The Word, 2Hot, Hot, Hot… Off The Press
This 2026 heatwave (or several of them, we’re on number 4 at the time of writing), has brought back a lot of memories for me of 50 years ago.
From June 23rd to 27th in August 1976, the headlines in popular press were all variations of ‘Phew, what a scorcher!’, while the top temperature was 35.9°C.
But the big news for me was the birth of my second son Chris in April. That somewhat minimised other events around the world in my eyes!
A Year of Headlines
1976 was a banner year for big headlines. Just a few I remember from my time in journalism include:·
Longtime Chinese leader Mao Zedong died·
Jimmy Carter was elected as the 29th American president, defeating Gerald Ford.
The US celebrated its bicentennial.
The summer Olympic Games in Montreal was boycotted by all African nations because New Zealand had hosted a South African team who were tainted by the Apartheid regime.
In Soweto, South Africa police opened fire on black students who were protesting educational segregation.
In Argentina, a military coup overthrew President Isabel Peron.
In Uganda, Israeli commandos executed the dramatic Entebbe airport raid to rescue 193 hijacked hostages.
Liverpool narrowly pipped Queens Park Rangers for the title, and did the double by winning the UEFA Cup against Club Brugge.
Meanwhile, punk rock exploded onto the music scene, with cultural slogans like ‘year zero’ and ‘Anarchy in the UK’, from a single by the Sex Pistols released in November. The riotous British group were managed by Malcolm McClaren and styled by Vivienne Westwood. Across the pond in the US, the Ramones and Blondie (with the dishy Debbie Harry) were among the leaders of the Punk Rock ‘Blitzkrieg’.
Cup of Joy
And in May, I was at Wembley to see my club team Southampton beat Manchester United 1-0. My seat was among all the United fans behind one goal, and when Bobby Stokes scored for Saints at the other end, I stood up. Then immediately sat down! Fortunately, no one seemed to notice.
While history may not repeat itself, we can learn from its clear patterns.
The Old Printing Process
In 1976, I was happily sub-editing on The Times sports desk. Shifts on the paper were long – midday to 11pm – but not arduous, because I was a big lover of sport. And part of my job was to set things to print.
At that time old printing methods were still used, and the unions had to be respected by journalists like me. Without being allowed to touch anything in case we set off a print union dispute, we supervised the expert, who assembled the pages of metal type onto the stone (a heavy steel table).
Linotype machines then melted lead to cast individual lines of text (called ‘slugs’) from the journalists’ copy (the text). To do this, the compositors placed a rectangular steel frame (the chase) onto the stone to represent the page layout.
Using a layout guide provided by the journalists, the compositors manually arranged the lead text slugs, headlines and photo engraving plates inside the chase.
This involved inserting black metal strips (leads) to create spaces and tightly fit columns, which was known as justification. When the page was complete, the compositor tightened wooden or mechanical wedges (quoins) around the borders. This locked the heavy lead elements immovable into place. The locked frame was either inked directly for a proof print or pressed into a papier-mâché mould (flong) to cast a curved metal plate for the rotary printed presses. This is an incredibly old process – the stone dated from the 1450s and the hot metal process from 1886.
Then along came digital printing in the Eighties. This spelt the end of these venerable methods, and or the power of the print unions, which caused the closure of The Times in 1978-79 in a dispute with the management.
Why is that important? Because it’s part of my writing and publishing heritage, and I reckon every detail of your experience counts.
Where From There?
In the winter months I started reporting on rugby union games, simply because no one else wanted to do it! Our rugby correspondent was Peter West, now more famous as the host of Come Dancing – the BBC’s forerunner to Strictly. By the end of the 70s I was reporting on international matches, mainly in Dublin, Edinburgh and Paris. The clashes between the Irish and the Scots were particularly memorable, for the Celtic bonhomie just as much as the rugby.
In 1982 I began my long career in self-employed independent publishing at SIRON – named as an acronym for the founders. I can’t recall exactly why the N for Nick was at the tail! We created the ideas for books and then sold them to publishers for a fixed price. This was known as packaging.
In 2 years, our largest ventures were a series of Sportsviewers Guides for David and Charles, and promotional booklets on the 1984 Olympic Games in 11 languages for 3M Scotch Tape – who attached them to their blank video tapes.
That’s enough memories from me for now. But I’ll just remind you that you should always bring your own life experiences to your writing. They’re unique, a sometimes overused word, but true for all of us.
Thank you.
Please subscribe at Substack to get The Word a week earlier for free. Nick Keithwww.keithpublishing.co.uk
