LFC Stories
LFC Stories is a collection of brilliant journalism written by Dan Kay, a lifelong Liverpool FC fan and dearly-missed Liverpool Echo colleague who died in 2023. Since then, the Dan Kay Foundation has been set up in Dan’s memory, committed to spreading kindness and tackling stigma around mental health issues.
The book, curated by colleagues including former Liverpool Echo sports reporter Sam Carroll, and friends of Dan, will be published by Reach Sport early next month, raising money for the foundation in the process. You can pre-order here.
Latest specialist newsletter launches
We’ve continued to roll out newsletters from a new project which expands our newsletter offering with a slightly different angle. These latest launches are designed to serve fans of particular topics or locations, rounding up the best journalism wherever we see it – either on Reach sites or not.
The aim is to create a useful and entertaining service for readers that will make them want to open the latest email as soon as it drops – while, of course, also promoting great journalism at Reach.
Newsletters launched so far include Pit Lane Chronicle (Formula 1), XP Drop (Gaming), Touchdown Collective (NFL), Blood Red (Liverpool FC), Weird Science Drop, the Bookish Drop, The Atomic Drop (Wrestling), The Cricket Drop, The Shoreham Journal (Sheffield United), Post Horn Gallop (Leicester) and The Stroke Index (golf). Location-based newsletters include the Newcastle Drop and the Belfast Drop, with a number of new topic and location-based newsletters to launch before the end of May.
Wrexham scoop
Our Daily Star website lead Andrew Gilpin is also a passionate Wrexham fan, host of Fearless in Devotion podcast and author of the Wrexham is the Game newsletter, one of the paid newsletter stable we’ve launched over the last year. Following Wrexham’s promotion to the Championship, Andy secured an exclusive interview secured with owner (and Hollywood star) Ryan Reynolds – leading to a range of articles across Reach titles, including the splash in the Star, and articles for the newsletter.
Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness – three Reach nominations
Congratulations to all the Reach journalists who made the shortlist for the Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness. Simon Murphy of the Mirror is shortlisted for a range of investigations, while Liam Thorp of the Liverpool Echo is shortlisted for work in Liverpool including telling powerful stories from the perspective of people left homeless. MyLondon’s immersive storytelling project Rough: The stories behind London’s homelessness crisis has also been nominated.
Ukraine reporting
Express investigations editor Zak Garner-Purkis has been reporting from Ukraine, with photographer Rowan Griffiths. Dispatches include I visited Ukraine’s most dangerous city – nothing could have prepared me for what I saw, I’m on Ukraine’s frontline and soldiers say a ceasefire will be pointless for 1 big reason, Inside Ukraine’s elite ’Bucha Witches’ unit with mums picking up guns to fight Putin and I’m in Ukraine – last night Putin and Russia showed me their evil worst.
Sycamore gap and Newcastle venue closures
One of the biggest stories of the last 12 months in the North East came to a conclusion last week when two men were convicted for chopping down the famous Sycamore Gap tree. ChronicleLive liveblogged proceedings throughout, with Rob Kennedy in court with a range of fascinating backgrounders also published as the case concluded.
Also in Newcastle, Barbara Hodgson for ChronicleLive reported on growing fears for the city’s famous nightlife following the closure of several well-known venues, with traders saying they’ve never known life so tough.
Local democracy
On the local democracy beat, CornwallLive’s Lee Trewhela revealed this week that a deputy mayor in Cornwall had been banned from Truro Cathedral due to safeguarding concerns, and has also been dogged in pursuing the controversy around a former councillor who landed a job at the county’s Spaceport project. Lee revealed this week that the councillor was no longer employed in the controversial Spaceport role
Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo joint campaign for rail link
The Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo took the unprecedented step of teaming up this week to launch a campaign for better rail connections between the two cities. The move came as mayors from the two regions headed to London to lobby for more cash. Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham made a point of saying that while Whitehall didn’t always support calls for rail investment in the North West, both the M.E.N. and Echo always did. The Echo’s Dan Haygarth joined commuters during morning rush hour this morning.
Mirror’s Missed campaign
The Mirror’s Missed campaign, shining a spotlight on the cases of families left bereaved by people who go missing, launched in Ireland this week. Danny De Vaal kicked things off in Ireland with articles looking at a number of cases where people have gone missing for years.
Meanwhile, the campaign’s latest instalment in the UK tells the agonising story of Vandana. Her 17-year old boy Deante went missing at the end of March and she is living in limbo until he safely returns home. The interview hears about what happened to Deante and follows Vandana as she meets Jess Philips MP to try to get more support for the case. Filmed by Cheolan Jeong, edited by Imade Osagiede and produced by Lynda Moyo.
Eurovision YouTube series
Curiously have produced an 11-part (and counting) YouTube-first Eurovision series called ‘Flying The Flag’ where host Jack Shute interviews this year’s acts from all over the continent. Episodes will ramp up this week ahead of this Saturday’s final, including a special episode where Jack interviews Drag Race UK star (and Eurovision superfan) Tia Kofi in the Canary Wharf Studios, giving their predictions on who will be victorious in Basel. You can catch up on all episodes here or reach out to Tom Leese if you want to use any clips to include in any relevant Eurovision articles. Douze points to the team!
Other highlights from around the UK
Birmingham’s bin strike continues to make news in the city, and has given rise to a new phrase – the megapicket. Local Democracy Reporter Alexander Brock headed to the frontline of an ongoing battle to produce this article on what was happening.
National headlines followed this week when the Manchester Evening News’ James Holt and Charlotte Fisher uncovered the story of an apparently famous city centre store closing down after decades in business, with a closing down sale announced complete with pictures of the owners placed in social media posts. The only problem? The business never existed – it was an AI-enabled swizz that is actually a front for goods being shipped from China.
Elsewhere this week, Social Newsdesk Reporter Alice Sjöberg wrote about her dad having a stroke aged 40 in a thought-provoking first-person piece. It changed her own approach to health – and now she’s urging others to be mindful of potential stroke symptoms too.
Emily Malia, from the central General Assignment Unit, watched the Channel 4 show Go Back To Where You Came From and was keen to do an original piece about the issues faced by those in the camps they visited. She located the founder of the Pachamamma Project on social media and reached out to her for an interview about the foundation’s work providing feminine hygiene projects to those who need them in the camps.
Emily’s strong piece for the Mirror highlighted an often overlooked issue and raised awareness of one of the biggest issues women and girls are facing in these camps.
In the Content Hub, Trendswatch Content Editor Liam McInerney spoke to the sister of a dad-of-four who tragically lost his life on a stag-do in Liverpool. The tragic story resonated with ECHO readers, achieving a splash and 30,000 page views, as well as performing well on the Mirror, M.E.N., Daily Record and BirminghamLive.
And finally, Laura Hartley on Mirror Sport shared a personal perspective on Coventry City’s rise up the league under new boss Frank Lampard – a journey that ended with play-off heartache this week.
