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I think 'independent' is the operative word. Here in Britain, almost no local newspapers are independent. The majority are owned by a company called Reach PLC (

I think 'independent' is the operative word. Here in Britain, almost no local newspapers are independent. The majority are owned by a company called Reach PLC (formerly Trinity Mirror, probably renamed to avoid association with their history of phone hacking). You can tell that they're focused more on the SEO than the story - the word-salad headlines give that away, by how they attempt to squeeze in as many vague keywords as possible whilst omitting basic facts. They do genuinely report on local affairs, but it feels to me like most of the articles are prepared nationally from sources such as social media rather than by local correspondents. Unfortunately I don't know what the answer is - non-profit newspapers are at least mostly immune from consolidation by Murdoch-style media giants, but they seem to survive only on existing loyalty. I've wondered what it would take to establish a genuinely local newspaper for my area, but to compete against the dross of Reach and News International seems like it would need deep pockets and a strong tolerance for debt. Ideas welcome!

coldpie 2y ago
I have no idea if this translates across the pond, but over here what's been happening is the newspapers that were around in the 80s and 90s and died in the 2000s and 2010s left a bunch of unemployed journalists around. Occasionally, a handful of the brave ones will come together to start up a new news outlet, usually with a much smaller and more casual scope than the outlets they left. Some succeed, some don't, but that's where we're at right now. I try to support the ones I like. As for how to find them, it's largely social media & word of mouth, and maybe some advertising if they pitch it just right. Maybe poke around the social media accounts for some journalists from local outlets you do know about and see if they have some links to new places you haven't heard of. (I don't know if it's just a language thing, but I definitely wouldn't call these outlets "newspapers." Certainly there's no print component to any of these.)

coldpie 2y ago

I have no idea if this translates across the pond, but over here what's been happening is the newspapers that were around in the 80s and 90s and died in the 2000s and 2010s left a bunch of unemployed journalists around. Occasionally, a handful of the brave ones will come together to start up a new news outlet, usually with a much smaller and more casual scope than the outlets they left. Some succeed, some don't, but that's where we're at right now. I try to support the ones I like. As for how to find them, it's largely social media & word of mouth, and maybe some advertising if they pitch it just right. Maybe poke around the social media accounts for some journalists from local outlets you do know about and see if they have some links to new places you haven't heard of. (I don't know if it's just a language thing, but I definitely wouldn't call these outlets "newspapers." Certainly there's no print component to any of these.)