Glass Half Full?

Last week was another short working week but quite an eventful one. I took a holiday on Monday after the previous week's Cheltenham exertions and Friday was a public holiday, so only three days in the office. However the three day week could well become the norm ...
On Tuesday I was brought up to speed with all the ramifications of last week's council decision to 'disinvest' in community newspapers. Mary also had meetings with Forth councillor Elaine Morris and Martina McChrystal, the lead officer in Forth and Inverleith for Communications and Engagement, a rather gloomy meeting of the Edinburgh Community Newspaper Trust and there was a meeting of the NEN board too. The upshot of all this is that there is little or no support for community papers within the current administration, and the money on the table from last Thursday's council meeting is only to be used to fund redundancies brought about by the winding-up of the various papers.
This leaves the NEN with a shortfall of around £27,500 per year - money we will have to find if we are to continue as we are presently. Realistically, that's unlikely. However the bulk of our funding is received through North Edinburgh's Community Regeneration Fund - soon to be replaced by Fairer Scotland Funding. It seems likely that this funding will continue at least until the end of the current calendar year, so we do have some breathing space to put together a rescue package.
There is to be a joint board/staff 'brainstorming' session early next month to see if we can come up with any ideas on how we can salvage the situation. I do think that we can continue, although perhaps in a scaled down format working reduced hours, reduced pagination and perhaps even doing away with door to door delivery. The situation is difficult, but not impossible and we do have the luxury of some time - sadly something the Gorgie/Dalry Gazette, with only ECNT funding, doesn't.
I'm still optimistic about our short-term future at least, although I wouldn't want to predict beyond Christmas.
BBC at it's best
I had a few evening jobs to cover last week but I did manage to catch a couple of BBC dramas which encapsulate everything that's good about the BBC (I am a huge fan of the BBC - despite constant criticism and interference from politicians I still see the BBC as one of our national treasures and something that should be cherished). The Passion was excellent (I only caught one episode, but I know how the story ends anyway!) and the new series on BBC4 'The Curse of Comedy' was superb - last week focused on the fraught relationship between Harry H Corbett and Wilfred Bramble, the stars of Steptoe and Son, and it was terrific. If the rest of the series is as good as the opening drama we're in for a real televisual treat and I'm looking forward to this week's film which has Ken Stott playing the role of Tony Hancock.
Last week the BBC was also heralding the fact that it has secured the rights to Formula One coverage - I can't say that I am particularly excited about that. Grand Prix races inevitably seem to hinge on how fast cars can clear their pit lanes these days and I don't see a lot of excitement there. Maybe I'm missing something, but give me the drama of the Embassy World Darts from the Lakeside any day!
It's a public holiday again today so it's another short working week, although we go to print on Thursday so it's going to be busy few days, but I much prefer that, anyway.
Tomorrow I'll attend the funeral of Jimmy Stewart, who was the Evening News Circulation Manager for many years. I first met Jimmy when I started with the Scotsman in 1974 and he was a real character - and a good crooner too. Recently I've bumped into him at the Unionist Club where he was becoming an active and enthusiastic member. I was amazed to read that Jimmy was 79 - he didn't look it or act it, and I'll miss seeing him around - he was one of life's good guys and was always really fun company. I'm sure there will be a huge turnout at his funeral.