When the editor threw an angry reader downstairs (From Hereford Times)

When the editor threw an angry reader downstairs

THE letter to the editor, published in the Hereford Times, was anonymous and an angry reader arrived at reception demanding to know who had written it.

In time-honoured journalistic fashion, the editor refused to name the source.

The angry reader demanded to see the editor who came out to the front counter - then leaped across it, grabbed the reader and threw him out.

Times and management styles have changed since that incident, which dates from the editorship of the man who founded the Hereford Times in 1832.

Charles Anthony was born 201 years ago this week, on September 22,1802 - a remarkable man, whose vision, enterprise and moral courage, led to his naming as the father of modern Hereford.

As well as founding this newspaper, he was mayor of the city six times between 1836 and 1885.

During those years he led the renaming of the city's key streets, oversaw the installation of the first iron bridge over the Wye at Hunderton, a new drainage system, the building of Barrs Court railway station and the arrival of rail itself.

He was the man who:

l piloted through a scheme for a new cattle market, favouring Widemarsh Street over other options;

presided over the opening of the butter, poultry and meat markets;

l helped bring about the enlargement of the Shirehall, Eign railway bridge, schools and, of course, the development of this paper.

The Hereford Times offices opened in 1838 in Maylord Street - and now demolished - contained a tablet that read: "This printing office was erected by a few zealous reformers of the city and county of Hereford and presented by them to Charles Anthony, editor and proprietor of the Hereford Times newspaper, as a testimony of their confidence in his political integrity and as an acknowledgement of his able services in the cause of civil and religious liberty, 1838."

As far as this paper is concerned, Charles Anthony was indeed a bold visionary.

When he launched his newspaper, the cover price was set at 7d - and this at a time when the average farmworker's wage was £20 a year. Four pence of that was government tax and the remaining 3d paid for the production of the four-page newspaper of six columns, with each page a big broadsheet: 24ins by 16ins.

Despite the odds, the determined Charles Anthony campaigned for reform in the city, campaigned against the 'tax on knowledge' that held back his newspaper and ensured the firm foundations for the success story that is the Hereford Times today.

A quick glimpse of the way we are now..

THE Hereford Times has had a variety of different owners over the years since Charles Anthony's day.

Now it is part of one of the biggest regional newspaper publishing groups in the country - Newsquest Gannett.

The offices in Holmer Road house the advertising department, under advertisement manager Tina Hurley; the editorial department under editor Liz Griffin, who also edits the Ludlow Advertiser and the production department with its manager Terry Homer.

The advertisement staff are divided into those who work in reception, in classified or tele-sales, taking down details of a huge variety of goods and services for sale each week, and the field sales team who deal with display advertisements for shops and businesses across the county, as well as property and motoring.

There are also two artists working for both journalists and advertising staff.

The Hereford Times also publishes a full schedule of special supplements from a glossy Limited Edition magazine to the quarterly Mid-West Farmer and previews events such as Ross International Festival.

The editorial department has a news team of reporters (including one based in Leominster) under a news editor and a deputy news editor, three photographers, Farming Times writer/sub-editor, Leisure Times writer/sub-editor, sports editor and sports writers, an assitant editor responsible for all the supplements and the Ludlow Advertiser, a deputy editor and two other sub-editors.

Editorial inputters transmit sport and other submitted reports into the computer system.

All the work is compiled electronically with adverisements and news stories alike prepared on computers. Our three photographers use digital cameras to provide the images and our artists create the graphics online too.

Subs and the production team lay out the editorial or advertisement pages. These are then checked and, on Wednesday afternoon, the final pages are transmitted electronically on to the press.

With the Hereford Times currently enjoying its highest sales figures ever, a dedicated newspaper sales team ensures all the 42, 717 copies are delivered to the right locations.

This week's edition takes the paper to a massive 184 pages and, to achieve this, all sorts of minor miracles have had to be worked on our presses in Worcester.

The paper has been split into a number of sections and printed in three parts - then re-assembled before delivery to you.

We hope they have all ended up in the right order!