A SERIES of films made to mark the Advertiser’s move to new offices in Dorcan have gone live on the internet.
Printers’ Roar, Taking Care of Business and Press Call show the history of the newspaper started in 1854 by William Morris and how things have changed over the years.
Feature writer and videographer Flicky Harrison interviewed current staff as well as some former employees and shot footage in the old building in Victoria Road, which was the Advertiser’s home for decades before the move.
She said: “The Adver has been around for more than 100 years, many of them spent in Newspaper House in Old Town, so when we moved to Dorcan it seemed the right moment to record its past.
“The printers who came along for the filming were a joy to chat with, recalling all the old stories and how the Evening Advertiser as it was called then was produced.’’
In fact it was the newspaper’s printing press which provided the inspiration for the name of the pub right outside the back door of the building, The Roaring Donkey.
But Flicky stressed: “My idea was not all about recording the past with this trilogy, I wanted to show the Swindon Advertiser as it is now.
“I wanted to reassure the town that their community paper is still very much a people’s paper, powered by the dedication of the current crop of journalists both in print and up online.
“When we think about a newspaper, we first and foremost think of reporters out and about recording the news, but there is another crucial side to the Swindon Advertiser I wanted to capture on film,” she said.
“It is the advertising department, which is the business engine driving the paper and offering local business a platform for their services or products.
“The Adver also offers to create websites for Swindon firms, supporting their online presence.”
The films show former Adver journalist Graham Carter and feature writer Barrie Hudson discussing the history of the old building, including its ghost.
Editorial staff working in the new newsroom are also shown in Precc Call which shows the high tech presses at Oxford at full speed as the Adver is printed these days.
And Taking care of Business focuses on the marketing and advertising departments which provide much of the paper’s income.
The Printers’ Roar, Taking Care of Business and Press Call can all be seen now on YouTube
To view click here:
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