Hyperlocal news website Huddersfield Hub is celebrating its fourth birthday – and it’s all about re-inventing local journalism.

Founded on February 7th 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic as an antidote to all the doom and gloom, Huddersfield Hub branded itself a ‘positive news website’ and struck a real chord with local people.

Run by experienced Huddersfield journalist Martin Shaw, Huddersfield Hub is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company set up to provide a platform for the local community, covering news, business, grassroots sport, what’s on, fundraising and community activities.

With the mainstream media basing its business model on page views and ‘clickbait content’, Martin’s ambition is to find a new, sustainable way to fund local journalism that doesn’t rely on clicks at all costs.
Martin, a journalist in Kirklees for 38 years, said: “I’m an old school journalist and proud of it. I live and breathe local news and I’m passionate about journalism and its future.

“The decline of local newspapers and the loss of newspaper sales revenue and advertising and a failure to adapt to the opportunities of the internet, has left journalism in a parlous state.

“Clickbait headlines, fake news and content cut and pasted from social media has damaged the reputation of journalists and local newspapers but yet the checks and balances provided by journalists are needed today more than ever.

“The challenge for me in creating Huddersfield Hub wasn’t about writing great stories, it was about how can we fund proper local journalism and get back to the days when every town had a great local newspaper.”
Huddersfield Hub’s business model is based on sponsorship and advertising and there’s also a Patrons scheme, a voluntary subscription, where readers pay £4.99 a month.

Martin added: “Huddersfield Hub is all about supporting Huddersfield and the local community and we’ll never make a compulsory charge for our content – we want to be open and accessible to everyone.

“However, the Patrons scheme is a way for our readers to support what we do. It’s just like the cover price of a newspaper – except much, much cheaper and infinitely better value!

“We have a loyal group of committed sponsors – two of whom have been with us almost since we started – Syngenta and Stafflex – and supporting Huddersfield Hub is about supporting Huddersfield and its community.

“Sponsorship with Huddersfield Hub is also about Corporate Social Responsibility, marketing and awareness and associating a company’s brand with Huddersfield Hub’s vision and ethos and unique brand of positive, supportive local news.”

To find out how sponsorship with Huddersfield Hub could benefit your business please email martin@huddersfieldhub.co.uk.

To sign up as a Patron – for less than the cost of a coffee and slice of cake – go to https://huddersfieldhub.co.uk/become-a-patron-new/