MP Austin Mitchell could not let Local Newspaper Week go by without paying tribute to his own local evening paper – the Grimsby Telegraph.

In an article published in the paper, he said: “A good local paper is an essential part of the local life of any community.”

He went on to imagine what life would be like without the Telegraph and, after conjuring up a bleak picture, concluded: “Life would be dull. We’d be ignorant. The politicians would be idle and untested without the Grimsby Telegraph.

“A good community needs a good newspaper. Which we have.”

He added: “Elsewhere I find that in many places the local paper has slumped into complacency and blandness with all the bite of an advertising hand-out. That hasn’t happened here. The Telegraph’s long tradition of high standards, enquiring journalism, problem exposure, dirty deal dissection, are what every town needs.”

Local Newspaper Week (May 1-7) is organised by the Newspaper Society.

To read Austin Mitchell’s article in full click here.

Do you have a story for us?
Ring the HoldTheFrontPage newsdesk on
01332 291111 x6022, or e-mail us now