For Salford, a new magazine. But a magazine that's different…
Fifteen years ago, pretty much to the day, the proofs for the first ever Salford Star magazine landed on our doorstep. We started by checking over the intro... 'For Salford, a new magazine. But a magazine that's different…It just aims to give the community a voice, make public bodies a bit more accountable and to inform, campaign and entertain…'
That was our plan, laid out on the page for the whole of Salford to see. 'Any changes, or are we ok with that?' I asked "No changes, we just need to make sure that's what we do" said co-founder Stephen Kingston...
The first twelve months were like a whirlwind; so much happened it's hard to remember it all, but by the end of it I felt confident we had done what we had set out to.
It all started when we were running some workshops for a community mag in Old Trafford. Graham Cooper, a voluntary youth worker in East Salford, had seen the mag and was asking us about it: 'We could do with one of these round our way' he said, referencing the fight against the demolitions in the Whit Lane area.
We liked the idea of doing a magazine for Salford, 'Sounds good, we're up for it, it'll have to be different though, this is Salford after all. More attitude…bigger… brighter… louder… glossier…' The Salford Star …with attitude and love xxx
And so it was born…
It wasn't all plain sailing getting it started. Before we launched, we had a public meeting at the Racecourse pub on Littleton Road to get as many people from the community involved as we could. About 40 to 50 people turned up so there was clearly an appetite for it. And though some bought into it straight away there was plenty of cynicism. And too right too. How many people have turned up in Salford saying, 'We are going to do this for Salford' and disappeared after six months?
We paid a visit to Guy Griffiths in Higher Broughton to get his advice on the first issue. He and brother Jimmy had just been very publicly kicked out of their house in Higher Broughton as part of the so-called 'regeneration'. Let's just say that he wasn't convinced. He advised us: that 'If it looks anything like a Council mag people will put it straight in the bin'.
We listened to what the community had to say. We checked the facts to back up their stories and then we shouted it as loud as we could…15,000 supersized, dayglo, hi gloss mags filled with stories of Salfordians doing everything from making music to creating films, to fighting to save their communities from demolition.
One of the stories that had the biggest impact in that first issue was about the Lowry Centre on Salford Quays. At the time we were based at CREST, a community resource centre on Douglas Green by the Whit Lane estate. We'd been chatting to a group of lads outside about Salford and stuff and asked them if they'd ever been to the Lowry. 'Nah' they said 'We'll be kicked out within two minutes'.
We didn't believe it, so we asked if they would go down there and we would document what happened. They agreed and we followed them down to see what happened…They were chucked out within minutes.
Indeed, everyone we spoke to had stories of how Salford's regeneration cash bonanza wasn't for them. In fact, often it was worse. Often it was a story of how millions of pounds of taxpayers' money, that was supposed to be for ordinary working class Salfordians, was being used as a war chest to get rid of them, to exclude them, to bulldoze them out of the city...
...But for every story like this there was a story of a new band producing a hit, of a community film festival being a roaring success, a free kids club being run voluntarily by mums and dads, a local actor making it big on telly, or thousands of people at a free community run festival.
That first year was like a whirlwind, but the response blew us away…
Delivering the first issue around Salford Precinct, we could tell we had done something right. Everyone tried to avoid us at first as we were handing them out, probably half expecting it to be another Council propaganda rag. But then they'd see the incredibly popular Tiny Brown on the cover, or clock someone they knew reading it, or hear about the lads from Whit Lane trying to get into the Lowry, and they'd come over and ask for a copy.
During that first day you could sense the buzz about it building. The taxi drivers were all reading it at the rank on the Precinct, even causing a traffic jam. An old guy came running over to me, asking if he could have a copy. 'I'm from Langworthy, I've heard about your mag, can I have one?' he said. He flicked through it, looked up at me and offered me a fiver for it, and when I told him to keep his money as it was free, he said, 'No, you're going to need it, and Salford needs a magazine like this'.
After a couple of hours of handing it out on the Precinct, we headed to Duchy to give a copy to one of our contributors. As we sat down in her front room, the phone rang. 'Hello, Salford Star, Steve Speed speak…' And then, words to the effect of 'How dare you! How very dare you!!!' yelled out of my knackered old brick of a Nokia. Everyone in the room could hear it. 'Who is this?' I asked, "It's John Merry, leader of the Salford City Council, I have got to say you are a…'
...My battery gave in. I don't think it could cope with the volume or something, cut him off mid-stream. Needless to say, we had struck a chord with the Council. This was definitely not a Council propaganda mag! The Council wouldn't even let the Star be placed in public libraries, although it didn't stop librarians handing it out from under the counter. It was the same story at the Salford Reds shop near the old Willows.
The buzz the Star created wasn't because it had local stars Christopher Eccleston and Maxine Peake in it, or an article about Helena Bonham Carter and Ronaldo turning up in Little Hulton for film shoots at what was supposed to be Media City. It was stories like the one about Freda, Val, Debbie, Madge and everyone at the Riverside Island Tenants Association, or RITA, fighting to save their homes in Lower Broughton.
The demand for the mag from the community was huge. There was one newsagent on Langworthy Road that handed out a thousand copies of one issue. Bookies, chippies, hairdressers, pubs, were all asking for copies so they could hand it out. Even Guy Griffiths thought it was 'OK', definitely not what he had expected.
But despite the response from the community and the numerous awards, the response from anyone who could control the flow of public money in Salford was far from favourable. The millions of pounds of regeneration cash didn't get anywhere near the Salford Star. In fact, at times, it felt like it was being used to get rid of us.
We heard one story of a Salford MP saying that no public money should go anywhere near us. It seemed like we'd been blacklisted.
Before the Star was published, we got £1,500 from East Salford Community Committee, from devolved money that the community could spend as it wished. The next time we applied, they were told not fund it or they would go to jail...more on this to follow...
Organisations surviving on regeneration money were scared of being seen in public with us. If we turned up to a Council meeting and introduced ourselves there would be a hush, then a murmur and a tension in the air, '…It's the Salford Star', as they moved away from us. But despite all that, the response from the community continued to grow.
Support, contributions, donations, sales of t-shirts, you name it, it just kept coming. We had stalls at community festivals and endorsements from Salford celebs. But advertisers with links to the Council pulled out. And though we couldn't afford to keep the magazine in print, community support has helped us keep it going online for the last 15 years.
For the last three or four years my involvement has been far less, I just couldn't afford to do it anymore. I still sit on the board and help out with a few bits, but I am a single parent and busy doing a PhD and a fulltime job, so I struggle to find the time for it. But despite that, I always cherish those first couple of years producing the magazine. It was a lot of fun, and it felt like we were making a difference.
How it has kept going for this long bewilders me. But now seems like the right time to bring it to a close. Fifteen years is a very long time, just have a look at the archive and see the list of stories that have been covered; floods, riots, cladding, fracking, demolitions…The list seems endless. Over 6,000 online articles, as well as ten print mags.
It tells a story of how Salfordians did things for themselves, stood up to authority and challenged public bodies to work for the interest of their communities. It will tell you about all the crazy and wonderful community projects that have happened over the years. All the brilliant art, music and films that have been made. And most importantly, you will see the thousands and thousands of Salfordians who have made it all worthwhile.
So, did we stick to what we said in the intro? I think so…'It just aimed to give the community a voice, make public bodies a bit more accountable and to inform, campaign and entertain…'
With attitude and love xxx
See previous Salford Star article for more background – Salford Star To Close After 15 Years – click here
To see an electronic copy of the first issue of Salford Star - click here
For a snippet of the Lowry article - click here
See related articles on the Salford Star Closure...
Alice's Story: Injustice From South Africa to Salford – click here
Salford Stars – Part 1 – click here
Salford Stars Part 2 – click here
Real Salford Heritage - Inside The Cliff Man United Training Ground - click here
The Battle of Barton Moss – click here
Nigel Pivaro Looks Back Over 15 Years of the Star – click here
Planning Scandals and the Affordable Housing Crisis - click here
Campaigns, demos and protests – click here
Guy Griffiths on the Pathfinder Demolitions - click here
What's Left and What's Worth Saving in Salford - click here
Eight Happenings That Encapsulate Salford: Part 1 – click here
Eight Happenings That Encapsulate Salford: Part 2 – click here
Guy Griffiths on the Pathfinder Demolitions – Part 2 The Human Cost - click here
How Salford City Council Tried To Stop The Star - click here
How Salford City Council Tried to Block and Discredit The Star – click here
The Salford Star Closes After 15 Years of Attitude and Love xxx - click here
All photos by Steven Speed except Goneanation St by Joan Williams
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