St Neots Citizen
Encyclopedia
The St Neots Citizen is a British
satirical local news service based in St Neots
, Cambridgeshire
.
expired
.
The original creators of the Whitley Bay and Geordie citizens are currently working on Citizen Extra as a revival of the original news sources.
In February 2011
the Citizen underwent a facelift, receiving a new layout and new features. These include "Last Week's Stars", where a "resident astrologer
" tells people about an event from the previous seven days; and letters from readers which are, according to the Citizen, at least fifty per cent genuine. The horoscope contains a weekly tribute to snooker player John Virgo
under the Virgo
sign, for no apparent reason.
The Editor previously used to write under the pseudonym Geoff Ives, a nod to the multiple Geoffs and Jeffs involved in the original Citizens. The Citizen announced the appointment of "Features Editor" Francisco Sanchez in [April 2010]; this name is also thought to be a nom de plume of Tim C.
Site updates are posted as "Tim C" rather than "Citizen Editor", although confusingly Tim C often refers to himself in these updates in the third person.
mistakenly believed the site to be serious, and issues a cease-and-desist notice to the owner, citing possible slander. The notice was revoked when the owner pointed out that the site was merely for comedy purposes and not to be taken seriously.
In Summer
2009, the Citizen ceased publication whilst involved in a debate over the ownership of the title "The St Neots Citizen". Editor Tim C said he could easily resolve the case by changing the name, but was "too damn stubborn
." Eventually the other party, who were not named, agreed that Tim C carry on using the name as long as they were not actively publishing a newspaper called the St Neots Citizen.
and the Aberdeen Citizen
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
satirical local news service based in St Neots
St Neots
St Neots is a town and civil parish with a population of 26,356 people. It lies on the River Great Ouse in Huntingdonshire District, approximately north of central London, and is the largest town in Cambridgeshire . The town is named after the Cornish monk St...
, Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
.
History
The St Neots Citizen was first published in 2001 as part of the Citizen News Network, comprising at the time the Whitley Bay Citizen, Geordie Citizen, Showbiz Citizen and many others. One by one all these sites fell into disuse and were abandoned as their domainsDomain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
expired
Expired
Expired is a 2008 comedy-drama film and is the first writer-director credit for Cecilia Miniucchi, whose previous credits include the documentary on the work of artist Hermann Nitsch entitled Nitsch 1998...
.
Now
The St Neots Citizen was resurrected in 2008 by the original editor, known to the wider world only as "Tim C", and accepts contributions from anyone although all submissions are moderated before publication.The original creators of the Whitley Bay and Geordie citizens are currently working on Citizen Extra as a revival of the original news sources.
In February 2011
February 2011
February 2011 was the second month of the current year. It began on a Tuesday and ended after 28 days on a Monday.- Portal:Current events :This is an archived version of Wikipedia's Current events Portal from February 2011....
the Citizen underwent a facelift, receiving a new layout and new features. These include "Last Week's Stars", where a "resident astrologer
Astrologer
An astrologer practices one or more forms of astrology. Typically an astrologer draws a horoscope for the time of an event, such as a person's birth, and interprets celestial points and their placements at the time of the event to better understand someone, determine the auspiciousness of an...
" tells people about an event from the previous seven days; and letters from readers which are, according to the Citizen, at least fifty per cent genuine. The horoscope contains a weekly tribute to snooker player John Virgo
John Virgo
John Virgo is an English former professional snooker player and more recently a snooker commentator and TV personality.- Career :...
under the Virgo
Virgo
-Astronomy:* Virgo Cluster, a cluster of galaxies in the constellation Virgo* Virgo , a constellation* Virgo Stellar Stream, remains of a dwarf galaxy* Virgo Supercluster, a galactic supercluster-Surname:* Virgo...
sign, for no apparent reason.
Contributors and Pseudonyms
The majority of Citizen articles carry the byline "Citizen Editor" and are written by the Editor "Tim C". Other submissions come from "staff writers", including Oi!! Correspondent, Flaming Reporter, and A.J. Oke. Other contributors include PW and Adam Douglas, the latter rumoured to be a local councillor.The Editor previously used to write under the pseudonym Geoff Ives, a nod to the multiple Geoffs and Jeffs involved in the original Citizens. The Citizen announced the appointment of "Features Editor" Francisco Sanchez in [April 2010]; this name is also thought to be a nom de plume of Tim C.
Site updates are posted as "Tim C" rather than "Citizen Editor", although confusingly Tim C often refers to himself in these updates in the third person.
Legal issues
In early 2009 an unnamed local councillorCouncillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
mistakenly believed the site to be serious, and issues a cease-and-desist notice to the owner, citing possible slander. The notice was revoked when the owner pointed out that the site was merely for comedy purposes and not to be taken seriously.
In Summer
Summer
Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice...
2009, the Citizen ceased publication whilst involved in a debate over the ownership of the title "The St Neots Citizen". Editor Tim C said he could easily resolve the case by changing the name, but was "too damn stubborn
Stubborn
Stubborn may refer to:* HMS Stubborn , an S class submarine* Little Miss Stubborn, a character in the Little Miss series of books* Mr. Stubborn, a character on the children's television show The Mr. Men Show...
." Eventually the other party, who were not named, agreed that Tim C carry on using the name as long as they were not actively publishing a newspaper called the St Neots Citizen.
See also
A number of other very successful satirical news websites exist, including:- NewsBiscuitNewsBiscuitNewsBiscuit is a British satirical news website. It was founded in September 2006 to create a new outlet for British humour on the internet by a group consisting mainly of comedy writers including John O'Farrell.- Content :...
- The OnionThe OnionThe Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
- The Daily MashThe Daily MashThe Daily Mash is a British satirical website providing parodic commentary on current affairs and other news stories. Neil Rafferty and Paul Stokes , created the website in 2007 and remain the lead writers...
- The Framley ExaminerThe Framley ExaminerThe Framley Examiner is a parody of a newspaper in a small provincial English town.Very little happens in Framley, so the highlights in the newspaper are the absurdist classified ads The Framley Examiner ('Framley's traditional favourite since 1978') is a parody of a newspaper in a small...
Other Citizens
The St Neots Citizen is not related in any way to any other news services called Citizen, for example the MK CitizenMK Citizen
The Milton Keynes Citizen is the highest circulation freely distributed newspaper in Milton Keynes and at various points in its history has been the largest not only in the UK but Europe...
and the Aberdeen Citizen
Aberdeen Citizen
The Aberdeen Citizen is the highest distributed free newspaper in Aberdeen. It is a weekly newspaper. Launched in 1989, as the Aberdeen Herald & Post, it was re-launched as its current title in 2002. It provides a round-up of the week's community news, sport and events to over 75,000 households in...
.