Is this the solution to Britain’s dying local news industry?

Hyperlocal newspapers are spreading across the UK. Can they stop the slow demise of local news?

“When I first moved to Brixton in 1975, the was a must read. If it wasn’t in the South London Press, it didn’t happen.” Linda Quinn, editor of the Brixton Bugle, vividly describes how important the local press was to her community, before adding bluntly “and of course, now it’s gone”.

The South London Press isn’t alone. Since 2005, more than 200 local papers have closed, and the number of regional journalists has halved. Newspapers that do stick around face budget cuts and layoffs. Liam McInerny is the Lewisham reporter for the London News Shopper, a member of news conglomerate Newsquest. Liam has worked in local news for just two years, but he has already seen the industry change first hand. “We used to have a photographer” he tells me, “Whereas now, we’re reliant on ourselves taking pictures, or have people handing them over to us”.

The UK government has noticed this trend and has commissioned Dame Frances Cairncross to investigate the market. The report was published in February and recognized the dire state of local news, urging immediate government funding.

Despite the precarious nature of the journalism industry in 2019, a new form of newspaper has popped up. So-called Hyperlocal papers are launching across the country. They are small, independent and highly localized…