News

The newsroom by this time was in a state of near panic....

I think I should explain.

Since our story of the voting in of the new Parish Council Chairman, there has been some minor criticism of the story

Two irate councillors contacted the Gazette to tell us it was either wrong and/or put out the wrong message.

In the first draft of the story we used the words 'casting vote' when describing Cllr Callahan's vote for himself.

One of the less than happy councillors explained that this was not a casting vote in the true legal sense of the word, and it was made clear to us in great detail and at some length; so much so that we're just glad we weren't paying for the phone call!

All hands to the pumps and the Gazette staff were put on red alert to immediately amend the offending word 'casting'. Phew! that was close! was heard from the boardroom.

But it was to get even worse. A second councillor had now complained that the headline, Callahan votes for himself.... gave out the wrong message and we should have also mentioned that the opposing councillor Peter Smith did the same.

Blimey, what do we do now? The newsroom by this time was in a state of near panic.

Crucial questions, such as, did you get lucky last night? and who's gonna win the FA cup? were fired at the scribblers and sweaty palmed juniors feared for their jobs as the Editor dug deep for the truth.

Apparently, after a thorough unofficial internal inquiry, it was discovered that the headline was used in the first place because Cllr Callahan said it. He had explained to the public attending the meeting that he could vote for himself and of course with the closely fought contest, he had to use his vote.

It also turns out that Cllr Callahan, as the incumbent chairman has a maximum of two votes, one to vote for himself plus a casting vote which can be used in his favour if the voting is all square after the first ballot.

So if anyone read the first or even the second draft of the story, I hope this clarifies the situation to villagers, and the newsroom can now get back to the pub.

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