Sheffield Star these days

[awoollen]

Originally posted by BILDEBORG

My father worked for the Star virtually all his life. He started as a copy boy after leaving school in the 1939/1940 era. He was then called up for war duty on his 18th birthday but returned to the Star upon his demob. Apart from a few short periods working for Reuters and a Manchester paper, he solely worked for the Star. He was chief reporter circa 1970's, feature editor and had his own column..."Ron Roland's second opinion"....anyone remember that? He died 1988 and was editorial manager i think. Mum tells me he would have never retired, he loved the job and was a true 'old school' journalist.

i cant remember the name but i would remember the face i worked on the delivery vans at that time

thank s for the memories

[kingfisher]

We had our Star delivered at 12-30pm today,i remember when you had the first 2 or 3 race results and the half time football scores in the stop press ,its more like a morning paper now,you can get more up to date news on the forum

[H.P]

Yes I must admit that the star is not as it used to be, infact its a waste of 32p at times..

[kingfisher]

I have had the Star delivered for over 50 years but i have been today to cancel delivery.i didnt think it was worth32p, but now they have hiked it up to 35p i think its robbery.I hope that every one else does the same.

[peterw]

Sad to see from comments that The Star has gone downhill. Those who worked there — myself included during the wartime years — always did their best to provide as much local news as possible under very difficult circumstances. We were at war, and naturally readers also wanted to read what was happening as far afield as the Middle East and Burma.

 

In those days, it was a Kemsley Newspaper owned by Lord Kemsley and it had proof readers — a rare breed that newspaper owners today have done away with. Sad to say, they’ve also done away with reporters who could string more than two words together without making mistakes, and sub-editors who don’t really know what the term means or the responsibilities of their titles.

 

In my day, mistakes never got past the proof readers. Today, they get past the sub-editors, the production editor (if there is one) and even the editor!

 

On the plus side, this state of affairs prevails all over Britain, particularly among weekly newspapers, free newspapers and regional evening newspapers.

 

I note that one poster mentions the same story going into The Star twice, on different pages. This is generally because the so-called sub-editor picks up the original story from a computer database and ‘forgets’ to bin it once he’s/she’s placed it on a page. Another sub-editor picks it up for a second time and, in the belief that it’s still live, uses it on his/her page.

 

It never happened while I was an editor. In my time I’ve held three positions as editor of weekly newspapers, and never allowed an edition to go for printing until I’d checked every page. Nowadays, journalists who rise to editor seem to believe it’s just a job and a title. It’s more than that. It’s a responsibility.

 

I knowthey’re not likely to publish Sheffield news, but if you want a decent paper and a good read try either The Independent or The Guardian.

[Plain Talker]

Peterw, I have offered my services as a proofreader to the star on numerous occasions. It's getting as bad as "The Gruaniad" for errors, and mistakes.

 

I get really irritated when street names, and districts are mangled by people who have absolutely no knowledge and no real interest in the area they are "reporting" on. And when mistakes are pointed out, they don't give a monkeys about rectifying it.

 

As for the same article appearing on separate pages in an edition:- that happens too frequently, and it's sloppy workmanship.

 

PT

 

Altered to correct a spelling error! Oh, the irony! lol

[CHAIRBOY]

Given the theme of your thread, I'd amend 'seperate' to separate!

[Plain Talker]

thanks, chairboy... rectified

 

PT

[CHAIRBOY]

I agree, there are many errors made and space given over to apologies but many provincial papers now exist on shoestrings. I would have to say that the Star does get back to me when I've drawn things to their attention. Not so long back, there was an address in the Court Report I'd never heard of. The editor of the day told me she agreed there wasn't such an address in South Yorkshire! That address was supplied to the Star by the court!

[peterw]

So, nowadays the Star doesn’t even have a court reporter to attend and get things right, or again wrong as the case may be! Like I said, try the better class Dailies. At The Guardian they still work from a Style Book — something all newspapers used to have — and they do tend to get things right. If they don’t, they recify their mistakes in the next edition.