South West Durham News (SWDN), publisher of the Ferryhill & Chilton Chapter, the Shildon & District Town Crier, the Bishop Press and Spennymoor News, is in the final week of its crowdfunding campaign, which closes at midnight on Sunday, 30 June.
The crowdfunding campaign is being supported by the Public Interest News Foundation (PINF), who have pledged to match the first £2,000 of funding raised – a total the campaign has successfully surpassed. And as funds continue to flow in, the main target of £4,000, has been almost achieved.
Right up to deadline, as the Chapter went to press earlier this week, another incredible single donation of £100 was received, boosting the total raised to just under £3,000 by Monday.
“This campaign has been a real joy to behold,” said Managing Editor, Archie MacKay. “It has been wonderful to see so many people dig deep and contribute everything from £2 to £2,000.
“And in many ways, those smaller donations provide the greatest validation, knowing that someone who may not have much to give would still want to find a way to support us. It just reinforces how important it is for a community to retain its local paper and how strongly the community feel about being kept informed.”
The crowdfunding campaign kicked off during Indie News Week at the beginning of the month with the slogan ‘No news is bad news’. The messaging communicates numerous things simultaneously: namely that local journalism is in crisis; that investigating and communicating news costs money and that without community-based journalism, more news deserts will start to appear.
It asks, without journalists, who will hold power to account and how will communities stay informed of issues that affect them?
“These are just some of the questions South West Durham News want to help answer in their communities,” said Mr MacKay, “but can only do so if we are able to grow and hire the extra staff to help us tell the stories that matter.
“As long as you have a local independent news source in your area, your community can stay informed – but sadly, far too many news providers aren’t able to cover their costs and have to shut down.
“Please support us this month from as little as £2 by at our Crowdfunder page or giving us a call. Help us to keep you in the know as no news is bad news for us all.”
South West Durham News covering news across County Durham.
