The Echo

[RichardYoung]

What is the actual rag like these days?

It has pretty much become just that, I'm afraid Oli, a bit of a rag. I always thought the Echo used to be a pretty decent (i.e. quality) local newspaper, but in recent years it seems to have become more of a trashy tabloid ("Peado quizzed by cops" style headlines - in fact the Echo seems pretty obsessed with peado stories full stop!)

Much space is also wasted handing over pages to "teens" and students etc with the resultant seriously poor quality "journalism" (no problem with student drinking games and the like, just not sure the local paper should be printing the gorey details every week!)

Also, it changed from an evening paper to a morning one - except bizarrely they decided to start printing it in Oxford at the same time (and ship it down every night) which means fast-moving stories in particular are often out of date by the team you read them, even over breakfast.

For all that, I do still buy the Echo as their sports coverage remains excellent (for sheer depth if nothing else, e.g. the "football extra" and "cricket extra" supplements giving coverage right down to the lowest of the low leagues).

Just a shame much of the news section reads more like the News of the World than a quality local "voice of the people" - so much so, that they had to write an editorial distancing themselves from the likes of the NotW (ref. hacking scandal) only last week!

 

[Reggie T42]

It has pretty much become just that, I'm afraid Oli, a bit of a rag. I always thought the Echo used to be a pretty decent (i.e. quality) local newspaper, but in recent years it seems to have become more of a trashy tabloid ("Peado quizzed by cops" style headlines - in fact the Echo seems pretty obsessed with peado stories full stop!)

Much space is also wasted handing over pages to "teens" and students etc with the resultant seriously poor quality "journalism" (no problem with student drinking games and the like, just not sure the local paper should be printing the gorey details every week!)

Also, it changed from an evening paper to a morning one - except bizarrely they decided to start printing it in Oxford at the same time (and ship it down every night) which means fast-moving stories in particular are often out of date by the team you read them, even over breakfast.

For all that, I do still buy the Echo as their sports coverage remains excellent (for sheer depth if nothing else, e.g. the "football extra" and "cricket extra" supplements giving coverage right down to the lowest of the low leagues).

Just a shame much of the news section reads more like the News of the World than a quality local "voice of the people" - so much so, that they had to write an editorial distancing themselves from the likes of the NotW (ref. hacking scandal) only last week!

Sadly it is the way the human modernised race is going....glad I'm not going to be here forever.

 

[Egg]

Firstly, I ought to declare an interest, having been a sub-editor at the Echo until I was made redundant last April.

That being the case, I've followed this thread with some interest.

A number of people have commented that the Echo ain't what it used to be and while I wouldn't disagree with that, there are, I think, a couple of points worth bearing in mind.

The principle one is that the Echo is probably produced by around a third the number of editorial staff there were when I started there around a decade ago; over the course of the last five or six years, I'd guess they've lost as many as 50 per cent of their staff.

In those circumstances, it is, I think, hardly surprising that the quality may have diminished a little. That said, I think Exeter probably boasts one of the better regional papers for a city of its size and that's to the immense credit of those [few] that are left.

I disagree with those who say local newspapers have had their day. Of course, they're closing down left, right and centre but, in most instances, that isn't because they're not making a profit - they are - but because they're not making the kind of profit, ie 30 per cent on turnover, that shareholders have come to expect and demand.

Moreover, the situation at Northcliffe has, IMO, been exacerbated by some rank bad management from those in London.

Take, for instance, the revamped websites which, incidentally, are now run centrally and the people at the Echo have very little or no input in. That aside, it must be clear to anyone with more than one brain call that the websites are now an unmitigated disaster where hard news is, it seems, less important than an advert for an estate agents or a second-hand car ad.

It is, clearly, an attempt to monetize the web but, as ever, an ill-conceived and short-sighted one. For example, as far as I can see, the Exeter estate agents on whom the Echo must rely for a major part of its revenue have no presence whatsoever on the site. At the same time, there's nothing whatsoever to stop an estate agent who has never advertised in the paper putting up a listing and then giving their own business a five-star rating.

http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/estate-agents/Howes-Estates/business-12476068-detail/business.html

Some have suggested the way forward is for the Echo to go weekly and, at the same time, improve the news side of the website. I think that could work but only if: [1] They find a way to generate significant revenue from the web - and that's something pretty much all newspapers have struggled with; and [2] The quality of the offerings on the web is such that it makes the paper a must-buy, as as opposed to something Joe Public can happily live without.

Anyway, as I said, an interesting discussion!

 

[Daveytan]

The Echo was a perfectly decent evening paper until the accountants got their hands on it. Cuts, cuts and more cuts have rendered it a poor shadow of its former self. Style over substance is the order of the day and the more words and pictures you can get the readers to contribute, the less you have to fork out for professional reporters and photographers. Now you have subs who, apparently, have difficulty in distinguishing the difference between the words principle and principal and some of the football stories I've seen are grossly over-written and repetitive. The Echo, I'm afraid, has lost its raison d'etre along with its printing press and going weekly would seem to be the only option to keep the title alive. As for the new-look website, Northcliffe seem to have given up on them. It is possible to generate a decent revenue if surfers have a reason to keep returning to the site, which means the news has to be updated regularly. Check out ##URL REMOVED## and see how you think it compares with ThisisExeter

**** Sorry! Web links not allowed for new users ****
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[Egg]

The Echo was a perfectly decent evening paper until the accountants got their hands on it. Cuts, cuts and more cuts have rendered it a poor shadow of its former self. Style over substance is the order of the day and the more words and pictures you can get the readers to contribute, the less you have to fork out for professional reporters and photographers. Now you have subs who, apparently, have difficulty in distinguishing the difference between the words principle and principal and some of the football stories I've seen are grossly over-written and repetitive. The Echo, I'm afraid, has lost its raison d'etre along with its printing press and going weekly would seem to be the only option to keep the title alive. As for the new-look website, Northcliffe seem to have given up on them. It is possible to generate a decent revenue if surfers have a reason to keep returning to the site, which means the news has to be updated regularly. Check out ##URL REMOVED## and see how you think it compares with ThisisExeter

**** Sorry! Web links not allowed for new users ****
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Bugger. As if to prove a point, I used the wrong principle in my post above. Eejit.

Intrigued to see what your link was for, if you want to PM it to me, I'll happily post it up.

 

[Oli]

But how would ECFC be impacted by the loss of the Echo?

 

[RaeUK]

Not necessarily Egg. You could argue (weakly, I concede) that staff numbers were reduced as a matter of principle ...

A long time since I've seen the E&E but it can't, surely, be worse than the Dorset Echo ...

 

[Egg]

But how would ECFC be impacted by the loss of the Echo?

I don't think there can be any doubt that the Echo does a lot to raise the profile of the football club and one assumes that has some effect, however negligible, on attendances.

At the same time, it also gives a lot of publicity to things such as Football in the Community and the Stansfield Foundation. If it were to go weekly then, clearly, the likelihood is they will have to be far more selective and some of this stuff might not see the light of day.

Also, in the event of some kind of 'emergency', as occurred in the immediate aftermath of Russell & Lewis's departure, a daily paper would, IMO, be a far more formidable ally than a weekly one.

And finally… were it to happen, I think a lot depends on which day of the week the Echo was published. This in turn would, I suspect, depend on finances - ie when the presses at Didcot would otherwise be vacant - than any other consideration, so I wouldn't necessarily assume it would be on the most 'obvious' day of the week.

 

[Egg]

The Echo was a perfectly decent evening paper until the accountants got their hands on it. Cuts, cuts and more cuts have rendered it a poor shadow of its former self. Style over substance is the order of the day and the more words and pictures you can get the readers to contribute, the less you have to fork out for professional reporters and photographers. Now you have subs who, apparently, have difficulty in distinguishing the difference between the words principle and principal and some of the football stories I've seen are grossly over-written and repetitive. The Echo, I'm afraid, has lost its raison d'etre along with its printing press and going weekly would seem to be the only option to keep the title alive. As for the new-look website, Northcliffe seem to have given up on them. It is possible to generate a decent revenue if surfers have a reason to keep returning to the site, which means the news has to be updated regularly. Check out ##URL REMOVED## and see how you think it compares with ThisisExeter

**** Sorry! Web links not allowed for new users ****
This is an effort to combat spam postings. We apologise for any inconvenience.

www.northdevongazette.co.uk

 

[Red the Paper]

Personally I like the paper version and don't bother with the online one.

It still has a place and will be around for many years to come.