Behind the Scenes at the Walford Gazette
By Larry Jaffee
It's often occurred to me that most readers of this newspaper have no idea how it's produced.
I always chuckle when I receive mail addressed to "you and your staff." While every issue includes written contributions from about a half dozen individuals, whose efforts are greatly appreciated, otherwise all aspects of this publication come down to me.
Due to my demanding full-time job as a magazine editor, typically, I need to kick into overdrive at some point in the production cycle to get it done on a quarterly basis.
That's why last time around (issue #58; this is #59) I was thrown for a loop when I learned from the U.S. Postal Service that my rate to mail an issue First Class quietly tripled overnight in May to 99 cents from 62 cents. All new and renewed subscriptions will cost the new price of $25 for one year (4 issues) and $42 for two years (8 issues).
The USPS revelation that the Gazette's profitability was severely threatened couldn't have been worse timing because I had just printed the newspaper with the old rate.
Obviously what was needed was a subscription hike — something I hadn't done in 13 years. Surely, it was long overdue.
So then I made the decision to even increase my costs a bit more by using an envelope and inserting a special letter to alert subscribers of the new subscription rates, effective immediately.
Thankfully, a good many of you positively responded, but I surely can use the extra financial help. (Sorry if it sounds like a PBS pledge, but I can relate to their plight more than ever.)
Exacerbating the situation, the day after I learned of my USPS nightmare I also came across a particularly disturbing interview with Garth Ancier, the new head of BBC America.
He told an AP reporter that EastEnders was "peculiar to Britain," and that "it's not a particularly uplifting or inspirational show. It's a very dramatic serial but sort of depressing. The joke around the office is the lesson from that show is 'Life is miserable and then you die.'"
As the Cockneys say, "them's fightin' words."
I was even more certain I did the right thing in the last issue by urging fans to send teabags to Ancier to show him how severely he underestimates interest in EastEnders, and that it belongs back on BBC America.
It's as if the BBC has learned nuthin' from fans being able to reverse cancellations in New York and Washington, DC the past two years by raising substantial sums of money for the their public TV stations in short periods of time.
Neil Fletcher, editor of the British Weekly newspaper in Santa Monica, California, picked up my press release about the protest and ran it verbatim.
Check out this fine publication online at www.britishweekly.com which gives expatriates and Anglophiles all the news out of the United Kingdom.
Since the last issue of the Gazette, I know Ancier has received dozens of teabags, based on the notes and e-mails I have received from all of you. Please continue to send teabags to his office: Garth Ancier, BBC Worldwide Americas, 747 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017.
Getting back to the Walford Gazette, several readers have suggested that perhaps I should consider a digital version of the newspaper, that would be e-mailed.
Since EastEnders appeals to all age groups, and the Gazette's readership actually skews to the older demographic, I am not sure an online-only product is a viable solution. But please e-mail me at if you would prefer to receive your subscription that way.
Another idea I have for expanding the purview of the Walford Gazette is launching a DVD/VHS rental service, "BritFlix" if you will.
I recently moved house, and realised that my personal collection includes hundreds of classic and obscure British films and TV programmes. To catalogue all the titles would be quite an undertaking, but if enough of you express an interest I would gladly share.
Please let me know if sounds appealing. Cheers for now, and enjoy the issue!
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