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2022

2021

  • "Locals know their environment and their community"

    'Collaboration helps everyone', the BBC's Matthew Barraclough says in conversation with public broadcast service EITB (in Basque)

  • Local Democracy Reporting Service: A model for public broadcasters?

    In 2017, the BBC launched the Local Democracy Reporting Service to support the production of public interest journalism by local newsrooms. (Public Media Alliance)

  • Eighteen publishers win new BBC Local Democracy Reporter contracts

    Organisations including a number of hyperlocal publishers have succeeded in winning contracts ahead of the scheme’s expansion (Hold the Front Page)

    • 2020

  • BBC report calls for smaller publishers to be able to recruit more LDRs

    Smaller publishers should be given a “fair” chance to recruit local democracy reporters, a BBC review into the scheme has recommended. (Hold the Front Page)

  • Shared Data Unit helps newsrooms plot UK’s Coronavirus volunteer groups

    SDU pools resources around projects which assist publishers and the public dealing with Coronavirus (Behind Local News)

  • First titles aimed at BAME audiences join BBC local democracy scheme

    The first two UK publications aimed at Asian audiences have joined the BBC’s Local News Partnerships Scheme under an expansion to include black, Asian and minority ethnic titles. (Press Gazette)

    • 2019

  • Local Democracy Reporter scheme opened up to BAME publications

    Service extended to news platforms aimed at black, Asian and minority ethnic communities in the UK (Press Gazette)

  • JPIMedia chief hails ‘ample evidence’ to back LDR scheme expansion

    Call comes after the service reveals it generated 3,500 stories in a single week (Hold the Front Page)

  • Local democracy scheme given 75 per cent satisfaction rate

    Study asked partners of the scheme to record all the stories based on the work of democracy reporters (Press Gazette)

  • Reporter who makes himself ‘an irritant in best possible way’ named LDR of the year

    Leigh Boobyer is named Local Democracy Reporter of the year at first ceremony celebrating excellence in the ground-breaking scheme. (Behind Local News)

  • Local Democracy Reporter scheme is making a difference — in many ways

    Journalists speak of the positive difference the scheme has made. (Behind Local News)

  • Local Democracy Reporter scheme to complete UK roll-out in Northern Ireland

    The expansion will bring the total number of LDRs to 150 (Press Gazette)

  • The story behind the ‘interview of the year’ which proved local democracy is far from boring

    Local Democracy Reporter beats competition from across regional press to be named ‘Interviewer of the Year.’ (Behind Local News)

  • BBC 'confident others will follow' as New Zealand sets up own local democracy reporters scheme

    Head of Local News Partnerships expects other countries to follow in the UK’s footsteps. (Press Gazette)

  • Local democracy reporting scheme set to be emulated overseas

    The BBC has welcomed news that its local democracy reporting scheme is set to be emulated on the other side of the world. (Hold the Front Page)

  • Does the British model for local journalism work?

    Journalist and researcher Birte Schohaus visits the Oxford Mail to talk about the Local Democracy Reporting Service (SVDJ)

  • The importance of ‘being in the room’

    I’ve been the local democracy reporter for Derbyshire for a little more than a year now — and it is safe to say it is just the first step on a long road. (Behind Local News)

  • Why you should consider becoming a local democracy reporter

    With up to 150 roles around the country now dedicated to local democracy reporting through the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme, you’ll regularly see vacancies being advertised as reporters move on. Leigh Boobyer, LDR for Gloucestershire, on why you should consider a job with a difference. (Behind Local News)

  • Local Democracy Reporter shortlisted for Scottish political journalism prize

    Local Democracy Reporter David Bol, who covers Edinburgh City Council, has been shortlisted for political journalist of the year at the Scottish Press Awards. (Behind Local News)

  • Campaign win for daily as councillor who moved 400 miles off-patch finally quits

    A councillor who moved 400 miles away from his constituency has quit after being repeatedly challenged about his absence by a regional daily. (Hold the Front Page)

  • BBC Local News Partnerships: how breaking out of the London bubble can strengthen the news agenda

    Looking outside your newsroom - and your city - for stories comes up with unexpected benefits. Catch up with the main points raised by Matthew Barraclough, head of BBC Local News Partnerships (LNP), speaking at Newsrewired. (Journalism.co.uk)

  • Local Democracy Reporters supply 850 regional titles with public interest stories

    A year after the launch, three strands of the BBC's Local News Partnership give regional newsrooms a lifeline in hard times (Journalism.co.uk)

  • How the BBC’s Local Democracy Reporting Service is yielding surprises

    An initiative by the BBC to improve and sponsor local news reporting has led to improved standards of local news journalism. While this was largely to be expected, the byproduct has been even more exciting: giving the organisation the ability to spot national trends. (FIPP.com)

  • 500 stories in 200 newsrooms: Inside the BBC’s shared data unit

    Working alongside journalists from other news organisations has been the most rewarding aspect of a busy first year for the BBC’s Shared Data Unit, says its editor Pete Sherlock (Behind Local News)

  • BBC-funded local democracy reporters filed 50,000 stories in first year with nearly all roles filled (Press Gazette)

    BBC-funded local democracy reporters have filed 50,000 news stories in the scheme’s first year, although the scheme has yet to fill every role. (Press Gazette)

  • Local democracy reporters file 50,000 stories in first year (Hold the Front Page)

    A pioneering public service reporting scheme between the regional press and the BBC has celebrated its 50,000th story being filed. (Hold the Front Page)

    • 2018

  • Electric buses powered by diesel are uncovered by an Australian in Harrogate

    Lachlan Leeming, a Local Democracy Reporter a long way from home, reveals how he explains the detail of his role and his excitement at seeing stories widely shared (Behind Local News)

  • Shades of Westminster in Cromer and bobbies in the council chamber

    In the same week that talk of a no confidence vote in the Prime Minister rumbled on, the Conservative leader of North Norfolk District Council faced challenges of his own. (Behind Local News)

  • Local democracy reporters praised in first annual review of scheme

    The Local News Partnership is 'generating significant levels of local public interest journalism', the scheme’s first annual review has found (Behind Local News)

  • Frantic note-taking ensures pivotal issues are unravelled

    Newsquest’s Aran Dhillon reveals how the fast-paced Local Democracy Reporter role is holding politicians to account in Warrington and Cheshire (Behind Local News)

  • How the BBC built one of the world’s largest collaborative journalism efforts focused entirely on local news

    News publishers of all sizes are partnering to “save democracy” at the local level; more than 35,000 stories have been published (Nieman Lab)

  • 30,000 and counting: The changing face of council reporting

    A year after the deadline for publishers to apply to become part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme, passed, 126 of the 147 roles are now operational. (Behind Local News)

  • Local Democracy Reporting: Making the most of FOI

    David Higgerson, digital publishing director at Reach PLC, looks at Freedom of Information requests made possible thanks to the work of LDRs (Behind Local News)

  • Local Democracy Reporters: Are council PR teams on board?

    Johnston Press editor in chief Jeremy Clifford and LNP assistant editor Jason Gibbins presented at the LGcomms Public Service Communications Academy. (Behind Local News)

  • Using quiet council corridors to get under the skin of big issues

    Fiona Callingham explains how she dealt with the ominous gaps in her diary as councils - and councillors - went quiet for the summer holiday period. (Behind Local News)

  • 'I want to get people to want to read council stories' (Behind Local News)

    Faye Brown, a reporter at the Liverpool Echo, on why getting readers to want to read council stories is as important as writing them in the first place. (Behind Local News)

  • Grass roots democracy? Believe me, it’s anything but boring

    Steve Shaw, Local Democracy Reporter working out of the Basildon Echo newsroom, shares insights into his job. (Behind Local News)

  • 'I spent three months learning data journalism with the BBC'

    Newsquest reporter Bev Holder looks back on her three-month secondment with the BBC’s Shared Data Unit. (Behind Local News)

  • Passing comment led to NHS spending crisis being uncovered

    Leigh Boobyer, based at Reach Plc title GloucestershireLive, looks back on a story which took him well beyond a council agenda. (Behind Local News)

  • Why I decided to become a Local Democracy Reporter

    Robert Alexander explains what made him respond to an advert for an LDR role at the Peterborough Telegraph... and why he loves the job. (Behind Local News)

  • The FOI which led to a council changing its policy - and pledging to spend more money

    Local Democracy reporter Amy Orton reveals how a passing comment at a meeting led to story which has changed council policy when it comes to spending money. (Behind Local News)

  • BBC claims it has 'created a new editorial resource’ as cache of 11,000 stories is unearthed

    The BBC has widened its definitions of national news ... after stories from a new reporting project have highlighted the value of public interest journalism. (The Drum)

  • ‘Is Scotland’s education system really more tolerant than it was 100 years ago?

    Glasgow-based Local Democracy Reporter Eddie Harbinson goes behind the story of his splash “Unholy Row Over Schools”. (Behind Local News)

  • Data sharing is caring: BBC boosts local news output through Shared Data Unit

    “We brought traditional rivals together under a collaborative umbrella,” says Pete Sherlock, BBC assistant editor, Shared Data Unit. (Journalism.co.uk)

  • New batch of regional journalists seconded to BBC data unit

    A new team of regional journalists have started secondments at a project being run as part of the BBC’s local democracy reporting scheme. (Hold the Front Page)

  • Communities deserted by local media feel neglected - BBC is reversing this

    On a recent rainy day, I shuffled onto a high wall in the heart of London, and surveyed the largest march I had ever seen. (Stuff.co.nz)

  • 8,000 up: The new council stories now being told by regional newsrooms

    Journalists, by their very nature, are a largely cynical bunch who, quite rightly, question all things of all people. (Behind Local News)

  • How Ottawa should spend its $50 million to support local news

    There’s $50 million on the table in Canada to support local journalism in the country’s under-served communities. What’s the best way to spend it? (The Conversation)

  • More scrutiny please: How BBC’s democracy partnership with local news companies is shaping up

    The first reporters recruited as part of the BBC and news industry local democracy scheme are in place and filing copy. (Behind Local News)

  • Life as a Local Democracy Reporter

    For almost five months, I have become a constant at County Hall – the home of Kent County Council. (Hold the Front Page)

  • Local news partnership ‘will not offset job losses’ says BBC chief

    The BBC executive heading up the Local Democracy Reporter scheme has admitted it will not “slow or offset” the rate of job losses in the UK regional press. (Hold the Front Page)

  • The story behind the UK's first Local Democracy Reporter

    I first heard about the job through a friend, who told me to apply. When I read the job description, I genuinely thought it was the perfect job for me. (Behind Local News)

  • Court reporting seminar hears support for social media levy to help fund public service journalism (pressgazette.co.uk)

    Former Culture Secretary John Whittingdale has talked to Facebook and Google about paying into the local democracy reporting scheme funded by the BBC. (Press Gazette)

    • 2017

  • Big groups win lion’s share of BBC local reporting contracts

    The ‘big three’ regional press groups have won the lion’s share of contracts to employ up to 150 new BBC-funded reporters to cover council and public meetings across the UK. (Hold the Front Page)

  • Most of 150 new BBC-funded Local Democracy reporters go to Trinity Mirror, Newsquest and Johnston Press

     The lion’s share of contracts for the pool of 150 BBC-funded “local democracy reporters” have been awarded to the UK’s largest local newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror. (Press Gazette)

  • Regional journalists start secondments at BBC data unit

    Three regional journalists have started secondments at a project being run as part of the BBC’s local democracy reporting scheme. (Hold the Front Page)

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