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The view from inside the week's news with Kent
Messenger editor Bob Bounds.
Welcome to my blog. Every week the Kent Messenger is your guide
to the news, issues and events in Maidstone and its surrounding
villages.
This blog will chart the stories behind the news, and
shed some light on how your paper makes it to the newsstands
every Friday. I also want to hear what you think of the paper, and
what we should be covering.
You can have your say in the comments on each post, or email
messengernews@thekmgroup.co.uk
September 21
A trainee journalist on a paper in
Buckinghamshire once told me his editor had made him stand in the
middle of a field wearing a sandwich board because he’d got the
date of a fete wrong.
September 14
Mandarin lessons,
children wearing slippers and 60 to a class - welcome to the
educational revolution.
September 10
In terms of the argument and debate, it
was a resounding victory for the protesters. We understand a video
of the meeting will be sent to health secretary Andrew Lansley
- let's hope he watches it.
August 6
It is the news we have waiting three
long years to hear. The KIG is dead.
July 30
It is important for Maidstone to have a
focal point to honour our regiment and pay respects to those who
have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our
nation.
July 23
There is a stark message beneath our
headline - one that every parent, or more particularly, every
future parent should take note of.
July
16
The media is often criticised for
dwelling on doom and gloom. We were pleased to run stories about
community heroes under the headline ‘We salute you’.
July 9
You don’t have to have been born before
the war to appreciate the amazing human stories told on the pages
of our Battle of Britain supplement.
July 7
It will be a hugely costly and labour
intensive task but eventually all newspapers, both national and
local, will be fully searchable online.
June 30
Maidstone council says it listens to the
opinions of young people - but only this week it has been forced to
review rules that forbid teens from addressing the council. It's
about time.
June 18
It seems the World Cup has got us all
hooked and there's a sense of mass hysteria about this festival of
football.
June 11
The County Town would seem to be a
natural home for a Tesco Metro - and it would be a welcome addition
to the top end of Week Street which still has a slightly downbeat
feel.
May 28
Is it time to really think seriously
about having a night shelter in Maidstone to protect vulnerable
people?
May 22
I happened to be contacted by a couple
of candidates for the Chief Constable job as they did their
homework in preparation for last week’s interviews and both asked
me what kind of chief Kent needed.
May 17
Guide dog pup Hunter, whose training was
paid for by KM readers in an appeal to celebrate our 150th
anniversary, visited our offices today.
May 14
There are two outstanding, pressing and
imminent decisions for the new Lib Dem-Tory cabinet that
affect us - Kent International Gateway and maternity services in
Maidstone.
May 11
We are hearing a lot about the
importance of 'stable government'. Party politics aside, at least
the Tories will now have had a three-year run at controlling
Maidstone.
May 8
The race to be Maidstone's next MP was a
fascinating contest mainly because they were totally contrasting
political breeds.
May 4
Apart from the odd foray into Aylesford,
top-ranking politicians have been conspicuous by their absence in
Maidstone.
April 27
It is unfortunate that great swathes of
urban Maidstone aren’t actually in the Maidstone constituency but
within one that starts with the word ‘Faversham’.
April 23
We're not saying the private sector
cannot run care homes - but where profit is undeniably the central
motive there must be a temptation to look at costs to maximise
margins.
April 20
"There is a saying that all news
is local and if you think about the two big stories of the day, the
volcanic ash cloud and the general election you could have two
issues which are more relevant to the lives of local
people."
April 16
"Farming is under threat from all
quarters, which is ironic considering its never been more
important."
April 13
"People want an end to knockabout
politics but they still want passion and conviction. That was
noticeably missing this morning, in a generally interesting but at
times underwhelming debate."
April 7
"Ann didn’t quite follow Mrs T into
number 10 but was tantalisingly close to a seat on the cabinet and
her political legacy speaks for itself."
April 1
"The KM has been running a campaign to
‘Bring the Stones Home’ because we recognise the hard work and
passion from a small but committed team of people who are
determined to see the dream come true."
March 30
"A week today Gordon Brown will put us
all out of our misery, or launch four weeks of misery, depending on
how you view politics."
March
26
"Another packed edition of the KM has
hit the streets today following what has been a really busy week in
the newsroom."
March 24
"I got
chatting to a couple of the church representatives and asked about
a new bishop. I was surprised at their reply of 'if we get a new
one'."
March 22
"It was heartening to see such a good
turn-out for the Maidstone Mile in aid of Sport Relief
yesterday."
Friday, March 12 2010
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