Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
thanet gannet in his natural habitat
When I first landed in Thanet back in 2007 I found it hard to find reviews of local restaurants. There were few or no websites that could help. Newspapers would carry paid for, talon-curling advertorials that stated things along the lines of “Voted East Margate’s 2nd favourite family run curried pizza restaurant two years running.”
Three years on and what’s changed? Not a lot it would seem. A couple of websites carrying standardised listings. Papers that don’t think it’s important. Hard to believe when you consider what a large chunk of the local economy is accounted for by the edible pound.
I wonder how many people are directly employed by the food industry on the island? I’d take a rough guess that it’s close on five thousand. A lot more, it’s fair to say, than employed by Vue at Westwood. So why would a local paper take up an entire page talking about a film released and reviewed all over the world? A film that has millions of pounds set aside for advertising alone. A film that will be gone in a fortnight.
Why not run reviews of local restaurants and cafes instead? Why not promote the amazing produce and people we have right here? Why not make readers aware of what they’re missing? There is so much on offer to residents and visitors alike but we need to spread the word. Talk about them. Tweet about them. Shout about them. Together let’s try and ensure that our favourites end up at the Oscars and not on the cutting room floor.
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Don’t the papers just recycle film reviews? I thought all this content was syndicated, cheap, and that’s why it the papers use it so much.
I did a week’s work experience for a local paper when I was a boy. This was before computers. They used to cut up syndicated articles on cars and just shove that into the paper every week. Just filled the spaces between the court reports.
Apparently not, Charles. Much of their content is original from what we understand.
Thanks for sharing your experiences.