The National Union of Journalists has called on the public to give their support to a newly launched campaign to save local newspapers.

Eight people spoke at the recent campaign launch, including Thais Portilho-Shrimpton, NUJ mother-of-chapel at Newsquest South London where members recently took strike action over non-replacement of staff.

Speaking at the meeting in Enfield she said: ” The dispute wasn’t just about jobs and redundancies but was about quality content and news coverage.”

At the meeting NUJ head of publishing Barry Fitzpatrick called on readers to become involved in the campaign, saying the industry will not survive unless  media companies are forced to consult with journalists and the communities that their papers serve.