Tag Archives: editorial manager

Who said newspaper letter pages were dead? Prisoner finds time on the run

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Liked this on Hold the Front Page this morning: an escaped prisoner took time to drop an email to his (ex?) local newspaper, the Courier, to correct them on a story:

“I read online your reporter’s untrue comments relating to my absconding from Castle Huntle [sic] open estate.The comments say I preyed on the elderly and vulnerable people. This is most certainly not true.”

HOTFP reports that Derek Watson ‘failed to return to Castle Huntly open prison on October 8 after a week-long release. He was sentenced to five years in prison last year on 25 charges of fraud.’

HOTFP quotes Ian Lamb editorial manager for Courier publisher DC Thomson, as saying that the prisoner “has complained about our coverage about his misdeeds in the past … but it’s quite bizarre that a convicted criminal who has absconded from an open prison would appear to be e-mailing us.”

Sun’s Page 3 widget breaks download records

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A Page 3 girl widget for RSS feeds, launched by The Sun on Friday, has beaten previous download figures for Sun apps after only three days, the newspaper has said.

The Keeley Hazell application (see below) was built using Adobe Air – a new piece of technology, which allows one widget to be built that will be compatible with both PC and MAC systems.

Further editorial developments are planned for the site over the next few weeks to build on changes to the site navigation and page design introduced last week.

The homepage is longer and features a panel on the right-hand side showcasing breaking news, ‘most read’ and ‘most discussed’ articles.

In addition, users are now taken directly to the article after clicking on a homepage headline, rather than visiting the section homepage.

The changes to the homepage have received criticism from media commentator Roy Greenslade, who asked if the revamp was a reaction to the Daily Mail’s recent relaunch.

However, Danny Rogers, The Sun’s editorial manager (online), said the new features were the result of long-running development.

“It has nothing to do with the Daily Mail. This has been going on for the last six months,” he told Journalism.co.uk, adding that the changes were aimed at displaying content in a more accessible and user-friendly way.