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Date published: 22 July 2011
THE way they were: the quartet when they broke the test-tube baby story 1979
Award-winner Janice retires
JANICE Barker made the headlines one last time yesterday: by saying goodbye after 35 years at the Oldham Chronicle.
The deputy news editor and municipal correspondent retired yesterday after joining the paper in 1969 as a cub reporter.
Before she took a break to have a family 10 years later, she had proved herself a top journalist as part of the award-winning reporting team that broke exclusive reports on the world’s first test-tube baby, making the town the focus of global attention.
Her part in reporting on Louise Brown’s birth at the old Oldham and District General Hospital took her to London’s Savoy Hotel to receive the Newspaper Society’s provincial journalist of the year award in 1979. The reporting quartet reunited for Janice’s farewell.
During her time with the Chronicle, Janice covered the districts of Lees and Chadderton and more recently reported on local council and parliamentary politics in Oldham.
A reception for Janice saw past and present colleagues joined by guests and family.
As Janice folded her notebook, laid down her pencil and turned off her computer for one last time, she said: “The thing I have enjoyed most is meeting the characters of Oldham. I will miss them most of all.
“For £2.50 a week, the Chronicle is fantastic value — cheaper than the price of a posh sandwich, and it carries so much information.”
Editor David Whaley praised Janice for her professionalism and dedication to the Chronicle adding “it has been a privilege to work alongside her.”
