New starters in indie news: The Bath Bee
Some of the most interesting arrivals in independent local news come from people who've already ‘gone global’ and decided, for one reason or another, that ‘the local’ was actually more interesting. The Bath Bee's founder Anu Anand spent 25 years reporting for BBC World Service from roughly 40 countries before settling in Bath and noticing that the city had a coverage problem, deserving better than what it got. PINF asked her about what she's building, and why.
In PINF's 2025 Local News Report, we found that 22 independent local news outlets launched between April 2024 and December 2025. What motivates these plucky truth seekers to establish new publications in the 2020s? What challenges are they facing and what can we do to support them? Over the next few weeks, we aim to find out, with interviews with some of the shiniest new mags on the block.
Tell us about yourself! Your founding, how your publication started out, what the goal was.
I've had an unusual journalistic journey going from global to local news, instead of the other way around. I spent 25 years in international news as a reporter/presenter for BBC World Service radio. I've reported from about 40 countries and covered huge stories like the attacks of September 11th 2001, the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan; the Indian Ocean Tsunami, the Delhi gang rape and the Nepal earthquakes, to mention a few. But fast forward to later life, with two children, and I found myself wanting a different existence. So I slowly pivoted to living in a small city, Bath, and started The Bath Bee in 2025 when I saw that there really was no substantive, meaningful, public service news in our city. We do have coverage - indeed, we are considered a new 'oasis' but the stories are scattered, often lacking context, without curation and sometimes obscured by clickbait. So my goal was simply to bring local stories together every week into one noise-free email. The Bath Bee started on that modest premise.
Tell us about the region/area of your focus! We'd love to know more about the intricacies of operating where you do, how you do it, any specific accommodations you have to make or characteristics of the region.
I focus only on the city of Bath, where I live. It's a vibrant but very mixed city of tourists, long-time residents, hyper-wealthy/worldly residents and those who've been priced out and locked out of similar opportunities; it's a heritage city, a university city but also one where the pressures on affordable housing, jobs, retail, transport and the impacts of climate change affect everyone. The Bath Bee has been focused solely on drawing together existing journalism, from court and traffic reporting - to big features, coverage of local democracy and the odd bit of stardust Bath attracts. That coverage comes from existing sources: BBC and ITV, as well as local Reach publications, the LDRS, independent magazines, social media and a local paper called the Bath Echo. But in the past month, I've published original journalism and am looking to develop regular offerings: from short audio profiles to in-depth reporting on big issues.
What is the most enjoyable aspect of running a local newspaper where you are?
I cannot tell you how much I love connecting with my community. In this age of social media and wfh, we've really lost that sense of physical, geographical connection. I think people in Bath choose to live here partly because the smaller size of the city allows them more time to enjoy the sensation of bumping into people, being present… while still enjoying a sensationally beautiful city with a wonderful quality of life, great schools, parks and culture. The Bee gives me a calling card to connect with people, talk to them. It gives me license to deploy all those journalistic skills in a meaningful way among the people I live with. That gives me great joy.
Tell us about your favourite story you've done so far. Why is it important to you? Because of impact, subject, local relevance, or something else altogether?
The story that meant the most to me was covering a vigil of Iranian students at one of our local universities as the war began earlier this year. My career has taught me just how intimately our world is connected - from politics, to the things we buy and consume, to our planet and its survival. And I want to illuminate those connections for local readers. So being witness to the grief and fears of young Iranians as they tried to keep tabs on their families as bombs dropped, I felt, made the story even more tangible to our audience. It also allowed me to take a very complex geopolitical story and help my students relate to it. I got a couple of Iranian students to speak to them about what it was like to be experiencing a war in their homeland while safe in Bath. But I'm also proud of stories I've helped others write - including one by a young man in Bath concerned about the state of his local playground, which had been dismantled during Covid and left kids in his neighbourhood without a place to play.
What challenges do you face that you'd like people to know more about?
The main issue is this is a ONE person operation! I also have a full-time job as programme leader for journalism at Bath Spa University, which I'm passionate about! So it's a question of how to be in two places at once! It's a lonely job and the lack of feedback can be really deflating. Honestly, a like, a comment, the odd message - those are the things that mean so much and keep me going. At the end of the day, I'm also looking for community. Having spent all my life wandering around the world means I don't have the personal networks here - people who can turn up when there's a celebration or a setback - so my professional community tends to mean a lot more to me. So when people take the time to let me know what they've enjoyed, what they value or what I can do better, it means a lot. Basically, just letting me know my work matters and expressing solidarity makes a huge difference!
What is the biggest change you're hoping to make in your region?
I'm trying first of all to get journalists in our region to connect again because we need each other and we can collaborate for mutual benefit. But bigger than that, I simply want curated news to be valuable again - because our region is hugely under-covered nationally and there is so much going on here. And we can't have pride in it, or be invested in making good decisions, participating in our governance... if we don't know what's happening. The devolution of power from central government could have big impact in the southwest in the coming years, and we and our audience should know what that means and how it's working. And with 16-year-olds set to vote in the next general election, media literacy, news consumption and good citizenship is more vital than ever. I see this as a journalist and as a lecturer dealing with young people facing much narrower prospects than my generation did.
What support/resources would enable you to make that a reality?
I grew up in the US and moved to the UK in my 20s, after spending three years working in India, so I have eyes on three continents. The UK has so many strengths - law and regulation of journalism are far better here than in India or the US. But the one thing I wish we had is either larger media markets so that the subscriber system had more potential… or philanthropy/public funding for independent, local journalism. I love the BBC - indeed I spent most of my career there. But the BBC cannot cater to every single person in the UK at all levels and even a fraction of that public funding trickling down to tiny outlets like me - which are proliferating as late-career journalists are made redundant - would be hugely valuable for local audiences.
Something you'd like to tell us that we haven't already asked about.
Bath is home to the UK's only hot, geothermal spring. The Penny Black was invented here and became world's first adhesive postage stamp. The planet Uranus was discovered from Bath and the Anglepoise lamp was also invented here. The Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie lived in exile in Bath. Filmmaker Ken Loach and shoe designer Manolo Blahnik call Bath home. As for me, Bath has become the place I've lived the longest continuously anywhere in the world, though North Carolina and Delhi are close to my heart. And Bath is where my most cherished family artifact hangs: the refugee certificate given to my grandfather in 1947 in New Delhi, when he arrived with my infant father after the subcontinent's horrific Partition. From there to here, it's been a long, memorable journey.
Thanks for taking part in our series, Anu! You can subscribe here to The Bath Bee. Are you a new starter in indie news? Get in touch with PINF, we'd love to feature your publication.
