Liverpool Echo chief feature writer Paddy Shennan has played tour guide to out-of-town journalists visiting the city for the launch of the city’s stint as the European Capital of Culture.
Among the visiting press pack were Deanna Delamotta of the Manchester Evening News, David Atkinson of the Daily Express, Nigel Richardson, of the Daily Telegraph, Alf Bennett of the Birmingham Mail, Marjorie Yue of the Sunday Mirror and Nick White of Times Online.
“Gatecrashing a press trip to Liverpool was a fascinating exercise for two reasons: I’d be able to see how the city is presented to outsiders and find out what the outsiders think of the city,” Shennan writes.
Some of the visitors were “underwhelmed by Ringo Starr’s latest song” and “equally unimpressed, during a tour of the city, by Tracey Emin’s ‘bird thing'”, but they did appreciate the Echo Arena and the Superlambanana, Shannan reports back.
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