An independent title has published a 10-page special celebrating the 170th anniversary of a rival weekly which he claims is now “a shadow of its former self.”.

The St Albans Times has run the celebration to mark 170 years of the Herts Advertiser, now part of the Newsquest group.

The Times is run by former Advertiser editor Matt Adams, pictured, who was concerned about the milestone being “overlooked” by the publication itself.

Matt decided to run 10 pages on the history of the Advertiser, as well as penning an editorial on the subject.

He wrote: “When I said that we were working on a comprehensive history of the Herts Advertiser on the occasion of its 170th birthday, a few people asked me a very bemused: ‘Why?’

“To which my simple answer was: ‘Because nobody else is going to do it.’

“It’s sad that this milestone anniversary will probably go overlooked by that very publication, whereas when it marked the 160 in 2015 we spent the best part of a year commemorating the occasion with a specially designed logo and series of reflective features.

“Regardless of the fact that I devoted 14 years of my life to that selfsame journal, the Herts Ad’s place in the history of modern St Albans should not be overlooked, even though it is sadly now little more than a shadow of its former self.

“Nowadays the Herts Advertiser – that once-proud, campaigning bastion of local journalism across the St Albans district – is far removed from its glory days.

“A quickfire array of trainee reporters have been tasked with contributing to its pages over the past few years, many not even based locally, and the real focus of their attention is now on website traffic, leading to a reliance on what might be described as clickbait content.

“The newspaper now has no office, no doorstep distribution, and the accumulated local knowledge of decades of editorial staff has sadly been lost forever. But while its eventual fate remains one to mourn, the history it recorded, the stories it told and the people who worked for it over the past 170 years should never be forgotten.

“But while the Herts Ad fades away, local news will never die, with new titles like the St Albans Times stepping in to embrace the challenge.”

Using scrapbooks, cuttings, personal letters and photographs collated by pioneering journalist Beryl Carrington and others, the Times put together what Matt claims is “the most comprehensive history of the HA ever published.”

He added: “Many of the pictures included in this piece have never been published before, including behind the scenes photos of staff from across the decades, and hopefully provide a fitting tribute to the legacy of all of those who worked at the HA during the past 170 years.”

HTFP has contacted the Advertiser for a response to Matt’s comments.