7 reasons why it's worth supporting local journalism for £1 a week

I appealed for your help in safeguarding the future of trusted local news in Herefordshire... and I'm delighted that you are responding!

Those of you who appreciate the role the Hereford Times plays in Herefordshire life are supporting us by taking out digital subscriptions to our website – at a cost of just £1 a week.

My thanks go to each and every one of you. You are playing your part in securing the future of professionally produced news in the county.

But I would still like more of you to sign up and become a closer part of the Hereford Times family.

SUBSCRIBE NOW: Become an even closer member of the Hereford Times family of readers

The coronavirus pandemic has hit newspapers hard – as it has many other businesses – and we need your support to fund proper journalism while our income from advertising and newspaper sales is being squeezed.

Taking out a digital subscription means you will see 80 per cent less advertising across our website, and upload speeds will improve by up to 70 per cent. You will enjoy other benefits too.

For those of you who do not wish to support us through a digital subscription, much of our content will still be free to read.

You will NOT need to subscribe for major breaking news stories, while vital coronavirus news and information will also continue to be available at no charge.  

Thanks again for your support.

Seven reasons why the Hereford Times is worth backing with your money

1. By local people, for local people

Although the Hereford Times is part of a group of newspapers owned by Newsquest Media Group, our reporters are local people who live on the patch and care deeply about the county.

Of late we have all had to work from home rather than our new office in Rotherwas, and your weekly paper and 24/7 online news coverage is being produced from the kitchen tables and spare rooms of our journalists.

Our advertising team are also working remotely, providing expert marketing help to businesses who, like us, are battling through these difficult times.

2. Campaigns that achieve things

The Hereford Times and its readers make things happen. We have recently raised money for a memorial to wartime airmen killed in a crash in Herefordshire. We've transformed the lives of 10 children with motor difficulties at the Megan Baker House charity.

Currently, we are raising money through our NHS Guardian Angels appeal, calling on the Government to scrap tuition fees for student nurses on the coronavirus frontline, and banging the drum in support of Herefordshire farmers.

All this would not happen without our galvanising presence.

3. Reporting the courts and councils

The Hereford Times is the ONLY media organisation to report regularly from the courts and council meetings.

Without us you would not read about justice being done: the guilty punished and the innocent acquitted.

Nor would you know how your local councillors are spending YOUR money – or answering the difficult questions we pose on your behalf.

4. Trusted local news

At the Hereford Times everything we print is factually correct.

We check things, including posts from social media, before we publish – and if we get it wrong we are answerable to an independent regulator with the power to impose fines of up to £1 million.

That does not mean we shy away from publishing opinions – including yours. We are passionate believers in free speech, and we pride ourselves on providing a platform on which important local issues such as the Hereford bypass can be debated.

5. Championing local people

We publish good news as well as what some people call 'bad' (I just think of it all as 'news').

We celebrate successes in our schools and businesses, we stage award nights to showcase the achievements of workers in sectors such as food and drink, and health and social care.

Our pages are packed with pictures and stories about people raising money for charity, or reaching significant milestones in life.

We publish, free of charge, obituaries of ordinary Herefordshire people because we believe that all lives – not just those of the great and good – are worthy of public tribute.

6. More than just Herefordshire

We believe that our readers are interested in the world that extends beyond the county's borders. So we give them the most interesting online news from neighbouring areas.

We also keep people in touch with developments at the major brands that are a big part of all our lives.

We cover serious national news too. And we don't just sneakily lift it from other sources; we pay professional news agencies for their services so we can be certain our readers are getting verified information – because it is the ethical way to do business.

7. On the frontline with high-quality journalism

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic we have still been working seven days a week to bring you the newspaper and online news service you love.

We have urged everyone in the county to unite to defeat the virus under the umbrella of our #HerefordshireTogether hashtag on social media.

We have thrown a spotlight on the volunteers helping more vulnerable people in our market towns and villages, and the teachers continuing to educate key workers' children, and others from afar.

We have explained the problems faced by businesses, and urged customers to support them.

And, of course, we have enthusiastically joined the tributes to our NHS, reporting the Clap For Our Carers salute live every week, and publishing stories and letters in praise of health workers.

Reporting the news is a difficult business.

We do not claim to get it right every time, but we do our best, and we go about our job ethically and with our readers' interests at heart.

We’re there with you – so please be there with us.

SUPPORT LOCAL NEWS: Register for a Hereford Times digital subscription now