Today marks the start of the first-ever Indie News Week and we’re really excited to use this time to tell you more about the Bedford Independent and The Bedford Clanger, and why we do what we do to make sure there is the best possible news coverage in Bedford Borough.
Throughout this week we’ll be writing about a number of things connected to local news, and the independent news that we proivide, and how you can help make sure that local news remains an integral part of Bedford Borough’s community ecosystem.
Read: Get behind genuine independent local news for Indie News Week
With that in mind, we want to know what you think of local news in the area, and what you think of Bedford Borough’s most popular newspaper, the Bedford Independent add it’s cooler, older sister, The Bedford Clanger.
We’ve pulled together a survey that we hope will help show the ‘state of Bedford news’ and also help us to grow and become a better news source for you.
The survey takes a few minutes and if you take part, you could win a £50 voucher to spend at an indepdendent Bedford Borough business of your choice.
The responses to the survey will help determine what you think of local news and how you think we can do better, so even if you don’t win that £50 voucher, you will have made a huge difference and helped news in Bedford Borough.
Why is local news important?
Local news reporting encourages people to take part in the democratic process. It fosters a sense of community and allows an exchange of ideas and it creates pride of place.
And news isn’t just about society’s problems or philandering politicians either.
From sports coverage to business openings, a weekly what’s on guide or writing about everyday heroes awards, publishers of local news champion the great and good on their pages too.
For us, Indie News Week is therefore a chance for us to share the importance of ‘good news’ to make good things happen.
And it’s because of that, we have decided to launch another Bedford in a Day project.
Inspired by the Bedford Clanger’s A Photo A Day project in 2012 and 2013 and the Bedford in a Day project in 2019, we will once again be documenting 24 hours in the life of Bedford, from midnight to midnight and everything in between.
Everyone, from professional photographers to families, local businesses to happy snappers are encouraged to take part and age or technical ability is no object.
To take part, read more: Take part in this year’s Bedford in a Day photography project on 22 June
Come and meet us
On Sunday, 9 June the team from Progress Publishing, the people behing the Bedford Independent and The Bedford Clanger will be in Silver Square highlighting the importance of professional and regulated local news and collecting good news stories.
We want to hear about everything from sporting successes to finding your new favourite business, a friend who’s faced adversity to someone who’s raised buckets of cash for charity.
Maybe you’ve just seen an amazing play that you want to let everyone know about or know of a young Bedfordian who’s making waves in a hobby or school subject.
We’ll have a pin-board to create a ‘wall of fame’, so come and find us next to the Silver Faces so we can share our good news yours. Some may even be published on our pages.
During the week we’ll also be encouraging our readers to support us to keep delivering good news and more in Bedford.
How to support genuine local editorial
The days of a daily paper delivered to your door may be gone, but you can still have your daily dose of news delivered directly to your inbox every day at 6am.
No need to even get out of bed, just open your eyes, open your emails and there it is.
If you like what we do, then we would love it if you could make a regular or one-off donation to support our work. All of us work part-time, so imagine what we could achieve with more resources.
Our titles have around 130,000 monthly readers, but we would love to be able to reach more people.
Share our Bedford Independent links on your street’s WhatsApp group, help an older neighbour sign up for our daily email, and give a friend a copy of the Clanger.
