Today’s Northern Echo has negotiated the difficult task of reflecting Lady Thatcher’s death by printing each side of the debate on opposite sides of the paper.
Editor, Peter Barron explained that it had been a “challenge to achieve the right balance.”
“There are those who have huge admiration for her as a political giant, and those who despise her because of the impact her policies had on traditional industries in the region.
“Although we have argued against public celebrations of Lady Thatcher’s death at 87, we respect both perspectives on the debate because there are very clearly two sides of the Margaret Thatcher story which need to be reflected.”
The paper has had to send out letters to newsagents across the North East and North Yorkshire to explain that there are 2 front pages on opposite sides of the paper and that they are “free to choose’ which they display on their shelves.
One side features a respectful tribute paid to the former Prime Minister by politicians in London, while the other is a picture of ex-miners in County Durham, with a banner criticising her economic record. Both are headlined: We’ll always remember her.
“As far as I’m aware, it’s the first time The Northern Echo has been published in this way but it feels like the right way to balance the emotions stirred by the woman who divided Britain in death as she did in life,” added Barron.
