Wednesday, February 29, 2012

What HAS happened to the Tonbridge Insider????

Okay what has happened to The Tonbridge Insider Magazine? I get asked this question at least five times every day. Let me start by saying that, although I write for the publication (or did at least) I don't own it, or have shares in it. My only link to it is that I write on a freelance basis for it. But it is something of a mystery as to what's going on. The new owners, Leafleteers Ltd. who used to distribute The Insider for the old owners and then took it over, have only published one issue. I was flattered enough to be asked by John Dickerson, who owns Leefleteers, to continue writing for the publication. My column was featured in their first issue (December 2011) and then I wrote a further two columns in order to meet the Jan and Feb 2012 issue deadlines. The February issue didn't appear and then neither did March. Of course, by this time, my suspicions had been aroused and I didn't write any more. Needless to say I haven't been paid for those, approximately, 30 hours of work. I am bothered about that but I'm alot more bothered about the apparent loss of what used to be a half decent magazine. I did once consider putting in an offer to buy it myself because I think the town of Tonbridge needs a voice, especially after the Courier left the town a couple of years ago. That was the first time in about 140 years that Tonbridge didn't have a dedicated newspaper office. So I say publicly to John Dickerson, who took over the Tonbridge Insider declaring a relaunch and a new start for the magazine, even if your business is in dire straits: tell us all what's going on, don't keep all those readers in the dark. You owe us and me at least that much....

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Take him to the small claims court. You can even blog about it.
Or send him a tweet, looks like he was on tritter today.