|
A
Great Tradition of Campaigning
The Northern Echo has a proud campaigning tradition which started in the
1800's. Editor William Thomas Stead targeted prostitution for his first
campaign and established the paper as one of Britain's greatest newspapers.
Journalists working at the paper have continued the tradition which also
saw another great editor, Harry Evans, succeed with high profile campaigns.
Those included free cervical smear tests for women in the region and, perhaps
most famously, for obtaining a posthumous pardon for Timothy Evans.
Timothy Evans was hanged in 1950 for strangling his baby daughter Geraldine.
Home Secretary Roy Jenkins announced the posthumous pardon in 1966 following
the launch of the Man On Our Conscience campaign.
Today's editor of The Northern Echo, Peter Barron continues to campaign
on behalf of readers. Below are links to all campaigns and their archives.
LATEST CAMPAIGNS
No Messin'!
The No Messin' campaign, in partnership with Network Rail, has two main
objectives: to highlight the dangers of trespassing on the railways and
to promote activities and facilities for young people in the region.
Support
Our Port
The owner of the North-East's largest port is campaigning for the Government
to help finance an investment of £300m that will create up to 7,000
jobs and transform the fortunes of the region. The Northern Echo is backing
Teesport's argument as part of a new campaign, Support Our Port.
| A
Chance To Live |
The Northern Echo's award-winning campaign, A Chance to Live,
was launched in June 1999 after the tragic death of Ian Weir,
a 38-year-old father of two boys.
Ian, who was the newspaper's deputy chief photographer, died
of a second heart attack after waiting seven months for a hospital
appointment. He died the day before he was due to see a consultant
at South Cleveland Hospital, Middlesbrough.
A Chance to Live aims to have all heart by-pass patients seen
as soon as possible by specialists. In Europe, the average wait
is less than three months. In Britain it can be around a year.
A Chance to Live aims to close that gap.
|
| Animal
Watch |
The Northern Echo has taken a major step in the fight to rid
the region of its appalling reputation for animal cruelty.
During 1999 the newspaper launched Wildwatch, a successful campaign
run with the RSPCA and the police to curb the abuse of animals
living in the wild by bringing the culprits to task.
The successes of the Wildwatch campaign led to its expansion
in the year 2000 to include all animals, including livestock
and domestic pets.
|
|
Criminal Injustice |
The Criminal Injustice campaign was launched after discovering
the shocking neglect of the innocent families whose lives are
devastated by murder and manslaughter.
More than 50 organisations exist to help the criminal but only
a handful struggle to help the victims.
The campaign aims to redress the balance.
|
|
Devolve to Darlington |
The campaign's aim is to highlight to Government the economic
case for bringing a department to the area.
|
|
Doorstoppers |
A major campaign has been launched by The Northern Echo aimed
at saving people from the misery and heartache of doorstep crime.
Doorstoppers has the backing of the police, trading standards,
politicians, utility companies and organisations which look
after the welfare of the elderly. The aim is to raise awareness
of the dangers of bogus callers and distraction burglaries,
and press for a change in the law to combat door-to-door property
repair tradesmen.
|
|
Fight For Steel Jobs |
The Northern Echo first heralded the fight to save as many jobs
as possible under the headline: "We won't give up on our
men of steel." Now the paper adds its regional weight to
calls for Corus to reconsider the extent of its cuts - and for
regeneration plans to be put in place.
Peter Barron, editor of The Northern Echo, said: "It is
right that the region's newspapers, radio and television stations
join forces in the fight to minimise the impact of the Corus
crisis.
"We want all the cuts to be reversed but one job saved
will be worth the fight."
|
|
Fight For The Micra |
The Northern Echo supported the campaign for Nissan to build
the new Micra in Sunderland and the North-East's economy stands
to benefit by about £500m from Nissan's decision, according
to business experts.
|
|
The Forgotten Hero |
The Northern Echo
has launched a campaign to remember a forgotten hero of the
Second World War. Pilot Officer Andrew Mynarski was 27 when
he took off on his final fatal mission from RAF Middleton
St George, near Darlington, on June 12, 1944. He was awarded
the Victoria Cross for trying to save the life of a friend
on his blazing Lancaster bomber which was hit by enemy fire
over France. |
|
The Georgian Theatre Appeal 2001 |
The Northern Echo is backing a campaign to raise more than £1m
to preserve one of Britain's most historic - and unusual - theatres.
|
|
Help Hannah Face The Future |
Two year old Hannah Maxwell-Jones is blissfully unaware of how
many hearts she has touched. The Northern Echo's Help Hannah
Face the Future Appeal has reached £30,000, topping the
£20,000 target needed to send her to America for pioneering
surgery.
|
|
Justice For The Miners |
The Northern Echo is leading calls to speed up compensation
payments to miners who suffered crippling lung diseases working
in the nation's pits.
|
|
Last Post |
Hundreds of people have already pledged their support to The
Northern Echo's campaign to save sub-post offices from closure.
They have signed up to the Last Post, which is calling on the
Government to guarantee that people can continue collecting
their benefits from local post offices.
|
|
The Lifeblood Appeal |
There is so much we take for granted in life. For example, if
we - or our loved ones - needed blood, we would expect it to
be provided. It would never occur to us that there might not
be any available. But what if the 1.7 million regular blood
donors in this country decided not to bother - what would we
do then?
|
| Organ
Donor 2000 |
As part of A Chance to Live, The Northern Echo has called on
at least 2,000 readers to mark the year 2000 by signing up to
carry an organ donor card.
|
|
Pet Watch |
The Northern Echo has teamed up with the National Animal Sanctuary
Support League, in Darlington, to help to rehome unwanted and
abandoned animals.
|
|
Rat On A Rat |
The Northern Echo has teamed up with police in Chester-le-Street
to encourage local people to expose dealers who are destroying
the lives of those hooked on drugs.
|
|
Save The Auckland Treasures |
The Northern Echo and North-East art lovers have joined forces
in a bid to prevent a treasured collection of paintings worth
millions of pounds from being lost to the region for good.
|
|
Scandal Of The Railway Bridges |
The
Northern Echo is calling for urgent action to upgrade safety
barriers on bridges crossing the East Coast Main Line.
|
|
School Seatbelt Scandal |
The Northern Echo is calling for all local councils with responsibility
for education to ensure that all school journeys are undertaken
in a vehicle fitted with seat belts.
|
|
Silent Killer |
It is a deadly gas that can't be seen, and can't be smelled.
Deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning are made even more tragic
by the fact that they can so easily be avoided.
The installation of detectors can alert people to the accumulation
of carbon monoxide before it is too late.
It is a small price to pay to save innocent lives.
It is imperative that the dangers of carbon monoxide are highlighted
to ensure that all property owners put health and safety at
the top of their list of priorities.
|
|
Stanley Pit Disaster Memorial Appeal |
The Northern Echo is campaigning to have the graves of 168 pit
men who died in one of the North-East's worst peacetime disasters
marked for the first time.
|
|
Support Our Port |
The owner of the North-East's largest port is campaigning for
the Government to help finance an investment of £300m
that will create up to 7,000 jobs and transform the fortunes
of the region. The Northern Echo is backing Teesport's argument
as part of a new campaign, Support Our Port.
|
|
Working For A Future |
The Northern Echo has joined forces with a range of organisations
- including One NorthEast, County Durham Development Company,
and Durham County Council - to launch a campaign of support
for communities hard hit by the manufacturing crisis in the
region.
|
|
 |
Email page
Start Here
Contact
Us
Subscribe
Other sites
Map
Help
Feedback
Home
Archive