The Bath Christmas Market is one of the biggest events on my patch and a huge source of stories for us each year.
Although it may sound innocuous enough, it is actually hugely divisive. Many locals get in touch with us to complain about issues such as the transport chaos it causes and how they struggle to go about their daily life and work.
We try to balance these legitimate stories with the positive aspects of the market – but inevitably the negative stories attract more attention.
After the market closed I drew on all the stories I had written to write an opinion piece.
Talking through all the stories and statistics I felt I had to come to the conclusion that people should try to shout the market down a little less.
I felt like I was sticking my head out going against the predominant local opinion and expected to be trolled mercilessly in comments online, especially as I had my face on the story.
Instead I found that I drew out a significant quieter audience with more moderate opinions and the vast majority of the comments were supportive.
“Thanks for writing a balanced and positive article about the market,” one said.
The story had 12,295 page views and a decent 55s average engagement time.
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