The apps have it…?
A valedictory by
Dominique Searle
As I walked out
one morning last week a blue sky with determined wisps of white cloud painted
the prospect of a lovely day. Ten strides down the hill and I paused to look at
my mobile. It plainly predicted rain from 11 am onwards. The inclination to continue was defeated by
my growing faith (reliance?) on apps. I returned for my coat.
And the app was
right. As I left an interview the white had turned to grey and in line with
weather.com and the BBC the water opened a spray upon me.
That’s not quite
how it was in 1984 when I began full time work with the Gibraltar Chronicle and
would more likely have relied on a moan about a twitch in Slim’s knee to
predict levanter or rain.
The Chronicle has
been a lifetime journey for me. I was a one year old when I began to live on
the premises of the Garrison Library offices. For decades I was lulled to sleep
by the whish of the printing press. Ink on the soles of my shoes and running
between the giant printers shouting from one end of the print shop to the other,
guillotine to lead setting.
Serving copious
glasses of whisky to Harold Wall in the Christmas ‘wayzgoose’ under the
direction of Betty and Sheelagh and generally dodging about between many of the
characters who were part of this newspaper, some of whom I would get to work
with or even lead (yes John Shephard is 80 this year and still a bastion of the
old school in the office). And like John
I have folded, delivered and done most jobs that help get the daily round out,
through thick and thin.
So this is a
valedictory piece as I stand on the precipice of 31 years as a full timer on
the newspaper and many years as stringer for The Times and Reuters as well as
contributing to other media.
Now, before me, a
whole new opportunity to move on to a fresh challenge still immersed in the
variations of the stories that define and have defined this gem of a Rock so
desired by others. We can be forgiven for sometimes thinking we are the centre
of the universe. I shall miss writing the headlines, especially the ones we
would never use!
The world is not
perfect, nor are people. But the Chronicle’s own well over 200 years of
struggles and triumphs has mostly reflected, if not in its reports in its own
change of ethos, the story of Gibraltar’s political life.
I have tried to be
a gentle myth-buster - despite what we
say about Spain we have only ourselves been a real democracy for decades, not
centuries. But we were ahead - when Spain was a dictatorship, we were a colony.
I remember EFE
Ryan but never worked under him but my editors were my father for a short time
and then Francis. In the 1980s surge of the Brussels Agreement, Sir Joshua
Hassan, the politics, the events and the dramatic opening of the border…we had
some great times. And for journalists great times generally means a big story
put to bed with a beer (or two).
As it turned out
the clinch year for me as a young journalist was 1988. The biggest hard news
events were the IRA incident and Barlow
Clowes but the lasting revolution came with the sweeping to power of Joe
Bossano. He was the first ever leader who had to deliver a real economic plan
after MOD slashed its contribution from 70% of the economy in a rapid slide to
7% a decade later.
He knocked the
colonial chip off the Gibraltarian shoulder and made people look to themselves
for their identity. But his way of doing things provided news!
Then the avalanche
of 1996 hit - not just with the dramatic
change of government and the events that had led to that - but also with my
becoming editor of what, as it turned out, was a bankrupt newspaper.
Peter Caruana rode
in on a wave for change and on an era that was enjoying prosperity generally.
The tripartite - his greatest political
gamble and achievement - ushered in a
fresh, sadly not so long lived era of relations to which it would be good for
all in this neck of the woods to return.
Then there was the
myth of a £1m aid from the Government for the company- there was no donation, there was a debt to
Government which we are still paying today (unlike many here today, gone
tomorrow companies, often from abroad, that have walked away with impunity).
The debt has largely been paid for by the workforce who for the most part, from
myself to the delivery driver, editorial and printing, endured static and
modest wages for a decade and lost up to 90% of our pension expectation. We almost
lost 70% of our pension entitlement when that fund was put into winding up in
hugely underfunded state.
With
administrative, but not financial, help from the Treasury and Income Tax
departments that loss has been greatly
mitigated by makling a distribution of the fund instead of purchasing annuities.
Thanks to Lucio
Randall and Douglas Ferro for their support on the pension board. We finally
got there, though not in the happy state we might have hoped for, with best
arrangement possible.
I take my hat off
to them all and especially those who strove to push this project ahead for the
public good.
That project,
however, of salvaging the future of a company that anyone in their right mind
would have had closed, would not have been possible without the hard work and
support that I had from Suzette Martinez, my commercial manager. Nothing short
of obsession and dedication got us through the early days with the occasional
encouragement and advice from Jaime Levy at Hassans who had faith ( a decade
and a half of it) that we would eventually come through. And from my good
friend Peter Montegriffo who has listened priest-like to my woes.
Suddenly in 1996
there were just two of us making up the newspaper’s editorial team, Paco and
myself. Plus, of course, some stalwarts
in the contributions section. I am not sure how but the paper managed to get to
breakfast tables in the morning despite the turmoil behind the scenes.
This is a sketch
of an industry where what is usually work – writing stories and chasing leads ,
meeting people and serving the news to the public - was the undoubtedly the upside
of it all.
Anyone who runs a
small, intense business knows that recruiting the right person is key to all.
You are better off waiting for years than putting up with the wrong
choice.
As the management
of reality began to take shape in my first years as Editor, I was strolling up
Library Ramp in my usual state of disconnect, working though some story or
problem, when I alighted on Alice Mascarenhas. She was back from UK having
interrupted her GBC career to venture into theatre and TV in UK studying and
working in the field.
Amidst the debt
agreements and on going liabilities I had (and here I should interrupt and say
I learned my financial management from Joe Bossano’s ideas of safe recurrent
spending and building rainy day funds) there was an opportunity to try and
recruit someone who could instantly bring a new dimension and potential to the
newspaper.
As GBC pondered
whether or not to take her back I offered her the freedom to create her own
department. We needed to break free from
the concentration on politics and no one has more command of local cultural
life then her. It was a major coup!
Against the odds
she joined that madness of our treadmill. None of us have really lost weight,
but we certainly lost sleep!
For me its been a
12 hour day every day and often a large chunk of the weekend for three decades,
and although we were paying our way by 2000 it all almost unravelled until four
years ago when it was agreed to restructure the company. With the haemorrhage arrested
through reorganisation, we started to make real headway. Apart from myself (and
Johnny the photographer) there are now five full time editorial staff.
Again a key move
was to bide my time until a Gibraltarian obsessed with good newspaper reporting
came along. That happened some eight years ago when Brian Reyes’ ship came into
port (he was a Lloyds List staffer) and he joined the team. The best local hard
news reporter I have met and sufficiently affected by the news obsession to
want to do this job.
Is it a good time
for me to leave? Yes…..no…..yes.
The company
liabilities are well covered and despite the expanded team we are paying our
way and making a modest profit. And we
have a solid rainy day fund set aside to cover any dips and for investing in
significant improvements to our systems and product as the need arises. Against
all trends in Europe the newspaper is gradually growing its circulation both in
print and pay for e-editions. It has never been in a better state in my
lifetime in terms of either staff or commercial viability.
But the challenges
ahead for all newspapers - and many have
fallen in the British fields - do not
exclude the Chronicle. The move towards a greater dependency on electronic
editions has it implications for the ability to afford, in the longer term, the
journalists to serve a quality product.
The high cost of
printing remains a challenge and soon enough newspaper printers throughout
Europe may become extinct to smaller bespoke machines for ‘discerning’ clients
of specialist periodicals like the FT
Whilst GBC takes
advertising at below cost rates (given its public subsidy) and all but one or
two publications print in Spain, the playing field is not really level for the
Chronicle and some other media here. What keeps us going is you, the reader,
and your passion for Gibraltar and the team’s passion to keep the sparkle of
1801 alive.
Brian is well
equipped to take us into a new era. And he has a great team behind him from
editorial, across layout to commercial and advertising. Again I thank them all
for their loyalty and hard work. (Enjoy retirement Charlie!)
Why move? The extraordinary
challenge put to me by the Chief Minister is certainly one thing. It feels the
time is right.
The fruit of years
of work from all my team needs a fresh drive. I need a new adventure (dreams of
a sabbatical were never to be…) and the newspaper will benefit from a fresh
approach.
Rather than risk eventually
becoming a cantankerous old editor battling on, I think a great deal can be
achieved by someone younger and with new ideas for the times ahead. Despite the
safe platform the role of editor is always a daunting challenge. Taking an
historic publication forward and, above the sea of emails, Tweets, blogs and
social media, producing something you all trust enough to pay for…not the easy
life, for sure.
What does the new
job entail? Many of the same players but, for once, being one myself rather
than a mirror on events. My work at the Chronicle and more recently in
philanthropy with the Kusuma Trust has taught me patience with people and the
need to try and understand people’s stories, not just convey them.
So too the ebb and
tide of political life, the fact that, as Margallo shows us, time does not
always move forward, has made me feel strongly, that we must not only build
good allegiances and defend ourselves but work towards a new path. Despite all
the rowing, hitting back, probing, jibing and general rough and tumble of
political exchanges one only has to look back at the polls and referendums to
know that Gibraltar is as united as is possible on defending our future and our
rights.
I have seen and
heard a great deal from my Editor’s vantage point - on stage and behind the scenes - and welcome my new role to put that to good
use.
On the key factors
my experience is that all our Chief Ministers since Sir Joshua have put 100%
plus into defending this Rock of ours.
I know that Fabian
Picardo is doing so. I share his readiness for the battles ahead and his
optimism for our future.
My sincerest
thanks to you all - readers and staff - for the lifetime of support.
I leave the
Chronicle - print and ipads - in good
hands….
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