TOPIC: News And Star

No wonder it's on its arse when the quality of the journalism and editorial direction are influenced by the standing and wealth of the subject involved

Always has been for most newspapers and media

The Independent is closing too. I used to enjoy reading a 'decent' paper. I get my news on-line now. I guess I'm to blame.
I used to use the BBC site a lot. Most of the newspaper apps/websites are very poor. The best (ie easiest and most pleasant to use) is the Guardian.
The readers comments on news items sort of neutralise its inherent editorial political bias.

Any suggestions for other news websites?

I quite like the telegraph website but as I don't subscribe, I have to ration how many news items I actually click on. I'm told the Times website is good if you subscribe. I buy the Times paper but that is mainly for the puzzles although some of the other content like medical stuff is excellent.

The Guardian is just too full of left-wing crap to be called a newspaper. The Independent closing will affect no more than about 20,000 daily readers. They used to have piles of free copies in some hotels and still no-one used to take them.

I found the N&S; iPhone app brilliant, then they took it off the App Store so it doesn't work. The new N&S; website is very good mind.
I only buy N&S; on Tuesday's for lummys column now

Al Jazeera and Russia Today both have a strong political bias but they cover stories about Britain the UK press won't cover. It at least gives you some balance if you watch them alongside the BBC. The Telegraph had 216 press office complaints lodged against it and was fined £30000 in January alone so the level of bias on RT and AL J is no greater than the mainstream UK media

I can't stand the news and star site as every page takes ages to load. The Observer is the only Sunday paper I would buy but don't really bother with that as I can look on line. I do like the Everyman crossword though.

I don't have the time or inclination to buy a daily paper.

N&S; has been a snore bore for years, in a small region where advertising revenue is ' in-bred ' you will never get a scoop or expose on the basis ' My Company will withdraw advertising ' It's an old boys club, has been for years.
There is so much going on in the County and particularly in Carlisle (like paying off BHS) what kind of Council gets involved in the High Street by paying one retailer to ' F' off in favour of another. Get stuck in News and Star, I don't remember paying my rates so our boffins could blow a couple of million buying out BHS....
That's the same Council that is crying like a disciplined child about ' Government Cuts ' and the same Council that has been ' failing ' with Childcare for goodness knows how long..

Our local NHS is a total mess, come on N&S; who, what, when, why how............follow the decision makers and policies and report the results.

CUFC is ending up in the same position as FGB was with the N&S;, no comment, erm I said no comment. erm I'm unavailable.........

The N&S; is not even expensive chip paper anymore.

Don't think they've 'blown a couple of million' buying out BHS though, and the rates they will receive in comparison will give a good return on investment, not to mention the extra jobs created, and increase in shoppers to the city central. Whether you hate Primark or not, the fact is it will draw people into the city centre.

For what its worth:

1. I open the Telegraph, Guardian, Mail, Independent, EN&S; and BBC.
2. For news at a higher level I like the Telegraph. It is well presented and informative although I do not share a large part of the views. The limit on monthly articles is easy overcome - using the Macbook I just reset the Safari.
3. I should like the Guardian as it is closer to my political views but I dislike the presentation.
4. For chit chat and gossip the Mail is the best, and the photos are sometimes spectacular. I ignore about 50 % of the content.
5. The Independent is bad. Superficial articles that don't inform, a need to give news on what is happening in the USA and a poor presentation.
6. The EN&S; has improved, and is much quicker to download. Still too much repetition of the articles throughout the page.
7. I read the BBC for sport, especially football. I don't think the rest of the content is anything special.

HIGH street store BHS received a payout of more than £5 million to make way for Primark, the News & Star understands.

Details of the deal to buy BHS out of its city centre lease and free up the prime Lanes site have been revealed by Carlisle City Council, which stumped up almost a quarter of the cash.

Council stumped up £1.4m of the 5m.
(Part ownership of the lanes)

feckwittery wrote:
And how much will the yearly rent be for Primark and how much greater than for BHS?

Flatcap wrote:
Annual rent from BHS for the council's 24% share was £50,000
Annual rent from Primark for the 24% share is £177,000.

So an extra £127,000 rent per year. The council stumped up £1,397,000 to pay off BHS, so over the course of 11 years, it will have been paid off.

BHS closing cost 50 jobs.
Primary opening created 144 jobs.

11 years before they break even. Wish they were as forward thinking with other projects in the city.

Although we've not yet been told what Primark's plans are, the wife pointed out an interesting possibility: what if that £127k inc rent that Poundland has been paying, plus the rental for the old sports place upstairs. So they're not necessarily paying that much more for BHS' floor space, simply occupying a much larger unit. If so, that's a bit smoke and mirrors by the council.

I'm not sure primark will work in Carlisle, A lot of shoppers come into the city from out west or south Scotland and primark will be a bit upmarket for a lot of them.

Councils should NOT get involved in the High Street. Primark has a very chequered history of using child labour, then when disasters happen sending a wedge of money so the bad publicity will go away.What when Primark brand starts to decline and is replaced by the next new fad ?

Supermarkets have a environmental and buying policy that creates huge amounts of waste and monopoly over the supply chain. We in (Carlisle) kiss there ar..e despite there decimation of the high street.

BHS (I have no loyalty to BHS, Primark anyone else) was one of the oldest in the lanes, a show piece shopping areas where 20% of the Units are empty !!!

One for the N&S; to dig into not me....

I think they are going totally the wrong way . If folk want big brand named shops its just so easy to go to the North East or Manchester to shopping areas that are always going to be bigger and more varied than the Lanes. Plus all the big high street names are available in our own homes via their websites.

I would like to see Carlisle feature far more independent unique stores that actually give shoppers a reason to come into the city. Is there even a shop that features made in Cumbria? Of course the big problem with that is the sky high rents in the Lanes make it impossible for small independents to get an outlet and the council would rather have loads of shops empty than help out local businesses.

This is a good deal all round and the Council should be applauded.They have created real value all round and BHS under new ownership isn't a great story after Philip Green sold out.

Paying them to get out may look odd but the end result is a significant increase in capital value and more jobs.Good effort and precisely what Councils should e doing rather than blowing it on hair brained schemes

Folk would be surprised how much £'s the City Council have stashed away. They may need to spend it pronto if we ever went to a unitary authority for Cumbria (New Ground anyone?)...

I would have thought that the standard of journalism would have gone up when Amanda Little left. Not sure what Laffy thinks of Colman though. Copy,paste.

Laffy wrote:
So, the issue over Child labour and exploitation has no consideration, it is always profit First ??

The things is thesilentone where do you stop.

I personally have never been into a Primark and the child labour accusations do worry me, but I do sometimes shop at Matalan, Sainsburys, buy Carlisle United shirts, all of which have garments made in the far East as does BHS. Primark has a bad reputation but is it any worse than most of the other brands who source items with price as the major consideration.

I would love to be able to buy just locally sourced or fair traded articles but it's pretty well impossible to find.

Primark has had a lot of bad press with the child exploitation issues and the issue with the un safe Bangladesh factory. However it still extremely popular here, so do people care or turn a blind eye because its cheap?

I must admit i've bought stuff in primark recently, its not good but you forget about it.

Id be interested to know the difference in FTE's with the combination of staff from what was in JJB, poundland and BHS as i dont think its much less to what Primarks proposing.

Jon Colman-superb journalist destined for a national in my view

Primark-would you rather have a full shop with lots of employees and happy shoppers or an empty BHS which is where that unit was likely heading.

Laffy wrote:
Agree re Colman, I think hes a great journalist also compared to others at the N&S;, and SP doesn't like him so even better

Theres no doubting that Primarks popular. But their business practices are dodgy, like yours , and the exploitation is a worry. I also don't think the number of jobs created is that much greater with BHS and poundland making way and what was JJB.

I love Primark.

Whenever we go away anywhere Moorlass heads directly there and spends ages in there, and I can spend extra time drinking. In fact it is so fantastic that I deliberately look at towns and cities we might be interested in going to just to make sure there's a Primark there. There's a lot to be said for loads of beer and a bit of quiet time.

Primark has worked as hard as anyone to hide and remove the stain of Child labour and exploitation, but, that black cloud remains and always will. The British people will not forget, and unless substantial steps are taken to try and redress this, they will not forgive either, it will come home to roost.

The w....ing Bankers, will never be forgiven until heads roll and we see some of those Criminals behind bars. Profit and jobs are one thing, ethics and sound practice are another. Had we practised what we preach, perhaps Primark would not be the brand it is today having created a low cost, low quality high street goods, or put another way, the Poundland of the Clothing Trade.


Edited to add, J Coleman is one of the few who does a good job at the N&S;, therefore I agree he won't be there for long.

Primark,love them or loathe them,is a target for most high streets as it creates enormous footfall.

As I say,a great deal by those in charge of this transaction.

Never mind about child labour and unsafe factories malarkey, who the [censored] wants to be seen dressed head to toe in the shite clothes they sell!!

Moorlass.

Not my style-they don't do Garmin cycle hats to my knowledge

Like Primark or loathe it , one thing is for sure it will attract customers to Carlisle from the surrounding area.It will be interesting to find out how much it effects the other businesses in Carlisle.

thesilentone wrote:
Disgraceful that. Should get a union involved...

MerseysideBlue wrote:
In this case, you are right....for once