PINF’s deputy director invites you to join local news providers from across the UK, the PINF team, and supporters of local news, in Belfast this October.
Once a year, the Public Interest News Foundation (PINF) hosts the greatest gathering of local news providers in the UK — we'd love to see you there.
From the forum's early beginnings in a borrowed lecture room at Leeds University, through Bristol, Glasgow and Leicester, we’re excited to be hosting the fifth annual Local News Forum at the stunning Metropolitan Arts Centre (the MAC) in the heart of Belfast's Cathedral Quarter.
We welcome providers, funders, researchers, investors, supporters — anyone who cares about a brighter future for local news and information should join us in Belfast on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 October.
Over the summer, we’ll be busy putting together an inspirational programme of stories of brilliant, impactful local journalism: from the role it plays in telling the stories that bring communities together, to how it can discover the truth and spark social change.
The biggest value of the forum is the connections you'll make. The agenda will be peppered with time to meet local news providers, compare notes and learn from each other. Surveys from last year told us that people took away 10 new connections they had not made before.
It’s all about spending some quality in-person time together, away from the screens, to plot the future of local news. We build up the social capital in the physical room to spend it in online calls or WhatsApp groups over the rest of the year!
The forum runs from lunchtime Friday to lunchtime Saturday. We’ll put on a welcome lunch on Friday, then the afternoon will be packed with big ideas and hot topics. On Friday evening, we’ll gather in an informal setting for a social, catching up with friends old and new. Then on Saturday morning it’s over to you to work together on the chewy problems and challenges faced by the sector if we're to fix this thing.
We'll be talking about DCMS’ Local News Fund and wider policy issues likely sparked by the new PM in Downing St. As always, at issue will be how to boost the funding and capacity of the sector, the relationship with the BBC, the role of big tech (especially relevant given the riots in Belfast earlier this year) and much more. We’re also hoping to welcome friends from the Republic of Ireland to add some international learning to the forum.
Have ideas for topics and subjects? Let us know.
If you’ve never been to Belfast or Northern Ireland before, this is a great chance to see some sites. We’ll wrap up Saturday lunchtime so you can take the rest of the weekend to explore the Titanic Quarter or Maritime Mile — or get out to the stunning coast and sites like the Giant’s Causeway.
You don’t have to take our word for it. Here’s what people said was their favourite bit about last year's forum:
"I got a huge amount of value from the workshops and general chit-chat in between sessions."
"Getting to chat to other publishers, working as an indie is often isolating and lonely."
"The open tables. Getting to meet so many inspiring people. The evening social was a lovely chance to get to know more people in a relaxed setting too."
"The highlight is always the getting to see everyone again - for many it's the only time in the year that we do that."
"Met many people in my region - a first - as networking opportunities are poor. Met the Bristol Cable folks, and many people I’ve been in LinkedIn with as well as wholly new people."
All the details on the venue, and travel suggestions — including the RailSail option(!) — are available on the ticketing website.
We know that local news providers come in all shapes and sizes. If travel and accommodation costs present a problem for you, please get in touch — we hope to have some bursaries available, more on this soon. Finally, if you'd like to sponsor the bursaries (or any other part of the forum), we'd love to hear from you.
Looking forward to seeing you in Belfast!
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