Cheshire Life – March 2023
English | 285 pages | pdf | 211.81 MB
Welcome at Cheshire Life Magazine March 2023 Issue
MickWood, late of Buglawton, Cheshire, was a newsman of his time – ie the late 20th century. He was a drinker, a chain smoker, a master of bad language and his management techniques would have kept a modern-day HR department in paperwork for a year. His severely tested staff loved, sometimes loathed, but always learned from him because there was no one better at rallying a team and deploying his reporters when a story broke. Most of what I know about news I got from Mick Wood, once he accepted me as one of the lads.
To earn that honour, you didn’t have to be male: the prerequisites were being able to get the best out of an interviewee, tackling difficult assignments and, of course, knowing where to put an apostrophe. Then and only then were you invited to go down the pub with the rest of his ‘Scoops’. In those days, reporters got many a story in the pub where they mixed with officers of the local constabulary as well as members of the public eager
to see their tales and views in print. In between we would be out in the community- the vast majority of interviews were carried out face to face and
that was how we made contacts and ensured our readership felt they had a voice and a stake in their local rag.
Journalists work in a different world now but there is still no better way of doing the job than talking directly to the people we write about. So this past month
I spent a day at Gaalia Couture in Bramhall with Catherina Rhodes, who got an expert makeover from friends of the magazine. That night I gave a talk to the ladies of Willastonhey WI; a few days later I was at the Community ReAwards, and then met with Sarah Pickles and friends who are organising the Butterfly Breast Cancer Awards on September 22 at Vale Royal Abbey (see sarahepickles. uk/butterflybreast-cancer-awards).
It might seem old school but any journalist worth their salt will tell you that phone calls and emails are no substitute. I learned that early on and the next time we’re in the pub together I’ll raise a glass to Mick Wood while you’re telling me your story.
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