NEWSHOUNDS

Comedians Josh Widdicombe and Nish Kumar talk to Rachael Davis about diving back into local news for series two of Hold The Front Page

The importance of local news is often underestimated, but those of us who enjoy flicking through the local paper will know just how informative and entertaining it can be.

Such papers are packed full of stories that affect their area, from heart-warming pick-me-ups to the weird and wonderful, and are, in many ways, a pillar of the community.

In Sky Max’s Hold The Front Page, comedians Josh Widdicombe and Nish Kumar traverse the UK to work at local newspapers, trying to find stories that are big enough to land a coveted front page spot.

The second series of the programme sees the duo attend local festivals and competitions, immerse themselves in communities, and even check out some frankly bizarre small-town attractions – and this time, they’re also hunting for news in Benidorm.

Let’s hear more from The Last Leg’s Widdicombe, 41, and The Mash Report’s Kumar, 38, about where their noses for news led in this series.

Welcome back to local news! Where do you visit this time around?

NK: We travelled the length and breadth of the United Kingdom and beyond.

We’re in Devon, reconnecting Josh with his childhood; we’re in Cumbria, on the hunt for a big cat; we’re in Bradford, participating in a very heart-warming community clean-up; we’re in South Wales...

Where have I missed? Oh, and we’re in Benidorm! The strangest place on Earth.

Benidorm! How was that?

NK: It’s like Disneyland but the theme is white people.

It’s a fascinating immigrant community that under no circumstances wants to be referred to as an immigrant community.

JW: It’s brilliant. It’s everything you’d imagine Benidorm to be. There’s no bit with it where you’re like: ‘Oh, this is not what I expected’. Never have you seen two fishes further out of water.

NK: It’s the bastard child of Las Vegas and Croydon.

What was your favourite story you worked on this time?

NK: I loved the Bradford clean-up because it was a genuine good news story, community-organising, people trying to make where they live better. I found that story incredibly heart-warming.

JW: I loved doing Gus Honeybun back from the dead, the children’s character that was on TV in the West Country when I was a kid. Bringing him back and seeing how popular he was with everyone my age in Devon, even though Nish found the whole thing absolutely baffling.

If anything, Nish finding the whole thing baffling made it even sweeter.

NK: Yeah, it’s a weird, dead-looking rabbit, but the children love it in the West Country.

We’re now on the second series of

Have you grown as local journalists from the first time?

Hold The Front Page.

NK: We might have got worse. I don’t really know how that’s possible. I think we went into it assuming we’d be better. But I think unfortunately, some of our skills had atrophied in the 12 months between series.

JW: Yes, I think, you know, when they say you never forget to ride a bike...

NK: We forgot how to ride that bike. And we ended up cycling straight into a tree.

What do you think is the hardest bit about doing local journalism?

NK: Well, I think because of the way that funding models are being squeezed for local newspapers, now the pressure is on local journalists to write articles, take photos, do video content, doing Facebook Lives, like, you sort of have to be print journalist, photographer, and broadcaster. That is really, really difficult.

And it’s part of the reason why I think, mainly, what we come away from all of these thinking is: ‘God, that’s a hard job, and aren’t they good at it?’

JW: The most disappointing thing is we were the worst at being broadcasters, which is actually our real job!

On that note, Josh, in episode one you go to a carnival and have to do a Facebook live for the Isle of Wight County Press. How did you find that?

And it’s part of the reason why I think, mainly, what we come away from all of these thinking is: ‘God, that’s a hard job, and

aren’t they good at it

JW: Hated just being on Facebook and going up to people (who were) drunk, and trying to talk to them. I found it incredibly difficult. You just feel very exposed, don’t you? And you feel like an idiot. And they think you’re an idiot. Maybe you are an idiot?

Meanwhile, Nish, you’re going to the National Poo museum. How was that?

NK: I will say it stank. There was a little residue of human poop.

It was a very interesting afternoon. It was eyeopening, and the guy did ask me if I would like to make a deposit, which I did not. I’m regular as rain and I’d already done my movement.

You could have provided the museum’s celebrity poo

NK: I think they’re really gunning for a celebrity poo. But I would say they’d probably be aiming a bit higher than me. Yeah, I don’t think: ‘We’ve got one of Nish Kumar’s turds in here!’ ‘One ticket, please!’

Getting a bit more serious, this series really puts a spotlight on local news. Has it given you a new appreciation for it?

JW: It’s a real connection to your own community. So many of the people we talked to, it was about providing something for the local community to stick together, or helping the local community.

It’s just about a sense of characteristic and pride. These people living in the same area together, whether that be Benidorm, or whether that be Dartmoor, you know, same thing.

NK: They’re really important parts of the local community. They’re not just sort of outsiders depicting what’s happening. They actually make themselves part of the fabric of all of these places.

Hold The Front Page series two launches on Wednesday, April 24 on Sky Max and NOW.