Local journalism: a gallery of oddballs

So I have spent a week at the Medway Messenger, a regional newspaper in the South East. And my first thought is this: you meet some very strange characters.

In my first week, with another to come, I have had what one reporter has described as an "interesting one". I have been to/covered a suicide inquest, two fires, a multiple shooting, Medway residents on board the Titanic in 1912 and a man who looks like George Michael who met George Michael. Before I went to the Messenger, I was warned it had a reputation as a crime paper. To be fair, that presumption was not off the mark.

But the stories I have done, the people I have spoken to do and the countless calls made have given me an epiphany. It may be fun to hear someone talk about their dog or their resurrected hamster called Jesus but it is these people that I want to hear about. I understand that local journalism has its place as a local champion, acting as a check on those in power and scrutinising local figures and institutions. This does happen and it is effective. Yet those characters who call in, the gallery of oddballs, are what makes local journalism so damn fun. Some of their stories are heartbreaking, but some are just laugh out loud funny.

It is their stories that local journalism should not be afraid to publish. At a time when the local press is criticised for being too light-hearted, I do not think there is anything wrong with that. A regional newspaper is the representation of a community and the people of that community should be celebrated. Their triumphs, their failures, their passions should be the centrepiece of any local newspaper, because they are not only your readers, but your neighbours. If they have a worthy story to tell, let them tell it.

Next week: fuck knows. I will probably end up interviewing a three-eyed fish-man thing who made it through to the next round of The Voice.