“NEWS”, said press magnate William Randolph Hearst, “is something somebody doesn’t want printed; all else is advertising”. By that definition, the Echo’s special investigation reporter Jon Austin is the consummate newsman.

Whenever the Echo runs a story with Jon’s byline attached, you can be certain the key figures in the story will choke over their breakfasts. In some countries around the world they would have shot Jon by now.

Numerous are the people, sometimes rich and powerful ones, whom Jon has riled. They range from slavemasters to fraudsters.

Readers and colleagues, on the other hand, love his revelations.

Fellow professionals in the newspaper industry have shown their respect with a bevy of awards.

This week Jon, 34, won the Reporter of the Year title from the Press Gazette, the journalists’ magazine, for the third year running.

It means Jon, who joined the Echo in November 2004, has probably received more major awards than any other regional reporter working in Britain today.

Yet, although at the top of his trade, he is not unique. He is one of a breed that you will find in local newspaper offices up and down the country. Investigative reporters spend their lives trawling through documents until their eyes water. For every coup there are many dead ends, sometimes after days following what had seemed like a promising trail. Interviewees are by definition likely to be un-cooperative, even threatening legal action or a headbutt.

Not for the Jon Austins the expense account luncheon with a top politician, or the one-to-one interview with Essex Glamour Model of the Year – not unless she’s suspected of having her fingers in someone’s till, anyway.

Newspaper industry awards apart, there is no personal glory. The story itself is the reward.

Jon says he is motivated by “the satisfaction you get when you start to piece something together like a jigsaw, the buzz when it all falls into place and is finally ready to go into print, the good feeling when you get to the bottom of things.”

They are powerful rewards, but investigative reporters still give more than they get.

They donate themselves one hundred per cent to the work of mucking out the backyard of their communities. There is no doubt south Essex is a better place as a result of Jon’s work.

While barrages of prejudice flew in both directions, he unearthed the hard facts about the Crays Hill travellers’ camp.

His scrupulously researched exposures have highlighted the sale of deadly firetrap sofas in this district, galvanised a £2million action programme to eradicate the stink of Pitsea, revealed the appalling conditions at the kennels used by two local authorities for homing stray dogs, and seen off an attempt to raid the Green Belt for development.

Other reporters up and down Britain are doing similar dedicated work for their communities, but that string of awards suggests that Jon is the master craftsman in a tough trade.

South Essex is lucky to have him pitching for the community, and the Echo is lucky to have him. Equally, the Echo, as a platform, gives Jon the freedom and reach that he needs to pursue his investigations.

The partnership is a perfect illustration of the irreplaceable role that local newspapers still play, especially when it comes to the news that somebody, somewhere, doesn’t want printed.