James Mills is a web developer in the North East of England and founder of Refresh Teesside »
Mike Hughes is the Head of Business for the Evening Gazette. He will be blogging on all matters of importance to Teesside businesses - and some that are just worth knowing »
Jez Davison, business writer at the Evening Gazette, is a regular blogger on all things business - particularly finance, entrepreneurship and the state of the Teesside economy » 
Karen McLauchlan is the Evening Gazette's deputy business and features editor - with special interest in all things industry, property and arts related » 
Jeremy Middleton is a venture capitalist and the co-founder of FTSE-200 company HomeServe » 
Deloitte, which has 23 offices across the UK including Newcastle, is among the country's leading professional services firms » 
ClimateNE & Climate Change Schools Project support the move to a low-carbon, resilient economy and help businesses avoid risk and realise commercial opportunities. Posts by Jen Atkinson, Krista McKinzey and Harriet Thew » IS the media really responsible for talking the economy into recession?
Would any of this have happened without Robert Peston?
Business journalists are often condemned for stoking up the fires that are leading the country into possibly the worst downturn in post-war history.
But the publishing industry is not blowing the truth out of proportion merely to sell more newspapers or boost website hits. Most responsible hacks are simply reporting what they see and hear. If the media industry stands condemned of anything, it is that it is reporting the facts more rapidly and to a wider audience than ever before, which may well have contributed to unprecedented movements on the international markets.
On an almost daily basis, local small businesses tell me how they are under pressure from banks and are battered by the lack of available credit.
Even those who were optimistic six months ago are admitting that belt-tightening is the watchword for the foreseeable future.
Official data also speaks volumes.
The UK economy contracted by 0.5% in the last quarter and another fall in the next three months will confirm recession as fact (against the definition of two successive quarters of negative growth).
The number of distressed British businesses has more than doubled since the start of the year - the surest sign yet that the global financial crisis is infecting the real economy.
Manufacturers' organisation EEF said more companies were deferring pay settlements to control costs, while the number of people out of work soared by 164,000 to 1.79m in the three months to August - the biggest rise for 17 years.
None of this is anecdotal. Amid these gathering storms, it would take a brave (or irresponsible) journalist to ignore the blindingly obvious.
The Tees Valley is not bubble- wrapped against these problems, despite its strength in oil and gas, offshore and petrochemicals. Generally, local businesses are having to batten down the hatches to protect their assets.
But nebusiness tries to sniff out the success stories - among them, Country Valley Foods' launch of 18 fresh meat products into retail giant Asda, and entrepreneurial duo David Geary and Samantha Condren's management buy-in to steel firm SBV Fabrication.
It will continue to report on them in future, but while the climate remains difficult, we will continue to tell it how it is.
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