The tenth birthday party of an Edinburgh news and picture agency proved not just an opportunity to celebrate but the chance to launch a new website.
Deadline News is run by founder, Scott Douglas, and director, Raymond Notarangelo, and on Thursday evening – at Divino Enoteca wine bar off the city’s Grassmarket – the pair used the occasion to launch the agency's new website, www.deadlinenews.co.uk.
As the champagne flowed, current and former staff were joined by dozens of colleagues from the worlds of newspapers, broadcast, politics and public relations.
In a statement issued by the agency, Douglas is quoted, as saying: “I am very proud that we have lasted ten years. I started the agency ten years ago to do what I love until the end of my working career and I hope that Deadline will still be part of my life when I’m 65-70 when I retire.
“What I’m most proud of is that we have given a platform and a starting point to so many wannabe young journalists, who have come in and learned a bit of the craft and used it to move on to the jobs that they want to get.”
Added Notarangelo: “What I would like would be for Deadline to firmly establish itself as the choice agency when it comes to East Central Scotland, so that when anyone comes to us looking for a quality news operation they know they are going to get the best of the best.
“We are already doing this. We have quality staff who know that they have to go the extra mile for the newspapers they are working for.
“And if that means staying out until whatever time it takes to get the story and gain the best pictures then that is what our team will do.”
Consulting managing editor is Shaun Milne – former associate news editor of the Scottish Daily Record and also a former deputy editor of the Scottish Daily Mirror – who is also quoted saying: “There have been some great journalists and photographers come through the doors of Deadline, but I think the current crop are among the most capable and talented that I’ve had the pleasure to work with.
“There is a great mixture of new media skill and proper journalistic experience at the agency just now, and the fact so many of their contacts and colleagues turned out for the event is testament to that.”
He added: “News is at the centre of everything we do, but we have to evolve and be a couple of steps ahead in the game to ensure that we are ready to deliver what is expected, in whatever format that may be.
“The new site will be a great showcase for all our team’s hard work, and ensures we are ready to respond when clients are looking for us to supply them with complete packages – words, photographs, audio and video.”
“I’ve only been here 20-months or so, it’s very much Scott and Raymond’s baby, but I remember using their stuff by default when working on the newsdesks for both the Daily Record and Scottish Mirror all those years ago.
“As the agency continues to go from strength to strength, as it continues to grow and progress, then there’s no reason to think the guys won’t be back here for the 20th anniversary.”
