Such a book is long overdue. There are about eleven hundred local newspapers in the United Kingdom but, with a few excellent exceptions, little has been written about them and little attention has been paid to them - until now! SIR RAY TINDLE Like the autumn leaves, local papers are falling off the media trees in the USA and now in the UK. Circulations are plummeting, along with revenues and staff numbers. But is all doom and gloom? Will the Internet be the saviour of local journalism - through hyperlocal blogs and digital distribution tools - rather than its executioner? In this unique 'hackademic' volume, journalists and media academics examine this pressing issue from all angles at a crucial time. Edited by John Mair of Coventry University, Ian Reeves of the University of Kent Centre for Journalism and Neil Fowler, former Guardian Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford and the editor of four regional daily newspapers, it features contributions from Andrew Adamson, Lynne Anderson, David Baines, Ian Carter, Jim Chisholm, Barnie Choudhury, Tor Clark, Fran Collingham, Richard Coulter, Tom Felle, Agnes Guylas, Ross Hawkes, David Hayward, Bill Heine, Sarah Johnson, Richard Jones, Ben McConville, Paul Marsden, John Meehan, Chris Oakley, Tom O'Brien, Steve Orchard, Richard Peel, Simon Pipe, Paul Potts, Kevin Rafter, Mike Rawlins, Les Reid, Paul Robertson, Jay Rosen, Bob Satchwell, Justin Schlosberg, Kate Smith and Ian Wood. -- back cover.