An exciting campaign and funding announcement from PINF and partners!
The Public Interest News Foundation (PINF) is pleased to announce the inaugural Indie News Week (INW), a brand-new initiative taking place around the UK from 3rd – 9th June 2024.
Under the banner of ‘No News is Bad News’, Indie News Week will comprise an online, print and in-person rollout with community events run by independent and independent local news outlets up and down the UK.
The campaign will give communities an opportunity to meet their local journalists and find out more about who’s behind their local indie outlet and what goes into accurately and fairly covering the lives of their fellow residents.
They will also be able to share the stories that matter to them with the news providers who also belong to and are deeply invested in their communities.
Participating providers will be able to raise funds for their outlets through donation and membership drives. PINF will launch the Indie News Fund to match money raised by participating not-for-profit publishers over the course of the campaign.
We are currently working with donors to grow the Indie News Fund. If you would like to contribute, please get in touch with hani@publicinterestnews.org.uk.
INW will be a moment for communities across the country to celebrate local news and to shine a spotlight on the importance of truly independent news outlets both within their communities and beyond.
'Indie news providers are the unsung heroes of local communities across the UK, unearthing stories and informing their audiences. Through Indie News Week, we want to say thank you to the enterprising journalists and editors who make up this sector and help them connect even more deeply with their communities,' said Jonathan Heawood, PINF's Executive Director.
The ‘No News is Bad News’ campaign is founded on the belief that a well-informed community is more able to act together to shape its own future, that local news is fundamental to a healthy democratic society and invaluable in helping to create strong communities.
Despite this, independent community news providers are struggling to generate enough revenue to carry out their invaluable work, putting local democracy, civic engagement, and community cohesion at risk.
Indie News Week aims to combat this by allowing community members to directly engage with local news outlets to better understand their contributions. This week-long celebration of independent news outlets will consist of a range of activities organised within communities across the UK.
To execute the campaign, we are working with a range of partners within the sector as well as our commercial partners Harrison Agency, who will develop visual and text campaign material, and Midas PR, who will handle rollout.
Click here to learn more about the campaign and register your interest.
For more information, get in touch with hani@publicinterestnews.org.uk.
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