Member Article

North East journos’ experiment to develop sustainable in-depth reporting

A group of North East journalists are experimenting to find a means of bringing in-depth reporting to the region in a financially sustainable model.

‘Northern Correspondent’ is the brainchild of a group comprising former Guardian section editor and lecturer Ian Wylie, along with freelancer Chris Stokel-Walker, and BBC journalists Sophie Bauckham and Bob Cooper.

The team have taken to Kickstarter to crowdfund the first two editions of their twice yearly magazine that will host ‘long-form journalism’ focussed on the North East.

Just one week into their campaign, the team have now hit their initial £2.5k target and are now seeking up to £4k for a second issue.

Ian Wylie told Bdaily: “I’m a journalist and I’m interested in words. I’m not interested in trying to flog it to people who might use the mag to sell restaurants or hotels. That was a business model that worked in a time of mass media, but one that’s not as easy these days.

“We’re served well by various local media, but for the in-depth stuff you’ve got to wait for one of the nationals to give something the 3,000 word treatment. For me, that’s not enough.

“The idea with Northern Correspondent is not to fund a whole office full of reporters, but to gauge appetite and demand to work on an issue-by-issue basis before perhaps moving onto a subscription model.”

It’s not only journalists involved in the creation of Northern Correspondent. So far the group of backers also includes photographers, film-makers and illustrators, and Ian hopes the project can evolve into other mediums besides print.

He added: “Kickstarter is a really good way of dipping your toe in the water and taking stock after the first one.

“I don’t think we’d like to go out there and crowdfund for each issue. Not least because people get a sort of campaign fatigue. At the start of a project it’s ideal.

“We’re really keen to have that direct engagement with our readers, gauging their interest, and even collaborating with them.”

Ian and the team plan to have the first issue printed and distributed by the middle of April before moving on to the next.

A launch event for Northern Correspondent takes place on Easter Monday at the Stand comedy club in Newcastle.

Ian added: “The launch will be a great opportunity for people to come along and tell us about their ideas and what they think should be reported.

“We don’t want to sit in our ivory tower and decide what people should be reading. It’s important that we cast the net as wide as we can and get that collaboration across the region.”

To back the project visit the Kickstarter page here.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .