How local newspapers like Enfield Dispatch are becoming even more important as social media platforms plummet to new depths

Social media (credit Julian Christ via Unsplash)

Are you alarmed that Meta has axed its team of fact checkers, or that X is amplifying disinformation through its algorithm, while also now being owned and run by a senior member of the US government?

Last summer’s riot in Southport was sparked by a false rumour spread on social media, while barely a major news story now goes by without a wild conspiracy theory about it being conjured up somewhere online. China, Russia and other unfriendly state actors have been blamed for fuelling this spread of disinformation, as they hope to spark discord and destabilise the Western democracies they view as their enemies.

What can we do about this? Well, while these issues are global, surely a good starting point is to support local independent media. Enfield Dispatch is now in its seventh year and has been recognised by the News Awards – twice – as one of the UK’s best community news publications.

Local media has a crucial role to play as a source of reliable news, almost as a first defence against online disinformation. We check the facts, do the research, and speak to the people involved in local news stories to provide you with accurate and reliable information. On the very rare occasion when we do make an honest mistake, we correct it as soon as we can.

We have no agenda aside from reporting the truth about what is happening in your local community and championing the people and organisations in Enfield that are working to make this borough a better place to live.

As regular readers will know, the last couple of years have been very difficult for us and our publisher, Social Spider CIC, as we have faced a number of challenges with our finances. We still rely on local advertising for around 75% of our income and, when the economy struggles as it has done now for a long time, this source of revenue inevitably drops. That’s why we have appealed directly to our readers for more support to get us through this difficult period – and, because we are a not-for-profit social enterprise, any extra money we do get directly supports our journalism.

While we are not completely out of this difficult period, the last couple of months has seen us secure some additional and much-needed funding. Last month we explained how Local Motion Enfield was supporting us to help print and distribute 5,000 extra copies of the paper to the more deprived eastern side of the borough. This month we can also confirm that another source of funding from a local businessperson has enabled us to expand the amount of journalism that we produce in print, increasing the size of the paper from 16 pages to 20 for at least the next twelve editions.

We are tremendously grateful for this extra support, as well as the continued and loyal support we receive from the 249 people who give us monthly donations of between £3 and £10, as well as the ‘patrons’ who collectively donated almost £10,000 during our appeal last year. We couldn’t have continued producing this paper without you, and we hope you’ll continue helping us to fight back against the agents of disinformation on social media and elsewhere, for a long time to come.

Support Enfield Dispatch with a regular donation:
Visit enfielddispatch.co.uk/support-us

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

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