I read with sadness of the job losses at the Northern Echo in Darlington and the closure of several district offices, including Stockton, where my father, Bill, began his career.

I almost took my own first job at the sister weekly, the Darlington and Stockton Times who offered me a post when I was 16. I decided, instead, to go back and do my A levels, followed by a degree. I returned sometime later for an interview for the Echo news editor’s job…and didn’t get it.

That extra five years’ education would count for little now were I still in newspapers. I niaively thought that the tradition and quality of newspapers  like the Northern Echo, the Yorkshire Post, and the Journal, would save them from the excesses of the owners. How wrong I was!