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Update 24 August

In striking contrast to our local newspaper, the London-based Guardian has published an obituary of the late Eileen Beasley written by her grandson, Cynog Prys. You can read it here.

Eileen was a remarkable and brave woman, and we owe her a debt of gratitude. Heddwch i'w llwch. May she rest in peace.

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If asked, most of the dwindling number of people who buy a local paper would say that they buy it in order to keep up with the local news. In the case of the Carmarthen Journal there must be other reasons for forking out 65p.

Despite recent changes to its personnel, the paper's editorial policy towards the county council appears still to be a case of only printing what County Hall tells it to print.

Last week we had a big feature celebrating the St Catherine's Walk shopping centre, complete with some rather dubious facts and figures courtesy of the council's press office.

This week, readers of the Teifi Valley edition will have been pleased to see a picture of pupils of Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn celebrating their A Level results. What readers who rely on the Carmarthen Journal for their news would not know is that the school has been experiencing a difficult time since the publication of a very critical Estyn report earlier this summer. The headmaster left, and it is unlikely that there will be a replacement until early next year. Not long after the report was published, a packed emergency meeting was held at the school to explain to concerned parents what was happening.

Of course, this did not reflect well on Carmarthenshire County Council or its Education Department which has been accused of starving the school of funding and resources.

None of this appeared in the Journal, although the Cambrian News, which normally ignores this southern extremity of its patch, ran a lengthy and dramatic report on the affair.

Last week the Western Mail picked up an important story about the long running dispute between Carmarthenshire's chief executive, Mark James, and Councillor Siân Caiach. Mr James had bombarded the Public Services Ombudsman with complaints alleging that Cllr Caiach had breached the councillors code of conduct. The ombudsman dismissed every single complaint and had some important things to say about freedom of speech.

The Journal appears not to have noticed, just as it also failed to spot news about another controversy involving the council and the ombudsman in a case involving planning enforcement, a blacklisting by the council of an elderly couple and a libel suit.

It is probably a fair bet that many of the readers of the Journal are mature in years and that they would have been saddened to hear of the death of Mrs Eileen Beasley, one of the most remarkable women in the county's history. The story of Trefor and Eileen Beasley's campaign may even have interested younger readers and others who had never heard of them.

The Journal remained silent on this, and its sister paper in Llanelli managed only a paltry 10 lines.

It is also a fair bet that many of the Journal's readers will have been at some stage in their lives to the Elli Theatre in Llanelli; they may also have been interested to hear about Brynaman Lido, built by miners in the 1930s and now, like the theatre, being shut for good by the council. Both stories made it on to BBC radio but failed to find space in the Journal.

On the other hand readers were treated to a story about a collection of local photographs, accompanied by a black and white photograph of Meryl Gravell's wedding.

Next week: Pam Palmer's holiday snaps: 1966 - Caravanning in Grimsby.