In defence of journalism

JOURNALISM doesn’t just matter. It is also absolutely vital. It is the reporters from their local Gazette or Guardian pounding the streets, within their communities, tackling misinformation. It’s the digital and online reporters – at the scene – adapting to the trends of what local news is noon and night. Reporting not just on the challenges a community faces but putting the good that people across the country do up in lights as well. It is the editors in the local newsrooms restoring trust with each printed copy picked up from the corner shop stands across our villages and towns. And it’s the people picking them up too. And I see that each time I visit the length and breadth of Britain. The local Guardian hearing me out when this Government’s ambitious agenda is delivering for working people or the Evening News challenging us when it currently isn't as well. That is the truest sense of speaking truth to power and a very special cornerstone of our democracy that we must protect. It is said all news is local. It must remain so. That is why this Government will always defend it, work with you and support what you do day in day out.