Help build a tech stack for local news
Ben Dickenson describes a collaboration between the Bylines Network, Greater Community Media and the Newsmast Foundation, inviting local news publishers to shape affordable technology for independent local news by sharing their needs in a short survey and joining workshops on reaching readers, community engagement and revenue.
How often have you wished there was a tech solution that really worked for your publication? Not one designed for someone else and retrofitted by a corporate behemoth who doesn’t get what makes you special. Nor one likely to clean out your bank.
Imagine a tool that could take your journalism to more people through multiple discovery channels and put your unique identity front and centre. A tool – or stack of tools – that can engage local communities, deepen relationships with networks that matter to you, and help generate income. Fantasy? Maybe not.
Our new tech stack project, funded by the DCMS Local News Fund, aims to do all this and more.
Bylines Network and the Newsmast Foundation are working together, with Greater Community Media, to develop a practical technology stack that we hope will finally meet the needs of independent local news.
This is not an abstract tech project. It draws on things many of you use now: websites, newsletters, membership systems. But blends these with new ways to help audiences discover and engage: shared discovery feeds, events calendars, community spaces, local directories, and systems for connecting with civic organisations, community partners and responsible advertisers.
Over the next five months, a small group of publishers from across the country will test these concepts by co-designing and releasing mobile apps, allowing us to see how the elements work together in news communities. When the current project ends, we’ll document what we discover and produce open-source guides so that everyone can share the learning. In the long run, we hope to develop a more complete package for new publishers and communities in news deserts.
But we want to start right, and that means listening to the people doing the work – people like you.
We want to understand which tools publishers currently use, what works, what causes frustration and where the big gaps are. We also want to hear from people starting a publication, particularly in places where there is little or no local news.
We have launched a short survey to gather that evidence. The results will directly influence what we build, which integrations we prioritise and what we recommend to government for the next phase of support. Survey respondents can also register for one of three online workshops:
· Thursday 19 November: Discovery, reaching new readers
· Thursday 26 November: Engagement, building stronger community relationships
· Thursday 3 December: Revenue, turning reach and engagement into income
Workshops are an opportunity to share practical experience, explore what better technology could do and help shape the project.
This is not about imposing another platform on independent publishers. We’re co-designing shared infrastructure that strengthens local identity, keeps publishers connected to their own audiences and helps more good journalism find the people who need it.
If you run, work with or are planning an independent local news publication, we would really value your input.
Complete the survey and register your interest in a workshop.
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