Rye’s local newspaper could be forced to close unless more volunteers come forward to help secure its future. A range of roles are urgently needed at Rye News, including the post of editor.
Each week over 6000 people read Rye News and almost 3000 receive a weekly email update. The paper also has thousands of followers on social media.
Two events are being organised where local people can find more about joining the team. The first is at Rye Kino on Monday 3 August at 6pm to 7.30pm. Later in the month, the team will be at the Green Waves Festival at the Tilling Green Community Centre on Saturday 15 August 11am to 5pm.
“Rye News is almost unique in being volunteer run,” said James Stewart, who stands down as editor in mid-September. “Very few towns in England rely on volunteers to fill the gap left by the collapse of the local media sector. Is this a crisis? I think so. Rye News has thrived for 12 years because of the hard work of an increasing small group of volunteers. That’s now unsustainable and we really need people in Rye to join us to help the paper continue.”
“I’ve loved being editor,” he said. “It’s a brilliant opportunity to meet people as Rye is full of fascinating people to interview. There are so many news stories which won’t be covered anywhere else if the paper closes.”
The editor leads the team, chooses the stories the paper covers, and makes sure Rye News reflects life in the town. He or she also responds to queries from readers and helps find people to write for the paper.
Rye News also needs more volunteers to write for the paper by covering events and following up ideas and stories. No journalistic experience is needed and training will be provided. The paper is encouraging more local groups and charities to send in stories.
Help is needed too with publishing the paper each week. The roles here include double-checking what’s written and setting up the paper for publication each Thursday afternoon.
“It’s an exciting time to be joining Rye News,” said Peter Connock, the chair of the charity that runs the paper. “We’re moving to a new publishing system very soon that will make the paper look and feel more modern, with better opportunities for audio and video. It will also make Rye News easier to write for and publish, but it’s crucial more people join us.”
The paper is funded through advertising, grants and generous donations from subscribers and local people. It has been entirely run by volunteers since it began in 2014, publishing around 25 stories a week from news to community features, stories that celebrate the local area and opinion pieces giving people in Rye and the surrounding villages a voice.
If you can’t make the event at Rye Kino but would still like to know about joining the Rye News team, please contact the current editor James Stewart at jsryenews@gmail.com or chair Peter Connock at cpconnock@icloud.com.
Image Credits: Rye News .
Unthinkable to have Fridays without Rye News popping in the inbox!
I sincerely hope it continues as a source of local news and comment.
As an annual visitor to Rye from the U.S., I read the news every week to keep up with activities in the beloved town. I edited a newsletter for 25 years during my working life and am so sorry to be too far away to help.
I was worried this morning that it did not arrive at 8am as per usual. I hope to attend on Monday 3rd.
As the Rye News editor indicates, the current volunteer-led publishing model is — unfortunately — unsustainable. For RN to have a secure future, it must introduce a financial model that works. Essentially, three or four core people are committing themselves to the paper full-time, without remuneration — a state of affairs that’s proving impossible to sustain. A rethink is needed as to how RN should operate in future. I would advise moving to a subscription model (as other newspapers have done), with salaries awarded to 3-4 core editorial staff and payment offered on a wordage basis to trusted freelance contributors who provide occasional exclusive hard news stories. Many of the articles would, of course, still be contributed free by local people. I would, however, strongly urge that individuals or organisations wishing to publicise commercial events or promote their own businesses should pay Rye News for advertising — rather than expecting this to be offered free of charge. Regarding photographs, almost everyone now has a powerful digital camera in the form of a mobile phone. Good photos are readily available from any number of sources. In short, I believe RN’s difficulties could be solved by switching to a hybrid subscription/volunteer model — so long as people support it and recognise that they need to pay something for a high-quality local media service.