hyperlocals


the landscape of this little place. You are a huge asset… Efficient regular local broadcasting of quality verified information could quite literally be a matter of life and death right now.” The PINF grant helped replace some lost income and pay


for two full-time journalists. At the other end of the country, Shetland News provides in-depth coverage for the islands’ 23000-strong population. It saw ad revenue drop to zero virtually overnight. Managing editor Hans J Marter says: “We didn’t qualify for


any of the Scottish Government help available, and had a massive fight on our hands through the ICNN [Independent Community News Networt] to get some crumbs of the Scottish Government public health promotion.” Lobbying for a share of government advertising for small


news publishers “proved to be a waste of time”, he says. “The situation was serious… I never had the feeling that we


would not be able to survive though.” Readership went up and they took on an extra freelance


journalist. Thanks to grants from Google ($5,000), PINF (£3,000) and other support, Marter believes they “should now be in a position to weather the storm”. The Isle of Thanet News in Kent saw page views increase from around 600,000 a day to just less than one million. But while the website continued, the print edition was suspended from March to September apart from a one-off Covid edition. The grant enabled them to restart the print edition and paid for a new laptop. Kathy Bailes, former editor and journalist at Kent Regional Newspapers, who runs the site, was already working seven days a week. She says: “It wasn’t so much extra hours, as packing extra work into that time.” Jonathan Heawood, executive director of PINF, who is on secondment from press regulator Impress where he is chief executive, says the pandemic’s impact has been frightening. A survey in March showed 75 per cent of independent UK news providers were at risk of closure. Some have been forced to shut and he is concerned there could be more. However there have also been signs of recovery with some accelerating


“ ”


We are confident we will reach a position where the business can operate without any support as we have grown reader revenue every single month since we launched


plans to develop reader revenue and moving into podcasting. Alongside the grant, the PINF ran six workshops over the summer including on podcasting, reader revenue, advertising, fundraising and community engagement. Zoom made these accessible and kept travel costs down. Heawood says there is a need to share expertise with small


news providers in the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. “There is a growing independent media sector all over the


world, but the problem is with very small organisations you can get a little bit isolated,” he says. “We want to try and strengthen those connections so people can learn and support each other.” Now Then magazine covers arts, culture and politics in Sheffield with a focus on citizen journalism. Those working on it found the workshops invaluable and used the grant to fast-track the launch of their new website. They hope to start producing a printed magazine again in 2021. The Ferret also found the training beneficial and invested in staff and software, having seen the need for fact-checking increase. Director Alastair Tibbitt says: “The Ferret is not yet sustainable from reader revenue alone – but we are confident that we will eventually reach a position where the business can operate without any grant support as we have grown reader revenue every single month since we launched.” With so many other small news providers in need of help,


what made these beneficiaries stand out? Along with a track record in journalism that was of benefit to the community and a commitment to reporting through lockdown, they had to demonstrate a clear, compelling vision for the future. “We are almost the last man/woman standing in independent


news in the area if you discount the homogenised large groups, which still have a stranglehold on advertisers,” says Evans. “I think we presented the reality of life for a small-town outfit,


which provides a lifeline of news to so many who are looking for a trusted source of news in such uncertain times with almost everyone attempting to be a commentator on social media.”


theJournalist | 13


Jonathan Heawood, executive director of PINF


Alan Evans, editor of Llanelli Online


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