Geraldine Allinson Receives OBE For Services To Local Media

News Media Association board member Geraldine Allinson has been recognised for her contribution to local media in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list this year.

Former KM Media Group chairman Mrs Allinson receives an OBE for services to local media in Kent, along with Liverpool Echo editor-in-chief Alastair Machray  who receives an MBE for services to local journalism.

Mrs Allinson said: “For over 10 years now the people and companies that provide trustworthy local news to communities up and down the country have been operating in extremely challenging and unprecedented times.

“The way people consume news has changed massively but our need for reliable sources of information, in order to be engaged citizens, has not.

“Everyone working to deliver trustworthy news, whether in newspapers, online, radio or TV needs to be congratulated for their unstinting stamina to reinvent, adapt, innovate, streamline and support each other, particularly in the local news space.

“It has never ceased to amaze me how upbeat, creative and helpful colleagues can be while enduring what can only be described as very challenging circumstances.

“We all know the current situation cannot go on forever, otherwise local news from reliable sources will become extinct. Sustainable solutions need to be found to underpin the provision of reliable and trustworthy local news and I will do what I can to support this endeavour.

Mr Machray said: “I regard this as an honour for the Liverpool Echo and the generations of brilliant and committed journalists who have worked there.

“I am touched and delighted. I have had an amazing career, which is reward enough in itself.

“It has been a privilege to serve communities and I will continue to do so in whatever I do next.”