Back in the 1970s, I worked for a relatively short time for a press agency in the Midlands. Let's just say I hated it. It wasn't the job for me although I did my best. There were long periods of sitting around doing very little punctuated by periods of high level intensity and some nasty "foot in the door journalism" which I hated.
Well in my dream I was back in that office but this time I had nothing whatsoever to do. But the owners kept paying my wages and then told me that they were appointing two new journalists to help me. So now there were three of us doing nothing. We went out for long lunches and wondered why we were there.
Then one day a man turned up, announced he was Lou Cunningham and sat at a desk writing and not talking to anyone. He ignored us and we ignored him. Then, for some unexplained reason, an Assistant Chief Constable that I worked with back in Norfolk when I was employed by Norfolk Constabulary, turned up and asked when I last contributed a story anywhere. I lied and told him that I had filed one the previous day.
His response was that no writing paper or stationery existed based on Tolkein legend and this was something I needed to put right. I agreed that I would work with a local stationers to achieve this and then I woke up.
* * *
Occasionally I receive a message that makes what I do (whatever that is) worthwhile. It happened this week following my piece in the Eastern Daily Press and Norwich Evening News newspapers focussing on the new training centre for Norfolk Police in Hethersett.
I placed a cutting of that story on the Hethersett Old Hall School Former Pupils and Staff and received the following message from a former pupil:
"What a fab piece! Great local journalism is still alive." That comment is so welcome.
I was reading a piece in the I newspaper a couple of days ago about the future of journalism. This surrounded the launch of a new online service in Manchester whereby readers paid a monthly fee for in depth journalism underlining the local issues. This is already proving popular. This article stressed the wish for people to have their journalism produced without the distraction of advertising.
I consider what I do with my Hethersett Herald to be vaguely similar but without the advertising and to a much more local level and of course it's all free. I hope that the magazine highlights the issues affecting our village without being preachy. It also has lighter sides reflecting on individuals' views of local life.
There is a similar publication at Wymondham and together I think we give a reasonable summary of what is happening along our stretch of the A11 corridor. Over to you to tell me what you think.