Former Echo editor Rob hoping for a write success
A former Sunderland Echo editor is putting a play about local newspapers onto the stage.
Five Dead No Bodies has been co-written by Rob Lawson and Susan Wear.
Their play is about the fictional evening newspaper The Tyneside Times, which is struggling to retain its circulation and relevancy in the era of social media. The editor is pas- si on ate about the vital role local newspapers play in communities and will do almost anything to keep the paper afloat.
Rob is a former editor of the Echo and its sister paper, the Shields Gazette, while Susan is now a director of corporate affairs at the Port of Tyne.
Rob said :“Local papers have been at the heart of communities for generations. They still play an important role in calling people and companies to account–and they can still serve as community champions.
“The role of an editor changed hugely between me starting to edit the Gazette in 1997 and leaving the Echo in 2012, and I know things have moved on again since then.
“Social media has changed the landscape for papers, but the news they produce and the questions they ask are as relevant now as they were generations ago.”
“The editor believes in good old-fashioned, honest news reporting and as the new fast-moving digital media blurs the line between fact and fiction, it drives him mad,” said Susan, a journalist for 12 years.
The play will be at The Customs House, South Shields, from Wednesday, February 15, to Saturday, February 18. Tickets, priced £18, are available from the box office on 0191 454 1234 or website www.customshouse.co.uk.