Despatches from a Vanishing World
In 'Panic as Man Burns Crumpets', Roger Lytollis describes the highs and lows of his career as a features writer and columnist for Cumbrian-based publications including the weekly broadsheet Cumberland News and the News & Star, a tabloid daily. In spite of shyness and a slightly dodgy journalism qualification, he's persistent enough to get an editor's attention and a trial leads to a more permanent position in the newsroom by his mid-twenties. As a features writer, Lytollis chases local colour and writes profiles and articles which reflect community interests and the local response to national stories. Along the way, he has to deal with colleagues' pranks, snarky subs and readers' feedback. He meets everyone from WWII veterans to breakfasting truckers, 12th century battle re-enactors to naturist swimmers. Meanwhile, changing reader habits and the rise of the internet are changing the industry forever. Stories that were information when printed need to become entertainment to gain clicks and comments online. In an effort to survive, the titles are sold, content moves to websites and staff numbers are slashed. Do journalists like Lytollis still have a place in this ever-changing industry?
Read All About It
As you'd expect from an experienced journalist like Lytollis, 'Panic as Man Burns Crumpets' is both entertainingly written and timely. It has a serious core message about the value of local journalism, but this doesn't get in the way of an energetic and easy-to-read writing style. Anecdotes about mischief and mishaps sit comfortably alongside tales of tragedy and loss without either losing their impact. As a comms officer with friends in the industry, I suspect a lot of Lytollis' stories are similar to those of colleagues in other regions, so, despite being very firmly Carlisle-focussed, there's a lot to relate to and enjoy here.
News Story
Although this book mounts some defence of this struggling side of the industry, I do feel it could've been bolder without risking its readability. At one point, Lytollis points out that if regional journalists are doing their jobs properly, they can help make the voices of local people louder and harder to ignore. He gives the example of residents of Grenfell Tower and their concerns about fire safety. He's right. The role of journalism in democracy is very important, but its an aspect that seems to have been lost in all the hacking scandals, accusations of bias and clickbaiting now associated with it. Will journalism ever be seen as a worthy vocation again?
Overall
I really enjoyed 'Panic as Man Burns Crumpets', although I'm slightly disappointed that this headline wasn't a Lytollis original! It's an easy read about a serious topic that deserves more public attention than we generally give it. It certainly got me thinking about how changes to local media link to recent stories, such as the effect of over-exposure to the news on mental health. It's a lot harder to become overwhelmed by news if you buy it once a week / day and read it at your leisure. If 'Panic as Man Burns Crumpets' had been more feisty, it would've been a very different book, but I do think it's a book worth writing. Perhaps it will be Lytollis' follow up.
Now, what next..?
'Panic as Man Burns Crumpets' by Roger Lytollis was published by Robinson, an imprint of Little, Brown, in 2021. Cover image reproduced with kind permission of the publisher.
