Just in case some readers don’t realise, UKIP Daily is run on an independent basis by members and supporters of the party. It has no official connection or blessing of the party, although they do not object to us as our stance is broadly supportive.
These members and supporters are volunteers. We have a team who provide all-week coverage, and they find time out of their own lives, their own priorities, families and jobs to bring UKIP Daily to you.
Today, suddenly, we have lost one of our “duty editors” who covered more than one day of the week. At the same time, I have been Editor-in-Chief for over 2 years now, and I had been wanting to move on myself – the priorities in my own life have changed and it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to put in the energy to the online magazine that I once did. While I am not going to “do a runner”, I do want to hand over the role (and some of the “duty days” of the week) to someone else. None of the existing team have the bandwidth to expand their responsibilities, so it means someone new to the team has to take over.
OTHERWISE, gentle readers, it means UKIP Daily is going to have to CLOSE DOWN.
Do you think you’ve got what it takes? Here’s what I see as the prime qualifications for the role:
- Energy, zest and enthusiasm to do the role.
- While not 24/7, the willingness to get involved on a daily basis, and to take on a “day duty” on more than one day – it is not a full-time day, the most of any one day I’ve put into the role has been 4-5 hours, and that is extreme, around election times.
- A good command of the English Language, not just to write yourself, but to critique others.
- A sensible outlook on what is and what isn’t right to publish. In my time, the party has only contacted us once about an article it had received a complaint about, and that was easily solved with an “author’s own views” disclaimer.
- A tactful way of handling authors when we need to reject their work, or make large changes to it.
- An ability (and the connections) to recruit new team members and authors.
The rewards? £0 I fear. But over the previous 2 years I have gained a great deal of satisfaction from supporting the party, providing an intellectual forum to hopefully improve the knowledge of its activists and the appreciation of many people (but not all of them!)
Contact me, brian@ukipdaily.com, if you want to explore taking on this role. First, we’d feed you in as a “duty day editor” to learn the ropes, then in about 2 months’ time to take over the Editor-in-Chief role.
We all know the truism “Use it or Lose it” and I have noticed over the last few months that comments have fallen in number, although readership of an article such as the one about flooding in this country reached a staggering number.
With membership at around 45000+, surely the senior UKIP team can urge members to support UKIP Daily by reading at least one article a day and adding a comment, if not contributing an article themselves. This isn’t much to ask and there is much to be gained by joining in the dissemination of ideas, information and opinion. I really would like to see a list of ‘Recent Comments’ that shows a wider variety of names than my own and other regulars.
Does the senior UKIP team know about the plight of UKIP Daily and are they prepared to do anything about it?
Pam,
Frankly, the UKIP seniors couldn’t give a whatnot about UKIP Daily – they tolerate it, that is all. They believe in their own communication strategy, which many consider to be faulty, and have shown that they reject any idea external to that of the inner cabal.
Thank you for your kind offer, to which I did reply to your mail address…
You certainly kept a “tight ship” Brian,
I always believed you had a direct line to the management, but in retrospect I suppose the hoi polloi in the old forum were getting too bolshy/democratic or too close to the truth (possibly about negotiating positions), so the cabal just made a resolution to keep us all at a distance.
Pity really they have missed an opportunity to distance themselves from the mores of the other tired old parties and what they have lost is the impetus in new members that the SNP got and for that matter Corbyn and with 4 million votes we should have experienced a similar rush of new members.
Our LEAVE campaign leaders keep on squawking about how our “army” of helpers up and down the country are in place to push leaflets and generally bring home the bacon.
I WONDER……………
This is a shame in all senses of the word. Have they become so edgy about someone writing out of turn that they prefer to ignore or discourage channels of communication between members? That is not a good way to consolidate or maintain support.
Brian, Sorry to hear this and I fully appreciate your situation – I volunteer in several organisations. I am trying to cut down on my various blogging etc helping, or so I believe, to get Britain out of the EU. If I became involved in UKIP Daily I would become so obsessive it would take over my life entirely. I lack the necessary self-discipline. So I thank you and your colleagues for all that you have done but this is just not a contribution I am in a position to make.
Sorry to hear of your news Brian, since I returned to the fold I have watched and taken part in this excellent organisation -“Daily”, at least most days, so for me it is a valuable and sole contact with fellow UKIPers and up to. date trusted information.
Thank you Brian and other helpers, you have truly been a life line. .
and closure at this almost watershed moment in UKIP Daily`s work is unthinkable
I hope you manage to sort somebody out for us and I wish you well on whatever you are moving on to.
Sorry I have no relevant skills to offer
I’m so sorry to hear this, Brian, and am sure that we have appreciated your editorship and the skills of the other staff. I wish I could help, but I have very limited IT knowledge. I could proofread articles if that’s needed.