We’re already almost a quarter of the way to launching a new newspaper
Welcome again. We’re bouncing up and down with excitement here. As you know, we’re aiming to get 500 people backing us. We thought on day one, with the wind in our sails, we might get 50. 75 at an absolute push.
Never in our wildest dreams did we think we might get over 100 on day one. I’m looking at the counter on our website that updates in real time, and the current figure (as at 23.14 GMT) is 115.
Extraordinarily, we’re almost a quarter of the way there. It just goes to show how much of an appetite there is for something new in the local journalism scene.
Thank you so much for being one of those people, standing up and being counted. When, in years to come, we’re famed for incredible scoops and vivid stories, you will be able to say that you were in the door on day one.
I say “when” but I shouldn’t run ahead of myself; it’s actually still a big “if”. While we couldn’t be more pleased with our start, we need to get to 500 before we can confidently rent out an office and hire staff. We’ve done the big announcement and that’s got lots of attention. Now we need to start reaching the people who didn’t hear about us yesterday, once the kerfuffle has died down.
The magic ingredient is always word of mouth. I can write thousands of words on why people should support us, but a few words from a trusted friend will always count for far more. Could you tell one or two other people about what we’re doing and why you think it’s worth backing it? You could do a post on your favourite flavour of social media, you could share it on a whatsapp group, you could just chat to someone who you think will be interested. If you hit the button below, you can copy the link to share it around.
A few readers have asked us to clarify the geographic area we’re going to cover, so let me do that now. The new title will be based out of an office in Leeds; it’s the biggest population centre and where we’ll undoubtedly find a lot of our stories. But we will also cover stories right across West Yorkshire — Bradford, Calderdale, Kirkless and Wakefield (you may have spotted a slice of Bradford in our branding, we’ll be commissioning some more illustrations over time). In fact, today I’m heading to Slaithwaite, on the far western edge of this ceremonial county, for a tip I’ve been given there.
You may also have some ideas for things we should look into. We’ve set up a burner phone for all your anonymous tip-offs about nefarious deeds (or, just as validly, “this is really lovely and someone should write about it”). Just hit that button below to whatsapp us (or you can e-mail me here).
Lastly, we’ve had some great name suggestions coming in. Most intriguing so far is “The Timble” — according to the anonymous proponent, it’s the “name of part of the beck which runs underground from the outskirts of Leeds to the River Aire”. Apt, then, for a newspaper that aims to explore the city’s undercurrents. As a man whose surname is Timms, it has a certain appeal… You can get your ideas in here.
Yesterday we took a huge step closer to setting up a new local newspaper in Leeds. Thank you for your support. Let's keep going.
Daniel
