Our Partners
The Scottish Beacon is a collaborative of independent, community-based local journalism publishers located all across Scotland. Some produce newspapers or magazines, others are solely digital.
Each organisation has its own fascinating and different, story to tell. What unites us is our commitment to serving communities with the information they need.
The Bellman is a free digital news website advancing citizenship and community development by representing and promoting the community’s news, interests and amenities in Stonehaven, South Aberdeenshire.
Broughton Spurtle is a free community newspaper and website for Broughton and adjacent parts of North/Central Edinburgh. Since 1994, they have reported local events, raised issues, publicised activists’ work, made connections between ‘the news’ and local life … and generally stirred things up a bit. Contributors are unpaid volunteers.
C&B News is a volunteer-led, independent and non-profit-making community news magazine, originally launched in February 1976. It is written by and for the residents of the southwest Edinburgh villages of Currie, Balerno, Juniper Green, Baberton Mains, and Colinton.
Clydesider Creative is a volunteer-driven, community media social enterprise based in West Dunbartonshire. They publish the quarterly Clydesider magazine. This solution-focused publication showcases our area’s positives regarding people, place, heritage and creativity. All content is created for and by our local community.
Crail Matters is the weekly newspaper of the village of Crail in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland, published every Friday. It also publishes the sister titles of The Kingsbarns Eagle and The Pittenweem Post. All of them are funded entirely by donations from advertisers and readers.
The Edinburgh Reporter News group publishes daily news about the Scottish capital on its website and social media, videos on YouTube and Vimeo, and audio on Spotify for Podcasters. A monthly print newspaper is distributed across the city and on PressReader. The group is also delighted to be featured on Google News Showcase daily.
Fios is a fortnightly local newspaper published by Spòrsnis Ltd. They cover topics of interest to the community. All articles are researched, written and produced with the community-owned estate Urras Oighreachd Ghabhsainn, Isle of Lewis.
Forres Local is a community website covering the IV36 postcode areas, which includes: Forres, Findhorn, Kinloss, Rafford, Dunphail & Conicavel, Brodie and Dyke & Kintessack. They exist to provide benefits for the area, such as publishing information and news and collaborating with other local charities, community groups and businesses.
Glenkens Gazette is a hyper-local publication which covers the areas of Carsphairn, Dalry, Balmaclellan, New Galloway, Mossdale, Laurieston, Crossmichael, Corsock and Parton; the Glenkens and wider district. They strive to offer content relevant and topical to our local communities, highlighting important issues and offering community cohesion by ensuring everyone knows what’s happening across our area.
Greater Govanhill is a multi-award-winning, solutions-focused community magazine serving one of Scotland’s most culturally diverse communities. They publish a free bi-monthly magazine featuring articles in different languages and aim to provide a platform for typically under-represented voices.
The Hawick Paper carries a comprehensive mix of ultra-local news, sport, and features written by journalists with Hawick at heart. Published every Friday, it is owned and edited locally and aims to champion the town at every turn while also asking difficult questions of those who wield power locally.
Ileach is an independent community newspaper published fortnightly for the Scottish Hebridean islands of Islay and Jura. It publishes local news, features, and events, keeping local communities informed about the happenings in their area.
Inverclyde Now has provided local news, features, sport, entertainment, information and photos about the Inverclyde area in a straightforward and accessible way since 2004.
The Lochside Press was launched in 2012 and is based on the Rosneath Peninsula in Argyll and Bute. It aims to produce journalism which safeguards and enhances the area’s environment and services, as well as recognising and supporting the achievements of residents and businesses.
Midlothian View is a news website that covers local news, events, and community happenings in Midlothian, Scotland. With a team of dedicated journalists, the website provides in-depth coverage of the county, keeping residents informed about important issues and developments.
Migrant Women Press is a migrant women-led, independent media focused on women’s experiences with migration. They discuss migration through migrant women’s lenses and are interested in investigating how the intersections of race, gender, class, nationality and disability impact women’s experiences in a new country.
The Orkney News Ltd is a not-for-profit company that includes an online news website and YouTube Channel and publishes Orcadian history books. Annually it hosts an exhibition for St. Andrews Fair Saturday, part of the global Fair Saturday events. It is a member of Voluntary Action Orkney.
Having just celebrated 20 years in business, Shetland News provides a comprehensive and in-depth daily online coverage of news and current affairs to the people of Shetland and beyond. They are an Independent Community News Network (ICNN) member and have partnered with the BBC-funded local democracy reporting scheme since its inception in 2018.
The Edinburgh Guardian aims to help locals engage with local democracy and stay across their community news as efficiently as possible without wading through pop-up ads or problematic social media feeds. It’s currently home to two newsletters: The Edinburgh Minute, a free daily newsletter curating the city’s news into a 7 am minute read and The Edinburgh Culture Minute, a weekly round-up of the city’s creative industry news, events, jobs and opportunities.
Located in the Scottish Borders, the Newstead News is an award-winning community publishing project run by volunteers. We focus on hyperlocal stories and offer residents the opportunity to write about issues of importance to them. Established in 2020, the Newstead News is produced three times a year and delivered free to every home in the village. Our growing team of community writers, photographers, and contributors leads the editorial direction.
Glasgow’s Not Finished and reGlasgow.com is reporting on changes and developments in Scotland’s biggest city.
Kyle Chronicle is the first independent quarterly magazine for the communities of the Kyle of Sutherland, launched in December 2019. It covers a vast – and sparsely populated – area in central Sutherland: Ardgay, Bonar Bridge, Culrain, Rosehall, Invershin, Spinningdale, Migdale, Strath Oykel, Strathcarron and Glen Cassley.
What is collaborative journalism?
Collaborative journalism can take dilerent forms. But in essence, it’s two or more news organisations working together to supplement each other’s resources and maximise the impact of their output.
Competition may be the historic norm, but collaboration has become increasingly common in journalism innovation, with some brilliant examples in the US and other countries.
Why is there a need for this project?
Scotland has a number of independently-run local and hyperlocal newsrooms serving urban and rural communities whose needs are not being met by big publishers. Many survive on shoestring budgets and are run by micro-teams of dedicated journalists and volunteers. The precarious nature means that communities around Scotland risk having no local news coverage if work is not done to strengthen their sustainability.
The Scottish Beacon sees real benefit in collaboration to amplify and highlight stories from communities all around Scotland. This fills a gap that the current Scotland-wide news providers often don’t have the resources to cover.
Collaborative efforts between local news organisations will draw attention to under-reported issues that affect local communities and the vital work of independent local, community-based media.
The Scottish Beacon allows independent news publishers across Scotland to work together to strengthen both individual organisations and the independent news sector while creating a new – and much-needed – news publication.
Are you involved with an independent publication? Learn more about collaborative journalism and how to become part of Scottish Beacon.
Become a partner
Join a national network of collaborative journalism, bringing together the best stories published by Scotland’s independent media.
As well as the publication, we are creating a support network for sharing skills, resources, story ideas and advice.
Through this collaborative effort, independent media outlets can become sustainable, improve the quality of Journalism, amplify their reach and better evaluate the impact they bring to the communities they serve.
We really want The Scottish Beacon to keep growing! If you run a publication providing trusted public interest news to your community, please do get in touch.
