General Discussion
Dawlish Gazette
The front page of this weeks Dawlish Post hails the arrival of Tom Scobie, as the new Town and Villages Reporter of the Dawlish Gazette.
At first, this appointment appears innocuous, but closer inspection raises the concerns that council/mayoral reportage may not be impartial.
Mr Scobie sat alongside councillor Protheroe on the local council, both of them Lib Dem. Mr Protheroe is now mayor of Dawlish Town council. A close friend of Mr Scobie is in the employment of Mr Protheroe.
These points raise concerns of a conflict of interest. How impartial will Mr Scobie's reporting be with the above vested interests?
We have witnessed before the reluctance of local reporters to seriously investigate council matters; even resulting in one journalist to leave their post due to residents complaints.
Are we therefore to deduce that the appointment of Tom Scobie will result in a 'closed shop' when it comes to open, honest, journalism regarding Dawlish Town Council?
Mr Scobie's manifesto includes his "intention to ensure that, with the active engagement of our readers, the Gazette not only reflects the community but serves it with renewed vigour" and "looking forward to hearing from people with every shade of opinion and to covering the news stories which are important to them".
One can only hope he is a man of his word, though the experience of previous reporting/reporters leaves many of us with severe reservations.
I will endorse whole heartedly the comments made in the above thread.
Time will eventually tell whether or not we will get impartiality from another groomed Lib dem.
I forgot to add in the thread above.
We now have Tom (Scobie) Dick (older-Ross) and Wally ------the mayor, all lib dems.
I'm not anti Lib Dem. I'm anti collusion and corruption. Would you defend your political party regardless of what they do?
I don't mind Lib Dems, but I don't like a closed shop which is a recipe for trouble. Down here though it's like the Labour Northern heartlands = where's the alternative vote? Any thoughts?
Strikes me you either votes Tory or you votes Lib Dem unless you live in either Exeter or Plymouth in which case you might have a chance with Labour.
Get rid of fist past the post and bring in proportional representation.
And no, I'm not a Lib Dem. I just think that if we have a voting system then it should be as democratic as possible which proportionality is much more so than first past the post.
Hows about a system where we can vote them out if they do not come up to expectations.
I don't mean vote for someone else when the time comes, I mean vote the muck out now and vote someone new after the muck has followed the path of nature and turned into some thing more useful.
Excuse me Jim, but who says 'we don't want Tom or the Gazette'?
If you don't like it, don't buy it. Quite simple. But please do not presume to speak for me.
I'm more peeved that I applied for the job, have more experience and qualifications than Tom, but did not even get an interview.
And have you asked why that was?
If you think you have been discriminated against for some (no good) reason then pursue the matter.
Freelance Reporter, Against an ex brand new councillor and a newspaper that will not report any item that goes against the Dawlish Town Council you had no chance, and before anybody makes any comment to that, I have had personal experience of that with the zette
Jambuster states he has personal experience with the Dawlish Gazette and so have I.
I remember an occasion where there was a very lively debate in the council chamber, many councillors were seen to be very uncomfortable with the proceedings as they were all party to the sheenannigans that were going on and if they weren't, it should not have stopped other councillors for voicing their concerns. Was there a report in the paper? NO! not even a mention that there had been a council meeting.
So the question now becomes why is it necessary for a reporter to be there if they are not going to report anything unless it is favourable to the council.
Anyone can obtain an agenda from the council offices of any meeting that takes place, and you will observe an item headed,"Press release", it then goes on to say, "To agree detail if required." But that does not stop the reporters writing up their own account of events, Does it?
Until this council shows much more transparency and really gets the community involved, you will always have a closed shop.
Freelance: Like I said - if you have good reason to think you should have been shortlisted ask the company why they didn't do so. If you are unhappy with the response you get you can always pursue the matter.
(Or even, indeed, let us all know the response via these pages!)
Vers! Let me tell you that you can go no higher than Press complaints bods, who are useless, just like all the other quango's. They are there to protect a particular organization from a complaint and also to justify their own existence.
You have obviously not had reason to complain, you are probably one of the moaners but take no action in trying to rectify a situation.
Press Complaints Commission I believe is concerned with what is written in the press.
I am talking about why this person was not shortlisted for a job when they seem to think they have should have been.
Two entirely different things.
I do not know why I was not shortlisted. There was apparently a 'high number of applicants'. I did forget to put the masonic seal on the envelope though...
But I'm now quite glad I did not get the job, after reading the comments in here. Tom has a lot to prove.
Tom is a very pleasant young man who is very interested in what happens in Dawlish.
He has been very keen to ask questions, listen to replies, offer opinions, take feedback, accept criticism at the Chamber of Trade meetings that he attended.
His youth and more recent education than the other councillors meant that he saw things from a less 'stuck in the mud' perspective.
I think he'll do just fine as a reporter, regardless of political persuasion, he listens, questions and thinks things through.
He'd better not prove me wrong now though!!!!!
Tom 'fan' I hope you are correct in the long term, but I dont hold my breath, I was hoping new Councillors would take an active interest and see things change ie: transparency but I am afraid they have been indoctrinated by the old ones, once again from personal experience.
I feel Mr Scobie will go the same way as the new councillors......falling in to line, discarding principles and integrity. They ALL do....it's what is required of you when joining the 'inner circle' of Dawlish Town Council and friends.
Do any of you really believe that Mr Scobie will report Dawlish Town Council matters that have a negative content? I believe he will write about the Council with the same favourable bias as previous reporters.
One wonders if he was installed in this position for that very purpose.
Is that why he stepped down from Dawlish Town Council? Do you think it was all planned to get an insider in the local press?
There are plenty of idiots in this town like Nutcase who think the sun shines out of our nouncils behind. I wouldn't trust mayor Protheroe and his councillor cronies with monopoly money, let alone OUR money!
I didn't say that I think the sun shines out of the council's behind but I do worry about the mental health of some of you who post here.
Okay, if you can PROVE what you constantly say and imply then do so. If you can PROVE it you can't be done for libel can you?
And no excuses about the newspapers not wanting to know nor the local government ombudsman etc etc.
Put a leaflet together and get it delivered to the local electorate. Like I said, if you can prove what you say, you won't get done for libel will you?
I will try and keep this brief just for you Nutcase did you see on the DTC web site, a tribual was held regarding the previous Water Fowl Warden keeping his birds on the brook and running his business whilst we paid for the feed and electricity, the complaint was not upheld, BUT they now say that would not be acceptable nowadays. The money spent on CCTV (your money) they are hardly ever monitored, record 24hrs a day -thats good- but do not pan automatically, they cannot see at night -non infra red - the one opposite the Co-op can zoom in and read you PIN numbers,Tucks Plot camera can see into private homes, the domes do not self clean and are obscured by salt and dirt, all that from an independent damning review of the system. It just goes to show the incompetance of the Council, to rectify the mistakes will cost us a lot of money.
Sorry could not make it shorter
Suggest you put that all on a leaflet and deliver to electorate. How else will they know what you know?
They will know by the growing number of local people accessing this website. Our council do not like this openness, they would prefer it was closed and secretive, just like their website and council meetings.
Agree, especially when you take into account we now have a reporter on our local paper who is likely to show huge bias towards his council colleagues and mayor.
It has now been admitted that the Water Fowl Warden is being allowed to do the same as the previous one, now it has been found out they are going to rectify it. So it seems you have to find these things out and let them know you know, and then they put it right. The Town Clerk knew what was happening but I believe the Councillors has not been informed
I've heard bad things about this town clerk. It appears he is only there to dig the councillors out of the shit! Often!
He puts his water fowl on the brook the same as the previous WFW and we pay for the feed and electricity and he also gets a salary from the DTC, the town clerk knew it but I believe the Councillors didnt.
And quite often Roy, he has had to dig himself out of the sh1t! He is the most arogant man I have yet to meet.
A little secret that I was informed of a few years back (yet have no firm evedence) The vacancy for a Town Clerk in Dawlish was advertised, Mr 1951 applied for the job.
He was such a pain in his previous post, that they gave him a glowing CV in the hope that someone would take the bait. Dawlish Town Council took the bait and it has been trouble ever since.
Has anyone else seen the two faced remarks made by Hunphrey Clemens (Tory, Dawlish and Teigndridge councillor)? "Exact savings should be checked first".
He is moaning about spending our money in an inappropriate way, yet he never once questioned the way Dawlish town council spent close on £100,000 on CCTV that is not fit for purpose.
He accuses others of making false claims, in the run up to-approving and installing CCTV in Dawlish, false claims were rife, in fact it was not so much false as down right lies.
And please dont forget he was and is the Chairman of the Finance and General Purposes Committee that sanctioned the spending of all that public money, without checking the specifications as to whether they were fit for purpose, as we now know from the independent Report (18 pages) that they are badly located and are not fit for purpose, never mind, he will do doubt recommend spending more public money to correct the mistakes.
Maybe the Committee will chip in. Naaah no chance
Would be interesting to see if Tom Scobie reports the facts, like those that have been posted above.
I suspect he will probably have regular meetings with Protheroe to ascertain what goes in the local press and what doesn't.
Remember residents of Dawlish....you are in the land of the free and the land of liberty. In the meantime......watch all of your satellite channels and go back to sleep. After all...others will look after your interests......won't they?
Then change who you vote for, try the Greens , Bnp, Ukip. Then you could have a Green Beach-hut and some Red,White and Blue ones.
VOTE FOR CHANGE
I do vote for change thank you very much. But sadly Maggie turned the whole country into middle-class wannabees, too frightened to get off the hamster wheel of accumulation and consumed with being better than their neighbours. Centre ground politics has diluted the minds of British people....Labour and Conservative are indistinguishable and Lib Dems are as wishy-washy as ever.
World Federation Wrestling.
Its was a regular event on the lawn in the summer.
Due to one poster he has been driven underground now. They tend to meet up at night , sometimes on the Spit,Coryton cove the celler of local pubs, apartment number 12 at Welcome holiday camp and most notably the Church on a sunday(Yes thats where the grannies are really going and it can get fairly wild at times)
chicken shed
your assumption that only one person is debating and discussing our corrupt dawlish council on this forum is way off the mark.....and might i add....arrogant.
The difference is we all don't have to meet every week to discuss what latest wheeze we can implement to make us more money personally. As for sexist....how many times have you made smutty, disrespectful remarks to the waitresses at these meetings? They may be employed by your mayor and serve your food, but that does not entitle you to treat them in such a demeaning way. So much for gentleman evenings heh?
Roy/Viaduct/Nigel, why have you started making all your posts annon at the moment.
Have you gone back in the closet?
chicken shed
your assumption that only one person is debating and discussing our corrupt dawlish council on this forum is way off the mark.....and might i add....arrogant.
The difference is we all don't have to meet every week to discuss what latest wheeze we can implement to make us more money personally. As for sexist....how many times have you made smutty, disrespectful remarks to the waitresses at these meetings? They may be employed by your mayor and serve your food, but that does not entitle you to treat them in such a demeaning way. So much for gentleman evenings heh?
Roy/Viaduct/Nigel you've now started repeating yourself on the same thread, usually you do this on each thread.
As far as I know Viaduct is Viaduct and no one else.
But there is nothing stopping others using that name----is there?
How many chicken sheds are there?
Thousands and thousands , usually in rural areas especially in norfolk . Many are owned by some fat git of a farmer who only knows one word BOOTIFUL
chiken shed and joey deacon sound like frightened councillors to me. They are obviously scared of an open, transparent, debate and most certainly fearful of the truth being told. More like headless chicken!
For some insane reason Viaduct seems to think we are the same person Joey, he also seems to think i'm a councillor, which with my policies , i dont think i'd get elected somehow.
We keep hearing this nutter going on about exposing me, well unless he catches me coming out the shower , i dont think he will somehow.Feel free to dish the dirt on every councillor you have info on.
Afterall you've been promising to do this for ages....but so far told us jack shit.Viaduct/Roy or whatever you wish to call yourself, your just full of verbal diorea.
Now run along old chap, matron wants to put you in your PJ's
Waste valuable evidence on underling like you?! Hang in there chicken deacon.....you can enjoy the spectacle when the shit hits the fan. Unless of course you are implicated.
Get it in to your heads....we use this website, alongside others, as there is no open, honest, transparent debate via Dawlish clown council meetings or Dawlish clown council website.
Your responses are frequent and vehemently pro Dawlish council....even though you state indifference. Anybody else smell a rat?
I look forward to the exposure by all 50 of you, sorry i mean you.
The real councillors must be pissing themselves.
As i am the Reverend , does that make the other councillors my Makers
Happening across this debate I actually feel astonished and slightly ashamed of my species that people are so quick to judge. Tom Scobie has not been given a chance to show his true colours, as people are branding him without any evidence whatsoever. I thought the policy was innocent until proven guilty, but clearly in Dawlish this is not the case. Why not take time to actually be prudent about this issue, rather than jumping in head first, assuming (ridiculously) that the council has put Tom Scobie forward to work for the paper as some sort of mole.
Yes....i agree, we shall have to wait and see. Hopefully he is above board. Though the way our Council runs it's business, i, personally, wouldn't put anything beyond them!