Celebrating Great Journalism - 6 December

Welcome to our weekly round-up of impactful journalism from across our 120+ trusted brands, from national titles like the Mirror, Express, Daily Record and Daily Star, to local brands like MyLondon, BelfastLive and the Manchester Evening News, as well as our US-based brands.

This week’s newsletter is brought to you by David Higgerson, Chief Digital Publisher, in a week when we reflected on the Assisted Dying Bill vote and London’s homelessness issue, marked International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and explored some of our most engaging stories with readers.

The Assisted Dying Bill

It would be wrong to start anywhere else than in the UK Parliament last Friday, where the Assisted Dying bill was debated and moved on to its next stage.

The vote, held after hours of debate, was a victory for the Express’s campaign to get a change in the law. Chief Reporter Giles Sheldrick reported on campaigner Esther Rantzen’s reaction, while Deputy Political Editor Jonathan Walker reported on the reaction of campaigners outside Parliament, who had spent hours in the cold awaiting news from inside the Commons. Jon was joined by our content creator apprentices with the King's Trust, Schannell Kanyora and Taila Nicole Thompson.

If you haven’t read it, please check out Health Editor Hanna Geissler’s Saturday Essay in the Express which reflects on the campaign so far - and what it means to campaigners fighting so hard to change the law.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities

This week, to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities, newsrooms around the company produced articles designed to learn from the lived experiences of people with disabilities.

Our data unit produced an investigation which revealed there were far more people considered disabled under the Equality Act than are claiming disability benefit. This led to articles such as this one in the Manchester Evening News by the data unit’s Richard Ault and the M.E.N.’s Political Reporter Joseph Timan, looking at the 200,000 ‘hidden’ disabled living in the Greater Manchester area.

The Express interviewed model Ellie Goldstein, who has Down’s syndrome, about how her childhood dreams have come true. In Hull, Rugby League Editor Dan Tomlinson reported on how wheelchair rugby league has enjoyed a welcome surge in popularity at Hull FC.

At BirminghamLive, Aston Villa Correspondent John Townley spoke to a disabled fan about his experiences of following Aston Villa away from home, while in Manchester, Alex James interviewed former Manchester City star Steph Houghton who opened up on life with her husband and ex-Liverpool footballer Stephen Darby, who is living with MND.?

Also in Manchester, Senior Football Writer George Smith contacted a disabled Manchester United supporter to discuss concerns about matchdays at Old Trafford. Arindam Rej spoke to Kevin Sinfield about his work to ensure rugby player Rob Burrow’s legacy lives on via continued work to support the MND community, published on LeedsLive.

In Newcastle, ChronicleLive Health Reporter Sam Volpe spoke to Lee Ridley, also known as Lost Voice Guy, about life in Newcastle in 2024 with a disability and what needs to improve. At TeessideLive, Dave Robson met John and Christine Wadrop, who have been supervising indoor bowls sessions for people with disabilities for over 25 years, looking at why the club means so much to those involved.

The Liverpool Echo’s Under-35s writer Jamie Greer showcased the work of the Greenbank Sports Academy, which has worked to create a generation of sports stars, while WalesOnline Education Editor Abbie Wightwick shared the story of Alison Mack, an MS sufferer who revealed how getting around Cardiff can be a nightmare due to inconsiderate actions of other people.

Around the UK and Ireland

At the Mirror, Sports reporter Jacob Leeks set the agenda this week with a series of stories about the Rainbow Laces campaign in the Premier League, revealing the reason why one player didn’t support it at the weekend, before reporting on how the campaign is looking to change as a growing number of players refuse to support it.

The only newsrooms in our company not to experience an election yet this year, got their turn at the weekend as Ireland went to the polls. Throughout the weekend, it was encouraging to see coverage from the Irish Mirror, Galway Beo, Cork Beo and DublinLive popping up towards the top of Chartbeat. A superb effort from our journalists across Ireland.

Since the election at the weekend, the news agenda has been dominated by the awful killing of eight-year-old Malika Noor Al Katib in County Wexford, covered in depth all week by Crime Reporter Michael O’Toole at the Irish Mirror. Malika died while trying to protect her mother from an attack.

MyLondon highlights London’s homelessness crisis

In recent days, MyLondon has published Rough: The stories behind London’s homelessness crisis - a deep dive project looking at one of the biggest challenges in the city.?

It includes a collection of harrowing stories about people dealing with homelessness in all of its guises. The team also challenged London mayor Sadiq Khan on what he was doing to help, while also setting out the changes needed to end the sequence of events which leads to ever more people being homeless.

Our most engaging stories

Finally, The Liverpool Echo delivered our most engaging story of the week, with Crime Reporter Patrick Edrich’s latest look at dark moments of criminal history in Liverpool. Joseph McKeever was interrogated by a gang of thugs over ￡900,000 of missing cannabis before he was tortured and killed in 2017. Readers spent just under two minutes with the story this week.

Five of the past week’s top 10 stories for the US sites are NFL-focused. From Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers to Bill Belichik and Terry Bradshaw, we’re achieving solid audiences week after week.

First person articles continue to be popular. Rebecca Koncienzcy, a Content Editor in our content hub, tried Iceland’s ￡25 Christmas dinner in a box but felt something was missing, while Lifestyle Editor Dianne Bourne roadtested new services being offered at the Trafford Centre which are helping to make shopping trips even more expensive.

Thanks for reading, we’ll be back with more highlights next week.