“We’d be in a mess”, said Bradford South Labour MP Gerry Sutcliffe. He was referring to the reported threat to local news coverage on regional television.

“Local papers play an important part in maintaining links with local communities and tell us what’s going on,” he added.

But in an online age, with the internet so dominant, can local newspapers continue to survive in a meaningful way?

“I certainly hope so,” said Shipley Conservative MP Philip Davies. “As far as I am concerned, local newspapers are an essential part of democracy – they hold politicians and councils to account because people trust newspapers in a way that they don’t the internet.”

Which is why the T&A’s own website trades on the trusted, established brand that people have grown up with – while it is more difficult to sift through online news sources and hard to know which to believe or trust, the T&A’s online news is gathered, checked and presented in the same way that newsprint stories are.

Both Gerry Sutcliffe and Philip Davies acknowledge the role of the internet, especially for young people – but for them, printed news from a brand with a trusted tradition for impartiality cannot be beaten.

Philip Davies said: “The T&A provides district-wide news from a brand that is trusted by the local community.

“It can hold people to account in a way that blogs are not able to, because it is impeccably impartial.”

Val Summerscales, secretary of the small business organisation Bradford Chamber of Trade, said: “We have had the T&A for 45 years and read it with interest, as a homeowner and an observer of local news, and then with the Chamber of Trade being part of local news.

“A local paper should be valued by local people – it gives you information about your neighbourhood, and that is of paramount importance. It keeps you up to date and gives you feel good factor stories.

“You may be having a lousy day, but you’ll find something happening that is far from lousy that might make you see your day in a different light.”

Local voices can be heard near and far

Television Presenter Julia Bradbury writes:“The world is a smaller place now and news travels faster than ever thanks to new media.

Long gone are our carrier pigeons, but not our local stories. It’s just that these days a local story can end up on the other side of the globe in minutes. The diversity of Britain’s regions is a wonderful thing. You can spend years getting to know an area and still discover something new and exciting just next door. Across the land the most beautiful countryside and coastal landscapes can be found next to some of the country’s most vibrant towns and cities.

“We should be proud of the regional diversity which makes Britain such a special and unique place to live. Many people across the nation feel this sense of pride keenly and devote their time to local clubs, events, societies, sports, charities, and other worthy causes which benefit their local community.

“This is where local newspapers have an important role to play – promoting and highlighting these activities so that more people can get involved. Two charities that I am involved with – Marie Curie Cancer Care and the NSPCC – have benefitted greatly from coverage in local papers in this way.

“By doing this, local papers can be a force for positive change, encouraging people to contribute more to the community and take pride in their surroundings. This is the reason I am supporting Local Newspaper Week this year.

“As well as influencing their community, local newspapers can also highlight important issues in their region to a wider audience. This is extremely important in Britain where people’s needs and concerns vary enormously depending upon the region in which they live. Local papers dig beneath the surface of their communities to tell stories which sometimes go on to hit the national news agenda and captivate the nation.

“Local papers give communities a powerful and unique voice which can be heard even in the corridors of power in Westminster. Long may this voice be heard, because it is vital to preserving the extraordinary regional diversity which makes Britain so special.”