The Edinburgh Reporter October 2021

13
CASE STUDIES: OUR INDEPENDENT FRIENDS...
GREATER GOVANHILL
community garden prompting a flurry of
volunteer sign ups. Online, some of our
most impactful stories have been inspiring
examples of people making a difference
- such as a group of residents who
transformed their shared backcourt and
made good friends in the process.
“When so much of our media is controlled
by huge conglomerates and run for profit, it
can often sow division and do more harm
than good. The beauty of hyperlocal news is
that it can properly serve the community it
covers, listening to what the community
needs and responding directly.”
www.greatergovanhill.com
LOCHSIDE PRESS
ews
ross the UK
focused and produce contemporaneous news content. All
uphold high professional standards, including accuracy,
transparency, integrity, accountability, and fairness. They
have committed to adhere to IPSO’s Editor’s Code of
Practice or the IMPRESS Standards Code and all
demonstrate a clear and transparent management/
ownership structure. Members are fully inclusive of all
ethnicities and backgrounds and are non-discriminatory.
ICNN is part of The Centre for Community Journalism
(C4CJ) and is one of Cardiff University’s flagship
engagement projects that delivers on the University’s
commitment as the centre of excellence for independent
community journalism in the UK and Europe.
www.communityjournalism.co.uk
The Public Interest News Foundation (PINF) is a newish
industry body, set up in 2019. The trustees work to
understand the unique contribution that independent
news providers make to society and deliver programmes to
help build their capacity. PINF supports independent news
providers and public interest journalism, working with big
tech, government and philanthropists to support a positive
future for journalism with financial assistance. The
Covid-19 Emergency Fund was particularly welcome when
advertising dried up. PINF recognise that advertisers now
battle to find a safe brand with an authentic loyal audience
- which local newspapers can and do offer.
Jonathan Heawood, Executive Director of PINF, said:
“It’s great that The Scottish Government has recognised the
importance of sustaining quality journalism. In this age of
fake news and conspiracy theories, we need local news
that’s relevant and trustworthy. The government now need
to get behind the recommendations of the working group
on public interest journalism. We’re asking for a small but
significant investment of public funds, to ensure that every
community in Scotland benefits from high-quality,
independent news.”
www.publicinterestnews.org.uk
Rhiannon Davies launched Greater
Govanhill (GG) online in March 2020, with
the first print edition published in
December 2020. GG publishes 4,000
magazines on a quarterly basis distributed,
by volun-teers, to local shops/cafés/
hairdressers/pubs as well as to some
households. GG works with community
groups and food banks to get the
magazines into the hands of those
most isolated.
Covering Govanhill and the surrounding
areas in the Southside of Glasgow - one of
the most multicultural and densely
populated areas of Scotland, the title aims
to challenge negative perceptions of the
area by celebrating the diversity making it
so unique.
EMPOWERMENT
Rhiannon said: “We don't avoid serious
issues, but cover them from a solutionsfocused
perspective. Specifically, we aim to
provide a platform to typically underrepresented
voices to empower people to
tell their own stories in their own words.
“Since we began so many people have
told us what a positive impact the magazine
has had, whether that's helping to
understand their neighbours a little better,
or learning about community groups to get
involved with, or creating new connections
in a strangely isolated world.
“We ran a piece about the local
SHETLAND NEWS
Shetland News (SN) is a small but widely
read online news organisation covering the
Shetland Islands. Established in 2003, the
site has been regarded as an independent
community news organisation, long before
the new emerging sector started to
organise itself. SN is a member of ICNN, is
regulated by IMPRESS and works closely
with PINF.
Serving a core community of 23,000
people, Shetland News records around
50,000 unique users per week. Last year,
the website at www.shetnews.co.uk
recorded more than 14 million page views,
which represents a growth of 86 per cent
over the last two years.
EVOLUTION
Shetland News started life as the Shetland
News Agency in the 1990s. As freelance
agency work became more and more scarce
the idea of publishing their material online
appeared to be the obvious way forward.
Today, SN employs two full-time
journalists, a full-time webmaster and
graphic designer, and a part-time admin
assistant.
Business income is made up of local
advertising, half a Local Democracy
Reporter contract, some news agency work
and a growing supporters’ scheme.
Founder, Hans Marter, said: “Shetland
News is a small but agile organisation that
very much sets the news agenda in
Shetland. We feel very much part of the new
emerging public interest news sector run by
small and fully accountable organisations. I
feel there is roomful many more news
organisations such as ours all over Scotland.”
www.shetnews.co.uk
Lochside Press (LP) was set up in 2012 by
Julian Calvert, a former newspaper editor in
England and Scotland.
LP has local news and events - anything
which might affect people in the area.
At present the title is online only covering
the Helensburgh and Lomond area in
Argyll and Bute, especially the Rosneath
Peninsula which includes a population of
around 25,821
The most successful story is the article
in which the LP mapped the property
owned by the MOD in the area but which
lies unused. Some articles are behind a
tiny paywall.
Julian said: “Local and hyperlocal news is
especially important in rural areas, where
decision-making is literally remote - our
council is based 65 miles away, and
decisions have increasingly been
centralised. The council responds to media
inquiries - but no longer sends us press
releases, with a policy of communicating
direct with the public via social media.”
thelochsidepress.com
MIDLOTHIAN VIEW
Julian
Calvert
Midlothian View was established in 2014.
Writing about all things Midlothian, with
a touch of Edinburgh and East Lothian and
The Borders, it gives both a ‘View’ of what is
happening in the county and also gives
everyone a chance to write an article and
give their ‘View’. The online platform covers
an area populated by around 83,000 people
said to be Scotland’s fastest growing county.
Sheriffhall Roundabout is a huge issue
and it was the View’s first ‘big’ story in 2014
and 7 years later it still is.
Editor Phil Bowen said: “Lots has been
written about and spoken about Sheriffhall,
and discussed about it, but it looks exactly
the same as it did in 2014. Adding a flyover
would get traffic moving north/south but
likely increase traffic east/west into
congestion either way