I read this book in 24 hours and I didn't want it to end. I had a similar career path to Roger. But thank God I was a generation before him...before the bean counters and the internet arrived. I also made it to national papers. But many of my fondest memories and staunchest friendships were made on local papers.
The way the internet has combined with ruthless Capitalism to largely destroy an institution which was right up there with the NHS as part of the fabric of our society is criminal. Local papers informed and entertained and also held the wrongdoers to account. I recall writing a story for the Northern Echo about a woman whose gas had been wrongly cut off. Within a few hours the gas company reacted and sorted it out.
Nowadays (as Roger points out) we have situations like the Grenfell fire which might have been avoided had more local reporters been around to sniff out and act upon residents' complaints. The general public has no idea of the amazing work local journalists do to keep things ticking over as they should. Sadly they have been largely replaced by drivel on social media. This book is a very thorough (and sometimes very funny) account of how this regrettable decline affected one newspaper group and the author personally.
Amazon link is here: tinyurl.com/3r5keyea
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Panic-Man-Burns-Crumpets-Journalist/dp/1472145798/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=panic+as+man+burns+crumpets&qid=1637768569&sr=8-1
