Bedworth Echo

The Bedworth Echo[1][2] was a weekly paid-for newspaper which was founded in 1979.[3][4] The Echo was the only newspaper to exclusively serve Bedworth.[5] It was further distributed to the neighbouring market town of Nuneaton, as well as Atherstone, Coventry, Hinckley, and Market Bosworth.[6]

Bedworth Echo
TypeWeekly newspaper
FormatTabloid
Founder(s)Alan Robinson
Mort Birch
PublisherCoventry Newspapers
Founded1979
Political alignmentNon-partisan
LanguageEnglish
Ceased publicationJuly 2009
Headquarters8 High Street
Bedworth
Warwickshire
CountryEngland
Sister newspapersCoventry Citizen
Hinckley Herald
Hinckley Times
Nuneaton Tribune
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  • List of newspapers

The newspaper was co-founded by former Nuneaton Evening Tribune sports writer Mort Birch and former Nuneaton Observer sports editor Alan Robinson.[7][8] It was owned by Midlands-based publishing group Coventry Newspapers Limited, a division of the Trinity Mirror Midlands group.[9][10][11]

In June 2007, journalists at the Bedworth Echo, who were also members of the National Union of Journalists, voted to go on strike to protest over their pay after explaining they were unhappy with other newspaper centres owned by the group for 'earning more for doing the same job'.[12] The Echo's journalists went on strike with Coventry Newspaper journalists from their sister titles, including The Coventry Citizen, Coventry Evening Telegraph, The Hinckley Herald & Journal, The Hinckley Times and The Nuneaton Weekly Tribune.[13] The 24-hour walk-out strike and temporary stoppage took place on Friday 17 June 2007.[14]

In November 2007, The Birmingham Press Club announced their shortlist for the Midlands Media Awards. John Harris, a then-reporter at the title was nominated for News Reporter of the Year and Sports Journalist of the Year at the awards that year.[15]

Meetings were held back in September 2008 by the paper's publisher, Trinity Mirror Midlands, where executives proposed potentially making cuts and redundancies at their localised titles including the Echo.[16] Mike O'Brien, MP for Warwickshire at the time, tried to tackle the cuts calling them 'serious attacks on news, journalists and journalism', further explaining the point that 'the Bedworth Echo has no office in the town' and that "some fine journalists try to keep in touch from a distance". Steve Brown, Trinity Mirror's regional director agreed to meet O'Brien to talk over the plans.[17][18]

In July 2009, the redundancies and cutbacks which were discussed a year prior were officially announced. The news was broken coming out of a meeting held by Trinity Mirror executives. As a result, 94 jobs were set to be cut across nine regional newspapers, with jobs at the Bedworth Echo affected.[19][20][21][22]

References
  1. "Bedworth Echo - British Library". British Library. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  2. "Bedworth Echo - Data - ABC". Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC). Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  3. "Bedworth Echo - British Library". British Library. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  4. "icCoventry - Weekly Titles". icCoventry. Archived from the original on 26 January 2003. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  5. "Advertise in the Bedworth Echo - Advertising in Coventry, Warwickshire". Trinity Mirror Midlands. Archived from the original on 9 May 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  6. "Newspaper Reports". The Newspaper Society. Archived from the original on 20 August 2004. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  7. Malyon, Mike (23 October 2013). "Sportsman and Bedworth United servant Alan Robinson dies, aged 71". The Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  8. Hudson, Nick. "Nuneaton & Bedworth Post to close". Hold the Front Page. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  9. "Amra - Midlands". Amra. 12 June 2004. Archived from the original on 12 June 2004. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  10. "Midlands division of Trinity Mirror". Trinity Mirror Midlands. Archived from the original on 17 July 2004. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  11. "Bedworth Echo - Data - ABC". Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC). Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  12. Staff, Hold the Front Page (25 June 2007). "Coventry journalists vote to strike in protest over pay". Hold the Front Page. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  13. Staff, Hold the Front Page (25 June 2007). "Coventry journalists vote to strike in protest over pay". Hold the Front Page. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  14. Staff, Hold the Front Page (25 June 2007). "Coventry journalists vote to strike in protest over pay". Hold the Front Page. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  15. Staff, Hold the Front Page (26 November 2007). "Midlands Media Awards shortlist is revealed". Hold the Front Page. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  16. Staff, Hold the Front Page (19 September 2008). "Trinity boss to meet local MP over job cutbacks". Hold the Front Page. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  17. Patrick (22 September 2008). "Warwickshire MP: Trinity cuts are serious attacks on journalism". Press Gazette. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  18. Staff, Hold the Front Page (19 September 2008). "Trinity boss to meet local MP over job cutbacks". Hold the Front Page. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  19. Staff, Hold the Front Page (1 July 2009). "Nine newspapers to close as 94 jobs go". Hold the Front Page. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  20. Oliver, Laura (1 July 2009). "Trinity Mirror confirms proposed closure of Midlands weeklies". Journalism.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  21. Ponsford, Dominic (1 July 2009). "Trinity Mirror to close nine newspapers in Midlands". Press Gazette. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  22. "Local newspapers in peril - The town without news". The Economist. 23 July 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2021. (Subscription required.)
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