Steve Ivall- Falmouth Packet Guest Lecture One

Steve Ivall Deputy Editor of the Falmouth Packet was our first guest speaker on Monday 8th October. The Falmouth Packet is as Steve said "A small cog within a big wheel." The packet publication is run by Newsquest which in turn is run by the American company Gannet.


Steve went on to inform us of the vast amount of magazine based publications the Packet company produces. These include monthly and yearly publications for both the public and business to business sector such as the Farmers Magazine which is a monthly publication. There are also a vast amount of magazines for national readership such as the Smallholders Magazine and the Royal Cornwall Magazine which is also published nationally.



Steve went on to explain the importance of structural relationships between Regional and National papers and the filtration between the both . National papers, as Steve said "Feed" daily off regional and local papers. He went on to explain that inevitably what would hit front page on a local paper could quite possibly only stretch to a couple of easily hidden lines on a national level. From a human interest angle this could change depending on the regional interest the story may draw.



I found the most interesting topic in Steve`s talk was the importance he stressed for in particular, local journalists to be able to multi task in all areas of this multi media world we live in. Gone are the days when a reporter would merely go out and grab a story. Now they are sent out with at the very least, high tech camera equipment as well as sound equipment ready to use in podcasting and radio broadcasting. He also highlighted a shift in trend between newspapers and the web. Newsquest`s policy today is one of a primarily web based news service and a newspaper secondly. The packet contains a 24hour "hub" of news staff that will put every news feature on the the Packet website.

Although a sore point for many. Steve also highlighted the importance in being able to use short hand and that the Packet would not employee a trainee journalist who could not produce at least 100 words per minute.

I was also interested to learn about Steve`s opinion on press releases. As a student of Public Relations I found this to be a helpful insight into the world of journalism. I obviously need to get into the mind of a journalist when I am writing my press releases so that it doesn't end up in the pile labeled "To Much Like Hard Work To Edit."

It became clear that Mr Ivall took a different approach to interviewing techniques than we may previously have been told. Saying that a little forcefulness was not a bad thing to get the questions you wanted answered.

Steve finished his talk by opening the floor to questions. A question was put to him regarding freelance submissions to the packet. Steve openly encourages this from students at the University but seem to imply only photography work would be paid for. Although a byline was fairly possible. This also lead him to talk about citizen journalism which is increasingly popular both on a national and regional level where Joe public can now become photo journalists in their own right with the use of their camera phones.

Although obviously aimed at journalist as opposed to the Public Relations students. I found the talk both informative and gave me a useful insight into the world of local journalism.