The sad thing about this for me is the fact that two people have lost jobs they loved doing and the personal impact that has on themselves and their families.
I, at times used to criticise them, for example, for running stories based on things that were discussed on here first, but I later reflected that by doing so they were actually reporting on issues that Boro fans across the area and beyond were clearly interested in as they had created much debate on threads on here and they offered alternate angles on our own visions and reached a different and wider audience.
I suspect those that currently say that they are no loss, will find that actually, they will prove to be a significant loss. There was always a few stories and reports on the Boro every day. They were free to read, provided topics for discussion on here too, which in turn enables traffic that was good for this boards continued survival. I fear we will now see fewer reports and stories in the gazette, save for MFC press releases or just regurgitated offal from various newsnow platforms. We may see more generic drivel of the type we see in the nationals too.
It is a sad day for local journalism across the country, let alone Teesside and its environs, It will likely be a sad day for Boro fans generally as the amount of stories will probably reduce along with their quality. Whether you agreed or disagreed with them at times, they created talking points, provided updates and reports on all things Boro and occasionally the odd scoop. As the song lyrics say, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot”
I wish them both good luck and wish them both well and hope they are able to move on with their new chapters as positively as possible.