Sally Waterman was secretary at the Weatherfield Recorder when Ken Barlow bought into a partnership with Bob Statham in November 1983. Ken became Statham's press baron and editor of the freesheet, taking over from Pamela Mitchell, and Sally worked alongside him in the Recorder office. Sally's first clash with her new boss came when Ken tried to use the paper in his vendetta against Mike Baldwin by not letting him advertise his Graffiti Club. Statham forced Ken's hand and told him to write a piece about the club. When Ken wrote a deliberately underwhelming article, Sally alerted Statham who forced him to rewrite it, speaking about Mike in glowing terms.