The Staffordshire Signal secures government Local News Fund investment to shape the future of Staffordshire news

The Staffordshire Signal has been awarded £51,434 from the government's Local News Fund, our first ever external investment. In the new year we'll launch Signal TV, a podcast and a free smart phone app, giving everyone in Staffordshire more ways to read, watch, hear and support their local news.

THE SIGNAL BRIEF

What's new: The Staffordshire Signal has secured £51,434 from the government's Local News Fund, its first external investment.

By the numbers: The Signal is one of 50 news organisations sharing £6 million in funding across England and Wales.

What's next: Signal TV, a weekly podcast and a free smartphone app will launch in the new year, with the funded project ending in March 2027.

Worth knowing: The grant is restricted to developing the new services. Existing journalism and publishing costs still depend on community support.

A long time coming

I'll be honest, this one has been a long time coming.

When I launched The Staffordshire Signal, plenty of people told me I was mad. Print was dead, local news was dying, and nobody would pay for either. We went ahead and printed a magazine anyway. We had no investors, no grants and no wealthy backer waiting in the wings. What we did have was you: readers, subscribers, advertisers and volunteers who believed Staffordshire deserved news owned by Staffordshire.

So I'm incredibly proud to tell you that The Staffordshire Signal has been awarded £51,434 from the government's Local News Fund. It's the first external investment we've ever received, and it was announced today, fittingly, during Journalism Matters Week.

We're one of 50 local news organisations across England and Wales to share in the £6 million fund, and you can see the full list of recipients on GOV.UK. For a small, independent, not-for-profit newsroom based in Staffordshire, that's quite something.

What is the Local News Fund?

The way we get our news has changed beyond recognition. More of us read it online, on social media and from a growing tangle of sources, some far more reliable than others. At the same time, the government is handing more power to local areas, so someone needs to keep an eye on how it's used.

That's where local journalism comes in. It holds power to account, and it's one of our best defences against misinformation and disinformation online.

The Local News Fund sits at the heart of the government's Amplify: The Local Media Action Plan. It aims to strengthen communities, bring people together, rebuild trust and support local growth, all by backing local journalism.

Most of the money has gone to local print, online, TV and radio outlets, with grants of up to £125,000 spread across every region of England and Wales. It's being used for community outreach, digital tools, apps and new multimedia services that help newsrooms reach new and younger audiences while building more sustainable income. In other words, it isn't a handout to keep the lights on. It's an investment in doing things differently.

Not handed out lightly

Nobody got this money by filling in a form and crossing their fingers. To apply at all, we had to prove a track record of providing local journalism for at least the past 12 months, and show that our content is editorially accountable.

Every bid then faced a technical assessment by the Government Grants Managed Service and a strategic assessment by an independent steering board of industry experts. They judged each one on quality, deliverability and likely impact, both now and in the long run, before the Department for Culture, Media and Sport made the final decisions. Plenty of strong bids didn't make it.

The fund isn't stopping here, either. Next year, £1 million will go towards tackling "news deserts", places with no dedicated local news outlet at all, and up to a further £5 million will be available to support sustainability and innovation across the sector.

What we're building

Over the coming months, we're setting up three new ways to bring you the news, all launching in the new year.

Signal TV. Proper local video journalism: documentaries, news reports, vox pops and event coverage from right across Staffordshire, including coverage of the south and east of the county. Staffordshire is a huge county with so much to offer, yet most of us rarely venture beyond our own corner of it. We want Signal TV to help bring the county together, showing the north what the south has been up to, and vice versa.

Signal TV is made with local students, working on real productions for a real audience. Our first proper project with them, a documentary about Foxfield Colliery, is in production now, and I can't wait for you to see it.

The Signal podcast. A weekly round-up of Staffordshire's news, read by me, plus local interviews, explainers and more, for the commute, the school run or the dog walk.

The Staffordshire Signal app. A free, fully featured smartphone app bringing our stories, Signal TV and the podcast together in one place, with no algorithm deciding what you see. Just Staffordshire news, videos, the podcast and much more.

To make it all happen, we're setting up a proper video production kit, a podcasting studio, interview kit and more. In short, everything a newsroom needs to tell Staffordshire's stories properly, and quite a few things our students have never had their hands on before.

No one left out

Local news should belong to everyone, not just those who can afford a subscription or find it easy to read off a screen. That's why accessibility runs through everything we're building.

Signal TV won't sit behind a paywall, and every film will carry subtitles. The podcast means you can listen rather than read, the print magazine stays free, and the app is being built to be accessible from day one.

Whether you want to read, watch or listen, on paper, on your phone or on your telly, you'll be able to get your local news in whatever way suits you.

A bigger team and a sustainable future

The funding has also allowed us to take on a full-time member of staff to help deliver all of this. For a newsroom that has so far run on goodwill and plenty of iced coffee, that's a genuinely big deal.

Our long-term aim is a sustainable future built on the support of the people we serve, through subscriptions, local advertising and community backing. That support is what lets us produce better journalism and build closer relationships with every corner of the county.

This grant is a chance to make supporting the Signal easier, and to give you more ways to engage with the stories, people and issues that matter across Staffordshire. It means we can give more back to our communities, you can support us in new ways, and everyone can get their local news in the way they want. Above all, it helps us try new ideas, reach new audiences and build a stronger future for trusted, independent local journalism here.

But I want to be straight with you about one thing. Grant money comes with strict rules. Ours is ring-fenced for setting up Signal TV, the podcast and the app, and the project ends in March 2027. It doesn't pay for our day-to-day reporting, the magazine, the Signal Weekly newsletter or the cost of keeping an independent newsroom going. Those still depend entirely on you.

Put simply, the government has helped us buy the tools. Only Staffordshire can keep them running.

Be part of what comes next

Local businesses, there are now more ways than ever to reach real local people: the magazine, Signal Weekly, the website and newsletter, and in the new year Signal TV, the podcast and the app. No competing against a million pop-ups and algorithms, just your business in front of people who live, work and shop on your doorstep.

Everyone else, there's a place for you here too. Whether it's TV, podcasting, the app, the website, news, photography, journalism or the magazine, if you'd like to get involved, we'd love to hear from you. Students, volunteers, community groups and anyone with a story to tell are all welcome.

You can subscribe, enquire about advertising or get in touch at www.thestaffordshiresignal.co.uk.

Thank you

None of this would have happened without you. Every copy read, story shared, subscription taken out and advert booked helped prove that Staffordshire wants its own independent news. The government may have signed the cheque, but you're the reason we were worth backing.

Here's to the next chapter. I hope you'll come along for it.

Jenna Goodwin, Founder, Editor and CEO, The Staffordshire Signal

Why the Signal exists

Real news takes time. Thanks for taking yours.

You've just read a story that took time to get right. No clickbait, no racing to be first, no ads chasing you down the page.

I started The Staffordshire Signal because I got fed up of local news that chased clicks instead of stories. We're independent, not-for-profit, IMPRESS-regulated and owned right here, so we answer to nobody but you.

The honest bit: local news only survives if local people choose it. If we don't, it goes.

Jenna GoodwinFounder and Editor, The Staffordshire Signal

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