It’s a funny old game, working in a newsroom. As a famous person nearly said.
Possibly the highlight of my time as news editor of The Courier came just the other week courtesy of a phone call from a reporter colleague in our Perth office, where I used to ply my trade as an enthusiastic young seeker of truth, justice….and of course flower show nibs.The content of the phone call was quite remarkable and went along the following lines:Me: “Hello, newsdesk.” (very professional).Reporter: “Hi Dave, we’ve just taken a call from a guy who knows you.”Me:”Oh yes? Who was it?”Reporter: “Not sure, but he was an elderly chap who said: ‘I met Dave Lord and shook his hand beside a Canadian lake as he played a flugelhorn while dressed as an Austrian’.”The rest of the call does not really merit the same level of detail but suffice to say this was, in common parlance, something of a show-stopper.For the record, the chap was somewhat confused and the events he recalled were clearly muddled. In fact he probably met me outside Greggs on the High Street (if at all).While this is not strictly typical of everyday goings-on in a newsroom it is worth mentioning. Largely because it is quite amusing. In fact, entirely because it is quite amusing.However, it is not all fun and games (honest).Should Margaret Thatcher’s death have been on the front page? Is the demise of Rangers FC a story for the news section or sport? How hard should we push for comments from a grieving family in the wake of a high-profile death?These are the kinds of decisions a news editor has to grapple with on a day-to-day basis. I don’t always get it right. And when that happens (and actually sometimes when I am pretty sure we have got it right) readers are not slow in letting us know.So when I get a phone call about playing a flugelhorn while dressed as an Austrian beside a Canadian lake it is a moment of (I like to think) richly deserved light relief.Photo courtesy of Flickr user Sadie Hernandez