Someone dumped a 2 litre bottle of dishwashing liquid in the water feature on Marine Parade and made a clean getaway.
Someone dumped a 2 litre bottle of dishwashing liquid in the water feature on Marine Parade and made a clean getaway.
There have been moments in my career when I have thought "It's bloody good to be a journalist".
Personally, those moments have come for me when rights have been wronged, when bad people have been exposed by those who are good.
Sometimes, magnificent things have happened - communities have risenup and said "enough". And even more fulfilling than bad people being exposed, are extraordinary people being championed for doing amazing things.
As an editor, you are always learning. The day that a newspaper editor - any person with a role that interacts with the public - is arrogant enough to think that he or she "knows better" is the day that person should be sacked.
Part of the ongoing learning for an editor is the digital stratosphere. What encourages interaction with a story online and what keeps newspaper readers interested can be two different things.
Driving along Marine Parade, on the way to work, I noticed that someone had dumped detergent in a water fountain next to the National Aquarium.
It looked like a quirky photo opportunity, so I stopped and took a couple of photos and a video.
We put the photo on our Facebook page at 8am and said "Someone dumped 2-litres of dishwashing liquid in the water feature next to the National Aquarium ... and made a clean getaway".
At 4.40pm yesterday as I wrote this, it was the top performing post on our Facebook page. For some reason, it struck a nerve.
Nearly 26,000 had seen the post, and more than 180 had commented. In the time it took me to write this, another 1000 had seen the post - possibly our best performing Facebook post for the past six months, certainly the past three.
At the height of last week's storm our top post was around 15,000 views. It would be arrogant to wash my hands of this newly acquired information, because it is a good reminder that sometimes we don't want serious news - we want a laugh.
I just didn't realise it would come from a 2 litre bottle of dishwashing liquid in a fountain and a cheeky caption. But there you go, always learning.
