What happened during Indie News Week 2026?
Rounding up all the highlights from another brilliant Indie News Week!
That's a wrap on Indie News Week 2026! Now in its third year, this year's campaign saw 30 outlets come together for 27 in-person events and 4 online events, raising over £8500, engaging at least 500 people in person and reaching well over 35,000 online.
All this on top of their regular day jobs of keeping local, indie news afloat and keeping communities informed across the UK. A couple of weeks ago, we shared the PINF Indie News Week roadshow. Here are some highlights from the whole of this year's Indie News Week.
Over in Newry, the dream team of VIEWDigital and Newry.ie held a film screening: Migrant Women Seen and Heard, an incredibly timely event spotlighting the voices of migrant women that often go unheard. The screening brought together attendees from the local council who deal with migrant issues and several women from Syria who were featured in the short film.
The Isle of Wight's Island Echo hosted its second State of the Island debate, once again putting high-profile decision-makers in front of communities from across the island. This year's event brought an unexpectedly emotional moment, with the local MP for Isle of Wight West visibly moved as he spoke about education.
Local Authority in Kent opened up their newsroom doors to host a panel discussion on local news in the area, as did dynamic duo the Northern Eco and South West Durham News in Bishop Auckland.
In the South West, The Bristol Cable teamed up with local charity 1625 Independent People to run workshops with young people to boost their confidence to tell their stories to local media, while in Yorkshire, the West Leeds Dispatch hosted a coffee morning themed around media literacy.
Up in Scotland, two events took place in the Glasgow Community Newsroom, first of all The Ferret’s FOI workshop pulling together a group of very engaged local community members, including the first person to make a freedom of information request in Scotland. Second, Greater Govanhill hosted a discussion on how to tackle the rise of the far right.
For the first time, PINF offered publishers small grants of up to £500 to boost their events, with 14 outlets receiving support this year. It clearly made a difference: several publishers said the funding helped them run bigger, more ambitious events engaging more members of their community.
Eight publishers reported revenue growth over the week, with the campaign providing a chance for publishers to step back and reflect on their fundraising efforts with new tools: "it made us more seriously ponder one-off donations, something we've resisted as we build around subscription models."
Thanks to pro bono training from comms whizzes Raised Voices on making the most of newsletter content and fundraising expert Judi Kamien on the theme of doing ‘just one thing’, publishers walked away with practical, confidence-building ideas for asking their readers for support. Between the 18 outlets who shared their feedback, £8643 was raised during the week alone.
Another publisher added that the campaign "made us realise we are valued as a space to talk about independent media as well as an indie news outlet," a realisation that could open the door to new kinds of support down the line.
It wasn't just about the numbers. Salamander News described how one event spilled out into the pub afterwards, with volunteers, readers and passers-by ending up in "a fascinating discussion from local news to geopolitics." Authority Media in Kent found that inviting readers in to chat about stories worked so well they're planning to make it a regular thing.
A huge thank you to every outlet who took the time to take part, opened their doors, hosted events and got to know their communities better this year.
As for what comes next for Indie News Week, Bylines Network put it best: "Just go bigger and wider. Let's all shout about what we do more - it matters."
If you'd like to get involved in Indie News Week 2027 or you’ve got ideas on taking it to the next level, please get in touch! We’d love to hear from independent news outlets, bigger news brands or potential partners that can help us in our mission to raise awareness of the essential work of indie journalists around the country.
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