Each and every time I spend a day door knocking Derbyshire residents about a story, I am met with people who had no knowledge of an issue until I arrived on their doorstep.

What better, irrefutable proof could there be that journalism matters?

First and foremost, journalists perform an act of public service to residents, helping to distill and digest complex, often dry and complex information into a format that can be widely understood by most.

In my eight-plus years as a Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) not a day has gone by where I am not reminded why I need to do my job and why it provides value – why it matters.

placeholder image — Eddie Bisknell headshot.

During this year’s Journalism Matters week, organised by the News Media Association, I have been asked to shed some light on my role and impact as an LDR, part of a 165-strong group of reporters funded by licence fee payers.

I cover five councils (Derbyshire County Council and the four boroughs and districts of Amber Valley, Derbyshire Dales, Erewash and South Derbyshire) and four NHS organisations on a regular basis, plus a share of the East Midlands Combined County Authority.

In the past year this has included many strong, high quality stories of distinct public interest which simply would not have been reported if I had not either been in the room, scrupulously looking through the papers and documents, or walking the streets knocking hundreds of doors talking to countless residents.

Much of the work of councils and NHS organisations is dry and their systems of governance are cumbersome and not something made inherently digestible for the general public, with a seemingly endless mountain of acronyms and incoherent terminology which appears to grow by the day.

This requires a keen eye across all my colleagues to keep a look out for the stories which matter, the details which are suppressed or overlooked, to read between the lines, translate the jargon and distil the council-speak.

Most recently, I have written numerous stories on the tale of 81-year-old Helene Ball, from Matlock, who shot to international fame after my article on her three-year court victory over Derbyshire County Council over access to her own rear garden.

My coverage of Helene started more than three years ago when the authority first installed a fence panel over the gap in her rear back wall and accompanying gate.

Her story is one which has piqued the interest of the public across several continents, let alone the hills, towns and villages of Derbyshire, and is likely one which may not have seen the light of day without local reportage.

Another key example in June involved residents in Westhouses, north of Alfreton, who were furious about the county council decision to enforce double-yellow lines stopping pavement parking after decades of uncontested use.

In April, I was the first to report on Erewash Borough Council officials telling dozens of residents in Doncaster Grove, Long Eaton, that they must either buy or rent land they believed was their garden for decades, or face having it seized.

This matter had been rolling on behind the scenes for some time but it was not until my reporting that it reached a much higher level of attention, including from the national media.

In August, I reported on the decision from Derbyshire Dales District Council to gift land in Bakewell – rented by a family for their Shetland ponies for years – to a housing association.

The family in question found out about this move from my article, highlighting the lack of council communication and public interest value of the story.

In December, I again highlighted the ongoing process from Amber Valley Borough Council to spend money it had been given by housing developers to improve play areas, stemming back to schemes approved up to 20 years ago.

Across several articles in May, I investigated and uncovered an alleged mistreated dogs “cover-up”, involving South Derbyshire District Council, with officials suspending staff for refusing to return mistreated dogs and puppies to a squalid “hellhole”, a process it was said to have repeated for years.

Numerous sources told me it was the worst animal welfare case they have ever encountered and the issue has since been raised in Parliament.

In July, August and October, I reported on bus services cuts across South Derbyshire from provider Diamond, with the combined authority successfully sparing all three routes until next year following mass public intervention, including that linked to my articles.

Finally, over the past year I have continued my role as the only reporter who has consistently covered the case of former Derby doctor Daniel Hay, who worked at Royal Derby Hospital and the wider Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire area, over harm caused to dozens of women.

This has involved countless emotive interviews giving a platform to the women affected and detailed reportage of the stalled and finally published investigations into his practices, – and now the next steps for justice following his death earlier this year.

High quality, comprehensive, public interest local journalism matters now more than ever.