Thin end of the wedge

Yesterday's splash on Cardiff Council's refusal to publish information to inform parents on which schools in the area suffer drug problems is causing ripples within the authority.

Every right-thinking parent will hope that those ripples build into a wave that forces a rethink from the red-tape clerk behind this decision.

We fear this may be the short end of the wedge.

What next?

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Belated Merry Christmas

Belated Christmas greetings to you - hope you've had a good time.

It was back to the office for me today after a few days off.

Christmas is not the most fun time to be in a newspaper office. Just as the country slows down after its over-indulging, the news slows down.

My early hours journey to work is accompanied most mornings by BBC Radio Wales, where I catch up with any breaking overnight news stories.

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Christmas goodies

Journalists hate Christmas. It's not that we are a miserable lot, honestly, it's just that life slows down and, inevitably, the news dries up.

Just a look at any TV station would tell you that it's not just newspapers affected.

Nothing happens so the media conjure up such gems as Review of the Year, Funniest Moments of the Year, Quiz of the Year - everyone's at it.

This Christmas, the Echo is planning some special surprises to keep life a bit more interesting through the holidays.

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Ninian Park

Just what is going on at Ninian Park?

The Echo's sports pages have been full of stories about the possibility of Sam Hammam returning to City - and blocking the new stadium plans.

Readers will have noticed the strong language being used with words like 'financial meltdown, 'armageddon' being bounced about.

The football messageboards are red hot with theories - but it is probably true to say that the full story is not yet being told.

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Working on a paper like the Echo is always interesting. It brings you into contact with people from all walks of life - and they've all got a story to tell.

Last night I found myself in the BBC studios in Llandaff - in a room full of Welsh TV celebrities enjoying a Christmas drink.

But despite the presence of such names as Derek Brockway, nature presenter Iolo and Jamie the newsreader, my attention was drawn to another couple of names.

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big breaking news

Nothing gets a newsroom going more than the whiff of a big breaking news story.

That was the case this morning when police investigating the Suffolk Strangler murder announced a major breakthrough with the arrest of a man near Felixstowe.

This investigation has grabbed the nation and is of a scale comparable to the biggest British news stories of recent years such as the London bombings, Dunblane, Diana's death, etc.

For stories of such scale we have no option but to lead the Echo with the story that is enthralling all our readers.

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Complaints

The Echo prints in the region of 50,000 words every day.

Inevitably on some occassions we make mistakes - and when we do we move fast to get it right next time.

This week we have annoyed a group of Christians in Torfaen who are unhappy at a light-hearted review of the new film, the Nativity Story.

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One boy's bravery

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Over the last few weeks our schools reporter Moira Sharkey has been working away on a horrific story which highlights the terrible pain caused by bullies.

Today that story appears on our front page - as a warning to all parents, teachers and pupils.

This thirteen-year-old boy, who we are not naming, has bravely spoken out and told us about the nightmare that he has endured.

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all together now

The Echo's Safer Streets campaign has really struck a chord with readers with calls flooding in to our offices.

Yesterday we sat down with the police and local authority to discuss how we will tackle the issues raised by this campaign.

Though this iniative could be uncomfortable for police and councils, who may be criticised by our readers, they all see this as an opportunity to get some of their messages over to the public.

You will be glad to hear that the police, represented by Supt Pat Tucker, are taking a positive approach and believe this can play a useful part in their wider approach to anti-social behaviour.

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Millennium Bug pt 2

Today you'll open your Echo like any other day and browse through the stories and pictures.

Little do you know of the drama and tension that went on behind-the-scenes in Echo HQ this weekend.

On Saturday, as our staff recovered from their Christmas party hangovers, our IT department embarked on one of the most scariest operations since the Millennium Bug struck fear into offices throughout the land.

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Early start

It was an even earlier start at the Echo headquarters this morning.

Our staff are well accustomed to rolling into the office from 6am onwards to make sure you get the best local news coverage as it happens.

But today, due to some technical concerns, we had to overhaul our normal edition deadlines to ensure the paper hit the streets.

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The national media descend

The case of Cardiff dad Paul Barnes - killed after he confronted the yobs who were making life a misery for him and his neighbours - has hit the national headlines.

The Echo featured the story two days ago and by this morning the GMTV cameras had rolled into Tremorfa to take up the story.

This story - and the dignified reaction of Mr Barnes's son Kieran - has really struck a nerve with readers and our phones have been red hot with callers from all over the region who are concerned that their neighbourhoods are also seeing this kind of yobbishness.

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children's party

Yesterday I stood and watched as dozens of very special children walked into Cardiff's magnificent City Hall to enjoy the Echo Christmas Party.

This is one of our favourite events of the year - and anyone lucky enough to be there yesterday would see why.

The hall was packed with some great children who were absolutely having a ball.

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On thin ice

Two thousand ice hockey fans were left outside the new Cardiff Bay ice rink on Saturday after a very late decision that the new venue was not ready for its first match.

What a shambles.

Imagine the same happening for a football or a rugby match. It's absolutely unthinkable.

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Important or interesting?

Today we landed in a bit of a conundrum in the Echo newsroom.

We were faced with a choice of two very different stories for our front page.

One being a landmark decision to transform the city centre with the Assembly's agreement to the compulsory purchase order that clears the way for the St David's 2 shopping development.

The other being a rather different story, which will intrigue, concern and interest readers.

So which one led our front page?

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