Journalist duo launch new title to serve historic town
'We want to dig deeper' say pair
Two journalists with a combined 35 years' experience in the regional press have set up a new title to serve the historic town where they live.
Emma Ryan and Ceri Oakes both worked for the Whitby Gazette in their early days in the industry before going on to work for a variety of national and regional titles.
Now they have returned to their roots to launch the Whitby Anchor, a new independent online newspaper for the North Yorkshire town.
The duo say they want to "dig deeper" into local issues which they say are not being covered by traditional media.
Emma, pictured right, told HTFP: "We feel there's a gap in covering the things that local people care about and really want to read about, the people who live here, not the visitors and tourists
"Health, transport, education. There's a lot of issues in Whitby surrounding those topics and they are not being looked at. We want to really look at the issues and stories around all those things."
Added Ceri: "We're people who are really passionate about the traditional standards we learned in journalism - going out and talking to people in person, going to local council meetings, turning up at events.
"We want to go out and dig a bit deeper."
Emma began her career at the Barnsley Chronicle in 2003 before joining the Gazette as a senior reporter in 2010.
She went on to work for the Yorkshire Evening Post and then the Yorkshire Post where she specialised in farming and rural journalism,. She continues to write regularly for the title.
Ceri joined the Gazette as its staff photographer in 2009 and went on to work in national news covering the North East of England for all the major daily newspapers.
Her photography has been featured in the Daily Mail, The Times, the Express, The Guardian and the BBC as well as The Yorkshire Post.
The Anchor's website went live earlier this month and the title already has hundreds of followers on its Facebook and Instagram accounts.
On its About page, it states its aim as providing "trusted and in-depth reporting on issues affecting Whitby, its residents and communities."
It states: "We are committed to providing fair, accurate and accessible local journalism, without paywalls.
"We are here to cover stories which shape daily life in Whitby. To help keep our communities informed and connected – as well as holding decision-makers to account.
"We believe a local news organisation should reflect the people it serves and that strong local journalism can contribute to a positive future for Whitby.
"We are passionate about giving the town, and its residents a voice, as well as documenting local life and asking the questions which matter."
