The implication here is that they just get it all of the Interweb, and sometimes it does seem that way. One ex-Crawley News reporter I used to drink with sometimes often complained that all the Observer does is copy & paste from the web to get their stories. A bit of an exaggeration but it does seem more prevalent in the Observer than the News.

Looking at this week’s paper, for example we have the following:

Page 3: “Giggles over road sign”
A story about ‘bloggers’ making jokes about Crawley’s “alcohol controlled zone” signs, which refers to comments on Facebook.

Page 8: “Copycats are’idiots'”
All about a YouTube clip of kids doing the motorbike/roundabout stunt in a homage to the Crawley kids who did the same thing on YouTube last year.

Page 9: “Ex-wife defends PCSO caught up in Facebook row”
A follow-up from a previous week’s story, which was all about how a (former) PCSO had a Facebook page with inappropriate comments/images on it.

Page 12: Letters page
A letter from Cllr Dan Kavanagh and letters from two of his Tory colleagues, defending his record. This is a long-running story which has been in either the news or the letters pages for at least a month now, but it started with a story about a website run by Mr Kavanagh selling tacky flammable clothes erotic lingerie.

Page 13: Blogs Today
Excerpts from the Observer’s own blogs

Page 13: From the Web
Bits lifted from other web sites, including this one.

Back Page: “Fans use Evans’ column for new game”
How contributors to a Crawley Town bulletin board are playing a game called ‘Evans Obby Column Bingo’, which sounds like a lot of fun – they should make it even harder by playing a game where they have to find a photo of Steve Evans where his mouth isn’t wide open. I liked the story, and I like the sound of the game – its nearly as funny as the Jeff Stelling Soccer Saturday Drinking Game. (Example: “Whenever Chris Kamara says “its unbelievable Jeff”, all drinks must be downed”)

So only 7 items derive, one way or the other, from the Internet this week. Or did I miss something? That isn’t counting stories which they find on the Internet but don’t credit as such – like the ones about the vandalised gravestones, the tiny double yellowlines or the mini-cycle lane which were all found here.

To be fair though, when they find something here they usually give me a call and ask about it. If they find something interesting or amusing online it doesn’t make it any less interesting or amusing. It shows some initiative to make sure that all potential sources of information are being explored. If anything its partly a demonstration of the way the Internet is now a part of mainstream culture – although some of this Facebook-derived stuff is a bit naff.

For example, last week a whole page was given over to how a load of our Tory councillors have Facebook pages showing them with one friend, which was pure filler in my opinion and was either pure mischief or a misunderstanding of how Facebook works.

Having said that, I can see the attractions. Last night one of the Observer reporters was at the Broadfield Forum. He was taking notes in shorthand – its always nice to see evidence that they have learned the trade properly. He spent two hours of his life sitting through a meeting which was more constructive, orderly, and useful than it has been in the past – good for us residents but not very newsworthy. He will be a magician if he manages to fill more than a couple of paragraphs about it. When the Wealden UAF had its AGM a Crawley News reporter was there, sat through the whole meeting, chatted to lots of us, made loads of notes, and in next week’s paper filled less than 6 column-inches as a result.

You only have to look at the list of reporters in the paper to see that they do not have many. If they are all out spending several hours to generate a paragraph or two they have to do something to fill up the rest of the pages – which explains the increase in Internet-sourced stories. The other way to do it is to fill entire pages with photos of the Mela, carnival, dragon boat races, or similar events.

There doesn’t seem to be much of an alternative. They could stop sending reporters to dull, worthy events like the Broadfield Forum but I think its a good thing they do attend them sometimes (and they should continue – there is always a chance of something exciting happening). Or they could pad out their reports from such meetings to extent that they are unreadable.