Local Newspaper Week

Do you want to know how the money you pay in council taxes is spent?

Do you care if the police are making your area safer?

If your hospital wards aren’t clean, do you want to know about it?

If the answer to these questions is ‘yes’ then you believe in democracy and the right to know the truth without spin or gloss.

Local news organisations like Rochdale Online highlight the good work done by local authorities, police forces and health boards up and down the country.

But that doesn’t mean local news organisations take the information they are given at face value — they challenge, probe and pose the questions their readers want answers to.

If a local news organisation uncovers an instance of wrongdoing, it shares the information with its readers and provides a platform for them to have their say.

By scrutinising public bodies in this way, a local news organisation acts as a watchdog for democracy and gives a voice to the community it serves.

It is in recognition of this vital role that this year’s Local Newspaper Week, which starts today, is themed Your Voice.

Readers, businesses, politicians, and other high-profile figures are getting behind the Week because they recognise the value of local news in upholding democracy.

Democracy begins locally. If abuses of power are allowed to fester at a local level, there is a danger they will eventually grow to infect the entire system of governance.

Without local news organisations, your right to free speech would be placed in jeopardy. That is why they truly are the building blocks of democracy.

Local news organisations shine a spotlight into the corridors of power by regularly covering local council meetings.

No other media can do this so effectively, especially not council-run publications which pretend to be impartial while promoting the interests of the local authority.

If a public body has a success story to tell, there is no better way than through the local news because it is trusted above all other media.

And local news organisations are normally happy to give their readers some good news.

Local news organisations tell the warts and all truth about the way communities are run while providing a unique platform for readers to have a say on the issues that really matter.

Local Newspaper Week isn’t just about your local news. It’s about you, and the right to make your voice heard.