Regional news titles have been encouraged to start making plans for an annual campaign celebrating the journalism industry’s importance.

Organiser the News Media Association, the trade body for the regional and national press, has announced this year’s Journalism Matters week will run from 31 October to 6 November.

The event aims to showcase the industry’s campaigning and highlight the importance of trusted journalism across the United Kingdom.

The annual Making a Difference award, which sees members of the public vote online for their favourite campaign from the past year, also forms part of the week.

NMA chief executive Owen Meredith, pictured, said: “Journalism Matters is a unique opportunity for the industry to come together to remind all our audiences and stakeholders why journalism is so important in our society today.

“I encourage titles across the industry to start making plans for the week so the annual campaign is even bigger and better than it has been before.”

Further details about this year’s Journalism Matters campaign will be announced in due course and the NMA will be making articles, logos, new research findings, industry statistics and ideas on how to take part available for members to use during the week.