On Saturday The Guardian published a story by Andy Beckett likening the north east of England to Detroit, the U.S. city that famously declared bankruptcy in 2013.
Chi Onwurah, MP for Newcastle Central, also says she pointed Beckett towards positive aspects of the north east but that didn't make it into the finished piece.
They quote me on challenges but they skipped all I said about NE opportunities in ICT, creative, coal, science... http://t.co/qMLY361XU9 …
The article also highlights Wonga's sponsorship of Newcastle United's football shirts as "a similarly dispiriting story". Except that's not abnormal – plenty of payday lenders back football clubs and that doesn't instantly mean that their local economies are doomed.
The Guardian story also references Lord Howell's suggestion that the north east contains "large uninhabited and desolate areas" that are prime for fracking.
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It's mentioned in jest, but Beckett seems to forget that Howell later admitted his comments were about the north west, not the north east. And besides, Howell's comments were debunked in style by Sky Sports' Jeff Stelling when they were first made.
Similarly, the story also implies that it's bad that the leader of the local development agency is leaving, even though he's off to run a new bank in the region emplying 120 that last month The Guardian covered positively.
Beckett also spent half an hour in mima, the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, on a Thursday evening. He says he saw only four other visitors to the gallery.
So what's the reality? Well, no-one says that the north east is without problems. High unemployment, low wages, and comparatively fewer good graduates (and graduate jobs) are all issues.
But the region certainly isn't bankrupt, and certainly isn't in danger of being cast off from the rest of the country.
Overlooking differences of perception, one of the few hard facts the article relies on is wrong: Beckett claims the contribution of the north east to the UK's GVA (gross value added, its contribution to the growth of the economy) has dropped from 3% "in the Blair years" to "barely 2%" -- a drop of a third. In fact, it's dropped much less than that, from 3.2% of UK GVA in 1997 to 3% in 2012.
But the region still builds things. Quite well. The north east is the only region to run a positive balance of trade.
Meanwhile, private sector business activity is at a four-year high, say Lloyds Bank, and public sector employers are increasing their presence in the region.
A petition has been started to ask Andy Beckett to return to the region for a more balanced look at its pros and cons. But part of the problem is that the area is often ignored by the national media.
But rather than dwell on the problems with the story, the people of the north east have taken this as a spur to remind themselves why the north east is great.
Two different hashtag campaigns – #100reasons and #NEandproud – have gathered a variety of views promoting the north east.
Thousands employed in cultural sector - over 2000 in NewcastleGateshead alone - driving ideas & products going national & global #NEandproud
More than 25,000 workers are employed in tech industry in the North East, which has the 2nd highest rate of startups in the UK #100reasons
Because our beaches look like this in March! #costadelnorthumbria #100reasons
I'm proud of our indefatigable spirit, that even after everything that's been thrown at us, we still have a sense of humour. #NEandproud
So despite the vitriol directed The Guardian's way, the region has one message:
