Opinion: I urge people to recognise the value of local newspapers and support all that’s best about this valuable industry - John Whittingdale, minister of state for media and data

These efforts deserve to be recognised and there isn’t a better way to do so than through the News Media Association’s (NMA) annual Journalism Matters Campaign. This initiative shines a spotlight on the importance of journalism to society.

As part of the campaign, the NMA is running a public vote where people can nominate their favourite newspaper campaigns from the ‘Making a Difference’ showcase. This includes the likes of the Daily Mail’s campaign to support families affected by dementia, and the Express and Star’s fundraising drive to save a local hospice.

The government recognises how much journalism matters to our country and democracy. This week we’ve published new research commissioned as part of our ongoing commitment to support the sustainability of the local and regional press. It shows why local news matters: voter turnout in local elections is higher in those areas with a greater local newspaper circulation, which shows the huge value of reliable sources of local information.

With increased misinformation on social media, trusted journalism has been a fundamental source of clarity throughout the pandemic. More than 85 per cent of adults turned to traditional media as a source of information. And news organisations are more than four times as trusted for news and information about coronavirus than social media.

Local and regional papers played a key role helping coordinate volunteering and neighbourhood efforts to make sure the vulnerable got the help they needed. It’s why the government has weighed in to support newspapers through the pandemic. We designated journalists and newspaper employees as key workers so they could keep the show on the road and continue their public service.

We worked with the industry to stop ad-blocking software from preventing advertisements appearing next to Covid-related content.

We fast-tracked the removal of VAT from digital newspapers. We also launched a major advertising campaign to get public health information across to the public, which also provided a much-needed source of revenue for the press industry. The All-in, All together campaign saw £35 million for advertising distributed across approximately 600 titles, with more than 60 per cent going to local and regional titles.

Newspapers will continue to fulfil their crucial role taking the pulse of the nation, reporting from the frontline and acting as the glue that binds our communities together. To make sure this continues I co-chaired the first meeting of the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists in the summer. This brings together representatives from government, journalism and policing to develop a plan to protect journalists from harm and threats of violence. The UK is a bastion of free speech and it must continue to be so.

As the minister with responsibility for the media it remains my absolute priority to do all I can to support local news outlets.

I urge people to recognise and support all that’s best about this valuable industry by making sure they back - and buy - their local papers.