DO you remember how not too long ago some people were predicting the death of the newspaper? They said that the internet boom would do away with the need for grubby print editions which couldn't be up-dated every second of every day.

But those who made such predictions were wrong. While the internet has introduced an important new media to our lives, the death of the newspaper - particularly local newspapers - has been greatly exaggerated. In fact, local newspaper readership keeps on rising. Today local newspapers play a more important part in our lives than ever.

It's not hard to understand why. In an increasingly hectic and global world, local newspapers provide a solid focus for local communities. They cover what some might call the everyday and the mundane, but what is in fact the stuff that makes our local communities tick - news about local campaigns, about developments in our schools and local health services, and about all the entertainment and sports on our doorsteps. Above all, local papers like this tell the stories of unsung local heroes whose work would otherwise go unrecognised.

For the 40 million of us who read regional and local newspapers every week it is - in short - a vital compendium of everything that is important to us in the area we live in.

Apart from being an invaluable guide to local life, your local newspaper is very important in many other ways - not least in holding to account local politicians, be they Members of Parliament or local councillors. It is an essential part of local democracy. Regional and local newspapers have a crucial role in their communities in acting as a watchdog for you - both through responsible investigative journalism and by campaigning about local issues. Your local paper will always be one of your greatest local champions.

Local newspapers like this have been with us for over three centuries - far longer than any national newspaper has. One of the reasons they have been so successful is that they change with the times, adapting to the way local people live their lives. They continue to do so.

More and more people are now turning to their local newspaper - the publication which all opinion polls show we trust more than any other part of the media - for news and information.

But for any newspaper to flourish, one thing is vitally important: the freedom to report. There is sometimes a danger that we take press freedom for granted - and think of it only in the context of dictatorships and despots. But press freedom should be important to all of us. Without it, our local newspapers would cease to be our eyes and ears. They would never be able to report fearlessly to us about what is going on in the local council, in the courts, in the local health service and the police.

All too often, I fear, there are many public bodies that are still too secretive. A recent survey among local newspaper editors showed that the Data Protection Act has become one of the greatest barriers to reporting the local issues that are important to us all. Local newspapers need constantly to battle against that in your interest.

May 3 was World Press Freedom Day. It is a time, of course, to remember those who live in countries like Zimbabwe which still do not have a free press and to pay our tributes to all those journalists across the world who have died seeking to report stories that some regimes want to suppress. But it is also a time to remember that the battle for press freedom starts right here - with this local newspaper and everything it does for you and me.

I have always had a passionate belief in the work of the local press. In this, Local Newspaper Week, I am proud to offer my support to all regional and local newspapers, and to their readers. Long may the local press our champions - continue to flourish.