Your Express is campaigning for a better Britain by holding power to account

Who cares about how pensioners, families and young people are coping in modern day Britain as we all deal with a cost of living crisis and rising global insecurity?

Who cares about the state of the nation's hospitals, schools and transport system as public finances come under increased pressure?

Who cares about the state of our security as we face rising threats from Russia and increased crime on our streets?

The answer is of course your trusty Express and our tremendous journalists.

The masthead across our title spells out how we have been 'Backing Britain for 125 years.'

Since our formation by Sir Arthur Pearson on April 24, 1900 our mission has been consistent - to do everything in our power to promote and foster a better Britain.

Today we continue that ethos by holding power to account and campaigning for change that improves all of our lives.

For all of the issues faced by our society over recent years in terms of politics, leadership, and how information is shared, the Express has been there with you, covering the stories that matter where people live and seeking factual and verified information to inform, educate and entertain our readers and online audiences.

We can rightfully lay claim to being Britain's best campaigning newspaper.

In 2019 we helped prolong the lives of young cystic fibrosis sufferers by campaigning for and winning them the right to use new wonder drugs on the NHS. Thanks to our efforts their average life expectancy has now risen from 56 to 64.

In the past year we led the outcry over the Government's scrapping of the winter fuel allowance for millions of pensioners and forced them into a u-turn.

We have also successfully protected the state pension triple lock, ensuring both major parties remained committed to it in their election manifestos.

With the support of Dame Esther Rantzen we created history this summer as MPs voted to legalise assisted dying, a massive victory for our Give Us Our Last Rights campaign.

Our campaigning zeal is currently highlighting the obscene Russian hijacking of children in our Return the Stolen Children campaign, we are seeking to Save Our Post Offices and Stop the Shoplifters as well as pushing for 100% access to fracture liaison services for the over 50s through our Better Bones campaign.

Our causes are wide and varied but all intended to create a better Britain and world.

None of this is easy. To do this, we have to be relevant, flexible and we have to take risks. We don't always get it right. But when the platforms that our audiences choose to use for news and information change, we have to be there to meet that demand. When our audience expects new updates and fresh information on a story as it unfolds, we have to meet that need.

In times of strife or celebration, we are proud that our readers look to the Express as a trusted source of verified information and news.

You might wonder why we are telling you this today. Or, indeed, why you should care.

Today is World News Day, when news providers join forces to raise the importance and value of trusted, fact-based journalism.

The Express is joined by sister titles in the UK, Ireland and the USA, including the Mirror, the Manchester Evening News, the Daily Record, the Liverpool Echo and Birmingham Mail, Wales Online, Belfast Live, the Irish Mirror and the Irish Star, to name a few, to collectively shine a light on the value of our journalists and our journalism in a world when it can sometimes be difficult to know who to trust.

You might wonder why any of this matters. But in 2025, journalism in the UK has never been more threatened and, simultaneously, access to factual, reliable information has never been more important.

It has never been a more deadly time to be a journalist. Globally, there have been 48 journalists killed in 2025 alone. There are more than 70 journalists missing world-wide and more than 350 journalists are behind bars because of the work they do. In many of these known cases, the journalists have been covering stories which would otherwise go untold.

In the UK, journalists are increasingly targeted with threats and acts of violence for simply doing their jobs. They are increasingly the victims of stalking and harassment. At Reach alone, online threats of violence or attempts to discredit or intimidate our journalists have more than doubled year on year.

Add to that the fact that journalism courses are having their government funding cut, plus the challenges to accessing reliable information brought about by social media platforms and big tech, and journalism is in a perilous position.

And this is important. Because if these attempts to silence journalists were successful, we would find ourselves in a world where verified, fact-checked and trusted information was so severely depleted, it would be entirely swamped by opinion, conjecture and unreliable information dressed as fact.

You would no longer have that steady spotlight being shone on all the 'small stuff' that matters to you, your family, your neighbours and friends.

Our governments, councils, lead figures and institutions would not be scrutinised or held to account. The chance for journalism to campaign, make change or to improve our communities would be gone. And the big stuff? Without verified news and journalism, how would you know what to trust or what to believe?

In a world which is better connected by online technology and in which we have been brought closer than ever before to our global neighbours and events, we now have to come together to recognise the value of trusted journalism and preserve the integrity of the information being shared.

On this World News Day, please join the Express in raising and recognising the value of journalism and trusted news. Choose Truth. Choose Facts. Choose Journalism.

Geoff Maynard, Express Editor