DID you know that 40 million people read a local newspaper each week, making it the most widely read print medium in the country?

Today is the start of Local Newspaper Week and a time to reflect on what your local newspaper means to Bolton and to you.

Over the coming week we will be showing you: ● How our website brings you up to date with all the latest news as it happens

● What happened when The Bolton News took The Marie Curie Nurses Appeal to its heart and launched other important campaigns

● How guest editor, Bolton Wanderers’ manager Owen Coyle, got on when he spent a day at The Bolton News

● The role our newspaper plays within Bolton’s business community.

The week culminates, on Saturday, with the announcement of the winners of our photography competition My Bolton.

The theme of the week — the 13th year of Local Newspaper Week — is Your Voice, with a focus on the importance of local journalism, being relevant to readers’ lives and being trusted by local communities to hold public bodies to account.

Here at The Bolton News we always aim to put our readers first and do so by bringing you all the latest news from a wide range of sources. Our extensive and in-depth coverage of the General and Local Elections was just one way we were able to work for our readers and provide them with the top class service they deserved.

According to research carried out for Local Newspaper Week, 85 per cent of local newspaper readers in Britain say it is important their local newspaper keeps them informed about local council issues.

The study also found that 81 per cent of people with an opinion agreed they would be less informed about council budgets, plans, elections and how to make their opinions known, if there was not a local newspaper in their area. The study, commissioned for Local Newspaper Week, found that local newspapers were, by far, the most popular media source for people who wanted to make their voice heard about important issues which affected them. You only have to take a look at The Bolton News’ letters page to see just how important being able to voice an opinion in a local newspaper is to our readers.

Famous faces who have voiced their support for local newspapers include Match of the Day presenter and former England striker Gary Lineker and television presenter Carol Vorderman. Mr Lineker said: “This year I’m backing Local Newspaper Week because of the important role local newspapers play in connecting football clubs across the country with the communities that support them.”

Ms Vorderman told how she got her first chance of stardom through her own local newspaper after her mother saw an article asking for a young woman with excellent mental arithmetic to appear in a new TV show called Countdown.