One Year On… from the launch

It’s time to do the accounts at Totnes Pulse Towers – we all love that don’t we?

It’s 12 months on from setting up as a Community Interest Company and 8 years since Mark El-Khadi and myself set up this online magazine as you see it now.

Part of the rules and regulations mean we have to complete a CIC 34 Company Report with a statement of how we have benefitted the community. So have we “benefitted the community“?

We’ve certainly tried to. Increasingly, facts and data are becoming confused with opinion and rhetoric. Social media has given everyone a voice, which is great, but it’s also enabled unsubstantiated nonsense to sway opinions and influence. Which is bad. Local journalism has been in decline throughout the UK but a more recent resurgence of projects much like the Pulse are starting to appear around the country.

Examination

One of our primary aims is to bring scrutiny to our area with properly fact checked information – it takes much longer to do this but it’s important. That doesn’t mean we can’t express a view on subjects, but it does mean you should know when we are voicing an opinion. We are proud to be a regulated member of Impress who independently ensure we uphold a standard of ethical journalism.

Our reports on Dartington Trust for example, have once or twice, elicited a “What have you got against them?” kind of response. The answer is absolutely nothing. We recognise that the Estate is immeasurably important to our region and a much loved establishment that means a great deal to people. It’s literally our job to report on what we know and we’re going to work hard to make sure what we publish is accurate. In my view, scrutiny works for everyone. clarity is what we’re trying to achieve. We genuinely wish all the management and staff the best to save the estate from ‘becoming a Center Parc’ as was once confided to me.

Print it!

I often get asked why we don’t go to print. Time and cost are the answers to this.  A printed magazine with event listings would be great but collating, designing and printing takes a lot of time, technical skills and (something we don’t have a lot of) money. We’re very proud to present the most comprehensive local events pages in the region – it’s takes up quite a lot of time – this Saturday (30th) has listings for 16 events! It’s usual to have 6-8 happening every day. It’s not absolutely complete so if you have something happening or coming up – please use the “Add An Event” option to get it on the site and publically available to all our visitors – they want to know! It’s free and simple – The link is here.

We now have over 500 subscribers who recieve a weekly email summerising all the stories we publish through the week. If you would like to subscribe for free – fill in the short form on this page. Last week, unusually, we didn’t send one out – Why? Because there were only two stories to highlight. In my view, an email with so little to tell is more of an annoyance than useful correspondance so if we ain’t got something to say…! This week there is much more to present as is usual.

Thank you

There are a huge number of people to thank – we had a big leg up from the Community of Dragons earlier this year with so many offers of help that we actually were unable to take all of them up – so big apologies for not taking up all the pledges we were offered, we just didn’t have the resources to take them all up. Maybe later?

We really want to thank the many contributors who have written for the magazine and helped with stories behind the scenes. If you have a story to tell we would like to hear it and we especially welcome your own citizen reporting. If you’re not confident about writing or what’s needed – we’re happy to have a chat. info@totnespulse.co.uk

What’s next?

Work is well under way to present regular audio podcasts – there are two strands in the pipeline ‘Totnes Talks’ a format featuring interviews with people connected to Totnes Town in one way or another – the emphasis is on regular people. I’m sure we will have a celebrity or two but everyone has a story to tell… The other is Jim Funnells’ major investigation into our Freeports “The Incoherent Truth” – many are unaware that Totnes is included in the Plymouth Freeport and Jim finds out what this means for our region.

We’re also looking to encourage younger voices with a prize competition coming up in the new year and a project in conjunction with the Barrel House.

Zoe, Jim, Mark and me are always ready and waiting for feedback on the Totnes Pulse – whether it’s criticism, guidance, help, suggestions or new ideas – please always feel free to get in touch – info@totnespulse.co.uk

Thanks so much for visiting the Totnes Pulse –

Peter Shearn – Editor