Making a Difference Vote Goes Live on Monday

The Making a Difference initiative public vote to find the best local newspaper campaign from the past year will launch on Monday (11 May).

Voting will open on the Local Newspaper Week website at 9.30am and close at 5pm on Wednesday, with the winner announced by News Media Association chairman Adrian Jeakings at the Society of Editors Regional Press Awards on 15 May. The awards follow the NMA annual general meeting. 

The Making a Difference Thunderclap has also been gathering momentum and now has a social reach of more than 505,000 people.  Publishers, readers, journalists and editors still have time to support the Thunderclap which will see a tweet sent from multiple accounts simultaneously. 

Running during Local Newspaper Week, Making a Difference has been backed by high profile figures including television star Deborah Meaden, co-host of The One Show Alex Jones, Hollywood actor Michael Sheen and radio presenter Nick Ferrari.

Backing Making a Difference Nick wrote: “The local and regional press is the lifeblood of any community. Often unnoticed and rarely thanked, everyone who works in it is, in the title of another famous movie, a Local Hero.

“I’m hugely proud to proclaim my career started as a local paper journalist and I knew my “patch,” and all its weird and wonderful characters, intimately.”

Thirty-seven of the best local press campaigns from across the UK have been showcased on the Week website demonstrating the power of local papers to make life better for people in communities.  

Lynne Anderson, NMA deputy chief executive, said: “Through their campaigning multimedia journalism, local newspapers can make a real and lasting difference to  the communities they serve. They provide a voice for those who struggle to be heard and shine a light on issues that would otherwise remain hidden.

 “This year’s Local Newspaper Week, celebrates this all-important work which, in today’s digital age, is proving more powerful and effective than ever. It is also an opportunity for the public to have their say on which local paper should be crowned the Making a Difference champion.”