TODAY, Friday, marks the third anniversary of the death of Eric Gordon, the co-founder of the Camden New Journal and editor for almost 40 years.

The nature of our group’s set-up, which includes the Westminster Extra and Islington Tribune titles, is a collective, co-operative endeavour and the product of many, many people’s hard work.

But there is no escaping the guiding role that Eric played in making sure we still have defiantly independent and campaigning local newspapers, the sort which simply do not exist in other parts of London and the UK.

He saw that news, information and scrutiny was part of a community’s basic needs, not something that big companies should be trying to make huge profits on. There were never any fat pay packets for executives or dividends for unseen shareholders. We do not have any!

Instead, the money raised from advertising and sponsorship was put directly into producing good quality journalism. That shouldn’t be a novel idea, but it is strangely rare in an industry often at war with itself.

Eric, a gruff boss with a conversely avuncular character, was, whether he realised it or not, a mentor to a cast of journalists who have either stayed to keep the flame alive or graduated to sparkling careers in the national media.

He was an inspiring, natural journalist still filing columns up to his death at 89.

But his legacy is wider. He gave people struggling to be heard a voice, spoke truth to power and held public authority to account.

A fine recipe for any newspaper.