September Editorial
The more astute of you may already have noticed that there’s been a slight change to this edition of the September News: The annual report section in the middle has got bigger. This is primarily due to the legal requirement for more words to accompany the railway’s annual accounts but also comes from some feedback on the council nomination section of last year’s report. The upshot of all this is that the central section of the News is four-pages longer – and there are four pages less to fit everything else in. I’ve therefore had to hold a fair number of articles and pictures over to the December issue but, do not worry, they will get published when I get the chance!
I received a letter from a member after the June News went to press congratulating me on the 250th edition of the magazine. With all the other anniversaries that’ve been going on I suppose it’s not surprising that this particular one had entirely slipped my mind (I took over at issue 222 so I tend to count from then!). It is a milestone worth noting though. The News has come a long way from the hand-assembled and processed document of those original editions to the full-colour version today that is automatically printed, packaged and shipped.
The world has also changed a lot since those original editions were published. Over the last twenty years we’ve witnessed a revolution in information and communication technology like no other. If you go back to 1996 the only contact that most members would have with the Talyllyn (apart from their annual visits) would be either through the Talyllyn News or by contacting their local Area Group. I remember waiting for the News to arrive on the doormat to discover what had happened to the various locomotives over the past three months, or to find out what events would be happening the next summer.
This is no longer the case for many of our members. If they want to find out what is happening today on the Talyllyn they will look at the Facebook page or Twitter feed. If they want to see how work at Pendre is progressing they can look at the webcam. If they want to find out how the latest gala went they can check the website. By definition, the ‘news’ presented in this magazine isn’t really news to many of our members anymore. Times have changed.
Don’t get me wrong: I strongly believe that the Society should have a periodic publication that brings together news, formal reports, working party information and historical or investigative articles. The question I think needs to be addressed is what format this magazine is presented in? Is it time to move the Talyllyn News to a wholly electronic affair? Should members be given the choice of an electronic or paper version of the News? Should the paper version of the News be cut back to fewer editions a year with online publications filling the gap? Should no changes be made at all?
These are big questions for a publication that has been around almost as long as the society itself and what I’m after now is your views on them. What do you think should happen? Ultimately the production of this magazine is paid for through the Society which is itself funded by all of you. I want to know your thoughts so that any changes that are made can take them into account. You can contact me by the postal address on the inside back cover of this edition or by email at: editor@talyllyn.co.uk.
See you all in Tywyn soon.
Matt Dawson
