It will be four years tomorrow (Saturday) since Eric Gordon died, aged 89

IN many ways, Eric Gordon was a cantankerous sort – too grumpy, sometimes carelessly rude and, above all, bloody-minded.

That might seem like an odd way to begin a tribute to the man who made the Camden New Journal newspaper, but importantly he was able to harness that sceptical, frustrated whirring mind and relentless interest for a wider good.

It will be four years tomorrow (Saturday) since Eric died aged 89 and each year we note his remarkable contribution as essentially our founding father.

Without the CNJ, the Westminster Extra would not have been born from its pages.

For nearly 40 years, he guided each edition and campaign, mentoring generations of journalists who won’t take no for an answer and still refuse to live off press releases and bites from social media.

No doubt Eric and his colleagues had to roll with the punches to establish the new paper as a place where you didn’t need money, power or influence to be heard.

But his vision of a paper that holds to account the public authorities which have the final say on decisions affecting people’s lives and the services they need is still the guiding principle for our work.

Eric’s papers­ – our papers – became the town square for news, but also debate. These days there are a variety of online forums which might make a similar claim but not with the same trusted reporting and open door for discussion.

His view was simple: that local newspapers added important value to a community, and so the idea was not to try and make profit, it was simply to cover the costs of having an independent voice.

We stick by that today.