SINCE time immemorial, people have traded stories.

As and when they came into contact with anyone else, they will have talked about their lives and the lives of any others that they knew, who did what or to whom, good and bad.

This curiosity remains undiminished today, and is, of course, the foundation of the media as a whole. We watch the news, or read the newspaper, or look on a website to, generally, find out what’s happening to other people.

This applies to everything from politics to showbiz to lifestyle queries and there’s not a person alive who doesn’t send out these little tendrils of curiosity, enquiry or opinion. It’s an extension of chatting to our neighbours, and the Internet means that the world is our backyard.

Our hunger for this information led to the behemoth which is the media industry. It’s the industry in which I, obviously, work, and here at The Gazette we are one cog in the massive machine.

The media industry, locally, nationally and worldwide, is experiencing a tough evolution at present thanks to advancing technology which can update information every nanosecond, on the move or however you require it.

In the decade since I began working at The Gazette, our numbers have diminished significantly as our industry has had to deal with, and adapt to, changing economic circumstances.

However, the nature of what we do has not changed. In order to obtain information, to investigate, to needle out the details or hidden agendas, to campaign on behalf of those who have no voice, and to provide the widest possible coverage of local news, sport, etc, the responsible media must employ professional journalists.

Many people have access to a keyboard and a camera, but this does not mean that they are skilled writers or takers of images. I do not assume to possess the latter skill, but writing is my trade and I went to university to hone it. I take a great deal of care over it – as Flannery O’Connor said, I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say – and I don’t empty my head on to a page, publish and be damned.

Here at the paper, we work very hard to source and produce accurate news, sport, leisure and so on, for our readers, as well as editing and correcting copy that is sent to us.

We are proud to campaign for our local community in Basingstoke and Deane and, in particular, to showcase the many good people, and deeds, of this borough.

I like to believe that what we do is well worth the price that people pay for it. Time will tell.