A newly re-launched hyperlocal website aimed at encouraging an interest in politics in Staffordshire will publish a print edition next month.
Pits n Pots which covers Stoke-on-Trent was the first in the UK to be supported by The Journalism Foundation, which is run by Simon Kelner, former editor-in-chief of The Independent.
Next month the Foundation will help produce a print edition of the online publication, which will be distributed to 50,000 households in the town.
The Foundation is working in partnership with Pits n Pots, to redesign the site in a bid to boost reader engagement, increase traffic and promote democratic engagement in the local community.
Editor of Pits n Pots Mike Rawlins said that the Foundation’s backing would enable him to ‘investigate ways for Pits n Pots to become a more sustainable public service business model’, ‘encourage greater engagement with democracy’ and ‘create a template that can be used by active democratically engaged people across the country.’
The site has been redesigned by The Independent’s head designer Nick Donaldson, making it more user-friendly with a greater social media presence. The new site will be maximized for use across tablets, smartphones and other digital devices.
Pits n Pots was launched in September 2008 to fill the gap left by decreasing sales of local papers and dwindling coverage of local politics.
The aim being to keep the public engaged with the politics of the area by creating a forum in which people could discuss local issues and the governance of Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
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Methinks the Journalism Foundation should pay the local newspaper which reports obsessively and exclusively from every council meeting. I’m all for hyperlocal, but a quick glance at this website reveals nothing but a stream of regurgitated press releases. Why would the Journalism Foundation want to support the decline of a traditional press which is actually carrying out its function?
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As someone who worked at The Sentinel until fairly recently, I can only reiterate the point that the paper – for all of its quirks – covers every cough and splutter of the council’s affairs. PitsNPots used to do good opinion pieces for the local political nerds but the bloke who turned up at all of the meetings quit ages ago and it has been just press releases and irrelevant rambling for more than a year. The Journalism Foundation ought to know better.
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The Sentinel is one of the few regional newspapers to still do local politics properly. I wonder if The Journalism Foundation considered this before backing an attempt to undermine it by funding a 50,000 copy freebie?
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