You read it here first!

The story was that the man who was to become King Edward VIII, but who ultimately was never crowned as such, was facing a crisis of both the heart and the constitution, over love.

We all know what happened, of course. Edward, in love with American divorcee Wallis Simpson, followed his heart and abdicated the throne. The story caused a sensation when it broke fully a week or so later. But the seeds were sown right here in Bradford, reported by the T&A.

Ronald Harker was the reporter who had been sent to cover what was, on the face of it, a fairly boring and unassuming job – a speech by the Bishop of Bradford, the Rt Rev Alfred Blunt, to a Diocesan Conference.

With some well-thought out and carefully delivered words, Dr Blunt, suggested that Edward, who had set tongues wagging with his intention to marry Mrs Simpson, should give “more positive signs” that he was aware of his duty to the nation.

A rather inconsequential remark, on the face of it, but one, once written up by Ronald Harker, which exposed the shaky foundations which the certainty that Edward would be king were built upon, and set rolling a sequence of events which snowballed into a scandal.

It might be argued that we haven’t broken a story of such magnitude since, but the Telegraph & Argus is still repeatedly and consistently leading the way with strings of exclusive stories which not only are picked up by the national media, but also result in positive changes to the way things are done.

This is Local Newspaper Week, of course, when papers such as the T&A celebrate their role in the community. And part of that role is delivering the stories that matter, first and in the most depth, to our readers.

There’s an argument that every story we print is an exclusive in its own way – only we, as the news organisation with a sole vested interest in giving the news to the Bradford district, have the level of insight and local knowledge to address the stories that matter to you in the right way.

But sometimes – through that very unrivalled local knowledge, through our web of contacts in all walks of life across the district, through the hard work, diligence and sheer damned cussedness of our team of reporters and photographers – we get a story that is worth the badge of honour. They are too numerous to list in any great depth here, but let’s look at a few of the stories we broke that have had the national press snapping at our heels – and effected change at the highest level.

In August 2006 we learned of the story of Jacky Pickles, who was suffering from a blood cancer which affects plasma cells in bone marrow. What we might, in the trade, call a “human interest” story. But something lifted it to the front pages – Jacky and two other women in the district who had the same condition could have a chance at treatment… but the drug Velcade was not licensed for use in the UK, despite it being approved in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Europe.

There followed a campaign for this “postcode lottery” to be changed and the women – by now dubbed The Velcade Three – achieved worldwide fame. And you read it here first.

Newspapers often get accused of reporting only bad news. And it is true that tragedies occur. But sometimes, out of tragedy, comes change for the better. That’s what happened with the case of Teresa Innes. In 2001 we reported how the mother-of-one lapsed into coma when she was given Penicillin – a drug to which she was allergic and should never have had administered – during a routine operation in Bradford.

She never recovered. But out of Teresa’s case came a massive shake-up of patient safety measures in Bradford’s hospitals – which Dr John Wright, clinical director at the trust which manages Bradford Royal Infirmary, went on the record in 2006 as saying had saved 1,000 lives, and which have probably saved around the same number since. And you read it here first.

It’s the human stories which attract the attention of the national newspapers. If you pick up a tabloid and wonder where their stories come from, the chances are they’ve probably been in a local newspaper first.

In November 2007 we ran a story about a 17-year-old student, Kirsty Oldfield, who had lost both parents within a few months of each other, and was facing the decision to quit her A-level studies because she couldn’t make enough from her part-time jobs to live off. Donations poured in. The nationals lapped it up. And you read it here first.

TV, radio and newspapers across the country picked up the story in April last year of the tragic death of Laura Ashworth, 21, whose mother was in desperate need of a kidney transplant, but was denied the “perfect match” organ from her dead daughter because of transplant rules. Guess where you read that first?

A fine example of a Bradford story bringing about change is the sad case of Rucksana Khan, whose brutal savaging when she was just six by a vicious dog led directly to the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 being brought into force. And 15 years later, a woman who had taught Rucksana at school was badly mauled by a Rottweiler. Yes, you read that first here as well.

We could go on, of course. And all that’s before we even get to our policy of updating our website at www.telegraphandargus.

co.uk constantly with breaking stories, updates and fresh ways of delivering your news – such as video reports to give an extra dimension to the stories you read in the newspaper.

We will continue, in the face of the threats facing the newspaper industry, to bring you the exclusives that matter, be they human stories, tales of scandal and outrage, or calls for constitutional reform. And if you’re ever tempted to try another news outlet, be it on the internet, the airwaves, or a national newspaper, just remember if you ever see or hear a Bradford story… you would have read it here first.