Battle Observer campaign up for Local Newspaper Week award

Local Newspaper Week’s Making a Difference campaign highlights the power of local newspapers to campaign for positive change in the communities they serve.

Throughout the week (May 11-17) an online vote will be held in which the public will be invited to vote for their favourite Making a Difference campaign.

And this year the Battle Observer’s Stand Up For Battle campaign, protesting against the potential downgrading of Battle Fire Station, has been shortlisted for this prestigious industry award.

The aim of the campaign was to draw attention to the downgrade proposals and what they would mean for the town and surrounding area and encourage residents to make their views known by emailing the Fire Authority, filling in the consultation questionnaire, signing a petition and completing and returning the Observer’s Stand Up For Battle coupons.

The campaign consisted of around 40 articles, which included a series of features about the work of fire crews, stories from people who had been helped by Battle’s firefighters and extensive coverage and analysis of two key meetings.

This included a five page special carrying reports from an emotionally-charged public meeting and protest march, which was also filmed for the Observer’s website.

Stand Up For Battle also made use of social media, with a Twitter account set up as part of the campaign to raise awareness of the downgrade plans.

The campaign also supported and ran parallel to the tireless campaigning carried out by local residents, politicians and traders.

As part of Local Newspaper Week’s Making A Difference, Stand Up For Battle features in a showcase of 37 of the strongest editorial campaigns run by local newspapers across England, Scotland and Wales.

Not only is the Battle Observer the only newspaper in the whole of Sussex to make the final list, it also has one of the smallest circulation figures of all the finalists, which include big hitters such as the Yorkshire Evening Post, Manchester Evening News and the Sunderland Echo.

But hopefully with your support, the Battle Observer can try and give the big boys a run for their money.

An online public vote enabling people to vote for their favourite campaign has gone live today (May 11), with a winner to be announced at the Regional Press Awards on May 15.

To vote for the Battle Observer, log on to www.localnewspaperweek.co.uk/Making-a-Difference