MUCH has been written about the demise of the regional press in recent years but, in times of crisis, there is still nothing quite like local papers for pulling communities together.

Two weeks ago today, 22 people lost their lives when a bomb was detonated at the end of an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena.

Since then, there has been the most overwhelmingly positive outpouring of support for the city, with a sell-out benefits concert – led by Ariana – taking place yesterday.

At the heart of that support, throughout the past fortnight, has been the local paper, the Manchester Evening News (MEN). The journalists working for paper, and its website, have worked round the clock, showing huge empathy and capturing the mood perfectly.

So far, the MEN’s “We Stand Together” appeal has raised more than £2m, with every penny going to the Manchester Emergency Fund set up by the British Red Cross and Manchester Council.

The MEN has done a fantastic job and it has been wonderful to see from afar the reaffirmation of the importance of local newspapers with staff living and working amongst the community and, therefore, having far more understanding, connection and accountability than any national journalist can hope to match.

While The Sun, under Kelvin MacKenzie, was getting it so offensively wrong in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster, it was the Liverpool Echo which rose to the challenge of fighting to get to the truth and playing a crucial part in justice being served.

There are, of course, countless other examples of local newspapers campaigning in response to terrible tragedies, including The Northern Echo on many occasions.

It has been part of the role of the regional press for generations and, in Manchester over the past two weeks, we have seen very clearly that the local paper remains immensely important.

ON the subject of The Northern Echo’s campaigns, last week marked the 18th anniversary of the death of Ian Weir, which led to the Government cutting heart bypass waiting times in Britain.

Ian, pictured below, was a much-loved photographer on the paper and he died, aged 38, after waiting eight months for what was meant to be an “urgent” triple heart bypass.

As Tony Blair’s local paper at the time, The Northern Echo successfully fought for the UK’s average waiting time for heart bypass surgery to be cut from 12 months to three months, in line with the rest of Europe.

It’s frightening how quickly time flies but it’s anyone’s guess how many lives have been saved in those 18 years. RIP.

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AND what a small world it is because memories of Ian Weir sprouted from nowhere last week, in the unlikely setting of the annual get together of the Northumberland and Durham Area of the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies.

Irrespective of the fact that everything I know about flowers could be printed on a daisy petal, I was asked to address the members in the Lancastrian Suite, in the former Federation Brewery, where not so long ago they brewed Newcastle Brown Ale.

The importance of campaigning journalism forms part of the talk and the Ian Weir story crops up as an example.

Afterwards, over a cup of tea, I was approached by Barbara Bradley, pictured below, who’d shed a tear during the talk for understandable reasons. As a family friend, she’d been Ian’s baby-sitter in Jarrow when he was a mere toddler.

“He was the loveliest little boy you could meet – so friendly and full of fun,” she recalled.

He grew up to be no different.

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A FLORAL date for your diaries, the aforementioned Northumberland and Durham Area of the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies marks its 50th anniversary with a celebration exhibition at The Sage Gateshead on the weekend of August 5 and 6. I was asked to plant the seed.

FINALLY, Spiderman was a VIP guest at Redcar Races last week – but, to my huge disappointment, it turned out he’s not all he’s cracked up to be.

The family-friendly theme for the day was super heroes and Spiderman was the star turn, so I set about trying to get some pictures of him in an appropriate pose.

Locations are all-important and it didn’t seem unreasonable to ask him to climb up a set of railings on the side of a spiral staircase near the parade ring.

He tried to pull himself up on the very first railing but, to his own obvious embarrassment, could hardly get off the floor, as you can see below.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t get up,” he groaned. “I don’t have any upper-body strength.”

“But you’re supposed to be Spiderman,” I replied.

“I know,” he sighed.

What’s the world coming to?

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