The Local News Matters campaign is a response by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), which Bristol branch NUJ has taken up locally, to the year-on-year cuts in jobs and closure of newspaper titles.

Thousands of editorial roles in local and regional press have been lost and, according to a study by the Press Gazette, more than 300 newspapers have closed in the past decade.

Bristol NUJ cordially invites you to join local MPs, the Bristol Metro Mayor candidates, Bristol residents and invited guests from news media and communications organisations at an event organised and hosted by Bristol NUJ to discuss these important issues.

Representatives of local news media organisations’ will participate in a panel discussion on the contribution that their organisation provides to honestly informing, educating and entertaining the public. Candidates for the forthcoming Metro Mayor elections will have a chance to express their views on the topic of local news and media.

Featuring Mike Norton, editor of the Bristol Post and Martin Booth, editor of Bristol 24/7. Representatives of the BBC and ITV West Country will also probably attend in addition to representatives from Bristol’s growing and innovative media sector, such as Bristol Cable, Made In Bristol and The Voice network. There will also be a speaker from Vocalise, the community paper of St Pauls and Ashley ward.

The cuts to local media present a significant threat to local democracy, in that local politicians are not being held to account, voters are not being given the opportunity to express a range of views and are also deprived of the information they require to make judgements when voting in elections.

We need local papers to ensure democratic scrutiny, accountability and to encourage informed and active citizenship.

Digital newsrooms are transforming the way journalists are expected to work. Despite taking on many changes, journalists have not seen their pay improve and are experiencing heavy workloads because they are expected to bring in stories, cover events, produce videos and podcasts and use social media.

Picture desk employees and staff photographers are being cut across the board and production is being moved away from local papers to subbing hubs many miles away.

The NUJ has always robustly fought to keep jobs and members have taken strike action in protest against the loss of posts throughout the UK as production is moved miles from their community and newspaper groups are replacing professional journalists and photographers with so-called user-generated copy.