New Local Democracy Reporter contract holders confirmed by BBC
Eighteen news organisations that have successfully bid to employ Local Democracy Reporters for a three-year period from July 2021 have now been named.
All 10 companies that currently employ LDRs have retained contracts, while eight new organisations ‑ including a local television station — have won contracts for the first time.
The new companies to successfully bid for contracts are Brighton and Hove News, Caerphilly Media, DC Thomson, Iliffe Media, Newbury News & Media, Notts TV, Radio Exe and Social Spider CIC, which publishes three community newspapers in north London.
They are joined by Archant, Citizen News & Media, JPI Media, KM Media Group, London Evening Standard, Newsquest, Radio Manx, Reach Plc, Shetland News and Stonebow Media.
From July the scheme will be expanded to include an additional 15 extra journalists, taking the total to 165 across Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Every local authority area in the United Kingdom will be covered including — for the first time ‑ Orkney, the Scottish Highlands and Newry, Mourne and Down in Northern Ireland.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service is part of the Local News Partnerships, a strategic agreement with the News Media Association which sees the BBC fund journalists to cover the work of local councils and other local public bodies.
LDRs provide vital scrutiny of decisions made on the public’s behalf, with more than 200,000 stories delivered since the launch of the service in January 2018.
The journalism they produce is made available for free to the BBC and more than 1,000 individual news titles or outlets across the country.
The BBC has recommitted to the Local News Partnership until the end of its current Charter in 2027.
A BBC spokesman said: “The result of this process means all local democracy reporting roles will be filled, and every area of the country will be covered
“We have 18 suppliers for this period compared to 10 for the last with, for the first time, a commercial radio station and a local TV station becoming suppliers.
“The partnerships has seen the work of councils and other local public bodies subject to independent, high-quality journalism, holding power to account and scrutinising the decisions of those in authority.”
Reach’s Chief audience officer David Higgerson, who led the company’s bid, said: “We are delighted with the faith the Local News Partnership has shown in Reach’s applications to run local democracy reporter contracts, not least because it’s been an even more rigorous application process this year.
“We take this responsibility very seriously, to not only promote the health of local news but also to nurture some of the brightest new journalistic talent across the UK.
“During our time with the scheme over the past three years we’ve worked hard to produce stories which provide great content, not only for us but also for our other publishing partners.
“We believe whole-heartedly in the long-term importance of this scheme, which is why we have invested in additional infrastructure and senior journalists to support it.”
The full list of contract awards can be viewed here.
