There's Someone in Reception
Adventures in Local Journalism

“There’s a man in reception with a massive slug. Can you come down and interview him?”Welcome to the life of a local journalist, and the curious tradition of the “walk-in” – when a member of the public turns up with a tale to tell. The newsworthiness of these stories is... well... mixed, to say the least. But every journalist remembers their weirdest and most wonderful walk-ins.From stories that made international headlines and exposed major crime networks, to readers who walked in with a hand grenade and a bag of dead bats, There's Someone In Reception explores the good, the bad and the downright bizarre of working in local news.Based on interviews with generations of journalists – with stories from the 1950s to the 2020s – it covers the glory days, the disastrous decline of local papers and the signs of hope now emerging in many places.Alex Morrison spent a decade in journalism, as a reporter then editor for several local newspapers, before covering national news for the BBC.