Margaret Beckett MP for Derby South

"IN The Guardian a couple of weeks ago, I was drawn to an article by Stephen Moss in which he spoke about the negative impact on local democracy when the local press is eroded.

"It is certainly true that, with the internet, newspapers – national and regional – are suffering in readership. For people who, like me, enjoy newspapers and understand the role they play in our democracy, this thought is unsettling.

"However, at the same time as Moss lamented the perilous situation of some papers he also mentioned how robustly the Midlands is committed to its own press, and it struck me at the time how true this is.

"Our own Derby Telegraph is a paper that more than marks its territory in making a valuable contribution to our local society as a primary daily informer about news and views in the community. This regional paper is an institution in which most citizens of Derby feel both ownership and pride.

"I would assert that this is mutual: the paper takes pride in its home city and this is reflected in its coverage of local – and national – issues and plays a unifying and active role in emphasising a sense of togetherness, bringing together the local Derby community on both a business and domestic basis: employers, employees and their families.

"Indeed, on a democratic front, the paper also plays a principal role as a community informer, identifying important and topical local, national and international issues. The paper can also be an 'agenda setter' – a voice of social and political conscience; sometimes stories not only reflect local public opinion but can also help sway public – and local authority – action.

"Newspapers can help keep those in office and with responsibility accountable to the public.

"In quite a short space of time – just the last 10 or 15 years or so – there has been an explosion in the information and entertainment available to all of us.

"However, the more there is out there, the more I believe we depend on trusted sources to select the issues that are important to us, to present matters vital to the local and immediate community, to campaign for goals that really matter locally.

"Reading about the experiences of others and hearing about their fortunes and misfortunes through the local media helps us all relate to the issues we know about through friends and family and the wider community we live in. The role of the Derby Telegraph and other papers like it up and down the country is as crucial as ever."

Phil Stanyer President of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber

"DERBYSHIRE and Nottinghamshire Chamber and the Derby Telegraph have forged a strong partnership as effective champions of local business.

"Underlying this is the recognition that business is not an isolated activity separated from Derby life; it is very much part of the wider community, contributing to its wealth and wellbeing, shaping the city and in turn being shaped by it.

"The Telegraph maintains the difficult balance between maintaining its credibility and integrity as an independent, authoritative voice while at the same time representing the concerns of local companies and business groups.

"It has risen to the challenge the recession has thrown down.

"Through its Derby Bites Back campaign it has promoted good news stories about the area's industry when it would have been so easy to dwell on the negative.

"We should also recognise that local newspapers are themselves businesses, their development going hand in hand with industrial development and the technological advances that have made it possible to reach a wide audience."

Hilary Jones Leader of Derby City Council

"Our local media plays a key role in raising the profile of Derby locally and regionally and, in doing so, reporting the work of the council and other public sector bodies.

"Whether it's front-page headlines or promoting a city event, the council believes the Derby Telegraph plays an important part in informing people of what we're doing.

"The Telegraph has the right to scrutinise our work and to ask difficult questions.

"We are working hard to deliver excellent services and, whether we do or do not, our local media can report it.

"Inevitably, there are occasions when I feel frustrated, that we have not had a fair hearing and coverage has been overly negative.

"However, it's a deal we must accept as we know we will be criticised as well as praised.

"In Derby, our local media is capable of reaching a wide and varied audience. We work closely with them to help us to inform people of what they need to know and how they can get involved. One example of this is the staging of the Community Champions Awards.

"We're fortunate that we work with media that understands Derby and takes pride in our city, just as much as the council does."

Jonathan Powers Vice-president of the Derby Multi-Faith Centre, President of Derby Chamber Music Society and Chairman of Derby Playhouse Ltd

"AS a really good local paper the Derby Telegraph not only expresses the identity of the community it serves, it embodies that identity. It is the critical friend of every organisation, the prime forum for public debate, the guardian of the city's collective memory, and its reasonable and persuasive conscience.

"I have lived in the area for nearly two decades and have been involved in some of the developments which have transformed the life of the city.

"Throughout this period the Telegraph has played a vital part both through the objectivity of its reporting and through its editorial voice, which challenges error and injustice, while encouraging those who strive for the wider benefit of the community.

"Without this paper, created locally and written by people with local knowledge, who make the effort to understand what happens, the city would lack the vital ingredient which makes it a community.

"If the Telegraph did not exist someone would need to reinvent it."

John Forkin Director of Marketing Derby

"I RECENTLY heard it said that debate is the lifeblood of democracy.

"In the same way, I would propose that local newspapers are the lifeblood of communication within a community.

"When I travel about I always tend to buy the local daily newspaper. Whether it's the New York Post, London Evening Standard or the Derby Telegraph, a flick through a local paper gives a quick insight into what makes a place tick. Openings, closings, entertainment, developments, issues, business and sports, even the usual whiners in the letters column – it's all there.

"The simple fact is that, as far as the print media goes, only local newspapers can truly reflect and support their local areas. For example, I'm a Rams fan – would the Sun, Times or Yorkshire Post give any real coverage to Derby County?

"I hear that local newspapers are under pressure and some are even closing across the country.

"This is worrying, as once they are gone they will never return.

"If we want to avoid clone towns then we must protect what we have. Who else but the Derby Telegraph could have led campaigns such as Derby Bites Back, that supported businesses through the recession, or Hands Off Our Taxmen, which saved 290 jobs?

"I understand and recognise that technology drives new channels and have no problem with this. But, just as books survived the advent of film, so must the simple activity of sitting back in your favourite chair and flicking through a paper, a local paper at that."