Andrew Napier is a local reporter of Winchester who writes for both the Hampshire Chronicle and the Daily Echo. He is one of 5 reporters in Winchester and is the chief reporter who covers topics such as council meetings, schools and court. He speaks to the police and fire services on a day to day basis to try and find out stories. Andrew advised us to get stories by:
- Making calls
- Going out and seeing people
- Public meetings/ council meetings
- Press releases (they get around 1000 a week)
He said that the police are hard to get hold of as they have so many press officers in the way. There are a few CRD police that regularly do give you information. It is believed police won't always provide us with information as they can't control what journalists write about them.
- Before council meetings Andrew already has an idea of what local issues will be discussed so he knows what sort of stories he will be looking for to write about. He also understands what issues locally will be interesting to the public that he can write articles about for the paper. He also gets quotes from councillors where possible as it makes articles more interesting.
- He started off as an editor but always knew he wanted to write for the papers as he always had a passion for them. He stated he 'loved the look , feel and smell of papers' and loves the idea that you create something, a hard form of news that can always be looked at for many years to come.
- He writes around 50 stories a week, roughly 10 a day for both papers. Some stories consisting of long detailed features whereas others consist of a small local story or online.
- 'Fleet Street' used to be the name given to all the old newspapers who were in the same building together.
- He said that there are many ways to get around 'libel issues.'
- Out of feature writing and writing for the news he prefers news as he said its 'constantly unpredictable', however feature writing gives you more freedom.
- He said that although writing for National newspapers is better money it is a lot more hours of work and involves travelling. All journalists working for a national newspaper carry their passports on them at all times as at any minute of the day they can be transferred to another country depending on the news. He stated that national journalists are a 'slave to their job' as they are constantly controlled by the news editor.
- At times and depending on the paper the news editor can guide you on how to write a certain story. He said the good thing with the national papers is the competition between them all as he said this keeps you 'sharp' at all times. Whereas he doesn't get this as he writes for a local paper where it is the only one so the public solely rely on this paper for their news.
- You must always source what has been said so if it ever turns out to not be true you are covered. This is evident in court reporting such as 'the jury heard.'
- Any stories that may be serious should have reliable sources. No sources should remain anonymous if these are the only ones you have. Statements are a good way to have a record of what has been said and who by.
- Local papers need to remain polite as they are always working amongst the community. For local stories its a good idea to look in the local papers such as the Daily Echo to find the stories before looking more into them.
- As a journalist you should try to link ideas together to create a story or to try and find your own story.
- Making calls
- Going out and seeing people
- Public meetings/ council meetings
- Press releases (they get around 1000 a week)
He said that the police are hard to get hold of as they have so many press officers in the way. There are a few CRD police that regularly do give you information. It is believed police won't always provide us with information as they can't control what journalists write about them.
- Before council meetings Andrew already has an idea of what local issues will be discussed so he knows what sort of stories he will be looking for to write about. He also understands what issues locally will be interesting to the public that he can write articles about for the paper. He also gets quotes from councillors where possible as it makes articles more interesting.
- He started off as an editor but always knew he wanted to write for the papers as he always had a passion for them. He stated he 'loved the look , feel and smell of papers' and loves the idea that you create something, a hard form of news that can always be looked at for many years to come.
- He writes around 50 stories a week, roughly 10 a day for both papers. Some stories consisting of long detailed features whereas others consist of a small local story or online.
- 'Fleet Street' used to be the name given to all the old newspapers who were in the same building together.
- He said that there are many ways to get around 'libel issues.'
- Out of feature writing and writing for the news he prefers news as he said its 'constantly unpredictable', however feature writing gives you more freedom.
- He said that although writing for National newspapers is better money it is a lot more hours of work and involves travelling. All journalists working for a national newspaper carry their passports on them at all times as at any minute of the day they can be transferred to another country depending on the news. He stated that national journalists are a 'slave to their job' as they are constantly controlled by the news editor.
- At times and depending on the paper the news editor can guide you on how to write a certain story. He said the good thing with the national papers is the competition between them all as he said this keeps you 'sharp' at all times. Whereas he doesn't get this as he writes for a local paper where it is the only one so the public solely rely on this paper for their news.
- You must always source what has been said so if it ever turns out to not be true you are covered. This is evident in court reporting such as 'the jury heard.'
- Any stories that may be serious should have reliable sources. No sources should remain anonymous if these are the only ones you have. Statements are a good way to have a record of what has been said and who by.
- Local papers need to remain polite as they are always working amongst the community. For local stories its a good idea to look in the local papers such as the Daily Echo to find the stories before looking more into them.
- As a journalist you should try to link ideas together to create a story or to try and find your own story.
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