Eric Gordon died in April 2021

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SO many people have devoted blood, sweat and tears into the Camden New Journal over its four decades, but the paper would not be here if it hadn’t been for the vision of co-founder and long-serving editor Eric Gordon.

Yesterday (Wednesday) was the second anniversary of his death, a moment of reflection for so many of his former colleagues and friends of the paper.

Maybe it was for some of his old adversaries too; those who had come to respect his dogged determination for Camden to have a challenging news source even if they were the ones being challenged.

These two years have flashed by and we push on with his wish that a good local newspaper is needed to scrutinise the public authorities who make critical decisions on our behalf.

The editor for 39 years, Eric had proved to be an inspirational mentor to a whole cast of journalists who either went on to work on national titles or are the New Journal’s collective custodians today.

That’s not to say he couldn’t be a cantankerous man to work with, sometimes cartoonishly grumpy, even annoying. But he refused to let our paper cut corners or join the race to the bottom being waged by neutered websites running reheated press releases and fishing for celebrities’ social media posts.

The idea was never to get rich or work to make profits for distant shareholders. He championed the newspaper’s independence from the big conglomerates and, despite the thinnest of budgets, led a title which punched well above its weight, winning campaigns and exposing wrong-doing.

Time marches on, and the paper has had to adapt to the changing conditions. But whatever route it takes, Eric’s gruff but avuncular voice still hangs over the newsroom.

At the heart of a lifetime’s work, he had seen how journalism could make things better for those struggling to be heard.

That’s a motivation which all who follow still hold dear.

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