I did not buy a copy of the News of the World when it hit the shelves for the final time earlier this year. I had no affinity with the paper – a source of some great stories and superb journalism it may have been, but it was not my first-choice Sunday.

However, I do have in front of me a copy of the last ever edition of the East Kent Gazette, purchased earlier this evening while at work. It’s on sale for the final time after its owner, Northcliffe Media, announced a few weeks ago it would cease publication of two papers – the EKG (which includes the Sheppey Gazette and the Faversham Times) and the Medway News.

So having missed out, albeit voluntarily, on one piece of journalistic history earlier this year, I was determined not to on this occasion. And I got a brilliant surprise when I did buy the paper – I’m a part of that history!

In similar fashion to the NOTW’s goodbye edition, the Gazette has milestone front/back pages on, you guessed it, their front/back pages. One on the back page contains two headlines: “Best of British again” to commemorate Shane “Shakey” Byrne’s second British Superbikes titles; and “Great Scott also a champ” in recognition of my becoming the 2008 South East Senior TKM 4-stroke karting champion. It’s great to be a part of something like this, as the paper means a lot to me on a personal level as well.

Having lived in Teynham my whole life the EKG was, for a long time, my source of local news. Admittedly, I got interested in this paper because it featured me more than once on its back page back in the early days of my karting “career”. However, it was always there or thereabouts when I was growing up, either in my house or my next-door neighbours to have a read through.

I had my first ever work experience placement there, what seems a long time ago now in Year 11. In fact, if not for the EKG, I would not be studying journalism at this moment in time, as it is my time at the Gazette that made me realise this is what I wanted to do. I loved my time there and it always my intention to go back. When work experience was organised for earlier this year I had to pull out because of illness.

Past my own experiences with the paper, it’s yet another blow to local journalism, which, it can be argued, is fading fast. National newspapers, backed by significantly greater advertising revenues, are struggling badly, so without help from elsewhere what are the media outlets closer to home to do? Next year we’ll see the BBC’s local services reduce dramatically as part of their Delivering Quality First cost-cutting measures. That tells you all you need to know about local media as a priority. Up to 40 jobs have been lost in this instance. Not only are 40 people out of work, but 150 years of history have been wiped out and thousands of people have lost their local rag.

The Gazette was very much a heritage title. It was published for the first time 156 years ago under the name the “Sittingbourne and Faversham Gazette; Milton and Whitstable Journal”. The Kent Messenger Group, as part of their proposed purchase of seven Northcliffe titles, was looking to revitalise the paper. Gemma Constable, News Editor at the KM’s Swale Desk, said they “wanted to make it great again”.

Instead, there is a gap in the market. The KM’s Sittingbourne title – the Sittingbourne Messenger – is a paper consisting 50% of Sittingbourne news and 50% of the Medway paper. That gap is going to be filled, hopefully permanent, by a new KM title next Wednesday – the Sittingbourne News Extra. It will be available every Wednesday for 65p.

The closure of the Gazette leaves more than just a gap in the market for another paper. It had a circulation of nearly 14000 in the first half of this year, and those readers will have high hopes and expectations for the SNE. I have no doubt that Matt Ramsden and his team in Sheerness, where they already produce the Sheerness Times Guardian and Sittingbourne Messenger, will produce a fantastic paper and a worthy successor to the EKG. In an article on the Press Gazette website, he openly acknowledges the challenge ahead , saying “we cannot hope to replace 156 years of history”.

One thing I will point out with regards to the souvenir edition of the Gazette is there are a few errors which, from a journalistic perspective, blemish it slightly. There’s also a cursor to be found on one of the pictures where it has been print screened. So, it isn’t perfect. But then, what is?

We can look past the typos and the errors. We can look past awkward looking front pages of recent months, where councillors floating heads can be seen imposed on a railway line, or a line of traffic. But we can’t look past the fact that this is a title more than 150 years old that has been consigned to the history books. I’m immensely proud to say I’m a part of that history.