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How-Do weekly Wrap - 31 October 2008 - Jonathan Brown |
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Friday, 31 October 2008 |
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Welcome to the weekly Wrap from How-Do - media news for the North West.  The Wrap's guest editor this week is Jonathan Brown. AS a newly appointed regional correspondent I’ve largely missed out on the joys of reporting the credit crunch and financial meltdown. Still I have made my fair share of gloomy forays out into the so-called “real economy” - the miserable stuff that metropolitan journalists and politicians hear about going on outside the confines of Westminster and the Square Mile.
So it was nice this week to be able to write up two good news stories for the region. On Monday Manchester City Council announced that it was poised to confirm a deal which will bring both the Royal Ballet and the Royal Opera to the city’s Palace Theatre. Obviously this might be bad news for The Lowry which could see its slice of the high-art spend cut but it is a delicious prospect for culture vultures. Some £100m will be spent on refurbishing the theatre and 35 weeks of world class programming scheduled each year. The move looks set to yield a bonanza of creative jobs from costume to PR and lots of juicy press tickets to boot.
Then on Wednesday it emerged that £41m was being earmarked to knockdown and rebuild Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre and completely renovate the old Playhouse. Again it will be a question of nailing down the final cash but the financial injection looks set to reverse the long years of decrepitude at both venues. The project looks set to get underway in 2010 and last for 18 months before the shiny new theatres are up and running.
Few can have ignored the fall-out from the Russell Brand-Jonathan Ross freak show which has been captivating the nation this week. Already some are talking about a new-found sense of respect expected from those who command our airwaves. Ironic really for Bauer’s City Talk 105.9 which has nailed its mast firmly to the shock jock school of broadcasting with its latest “provocative” advertising campaign featuring Brian Reade calling for David Beckham to be branded with a hot iron. It will be interesting to see whether this new-fangled civility really is set to catch on. Somehow I doubt it.
Jonathan Brown is North of England correspondent for The Independent Elsewhere on How-Do this week: Please send all stories, snippets and suggestions to news@how-do.co.uk Something to add? Then leave a comment below or email us now.
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