A Community Media Company
Our aim is to serve local communities by meeting their needs for local news, information and advertising services through a range of media including print and digital channels which together achieve unparalleled levels of market reach.
Community
Johnston Press newspapers and websites excel at engaging with their readers and 2010 was no exception. Awards ceremonies recognising a wealth of individual and group achievements are held in virtually every community we serve, covering unsung heroes, children, volunteers, business, environment, energy, theatre, commitment to community, and sport.
We’re heavily involved with schools and encouraging young people to interact with their local newspaper through projects, visits and creating advertisements and pages for actual publication.
We provide people with a forum for airing their views, with opportunities to meet politicians and other decision-makers and with the chance to shape their own newspapers and websites through reader panels.
Case study: The big red sofa – reaching out to the public in the Kettering area
Kettering Evening Telegraph editor Jeremy Clifford used a big red sofa as part of a campaign to enhance the role of the newspaper and its reporters in local communities. He hired it to place in shopping centres for “Meet the Editor” days when streams of people came to sit on the sofa and discuss issues with Jeremy and other key people including the company’s MD and local politicians.
Jeremy said: “It was a bit like being Parky for the day. Interviewing people but also bringing members of the public into contact with people they would not normally meet or talk to. One old lady met the editor and the mayor of the town - she went away saying we had made her day. The best feedback we had was people just wanting to come and talk to me about what they thought about their community and what they would like to see improved.”
Readers were also invited to attend weekly surgeries with reporters in a variety of public places and to share their views of their newspaper and community and how they’d like to see them improve or grow.