Local papers are one of the most trusted media by readers and many have a proud record in challenging councils’ decisions, unearthing scandals at hospitals and schools and providing news and views on local issues.

The local paper was often housed in a prominent building on the town or city high street — in a grand Victorian building or a cutting-edge piece of architecture — where people could call in to collect copies of the photo that captured their child’s sporting prowess or meet their local reporter to discuss a campaign or event.

But this cosy image is becoming a thing of the past.

Latest figures from ABC, the newspaper circulation auditor, show the 75 British regional daily and Sunday newspapers on its list lost sales by an average of 13.5 per cent year on year in the first half of 2014. Papers such as the Swindon Advertiser, Oxford Mail, Worcester News, Bolton News and Lancashire Telegraph lost print sales at a rate of more than 20 per cent.

These falls in circulation have been the norm in recent years and have been blamed on the transition to the internet, where content is free and the drop in advertising revenue caused by the recession.

But it is not as simple as that.It isn’t just because of the internet. It is because of the greed of countless newspaper owners and executives.

By the late 1990s local newspaper profit margins ranged from a minimum of 20 per cent to 35 per cent and more. The profits were not invested in the businesses — they were creamed off by shareholders and used to pay newspaper bosses enormous sums.

What this has meant for the local newspaper worker has been round after round of job cuts, increased workloads and no pay rises. Staff working for one regional newspaper group are, in real terms, more than £3,000 a year worse off than a decade ago. The local paper office has moved from the high street to an industrial estate. In some cases reporters are expected to work from their cars. Specialist correspondents are being dropped.

Shaun Lintern, the journalist who broke the scandal at Mid-Staffs hospital, believes these sorts of stories are being missed because reporters no longer have time for investigative journalism.

Papers are being edited in subbing hubs up to 300 miles away from the local paper. Journalists from north-west England, York, Darlington and Bradford have been on strike in protest. 

Bob Smith, FoC of the Newsquest group chapel, said the hubs were becoming the equivalent of sweatshop call centres and were severing the link between newspapers and the local communities they were meant to serve.

It has also meant the closure and merger of titles — more than 140 newspapers have disappeared since March 2011, a quarter of local government areas are not covered by a daily local newspaper, with a third (35 per cent) covered by only one daily newspaper. Five companies control some 75 per cent of regional daily newspaper circulation.

The move to digital reporting and production should, in theory, open up many more possibilities and opportunities for local and regional news but the reality is that newspaper groups have used the new technology to cut costs and staff.

Local World, Johnston Press and other groups are sacking their staff photographers and issuing unacceptable contracts for freelances. 

Their stated aim is to increase the proportion of content and photographs provided unpaid by readers and advertisers. 

This will lead to a diminution of quality — something that readers will notice — and will contribute to the downward spiral of circulation.

The other loser in all this is democracy. Reporters say they no longer cover council meetings and courts. Specialist correspondents are becoming something of an endangered species — meaning that issues of health, education and business are not held up to the scrutiny they should be.

These factors, together with the domination of the small number of newspaper owners, are posing a threat to local democracy. 

Local politicians are not being held to account, voters are not being given a range of views and are deprived of the information they require to make judgements when voting in local elections. We need local papers to ensure democratic scrutiny, accountability and to encourage informed and active citizenship.

That is why the NUJ’s motion to 2014’s TUC Congress is calling for a campaign for a government-commissioned inquiry into the future of local newspapers. 

We need reform of newspaper ownership, greater plurality and a more diverse local press.

Michelle Stanistreet is general secretary of the NUJ.