NINNY’S RULE

Not since British Generals in WW1 thought that Mustard Gas was a spray on condiment has there been such a grave error made by any group. Last months astonishing revelation that the primary school had been sacked by the Progress Association got my hackles well and truly up and I was raring to bite.

Even though it was a practical learning tool and a great marketing opportunity the Progress Association unceremoniously ended the Linton Schools involvement in publishing the Linton News.

The counter-coup last year that successfully wrested the association from competent hands and the desperate plea of the incoming committee for someone to rescue the Linton News the school stepped forward to take the task on without reward. For a while even the Astonisher was singing the praises of our local newspaper/newsletter/rag. For several months we were beginning to get some semblance of journalistic effort on the part of at least one local resident and a great opportunity for selling sponsorships.

Then, last month the axe fell, wielded by one of the most incompetent members of the Linton Progress Association probably at the urging of a knife wielding non-member who has openly sworn never to support the businesses in Linton. How can anyone with any conscience live in a town they don’t like, and seek out potential advertisers who very well know are not going to be supported by the Linton News in return. It should be noted that there is an increasing amount of external advertising from what one might describe as ‘country corporate’ and a decreasing local advertising content. It’s akin to Coca-Cola taking over from The Linton Honey Co-op.

We well know that some businesses expect a return for their advertising investment, that’s what capitalism is all about, while others are quite happy to just support a worthy cause as community-minded citizens.

The new editorial team of one in a previous involvement with the News, dictated to by one disgruntled housewife, demonstrated a blatant disregard of the wishes of members of the community who were not from the aristocratic class, and flatly refused to print anything they did not personally agree with.

These delusions that somehow they are the Murdochs of Mannibadar and can make and break at will anyone who actually has an interest in advancing the town will get them nowhere. The paper will most likely now descend into its past practices of printing only the news it wants to print instead of the news it should print.

The Linton News was actually making a profit in previous hands but from recent pleas is showing that once again it has become a loss maker. The insistence on so many glossy pages that have no content makes printing twenty pages, especially when one page is left blank, expensive and we know that they could get just as much, if not more, information across in just twelve pages of standard newsprint.

The Astonisher’s right hand will continue to support the school and the town as much as it can, and maybe one day actually carry something interesting to read whilst with the left hand, which is our political preference, slaps down these self-righteous pricks at every opportunity.

Now the self-righteous prick that writes this column will sit back and wait for the Linton Ewes to respond with good cogent arguments to prove me wrong.