Local newspaper week: Stars read all about it!

Backing the campaign this year are actor and director Michael Sheen OBE, The One Show co-host Alex Jones, business leader and Dragon's Den star Deborah Meaden and LBC radio present Nick Ferrari.

The week has a theme of 'Making a Difference'.

It aims to highlight the role of local newspapers both in print and online, showcasing how it achieves results and provides a positive changes in communities.

It is run by the local media industry and coordinated by Local Media Works, the home of marketing for local news media.

As part of the scheme, from today, a range of the best newspaper campaigns, including the Express & Star's 'Ladder for the Black Country' apprentice initiative which has helped more than 300 young people into work and training, will be put forward for the public to vote on.

The winning campaign will be announced at the end of the week.

Michael Sheen, who can boast an extensive career spanning in theatre, film and television earning him a host of industry accolades including Olivier Award, BAFTA and Emmy nominations, is backing the week-long campaign.

He said: "I am delighted to support this year's Making a Difference campaign because I believe passionately in the ability of local newspapers to make a positive difference to the communities they serve.

"I am a strong believer in speaking out on issues that really matter to people. Without advocacy, many wrongs would not receive the scrutiny they deserve and nothing would be done to correct them. This is where local papers can be so effective.

"Whether it is campaigning to keep a museum open, calling for more funds for the local hospital, or pushing for greater transparency in local government, local papers can make a real difference."

Deborah Meaden is an entrepreneur who has starred in television shows including Dragon's Den.

She said: "Of course, where necessary, local papers will rightly hold businesses to account for their actions and the way in which they impact upon the local community.

"But a good local paper will also be able to champion local business and shout about the successes which benefit the wider community and boost the local economy. I have often been struck by the ability of local newspapers to make a real difference through campaigning.

"Whether it's calling for better local transport links, superfast broadband, or encouraging people to buy local produce, local papers can get things done, improving life for everyone in the community by bringing wealth and jobs into the area.

"These are the reasons that I am pleased and proud to lend my support to this year's Making a Difference Local Newspaper Week campaign which highlights the unique campaigning power of local newspapers all over the UK."

TV presenter Alex Jones began her career working for Welsh channel S4C.

She said, said: "Local newspapers have been at the heart of my broadcast training over the years and in my opinion provide a unique and vital public service.

"They listen to the concerns, aspirations and hopes of their readers and campaign for real change on their behalf. As we can see from this year's Making a Difference showcase, it doesn't matter what the issue is – local newspapers keep fighting on behalf of their readers.

"This work – be it saving a fire station from closure or raising funds for new medical facilities – is so important to keeping our communities healthy and vibrant, and that's why I'm proud to support this year's Making a Difference campaign."

"I mentioned the changing ways readers were getting their news and noted that the Express & Star had 35,000 followers on Twitter and more than 20,000 on Facebook.

Today, just 12 short months later, those figures have risen to more than 57,000 and 49,000 respectively. The number of Express & Star stories read online over a 12-month period now runs into hundreds of millions.

Taken together with our print sale, more people are reading our stories than at any time for decades. The real challenge we face is to continue to serve our readers in print in an engaging and effective way, while acknowledging and meeting the demands of a burgeoning digital audience.

To tackle this, we have charged our reporters with being more innovative both in the way they generate stories and the way we publish them. Video content, online comments and pictures sent in by the readers themselves now players a bigger part of our armoury than every before.

But our approach is very much a multi-platform strategy. We are determined to ensure that our print products remain among the very best local newspapers in Britain.

Our aim is to ensure breaking news is carried online, with fuller more detailed and analytical coverage in print. By doing so, we aim to give readers a comprehensive service in whatever format you choose to read - or view - your news.

This has been clearly demonstrated over the past week, with reporters publishing election results within seconds via social media, then writing up more in-depth reports and analysis for our newspapers.

A year ago, the Society of Editors awarded the Express & Star the Regional Newspaper of the Year title for the first time in our history.

We remain committed to the principles and standards that helped us achieve this honour.

And we remain as pioneering and progressive as ever. Because, as someone once said: 'It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent.

Nick Ferrari started his career working at the weekly Kentish Independent paper in Woolwich.

He said: "The local and regional press is the lifeblood of any community.

"Often unnoticed and rarely thanked, everyone who works in it is, in the title of another famous movie, a local hero. I'm hugely proud to proclaim my career started as a local paper journalist and I knew my patch, and all its weird and wonderful characters, intimately."

Last year, high-profilers from Oscar winner Dame Helen Mirren and former Olympic champion Jonathan Edwards to Bank of England Governor Mark Carney and TV presenter Richard Madeley backed Local Newspaper Week.

Among the 30 campaigns put before the public to vote was the Express & Star's own Green Shoots Fund and the Shropshire's Star's London Link Campaign.

The Green Shoots Fund is awarded shares of a £1.4 million pot from the Government's Regional Growth Fund. It was praised by Prime Minister David Cameron.

The London Link campaign meanwhile saw the Shropshire Star spearhead a lobbying call from MPs, business leaders and rail user groups asking the Government and Network Rail to restore a direct rail service to the capital.

This year's Local Newspaper Week runs from today until Sunday. Readers are being urged to support the week by following

@localpaperweek on Twitter.