Campaign and Comms Manager Beckie Shuker has been on an epic rail-trip around the country visiting independent news providers during the third annual Indie News Week
Last week was Indie News Week – our annual campaign to celebrate the independent news providers across the country who are strengthening democracy, holding power to account, creating pride in place and supporting civic participation.
More than 30 news outlets took part, creating opportunities all across the country for communities to get to know their local news provider and show their support for the invaluable work that they do.
To mark our third year of the campaign, I was delighted to get out on the road (er, rails) and visit a whole host of different Indie News Week events across England and Wales.
First stop on the PINF roadshow took me from my adopted home of Glasgow down to beautiful Berwick-upon-Tweed to visit The Bridge editor Wendy Robertson. Wendy took up residency for the entire week at the local YHA – essentially the unofficial Berwick community centre!
In the few short hours that I was there we were visited by a local campaigner dropping in to discuss the latest updates on an ongoing heritage campaign, charity Places for People with local Ramblers and housing journalists in tow, and a contingent from the Berwick Literary Festival.
My second stop took me down to Southeast London for Salamander News and The Greenwich Wire’s panel event: Why Democracy Needs Indie News, where a super-engaged audience of around 45 people showed up on this balmy evening in Deptford.
Moderated beautifully by local Goldsmiths University lecturer Dr Rashmee Roshan Lall, the panel explained how they are holding local politics to account and the challenges faced by local journalists. We discussed how local communities can support by taking out subscriptions to their local outlets or contributing their time and skills. As one panellist said to the audience, “you’re all part of this project!”
The midway point of the Indie News Week roadshow was in gloriously sunny and leafy Wokingham! The offices of Wokingham and Reading Today were full to bursting at their Meet the Team event, with a turnout of more than 50 locals within the first hour, including staffers from the local MP’s office and even the mayor.
As one of the bigger publications in the indie news network with six(!) staff members - in a thriving town with a huge amount of local theatre, music and culture - there’s clearly something to be said for the link between a flourishing community and strong local news in an area.
Wednesday’s adventure took me across the border into Wales, specifically to The Lion in Treorchy - an hour outside of Cardiff in the beautiful Rhondda Valley. Treorchy is the birthplace of Europe’s biggest cultural festival, The National Eisteddfod, now attracting up to 170,000 visitors each year.
That’s one of the reasons that Golwg chose Treorchy to launch Bro'rAnthem360 during Indie News Week – the first hyperlocal Welsh website in Southeast Wales. ‘Bros’ – meaning ‘my place’ - are run by and for local people, who Golwg trains up as community reporters by empowering them to believe that they have a story and it’s worth telling.
Despite not being a Welsh speaker - and, to add insult to injury, a Herefordian – it was a warm and welcoming event, with a fiddle player to boot!
On the train back from the Rhondda, I listened in to Bylines Network’s online panel, News deserts, AI and democracy: What's next for independent journalism? PINF Executive Director Jonathan Heawood joined the panel with other experts from the local news sector for an insightful discussion on the future of local news journalism. My main takeaway was from Bylines Times Editor in Chief Hardeep Matharu, who said we must “make hope matter again”!
My fifth and final stop was Thursday’s Freedom of Information (FOI) workshop in Leicester, where staff from the Leicester Gazette took more than 20 local campaigners and activists through the complex process of prying records from councils, politicians and government departments through public records requests.
Reporter Rhys talked through the Gazette’s hard-won victory to get Palantir’s contract with Leicestershire Police released after an 18 month battle and the audience had plenty of insightful questions related to their own battles for critical information.
More than 22 hours on trains, 9 different train companies, 6 news publishers, 5 events and [redacted] coffees and meal deals later, this Campaign Manager is full of hope for the future of indie news. The editors, reporters, volunteers and members of the public that I met last week demonstrated the huge amount of energy and enthusiasm that’s out there for regenerating local news for future generations.
And that’s just based on the events that I visited! There was also an incredibly timely film screening of short movies co-created with migrant women in Northern Ireland, a community meeting on responding to the far right in Glasgow, an open newsroom and panel event in Kent and many more in-person events, plus dozens of online activations and campaigns raising awareness of and money for indie news.
So, shall we do it all again next year? To be the first to find out about Indie News Week 2027, sign up to PINF’s newsletter below!
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