The founder of a new newspaper focusing on community and human interest stories says she is not aiming to compete with established titles on her patch – and has set her sights on UK-wide expansion.
The Brighton Beezer aims to tell the stories of people on its patch and share their experiences of the city they live in, rather than what is founding editor has termed the “need to know” stories offered by Newsquest-owned daily The Argus and Johnston Press-owned weekly the Brighton & Hove Independent.
The Beezer, which is to be published every two months, is the brainchild of Ilana Fox, who has worked at national titles including the Daily Mail and The Sun.
Ilana, who moved to Brighton last year, has five editorial staff at the Beezer and hopes to provide a paid platform for recent graduates aiming to get a “foot in the door” in their fledgling journalism careers.
Of the idea behind the Beezer, she told HTFP: “In my area you have a daily local newspaper and when people pick it up it’s out of date because of digital, and I feel local news is better placed online than in print.
“I thought: ‘Is there a way we can still use newsprint for local communities, but in a different way?'”
Ilana added: “I definitely don’t want to be seen as a competitor to [The Argus and the Independent] because what we carry is more of local feel with stories about the community, rather than stories the community needs to know about.
“The way we do advertising is different too because it’s especially designed to look like the rest of the newspaper.”
Ilana hopes in the future to launch similar titles across the UK, and has already earmarked Bristol and Glasgow as two potential cities where she could expand.
She said: “Bristol is similar to Brighton with lots of open-minded people willing to explore things.”
The Beezer is the latest entrant into the Brighton media market which also includes the Argus and the Independent.
There is also the web-only Brighton and Hove News, run by former Argus deputy editor Frank LeDuc, while Worthing Journal editor Paul Holden has also spoken of plans to launch a sister paper in the city.
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will these recent graduates be paid?
With the Argus selling a very poor 11,000 or so a day and JPs offering less than sparkling there is room for good well-staffed local paper but one coming out every two months is probably not it. But it will interesting to see how it progresses.
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I would have expected a brighter, breezier, Beezer than this from a super soaraway Sun lackey.
That masthead – it’s more like something from 1917 than 2017.
Still, she did say it would “use newsprint for local communities, but in a different way?”
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The Brighton ‘Beezer’. ‘Cause the Times they are a-changin”.
Is this an April fool?
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I’m sorry to say it as a great supporter of enterprise, but that looks pretty awful. Hopefully, issue one is a spoof and subsequent issues are better.
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Surely a better name would be ‘The Brighton Breezy’ then make it free and easy
You’re welcome ( as they say)
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I think the Beezer is a breath of fresh air in this World of thumb twitching on I pad miseries as many of the commentators appear to be.
I can’t wait for the next issue . Thank you Ilana Fox for making my day. Morry Potts
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I picked up this newspaper last week and I really enjoyed it. Yes it’s different to other newspapers in the area but that is the point. I disagree with comments about the design it is clearly supposed to be old fashioned and the adverts inside are beautiful. There are lots of adverts too so I’m sure they are paying staff. What a horrible suggestion to assume automatically that they are not. One thing I didn’t like was the lack of local event coverage but I suppose this is provided by other publications in the area. Also I know the paper is recycled but it felt a bit thin. Overall pleased this paper is out and I’m looking forward to the next issue. Well done Beezer team.
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so much criticism! ive not seen the newspaper but respect to anyone who tries to do something as big as this.
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Good to see a new, quality paper, can’t understand all the negative criticism – it looks great! You’ve earned a new reader here
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For a site full of people moaning about generic content on a weekly basis I find some of these comments quite amusing.
What a lot of you love doesn’t work anymore so doing something unique and different that sticks out from the generic norm may just stand a chance
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maybe turning the design clock back 100 years is what people want. It is not something new, it something very old recycled, as most journalism ideas turn out to be. But it is worth a try, and I wish it every success. NQ and JP offerings, although not direct competitors, are mediocre.
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It’s really great seeing a paper take a different tack and it seems to be resonating with the people that have read it. Not sure who took the bag of change to put in the grumpy people today, guess it’s much easier to criticise than create.
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Suspicious.
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I’m all for any individual or group of people launching new ‘news’ papers or hyper local periodicals as they’ll know their local markets, their potential audience and the weaknesses of the opposition ( usually the big regional player) so all credit to them for having a go and I for one wish them every success
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Let me rephrase that…
Suspicious level of praise.
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