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New city title launches with election focus after winning four-figure grant

A city news title has launched with a focus on the forthcoming elections after winning a four-figure grant to cover them.

Independent news website the Great Central Gazette, which covers Leicester, went live for the first time on Friday.

The site, which has pledged to “focus on citizen-led multimedia and investigative journalism”, also hopes to launch in print in the near future.

The Gazette is funded by paying members pledging a minimum of £2 a month in a model inspired by similar city news titles including the Bristol Cable and Manchester Mill and, in a welcome editorial, has also revealed details about its other sources of funding.

The homepage of the Great Central Gazette

The homepage of the Great Central Gazette

Founders Reece Stafferton, Emma Guy and Megan Lupton successfully raised £2,640 in a crowdfunding campaign and received a £500 grant from Central Co-op to cover general costs.

The three graduates of De Montfort University also successfully bid for £2,000 from the instituion to set up a “solutions-focused environment campaign” and won £1,000 from the Lush Charity Pot to run human rights and media literacy workshops in Leicester.

Most recently, the Scurrah Wainwright Charity, which supports projects that have an emphasis on social reform and tackling the root causes of social inequity, pledged a £2,000 grant to support the Gazette’s coverage of the upcoming local elections.

The founders have also invested in an accessibility tool called AccessAngel, which makes its articles easy to read and translatable in 100 languages including Gujarati, Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, Polish and Arabic.

Speaking about the Gazette’s launch, Reece told HTFP: “The support has been overwhelming – we’ve had dozens of members sign up and over 1,000 people visit our website.

“The Gazette can now be where the stories of our community take centre stage and the voices of our readers are heard.”