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Why I support the worthy cause that’s just made me redundant

00:01, 05 October 2024

I’ve been a supporter of this newspaper since day one – and in more ways than one.

I contacted the editor, Paul Winspear, a week or so before its launch back in early October 2017 and asked what I could do to help.

I sat down with the news editor, Sinead Corr, in Coffee Corner on South Street and explained that my kids were both going to be in school full time, and that afforded me a few days a week to support a worthy cause.

David James outside the Indie office in Palmers Lane
David James outside the Indie office in Palmers Lane

I consider good journalism, especially good local journalism, to be a worthy cause. It doesn’t deserve any special accolades or grandeur, but it’s definitely a requirement for an open and democratic society.

If it’s done well it provides the needed political accountability and the desired social gateway for the whole community.

I like to think I’ve played a small part in delivering the very important social experiment we call democracy.

From helping to organise the Indies Community Awards to turning our office into an aid storage warehouse literally overnight at the start of the war in Ukraine, not to mention doubling as a depot for shower gels, shampoos and pens for Princess Alexandra Hospital nurses in the early stages of Covid, some of the things I’ve been personally proudest of have been with this small but overwhelmingly dedicated team.

In this last seven years we’ve had complete changes in district and town council leaderships as well as three different MPs. The national political landscape has recently altered for only the third time in my 41 years.

But for the Indie and our team the same questions have remained consistent. The same light is shone just as brightly, regardless of political affiliation, on councillors and parliamentary members alike.

Some have chosen to scurry away from that light, but most don’t. For those that hid, their absence was noted and constituents noted the void. For those who accepted that the steadfast light was the price of power, a reciprocal understanding was reached.

What does this mean for the people of Bishop’s Stortford, Sawbridgeworth and Stansted? This is the question at the heart of what we do. This is the question in the light.

It’s the question that drove me to volunteer to help at this paper at its beginnings. It’s the reason I’ve stayed here for seven years and it’s the reason, despite being made redundant last month, that I will again continue to volunteer for this paper.

My redundancy wasn’t inevitable, despite the writing having been on the wall since the Covid pandemic. So many seemingly small things have led to this; rising print, paper and energy costs for our publisher to name just one area.

The reality is that without your support there won’t be a paper, print or online. That’s not true, actually. There might still be a paper in name, but the light will have long gone out.

Let me ask you the question: what does this mean for the people of Bishop’s Stortford, Sawbridgeworth and Stansted?

For me, it means there will be no accountability and no gateway. No one will be asking the question and there will be no way to hear the answer.

No more Indies awards, celebrating the best and bravest of our communities. No more reception class photos, with their smiles. No more youth football reports, with pictures of friends that last a lifetime.

The paper needs your support – and yes, that’s financial. What price do you put on the fourth estate in a democracy? Does 48p a week sound reasonable? It does to me.

Last month I lost a job that I have loved and cherished. I don’t want you to let this be the beginning of the end. Please, support this paper.

David James, former editorial assistant at the Bishop’s Stortford Independent

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