A promotional film made by Turners Film and Video Production for Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspapers Limited that shows how and why the Sunderland Echo newspaper is important to the local communities in and around Sunderland. The film also shows the production of an edition from the writing of a story to the printing and distribution of the finished product. The film shows how the paper uses the latest computer technologies and how it is printed using the offset lithographic printing...

A promotional film made by Turners Film and Video Production for Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspapers Limited that shows how and why the Sunderland Echo newspaper is important to the local communities in and around Sunderland. The film also shows the production of an edition from the writing of a story to the printing and distribution of the finished product. The film shows how the paper uses the latest computer technologies and how it is printed using the offset lithographic printing process. The film opens on a newspaper seller standing in a Sunderland street. Tucked under his arm can be seen a number of editions of the Sunderland Echo newspaper. He is calling out the word ‘Echo!’ General view of pedestrians walks along a shopping precinct. The film cuts to a paper-boy walking through an iron gate, up a pathway and posting a newspaper through the letterbox. Over his shoulder is a large newspaper satchel which is embossed with the words ‘ECHO Sunderland’. In the Newsroom of the Sunderland Echo a reporter speaks on the phone. The film cuts to a woman wearing a large telephone headset speaking on the phone with someone who is placing an advertisement in the classified section. The camera pulls back to show other women who are also working in the same open plan office; some on them are on the phone while others are typing on a typewriter. The film cuts to a close-up of a hand holding a scalpel placing a piece of paper typeset next to the logo for the Sunderland Echo. The film cuts to a photograph being placed on a desk beside someone who is using a typewriter. On a tilted table two men work on the page layout for an edition of the newspaper. Over an image on the page a piece of text is added that reads ‘The Echo on Film’. The film cuts to the Print Room where a number of large rolls of paper are seen in a series of machines ready for printing. Two men push another roll across the production floor. Two other men are seen working to clean and prepare a printing press. In a garage seven red Sherpa vans are parked in a line. The film cuts back to the Press Room where an edition of the newspaper is now being printed. A man wearing ear protectors works a set of controls. As the newspaper comes of the production line a man takes an edition and begins looking through it. There is close-up of the page seen previously being prepared and the headline ‘The Echo on Film’. A bundle of newspapers are loaded from a conveyor into the back of one of the red Sherpa vans. The film cuts to show the van crossing the Wearmouth Bridge; written along the side of the van is the word ‘Echo’. The film cuts to a pavement sign outside a newsagent. The printing on the front of the sign reads ‘Sunderland Echo - it’s your evening’. The film fades to a red Sherpa van pulling up outside a newsagent that is along a terraced street. A man carries a bundle of newspapers from the van into the shop. The van is then seen driving towards a high-rise block of flats. A newspaper boy comes out of the newsagents seen previously with a Sunderland Echo satchel over his shoulder. The Sherpa van drives along a tree lined road. Outside another newsagent more papers are unloaded and taken inside. A road sign above the shop reads ‘Percy Street’. Another newspaper boy comes out of a newsagents and is seen walking along a suburban street. He walks up a driveway and posts a newspaper through the letterbox. He is seen posting a second newspaper. The film cuts to a colour map outlining the circulation area of the Sunderland Echo including Washington New Town to the west and Durham and Peterlee to the south. General view of a mine pithead; possibly Washington. A man comes out of a newsagent carrying a newspaper. He begins to read the paper as he walks along a suburban road. The film cuts to a living room where a man hands out sections of newspaper to other members of his family who are sitting around watching television. The film cuts to a busy shopping precinct with a church at the top of the road. At Houghton-le-Spirng a United bus pulls away from a stop along Newbottle Street. Back in the living room the husband opens an edition of the Sunderland Echo and passes a section to his wife who is sitting next to him. The film cuts to a view of Durham Castle seen from North Road in Durham City. General view of pedestrians walking though a shopping precinct. Back in the family home two children lie on the floor reading a section of paper showing comic strips. The film fades to show waves crashing on to a sandy beach. The film pans right to left showing a young couple walking hand-in-hand along the beach. The film cuts to shot of the ‘Announcements’ page inside a newspaper. Seated in a lounge chair a man passes a newspaper to his wife who is sitting opposite him on the sofa. The narrator says that she is Mrs Irene Pugh of Red House. She marks our her bingo sheet reading the numbers printed in the paper. The film cuts to a picture of her in the newspaper with a headline that reads ‘Bingo win brings a birthday treat’. The film cuts to general views of the cargo ship Badagry Palm on the slipway at North Sands yards of Short Brothers of Sunderland.  The launch party pose for photographs on a platform. General views of the Badagry Palm being launched into the river Wear. A photographer takes shots of the ship as it slips down the slipway which are seen in an edition of the Sunderland Echo. A man walks along a street of modern houses in Washington. A road sign in the foreground reads ‘The Generals Wood 2-6’. General views of various ‘For Sale’ signs in the front gardens of a series of houses. The film cuts to the property page of the Sunderland Echo. Inside Roker Park football ground a man can be seen cutting the grass on the pitch. The camera pans right to left to show a group of people standing at the far end of the pitch. The film cuts to a reporter interviewing Sunderland Association Football Club manager Ken Knighton; the team stands in a line just behind him. General views of the team posing for a group photograph and photographers taking their shots. The film cuts to show one of the photos appears in colour inside an edition of the newspaper with the headline ‘Roker line-up to shoot for..’ A poster for ‘The Bobby Thompson Laugh-in Show’ hangs inside a wooden frame. General views of Bobby Thompson performing on stage with the audience sitting on tables in front of him. General view of pedestrians walking through a shopping precinct. In the background can be seen a Sunderland Echo office as part of Arndale House in Sunderland. Inside the office two women stand behind a counter take details from various customers. A man is led into the rear of the office by another woman and takes a seat beside a reporter. The two men discuss an article for the paper as the reporter takes down notes. A female reporter takes downs notes as she and another man come out of the offices of Easington District Council. General views of the exterior of the main Sunderland Echo office and printing works three miles from the centre of Sunderland. A man walks through revolving doors. General view of the main reception area inside the building. Two women are shown work at a telephone switchboard. General views of men and women at work inside the Sunderland Echo open plan office. In the Library a woman brings over to the counter the 1st edition of the paper published in 1873. She reads through it with another woman standing beside her.   The film cuts to the Editor’s office where a meeting is being held. Editorial staff sit around his desk listening to him speak as they make notes. In another office a group of women sit around a table sorting through the entries for the weekly ‘find-the-ball’ competition which are laid out in piles on the table in front of them. A woman uses a special checking-chart on one of the entries that shows the exact centre of the ball.  Back in the newsroom the ‘Women’s page’ reporter takes details of a competition from a lady standing over her.   The film cuts to show various advertising invoices being laid out on a table. The film cuts to man walking into Bolbec Hall in Newcastle. Around a table he speaks with a group of men regarding the display allocation for an an advertising capaign. A page layout can be seen on the table. The film cuts back to the Echo office where four women can be seen sitting around a desk in the advertising section. On the table are six in-trays each labelled with the daysof the week. One of the women pencils notes inside a booklet showing advertising ‘dummy pages’.  The film cuts to a woman speaking on a telephone headset. She types up classified advertisements using a typewriter. The film cuts to the Telegraph Room where various reports come in over a number of  tele-printers. A man tear a story appearing from one of the machines; standing behind him can be seen another man typing details into another machine. The film cuts to another office where six women can be seen typing stories which they drop onto a conveyor between the desks. In an open plan office general views of male keyboard operators type up all the stories and advertisements into a computer typesetting machine. The film cuts to a Proof Reader looking through each item on a ‘visual display unit’. In the Composing Room a man stands over a large computer onto which the finished newspaper is set. He removes a large rectangular cassette and places it into a daylight processor. An electronic version of the paper is printed onto photographic paper; a bromide. In the Reproduction Department a man creates a half-tone screen for an item that is not fixed type. A second man controls a camera that breaks down a photograph into a half-tone screen. In another room two men work out the composition of a page over a light-table. One of the men uses a pair of tweezers to move sections of type around a page grid and discusses it with a sub-editor. The finished page is laid out in a mounting page. It is photographed to produce as a photo negative. The black and white negative comes out of a printing machine and a man places it on a light table and marks out sections with a large red pen. The film cuts to a second man loading a colour negative into a printing machine. General views of the operator adjusting the knobs to create separate printing plates for yellow, blue, red and black. There are views of various display screens. The door of the printer closes as the negative on a drum begins to spin. Each transparency is overlaying one on top of the other to create the finished colour image showing a cartoon. The film cuts to show the black and white negative of the page being exposed onto a lithographic pre-sensitised printing plate. The operator closes the door of the machine and presses a button. A few seconds later the operator opens the door and the printing plate is removed and placed into another machine that converts the negative image into a positive. Other pages can be seen coming out the other side of the machine. As one of these pages comes through another man takes it and places it onto a table. He checks over the image. Satisfied he places it onto a conveyor which leads into the Press Room. In the Press Room a number of plates are seen being attached to the presses. General views of the press in action and paper running at speed through the machine. A workman wears ear protectors while watching over the controls. An edition of the finished paper is taken from a conveyor and opened up so that the camera can see the full-page colour advertisement for ‘SavaCentre’. There are more views of the paper running through the printing press and workmen checking through a finished copy. In the Editor’s office a woman hands a copy of the finished paper to the Editor. He talks with a second man, the Production Editor, who is sitting on the other side of the desk. There is a close up of the front page headline which reads ‘Blow to Wear Yard’. General views of the two men talking. The film cuts to a conveyor on which sits a bundle of newspapers. Another machine ties the bundle together and they are then seen being loaded into the back of am Echo Sherpa van. General views of the van driving along a motorway and a man delivering a bundle to a newsagent. The film cuts to a young man taking a small bundle of newspapers from the back of a Sunderland Echo car and takes them into a newsagent. He places them on the counter and speaks with the newsagent. The film cuts to a view of the Washington Galleries seen from the car park. A large sign on the side of the shopping centre reads ‘SavaCentre’. The film cuts to show people walk around the SavaCentre store. From a balcony overlooking the shop representatives of the company and the newspaper discuss the colour advertisement inside the paper. There are general views around the SaveCentre store of people shopping. The film cuts to general views of various busy pedestrian precincts. There are interviews with local people who are asked about why they like to read the Sunderland Echo. A newspaper boy posts a newspaper through a letterbox. In a house, members of a family discuss the reasons why they like the newspaper. The film cuts to a view of a ship on the slipway seen from the Wear. The camera pans right to left showing the Wearmouth Bridge in the distance. Traffic travels across the Wearmouth Bridge. In the Sunderland Echo office a customer speaks to member of staff at a counter. Sitting on a low wall a group of children stick their thumbs up and are seen being photographed. Various general views showing some of the people and machines seen previously producing the newspaper. A computer display reads ‘It’s your evening. A film for Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspapers Limited’.  The film ends on a pavement sign outside a newsagent which reads ‘Echo Sunderland. It’s your Evening.’ End Credit: Turners Film and Video Production [Sunderland Echo was founded on 22 December 1973 by Samuel Storey, Edward Backhouse, Edward Temperley Gourley, Charles Palmer, Richard Ruddock, Thomas Glaholm and Thomas Scott Turnbull in 1873, as the Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette. It was designed to provide a platform for the Radical views held by Storey and his partners, it was also Sunderland's first local daily paper.]