When I was the office tea boy, it was drummed in to me – journalists are never the story, just the conduit.
This was a few years ago, when newspapers were chiselled into stone tablets and the pet sabre-toothed tiger had to duck to avoid being hit by the paperboy’s rogue delivery.
But indulge me.
This is my final issue after nine years in the editor’s chair.
Wokingham Today launched as The Wokingham Paper, and is the successor to The Wokingham Times, which had closed just three months earlier. I was, in a previous life, its features editor, and have been working on the region’s newspapers for three decades.
The decision to close a newspaper with more than 100 years behind it was hailed as the future of local news: online only. Berkshire was to pave the way forward, showing how a digital-only offering would work.
The trouble is, you can’t take your laptop into the bath. Well, you can, but like a toaster, don’t drop it whatever you do.
So after a bit of arm twisting from some very persuasive councillors, we decided to launch a hyperlocal newspaper, independent and owned by local people rather than big organisations, to keep local news alive.
It’s been a rollercoaster of a journey.
The first editorial warned that local news was precious. If anything, it’s become even more precious over the past decade.
Across the globe, many titles have been closed or merged. Some big newspaper groups have been swallowed by some bigger ones. And take away the folio – the bit that tells you what paper you’re reading and what the page number is – and I defy you to tell me if you’re reading a page of the Daily Mirror, the Manchester Evening News or the Birmingham Mail.
That’s thanks to the idea that one-size-fits-all for local newspapers.
Far from it.
A local newspaper should reflect the community it serves.
It is there to report on everything from the village fetes and jumble sales to the big fires and serious incidents.
In the trade, we talk about eyeballs on the page. Simply: if we aren’t featuring pictures of you, our readers, across the newspaper, we aren’t doing our job properly, and the connection between various community groups is eroded.
Local newspapers are essential not just for local democracy, but to help keep a town greased. They are a safety valve, a champion, and a court jester all rolled into one.
Every community needs a trusted local news source. I am proud that over the past decade, we have become yours.
But the industry – and society – has a fundamental problem. Companies like Meta and Google have taken advertising away from local newspapers. They have effectively taken away our bread-and-butter funding.
In a free market, that would be applauded. But local news has a benefit beyond skateboarding ducks. For example, Netflix and Amazon Prime don’t bring you election night results or coverage of the D-Day commemorations, but the licence fee does. The BBC provides an essential public function that streaming services won’t offer.
And it’s the same when it comes to the tech companies. They are happy to take your advertising money, but they aren’t giving you local news.
Schemes such as Facebook funding a community reporter were vital for us, and to have them ended prematurely is a massive shame. We’ve also seen them change the way you see things in your Facebook feed, meaning local news is ebbing away in favour of groups where people can post any old nonsense without having it verified first. A shouting match, rather than researched, curated, and accurate reporting.
We are constantly chasing our tails in order to make what we do work, because you need us. We’re the only ones that hold the powers-that-be to account, and that does occasionally mean we need to put a copy of the office Yellow Pages (1986 edition) down our trousers before meeting politicians.
The only way you can ensure Wokingham and Reading continues to have local news is to help fund it. There are three ways to do so.
Buy Wokingham Today and Reading Today every week – place an order at your newsagent and they’ll deliver it to your home. Order extras for your staff canteen and reception areas.
Advertise in it. Online or in print, it shows your commitment to the community you live in.
You can, if you wish, make a contribution to our work via our website. Every penny helps us.
Wokingham Today and Reading Today are produced by people who live in our boroughs. We are passionate because this is our home too.
We don’t have to make profits for shareholders who live in the United States. We’re not trying to fob you off by printing the same articles in John O’Groats Weekly to the Lands End Bugle.
We are for Reading and Wokingham because we are Reading and Wokingham.
That is something to be proud of.
Next week, there will be a new name in the editor’s hotseat. A new editor to send letters in to, but the tradition will continue: a quality local newspaper that you can, and should, be proud of.
But only if you support it.
Thank you for reading, I’ll see you in the funny pages.
