IT was both a surprise and honour to be asked to be guest editor for the Hereford Times as part of Local Newspaper Week.

In a world awash with “fake news” click bait articles and mass misinformation across the internet, it is important to recognise the vital role local journalism plays in our society.

Sadly the national media in this country is run by a small group of billionaires often using their national platform as a place to push an agenda or certain point of view.

But local papers give us a unique opportunity to connect with what is happening in our communities.

These papers don’t have the backing of off shore billionaires and teams of lawyers that the tabloids do. They tend to be a small group of dedicated individuals trying to cover as many stories as possible with limited time and budgets.

In my life I’ve found that the Hereford Times has always been hugely supportive of every local project or harebrained scheme I’ve been involved with.

We are all part of the local community and we can all help to bring the issues that we feel need covering to the team at the HT’s attention.

If you feel there’s a local story that needs covering just drop the guys at the HT an email.

Local papers provide a fantastic service that we would all be poorer with out and in these days of 24/7 international internet content it is easy to forget that the real issues and stories that effect our lives on a day to day basis are the issues in our local communities.