features on local food producers and pubs, puzzles and nostalgia. We will also include two events a week in the ever-popular Social & Personal section. Our Property section will also be bigger. Overall, the size of the paper will increase by an average of 24 pages a week from the current 80-88. I trust you will feel this represents good value for your £1. £1 buys very little these days. A chocolate bar, yes, but only half of the cheapest coffee in Starbucks, one tenth of the price of an adult cinema ticket, a third of a pint of beer, one sixth of a portion of fish and chips (including the paper it’s wrapped in, of course). We are proud of our plans for the improved Darlington & Stockton Times. We look forward to introducing a better newspaper to you next week. Malcolm Warne – Editor malcolm.warne@dst.co.uk

More to pay but more to enjoy in the Darlington & Stockton Times

10:59am Saturday 6th April 2013

FIRST, the bad news. From next week, the Darlington & Stockton Times will rise in price to £1. Yes, that is an increase of 25p, or a third. By any measure, it is a substantial rise, the biggest since the newspaper’s cover price increased from 25p to 35p in the early 1990s. Why are we doing this and why now? While the D&S remains one of the strongest and best selling weekly newspapers in England, as an editor in 2013 I face an uncomfortable choice. In the face of an increasingly fragmented media landscape and declining classified advertising revenues which at one time used to, in effect, subsidise papers like the D&S, do I ask the readers to pay more, advertisers, or do I cut costs? I have decided to take the first option. In the current climate, asking our advertisers to pay substantially more is not very attractive and cutting costs will simply harm our editorial service to North Yorkshire and County Durham. Journalism costs money and in 2013 those costs have to be born equitably between readers and advertisers. Now the good news. In return for the extra 25p, we will provide a substantial bigger and better newspaper. There will be more local news and by combining our two Yorkshire editions – Richmond & Dales, and Hambleton – our readers will enjoy a broader geographical range of news. We are also including Stokesley, Great Ayton and Hutton Rudby in our new North Yorkshire edition, a response to readers’ views that these communities naturally belong in North Yorkshire rather than Cleveland. We are also improving our features section. Weekend Times is renamed simply Weekend and goes up in size by four pages. We are using the extra space to expand our What’s On service, include new features on local food producers and pubs, puzzles and nostalgia. We will also include two events a week in the ever-popular Social & Personal section. Our Property section will also be bigger. Overall, the size of the paper will increase by an average of 24 pages a week from the current 80-88. I trust you will feel this represents good value for your £1. £1 buys very little these days. A chocolate bar, yes, but only half of the cheapest coffee in Starbucks, one tenth of the price of an adult cinema ticket, a third of a pint of beer, one sixth of a portion of fish and chips (including the paper it’s wrapped in, of course). We are proud of our plans for the improved Darlington & Stockton Times. We look forward to introducing a better newspaper to you next week. Malcolm Warne – Editor malcolm.warne@dst.co.uk

Flights of fancy need grounding

11:43am Friday 5th April 2013

THE thorny issue of Durham and the Tees Valley’s airport came to the fore again this week with yet another prominent individual in the industry questioning its chances of survival as a passenger airport.

Competition needed

2:00pm Tuesday 2nd April 2013

THE 50th anniversary of the Beeching Report which took the axe to Britain’s rail network has been much commented on of late, However, there has been another railway anniversary this month marking an event almost as seismic in its impact.

Pressing Concerns

2:29pm Friday 22nd March 2013

THE regional and local press … must not pay the price for a problem they did not create. So said the Deputy Prime Minister after publication of Lord Justice Leveson’s report into press standards.

Conjuring act

2:40pm Friday 15th March 2013

CHANCELLOR George Osborne has little room for manoeuvre in next week’s Budget – everyone is agreed on that. With the Government finances not improving as had been hoped and economic growth being more elusive than at any point in modern times, there are no rabbits that can be pulled from the Treasury hat.

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