As reported by the Newspaper Society: Prime Minister David Cameron has sent a message of support citing the important role played by local papers: “First, local newspapers hold public authorities to account. They are crucial to our democracy. They report on council meetings - and taxpayers know if their money is being spent wisely. They publish police appeals - and witnesses come forward. They cover court cases - and communities know when justice has been done. And they scrutinise local politicians - so voters know if their MP is working in their interests.
“It's no surprise, then, that 30 million of us read local papers each week - more than any other print medium - and we are twice as likely to trust the local press than any other news source.
“Second, local papers continually fight for their communities, agitating for change, and, very often, succeeding. That's the theme of this year's Local Newspaper Week: making a difference. Because with their commitment to campaigning on local issues, local newspapers aren't just breaking the news, they're making it.”
11,833 votes were cast in the Making a Difference public vote to find the best local newspaper campaign with the winner set to be announced by NS president Adrian Jeakings at the Society of Editors Regional Press Awards today.
Editors across the UK have written of the importance of the local newspapers during this year’s Week. And the campaign has received widespread coverage on Twitter including support from Week contributor Lizzy Yarnold, Winter Olympics gold medallist and X Factor 2011 champions Little Mix. On Monday, a Thunderclap saw 122 Twitter users simultaneously tweet a call to vote message to 418,490 followers.
