This week has been chosen by our industry to emphasis our belief that Journalism Matters.
It is an annual reminder to you, our readers, of the importance of what we do and to focus on the reasons why local journalism must remain at the heart of our communities.
The Ely Standard has enjoyed a long and proud history but that alone is not sufficient reason for it to continue.
It survives, and today is thriving, against enormous pressures, some technological, some because of shifting patterns of news gathering and news dissemination and of late because of the near catastrophic impact on our industry – and many others – brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
Our ability to challenge, to inform, to entertain and to soak up a week’s worth of news and roll it out in a readable and trusted weekly newspaper has never been more sorely tested.
But throughout we have continued to focus on what we believe is important.
We have brought you stories of heroic achievements of individuals and groups throughout the lockdown.
We have written about the resilience of the hospitality industry as it strives to restore a semblance of normality to both its ability to trade and to remain solvent.
We have challenged decisions of those in power – whether that be the first to reveal the £6m plan by East Cambridgeshire District Council to build a crematorium on the Mepal outdoor leisure centre or by Sunnica to create a vast solar energy farm across parts of Cambridgeshire and Suffolk.
We have brought you heart-warming stories such as the couple re-united and finding love again after five decades, saving a couple from being evicted from their mobile home or reporting on the devastating consequences of a major fire that swept through an iconic Ely business.
As Editor I stand proud of what we have done and proud of the small team that support me as we strive to bring you fair, sustaining, reliable and correct reporting.
It is, we acknowledge, a precarious path we tread in this fast changing technologically driven world.
But whatever format our news comes to you, we believe our journalism matters and we feel confident you believe that too.
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