I would like to see more thorough and in depth information about local politics, for example, but not necessarily from a campaigning point of view. What decisions are being made on our behalf? How well are our public services performing? What is the range of services the council actually provides, and how do they operate? This could be really interesting stuff if written in an engaging approachable way.

I’d like to stick up for garden fetes and the like too. When I was a kid, it was a big deal having your pic in the local paper – and it sold copies! It’s an important public function reporting on the everyday events that keep society ticking along.

I do think the online Argus is a bit of a mess, partly because I’ve never managed to register on the thing! I subscribe to the “online print” Argus which is a scanned online version of the printed copy – it works for me.

One thing I would say is that there is a real problem with offensive comments about articles. I have heard people say that they would refuse to be photographed for the Argus, and refuse to have their kids’ pictures in too, because they don’t want some random stranger posting rude comments about them. I think that’s a really sad state of affairs and totally self-defeating. Something that should encourage participation is actually having the opposite effect. I read a post which described a Councillor as a “w***er”. That’s just not on. I would have reported the post, but since I can’t register…

But hacks of a certain vintage risk sounding like saloon-bar bores when we wax lyrical about Ye Goldene Age, so I’ll just say your recommendation of an aggressive online strategy makes a lot of sense.

And we need politically engaged community reporting. Blogging about garden fêtes has its place (and an honourable print lineage) but it won’t help citizens speak truth to power.