A Different Kind of Local News
Local journalism in the UK is in crisis. The Government's own 2026 Amplify report confirmed it: a democratic emergency, a "market failure," 4.4 million people living in news deserts. Historic titles absorbed by distant corporations. Newsrooms hollowed out. "Local" news decided hundreds of miles away by people who have never walked the streets of Stoke-on-Trent or the Moorlands.
The Staffordshire Signal exists to do the opposite. We are proof that a different model works, one built on people rather than profit, on trust rather than traffic.
Who We Are, and Who Pays Us
The Staffordshire Signal is published by The Staffordshire Signal CIC, a Community Interest Company. That legal structure matters, because it is our financial disclosure as much as our identity.
As a CIC, we operate under an asset lock. Every penny of surplus we generate is legally required to stay in Staffordshire and fund public interest journalism, it cannot be extracted as profit or paid out to shareholders, because we have none. We are funded through local advertising, magazine sponsorship, reader memberships and donations, and, where we're successful, public funding such as the DCMS Local News Fund. We hold no political affiliation and no ideological allegiance beyond a fierce belief that Staffordshire deserves better coverage than it has been getting. Where we take a position, it is on the side of accuracy, fairness and the public's right to know, never on the side of a party or a cause.
We are regulated by IMPRESS, the independent press regulator, and held to its Standards Code on accuracy, fairness and transparency. You can read more about how we handle errors on our Corrections and Clarifications page, and how to raise a concern on our Complaints Procedure page.
What We've Built in Our First Year
We didn't just talk about a better model, we built one.
The printed magazine. A high end, tactile publication distributed free across the county, because we believe the "analogue life" deserves a place alongside the digital one, and because not everyone in Staffordshire is online.
The Staffordshire Signal Weekly. Our quality email newspaper, delivered free to inboxes every Wednesday, built to be read calmly, without the pop-ups, auto-play videos and clickbait that make so much local news unreadable.
The Staffordshire Signal TV. Long-form documentary and video journalism, produced in genuine partnership with T Level Media students from City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College. Our first major project, a documentary on Foxfield Colliery, including a rare interview with one of the last living miners from the site. This is investment in the next generation of Staffordshire journalists, not just content.
Investigative and accountability journalism. From animal welfare prosecutions to planning and heritage battles across the county, we report the stories that affect people's lives, not just the ones that generate clicks.
A growing team. What started as one person with a radical idea has become a newsroom, with junior reporters, student placements, and volunteers who believe in what we're building enough to give their time to it.
Where We're Going
This is the beginning, not the finish line.
We are working to expand Signal TV further, extending student placements to Stoke-on-Trent College, universities, colleges and local high schools, so that more young people get a genuine route into local journalism. We are developing a dedicated Signal app, bringing our news, TV and audio together in one calm, ad-light space designed around our readers rather than an algorithm. We are launching a weekly audio bulletin, so the Signal can be listened to as a podcast as easily as it can be read. And we continue to pursue public funding, including the DCMS Local News Fund, to grow all of this sustainably, without ever compromising our independence or our asset lock.
The Three Pillars of the Signal
People over profit. Our mission is our bottom line. Every surplus is reinvested in Staffordshire to keep independent journalism free and accessible, forever.
Collaboration over competition. We don't own the news, we share it. We work alongside local makers, students, charities and diverse voices to reflect the real character of the county.
Accessible information. The public record belongs to the public. We provide a clean, ad-light, paywall-free space for the news and information that shape people's lives, in print, online, on screen and, soon, in audio.
Why This Matters Now
The Government's 2026 Local Media Action Plan calls for "strong, plural, locally-rooted media." The Staffordshire Signal is Staffordshire's answer to that call, built here, accountable here, and reinvested here.
Together, we are stronger. Together, we are Staffordshire.
Our Official Supporters
A healthy newsroom requires partnership. We are proud to stand alongside the institutions, universities, and businesses that share our vision for a self-confident, well-informed Staffordshire.
