ALL THE NEWS FIT TO PRINT
The press: Paul Johnson
comes across a newspaper of the old breed
AFTER ten years of writing a media col- umn, I remain more convinced than ever that the most estimable form of journalism is the good, old-fashioned local newspaper. The breed is dwindling, though there are still hundreds of fine ones in the United States, mostly weeklies, and a few over here. In the old days, my favourite was the Cork Examiner, which specialised in immensely long reports of court cases, fea- turing eloquent peasants, stoical Gardai and the sarcastic kind of barrister depicted in Somerville and Ross's stories as 'Roar- ing Jack'. Alas, it modernised itself. I then transferred my allegiance to the Inverness Courier, a bi-weekly owned and edited by a noble old lady called Miss Baron. It still put its small ads all over the front page, and devoted, indeed, only one page to actual news, presented in a sober and dig- nified manner and accompanied by a thoughtful leading article. That paper, too, has undergone transmogrification and become indistinguishable from many oth- ers, albeit of a high class genre.
Then, recently, I went to a wedding in Hampshire and stumbled upon a notable publication, entitled the Lymington Times and Milford-on-Sea and New Milton Adver- tiser, incorporating the Lymington and Mil- ton Chronicle. It is not merely a broadsheet but one of unusual size, a good four inches wider than the London qualities, and all for 15p. As much of it is set in eight-point or even seven-point, unleaded, there is plenty of room for copy. Reporters have the space not merely to describe local events in considerable detail but to mean- der on into any matters they find relevant and interesting. Thus the lead story in the issue I saw, headlined 'New Ferries Would Need Wider River', describes in consider- able technical detail the nautical, naviga- tional and riverine consequences of introducing 75-metre ferries, with water- line breadths of 13.6 metres, draft of 2.3 metres, load displacements of 1,380 tonnes, thrust of 14.85 tonnes and maxi- mum speed of 11.5 knots, with discussion of turning-movements, cross-wind speeds, riverbank disturbance at low-water sta- tions, length-beam ratios, the likely reac- tions of Ferry Masters, Hydrographic Engineers and Harbour Commissioners, and the need to change the apex on the bend on the East Bank opposite Cocked Hat and to widen the inside bend north of Tar Barrel. It goes on to analyse the 15,000 ferry movements a year in the peri- od 1981-4 between Lymington and Yarmouth, producing 376 incidents, in- cluding 111 collisions, 68 groundings, 57 strikings, 68 impacts and 29 fires or explo- sions. Thereafter it notes that river-widen- ing might oblige the local Sea Scouts, at present under local yacht club tuition, to be accompanied by Royal Yacht Squadron approved instructors, and reports that one of the Scouts, Nicholas Rogers, aged 14, had won a place in the five-man British team competing in the world champi- onships for Optimist Dinghies. Thanks to local grants and sponsorship, Master Nicholas had taken part in the event in Greece, where he finished second highest Briton and 34th overall, amongst 280 entries from all over the globe.
There is a good deal about the deer- forests too, under such headlines as `Verderer Now Solid Over U-turn: Lord Manner Had Been Odd Man Out' and 'District Council Now Baying for End of Deer Hunting'. Crime rears its head with an important front-page story headlined 'Wife Lost Wig In Row Over Children', giving over 1,000 words of verbatim court- room exchanges, including the 'estranged husband's' anguished defence; 'You don't know what a forceful woman she can be.' Cases are reported from beginning to end, in logical order, with pleas in mitigation, magisterial statements and details of previ- ous convictions. There is no such thing as an insignificant news item for this admirable paper of record. Among head- lines I observed: 'Dog Dies After Adder Bite', 'Foal Put Down', 'Calf Not Killed', 'Surprise for Brown Owl' and 'Youths Warned After Duck Killing', the last result- ing in the outraged confiscation and prompt destruction of three catapults.
Like any good newspaper, the Lymington Times gives full details of local wills, reveal- ing the enormous sums now coughed up by retired major-generals and Captains RN — half a million, £600,000, even more. And, a sure sign of a quality paper, it prints solid, detailed obituaries. When Mrs Lily Rash- leigh, described as the 'second longest serv- ing stallholder in the Saturday market', died recently, she got a 1,200-word send- off, more than most cabinet ministers would rate in a London broadsheet these days. We learn that her father, Reginald Zebedee, was employed in the local brick- works and later moved to the Old Tileyard. Young Lily left the village school, 'spent a year in service' at a local farm, then went as kitchen-maid to Lady Hare at Brocken- hurst Park, where she was paid £20 a year, working 6 a.m. to 10p.m. with a half-day off each week, plus every other Sunday after- noon. In 1928, at the Agricultural Ball, she met her husband Frank, one of 11 children of a Southampton carpenter. He was then employed as footman to the Duchess of Westminster, and when he met Lily, moved to Brockenhurst Park, his wages rising to £36 a year, with livery supplied, 'though he had to pay for his own shirts, black ties and shoes, which cost 16s 9d a pair'. However, as there was 'a strict ruling that estate staff should not enter into any romance with one another', Lily was obliged to leave for a job as cook-general, though the husband was advanced to butler at £75 a year. Their engagement lasted five years. And so on, in similar detail, through a long and fruitful life. Reading a paper like the Lymington Times is restful and reassuring as well as informative, and one can browse away in the absolutely certain knowledge that everything in it is strictly true. Murdoch may huff and Maxwell may puff, but so long as such publications are to be found the British newspaper scene is not entirely desolate.