It would usually be pretty painful for a journalist to see information from a highly-trusted source not only contradicted – but proved wrong with photographic evidence.
But when a loyal reader responded to my last column with this picture of a roaring fire in his hearth – lit using an apparently highly-combustible copy of this paper – I had to smile.
“On the kindling quality of the P&J, I’ve got to disagree with whoever said it wis nae as guid,” Rob Paul wrote in, all the way from his home in Biggar.
“I’ve been getting your illustrious paper fer aboot 20 year now and in addition to it being the best newspaper on the stand, I’ve NEVER had a problem with it getting the fire lit.”
Three cheers to that sentiment Rob – perhaps we should make keeping readers warm in winter part of our stated mission to “enrich the lives of the people who live in our communities”.
Our commitment to being advocates for our region as The Voice of the North
You may have seen those words start to appear regularly above the “Voice of the North” leader column in the newspaper or on our website.
It is our public commitment to act “as truthseekers, witnesses, voice givers and advocates” for the people of the north and the north-east and to “achieve it through journalism that is trustworthy, accountable, courageous, fair and entertaining”.
Fine words and lofty ambition to be sure – the kind of corporate motto all too easily dreamed up, written in a report then buried at the back of a drawer to gather dust.
We were very conscious of that risk when we decided recently that it was an ideal moment to try to express our purpose and values into an easily digestible few sentences (a tricky task even for a roomful of people who have made a career out of distilling complex issues).
How then to make sure it was more than an exercise in making ourselves feel valuable?
First by committing to it, very publicly, to tens of thousands of people every day.
It is there on the page and the site not just to remind us of our purpose and our values but to allow you to judge us by them, and to let us know if we ever fall short.
Showing our TRUE intentions
Just as importantly though, by coming up with practical ways to embed the thought processes needed to meet those lofty ambitions into day-to-day decision-making.
One of the most important of those is known in the newsroom as “TRUE” – a kind of filter through which we look at every single idea we have for a story.
The T is about making sure we are giving readers the truest possible picture of what is going on around them – checking all our facts and talking to everyone we need to.
R is for relevance – is it something that we know matters to the communities we represent – and the U for uniqueness, a very important check that we are offering something, whether in terms of the content itself or its quality, that no one else is.
Last but not least, we ask if we are presenting information – no matter whether it’s deadly serious or a bit of fun – in the most engaging way possible. That has always been something we work hard on in print and now have myriad new ways to try out online too.
Coveted industry award for our work
Our editor-in-chief Frank O’Donnell talked about the benefits of the system in this interview to mark the P&J being named Newspaper of the Year title at the Scottish Press Awards.
Winning that coveted industry accolade – along with a string of others at the event – was in large part down to our whole team’s relentless focus these last 18 months on better understanding what our readers need and want and how to give it to them.
🏆 The P&J took home the Daily Newspaper of the Year Award at the Scottish Press Awards last night, but many of our talented team were also crowned with some impressive titles. Take a look at some of our award-winning stories and journalists in the comments below 👇 pic.twitter.com/nK4ILytWfj
— The Press & Journal (@pressjournal) September 22, 2022
But while we’re rightly proud of the recognition of our industry peers – and an office full of shiny glass baubles – we gauge true success not by the sag of the trophy shelf but by how many people choose to make the P&J part of their everyday lives.
People like you – so please do let me know if you ever feel we are falling short of those big aims we display for all to see and I will look into it on your behalf.
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