How to beat the 24-hour news machine

You have to hand it to the coalition government, they've certainly got newshounds like me chasing our tails, spinning in ever-decreasing circles.

Notwithstanding the "immediate" nature of the modern news media, does anybody have the faintest idea where we are right now with the cuts in public spending in Cornwall? OK, so we all knew that Building Schools for the Future was likely to be scrapped - six Cornish secondary schools losing a £69million investment - but the cuts are coming so fast that I have to admit, I can't keep up.

This is what I think I've reported so far: jobs and training schemes for under 24s, the Isles of Scilly ferry link, Camborne-Redruth road, nearly £14m in as-yet-unspecified Cornwall Council cuts (this year,) cuts in education services, and today the six new or refurbished Cornish schools - all axed or frozen.

I'm also aware of cuts to the police service but haven't yet had time to look at the detail. And the RDA. Did Danny Alexander really say he wanted to see suggestions for 40% cuts in every government department? My eyes grow cloudy, my memory dims. And we're only two months in.

At the same time we've had an emergency budget which put up taxes. In addition to this, and before the general election, Cornwall Council told us it was cutting £108 million over four years. That was only in February yet it now seems like a lifetime ago.

Usually Members of Parliament, and leading members of Cornwall Council, are falling over themselves to issue "hallelujah!" press releases extolling page after page of fabulous good news. Yet now they seem strangely silent and reluctant to return my calls.

Maybe the spin doctors who advise the political classes have finally figured out a way to win: make the news so unremittingly, repetitively bad; rattle it out with machine-gun rapidity; and eventually the media will lose interest - just another day in Darfur; a bit of an earthquake somewhere far away. The news editors and programme producers will just say "What? Another cuts story? I don't want that - get me something fresh! Get me the skateboarding duck!"

So please help this confused old hack keep on top of his job. I'm doing my best but could sure use your assistance. If you can manage a comprehensive list of all the public spending cuts in Cornwall since the general election, just post a comment on this blog. Thank you.