Tuesday 15 March 2011

living for The Weekender

when i first caught wind that The Weekender, the entertainment section of The Enfield Advertiser, was under threat things were a little bit hush hush... but word gets around doesn't it...

although the clues were already there, the number of pages had slowly been dwindling over the past few weeks and certain articles and features had either been shuffled elsewhere or were tellingly conspicuous by their absense

which i wouldn't have brought into question if i hadn't known that my own music article had been submitted and yet The Advertiser went for a good couple of weeks (or was it three?) without a single music article appearing


when this type of thing happens i slow up a little, but the week before last the entertainment editor chased me up for a piece since something else he had been waiting on had fallen through, i swiftly finished off my piece dealing with The Fett's debut album

so what happens last week when i take a peek into the paper? The Weekender, apparently, and i quote, 'your number one leisure and lifestyle guide', was a paltry three pages long, and the article i had been hurried on had been replaced with an offer for toby carvery


it was after this sorry excuse for a leisure guide had been published (minus its usual music reviews, fashion features, kids club, cinema reviews and listings, and theatre and resteraunt reviews) that the editor informed me of the sorry state of affairs he was facing...

that The Weekender's days seemed to be numbered

now i'm not entirely sure if this was supposed to be public knowledge, and i drafted and submitted my own letter to express my disapointment, but i wondered whether this would make any difference at all

i know many people i know, band members and music fans alike turn to the centre pages before anything else, but how on earth will the powers that be know this if nobody tells them, and how will people need to know that there is something to fight for if they are unaware that it is in jeopardy

so i put news of this situation on facebook, where it was soon causing quite a stir not just between friends, but also among people that are outside of my own social circle, but obviously care enough to make their voices heard and express their opinion

so if you want to join in and make a bit of a fuss and hopefully make a difference then take a look facebookwards, and more importantly, make your voice heard by contacting The Enfield Advertiser by email on letters.enfield@nlhnews.co.uk 


and this isn't a fight for me, this won't affect my livelihood, i have a full time job that pays the bills and all my contributions to the paper have been voluntary, but other peoples jobs are at risk if The Weekender is scrapped, and i also fear that it is unlikely that Enfield's bands and Enfield gigs would ever have the same exposure ever again...


i only write because i love it, i was doing it on this blog long before i had been taken on by the Advertiser, giving a mention to music of the local and not-so-local kind, and the loss of The Weekender wouldn't stop me writing either


but i felt that it would be a blow to Enfield's music scene if it lost such a well recognised and well distributed platform 




so again, if this matters to you or anyone they know, please take a look at facebook and find a little time to contact the paper on letters.enfield@nlhnews.co.uk 


thank you

No comments:

Post a Comment