At the Public Interest News Foundation (PINF), we believe that everyone in the UK should benefit from public interest news that speaks to them, for them and with them. In particular, we believe that everyone deserves to have access to truly local news.
Truly local news is rooted in the concerns of the community. It builds economic value for the community. And it is part of the community. It creates a shared space in which people come together, regardless of their differences. And, when it gets things wrong, it is accountable to the community.
Too many people in the UK do not have access to truly local news. Instead, they get their news from social media, council free sheets or regional newspapers that are based hundreds of miles away.
PINF is working with a wide range of partners to build a better local news economy for the future. Through the News for All campaign, we are calling on policymakers to support local news that adds democratic, economic and social value to local communities.
The News for All campaign has three simple recommendations to spread truly local news to every local community in the UK:
Make sure that truly local news providers get a priority share of revenue and data from the tech giants through the forthcoming Digital Competition Bill and the newly established Digital Markets Unit.
Create a £100m Innovation Fund to kick start and build the capacity of truly local news providers, helping them find sustainable business models.
Create tax incentives to help truly local news providers raise donations and investment.
Through these simple but far-reaching measures, which build on the recommendations of the Cairncross Review, we can build communities that are thriving and powerful, creative and confident, and ensure a news economy for the UK that is truly sustainable.
The News for All campaign is supported by the following independent publishers and stakeholders. To find out how you can get involved, please contact PINF.
Aidan White, Publisher, Newham Voices
Abla Kandalaft, Board Member, Independent Media Association
Daniel Ionescu, Managing Editor, The Lincolnite / Lincolnshire Reporter
Darren Toogood, Editor/Publisher, Island Echo
David Floyd, Managing Director, Social Spider (London)
David Prior, Hyperlocal Today
David Riley, Managing Director, Reading Today & Wokingham Today
Dr Tom Mills, Chair, Media Reform Coalition
Ed Procter, CEO, IMPRESS
Eliz Mizon, media writer and organiser
Hans Marter, Managing Editor, Shetland News Online
James Hatts, Editor, London SE1
Jamie Wareham, Executive Producer, Queer AF
John Baron, Editor, West Leeds Dispatch
Jonathan Heawood, Executive Director, Public Interest News Foundation
Joshi Herrmann, Editor, The Mill (Manchester)
Julian Calvert, Editor, The Lochside Press
Kathy Bailes, The Isle of Thanet News
Keith Magnum, Editor-in-Chief, Citizen News & Media (Hackney)
Louise Houghton, Co-Director, Bylines Networks
Marianne Brooker, Communications & Partnerships Coordinator, the Bristol Cable
Matt Abbott, Deputy Director, ICNN
Megan Lucero, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Paul Hutchinson, Co-Managing Editor, Bedford Independent
Rhiannon Davies, Founding Editor, Greater Govanhill
Richard Gurner, Editor & Publisher, Caerphilly Observer
Rowan Gavin and Alex Valente, Co-Editors, The Norwich Radical
Sam Walby, Editor-in-Chief, Now Then Magazine (Sheffield)
Sarah Cheverton, Editor, Star & Crescent (Portsmouth)
Simon Bax, Founder, Clear Sky Publishing (Devon)
Simon Perry, Editor, On the Wight (Isle of Wight)
Tabitha Stapely, Founder and Director, Social Streets (London)
Una Murphy, Publisher, View Digital (Belfast)