Message from the editor

Academics believe a newspaper’s role is to inform, educate and entertain, to mobilise citizens and intepret current events.

I believe that the role of a community newspaper is that – and so much more.

I like to believe that our community newspapers – 16 are produced in the newsroom where we put Northern News together each week – are an integral part of the community. They’re a meeting place where important issues can be debated. A place our readers can turn to for inspiration or consolation, a platform artists and people making a difference can use to tell their communities about what they’re doing.

I believe papers like Northern News are friends our readers invite into their homes each week, to tell them what’s happening, who the movers and shakers are, how they can contribute to their community, where to shop and how “big news” issues are impacting them at grassroots.

This is what Northern News – which was launched as Tygertalk – has been doing for the past 20 years.

While it may be a little paper, each week we do our best to ensure it’s big on news that is useful and impactful.

This week, as we mark our 20th anniversary of serving our readership, we take you on a trip down memory lane, reflecting on the history of the area and the stories of the people who have shaped it.

Over the past 20 years we have been committed to telling your stories, sharing in your triumphs and highlighting your challenges. To this, too, we commit ourselves in the future, and to being the proverbial voice of the voiceless.

And if the memories in this edition spark some recollections of your own, do feel free to share them with us.

– Chantel Erfort, Editor: Cape Community Newspapers