WRIGHT AND THE MAIL. EXPERTS IN HYPOCRISY

Joy Yates, Editor, Hartlepool Mail

by HARRY BLACKWOOD

In a previous blog I wrote about the breathtaking hypocrisy of Hartlepool's Labour MP Iain Wright.

Wright, is happy to blather on about how the government is not doing enough to bring decent jobs to Northern towns like Hartlepool, but it's a case of do as I say, not as I do. You see Wright thinks it's perfectly acceptable to employ his wife on £27,000 a year instead of giving that job to an unemployed local person.

In the good old days of proper journalism when local newspapers would make MPs like Wright accountable for their actions, The Hartlepool Mail would have been asking him to explain his duplicity.

Not these days. No flaming chance.

It would be hard for the Hartlepool Mail to bring Wright to book because the Editor and the papers owners are just as proficient in the hypocrisy stakes as Wright.

The paper I was proud to edit launched a campaign this week to KEEP THE POUND IN HARTLEPOOL.

Under the banner "Support your town and back our campaign to boost business in Hartlepool" the Mail's Chris Cordner urged readers to shop local, eat local and play local. There was even a ringing endorsement from the paper's editor Joy Yates who said "I am delighted that our newspaper is championing our independent businesses"

Now all this meets my approval so far. I like the idea of people shopping local and supporting local businesses.

So, apart from taking the money from local businesses who supported an advertising supplement, what does the Hartlepool Mail do to support the local economy?

Well aside from charging 60p to the few thousand people who still buy this toothless rag, let's check its credentials.

Oh yes, this is the paper that made all of its production staff redundant before transferring production to Sunderland.

When that move wasn't cost effective enough, the company's owners, Johnston Press,  decided to print the paper about 150 miles away in Sheffield.

Even that wasn't making the business lean enough so almost all of the editorial and advertising staff at the Hartlepool were transferred from Hartlepool.

Then the company put the prestige building in the centre of Hartlepool up for sale. It now stands almost empty.

So there you are. No wonder MP Wright and his local paper are such friendly bedfellows. They are both hypocrites of the highest order.

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