Seedy Mark

Hello Blogg-ettes, This is the fourth time I have tried to send this - I can't back it up because the PC keeps freezing..

Talking of which - my body keeps freezing. The cold weather really does take my breath away....

It has been a long couple of weeks. I have been gigging, trying to keep warm and promoting the Council.

People ask what my job entails... Here is a brief breakdown..

There are just three press officers for the whole of Halton Borough Council.

We deal with ALL media enquiries from anyone from Sky News to Wire FM... We get the correct response from the correct person for them.

We are skilled in putting out press releases to promote events - so the Council doesn't spend time and money on expensive adverts.. We do it for free.

We also write stories for Inside Halton - the magazine which goes out to all residents and news for the website.

We log all references to the Council in the news on the Newsflash system and cut our hard copies of print media and file them by category so we can pull out coverage reports for whoever wants them...

With just three of us we are among the smallest media offices in the country and about the cheapest.

Some people think we are pawns of whichever part is in power. But if these people (mostly Tories - boo hiss!) bothered to read press releases they would note how politically unbiased they are..

Most of the information comes from officers and we put a quote from the Executive Board Member (councillor) who looks after that department.

In Halton this means it is normally a Labour person who is quotes but in my last job, in Walsall, it was always a Tory.

As to being expensive - we earn in salary (despite more than 50 years experience in the media between us) less than some councillors get in allowances...

It is irritating that people always get at our department. Nobody has a go at IT or human resources!

Anyway. Rant over... Its been a big media week. We got a fake car crash to promote a road safery DVD on BBC TV, Radio Merseyside and Wire FM...

Radio Merseyside broadcasted from Widnes Market on Monday - which was great fun and we had no shortage of events we promoted through that.....

Gigging wise I went to see Carter USM/EMF/Vile Evils last week and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

I have now seen him in Melbourne, Amsterdam, Wolverhampton and Manchester... and he just gets better with age....

Music: The Killers

Book: The Crow Road

Film: Karli