Communities set to help preserve newspaper history

Community groups are being encouraged to dig out their old newspapers in a bid to preserve local newspaper archives.

People across the Midlands are being targeted as part of a scheme by Coventry University to protect the print industry's past.

The project will work towards preserving items such as photos and article cuttings that are at risk of being lost as local newspapers close their offices and move online.

A university spokesperson said they were aiming to work closely with community groups to ensure as many images and clippings as possible were kept.

They said the project would create a formal system to preserve the materials that would otherwise "simply [be] thrown away".

In one example of what could happen, hundreds of images were previously added to an archive in Coventry after they were found dumped on the street and saved from going to the tip.

The project will develop guidelines about what needs to be protected and keep track of existing newspaper collections in the Midlands.

Dr Rachel Matthews, from the university, worked in the newspaper industry for 15 years and said the collaboration with community groups would help preserve history for future generations.

Part of the project was paid for through a grant from The National Archive.

The funding will go towards developing a toolkit to help community groups around how to archive their photos and clippings.

The university plans to run four workshops and bring together archiving specialists to help build the kit.

Once completed, it will be published online and made accessible to the public, the spokesperson said.

Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.