BEING part of the community is an essential requirement of editing a local newspaper.

Understanding issues, appreciating what matters to people, and simply caring about an area are important. Having been born and bred in the North-East, that is why I chose to work for The Northern Echo.

Living on the patch makes journalists more accountable and, therefore, more careful. It is a fundamental difference between national and local newspapers. There are times, however, when living in the local community is a disadvantage; when an editor's professional and private lives clash.

The on-going controversy over school reorganisation in Darlington is a good example. To cut a long story short, Darlington Borough Council is proposing to knock down two ageing secondary schools - Hurworth and Eastbourne - and bring them together in a 21st Century £25m academy.

In Hurworth, the move is being opposed by parents, teachers and governors striving to retain the village location for their successful school. In Eastbourne, where the school has been beset by problems, the academy is seen as an unmissable opportunity.

The issue, which has created national interest because Hurworth is in Tony Blair's constituency, has generated more letters to the paper than any I can remember. Some have accused The Northern Echo of bias, pointing out that the editor's children go to Hurworth School. This column is an opportunity to clarify my position.

It is true that three of my children attend the school and that the fourth is due to go there. It is also true that I have not attended any public meetings on the issue and that I have refused invitations to attend social functions organised by campaigners.

I am, of course, deeply concerned about my children's future education.

But I have stayed away in an attempt to remain independent.

This is clearly an important issue - one that will be played out in many other communities - and it would be wrong to stifle debate, even though it has been suggested that I should stop the arguments being published.

Newspapers must give local people a voice and question the actions of councils. Due to restricted space, it is impossible to publish every letter, and with the same points now being made repeatedly, we will have to become more selective. But claims that letters from Eastbourne are withheld because of my personal bias are false. Indeed, we have attracted flak from both camps and that can only be a healthy sign.

Bias is a nasty word. It is one that is frequently levelled at editors, particularly during elections when all parties bleat about imbalance.

It is worth noting that the March edition of the Town Crier, the council's monthly magazine, devotes four pages to the support for the academy yet there is not a single word to acknowledge any dissent. How can that be right?

ONE of the mistakes we made during the past week, and for which we must apologise, was in an article about a telephone mast being disguised as a tree at Blackwell Golf Course in Darlington.

We said it was a Cyprus tree. It was, of course, a cypress tree and I promise we will spruce up our act.