What’s coming up for 2025 on the Totnes Pulse?
The Team here at The Totnes Pulse would like to thank you for reading, contributing and supporting our journalistic venture.
It’s the beginning of our 2nd year as a Community Interest Company and 2025 marks 10 years since the project began.
We think we’re making good headway, but we also know we can do much better.
We have experienced writers from the BBC, Financial Times, Sky Arts, published writers and others contributing regularly and also have people starting out with writing. Our youngest contributor so far is Summer aged 9 who wrote a delightful review of her favourite local playgrounds. We are very keen to include all citizens of this wonderful area so if you have something to say, write or contribute – perhaps you’re doing some kind of writing or journalism course? – please contact info@totnespulse.co.uk – you really don’t have to be John Pilger, Carole Cadwalladr or George Monbiot to join in and we’ll be happy to help out with any questions.
In the new year we have a few new projects lined up –
The Totnes Talks Podcast
We are putting together a format to hear from anyone with a story in town – fame is not necessary. It’s fascinating to hear why people come to live in Totnes and it’s wonderful to hear stories of the older, less gentrified era of the town from people who are born and bred Totnesians. Do you know someone we should be talking to? Perhaps that’s you? Please get in touch on the email.
A Tie-in with The Barrel House
Another of our Totnes Pulse remits is to bring people together. Writer Adam Glennon has been working with Tracie Gillies at the Barrel House to organise free tickets to events for two people from different generations who will write up an appraisal based on our prompts of the evening – giving two perspectives on the same event. We’re looking forward to inviting participants to apply for the jobs!
We’d also like to know what you think of us and what we’re doing
We are participating in the Public Interest News Foundation 2025 Audiences Survey. With the drop in printed local news throughout the UK there is a worrying problem of a lack of scrutiny of local companies, authorities and, in fact everything! It’s a dangerous situation when anyone can act without anyone else noticing. Thankfully has been a surge of outfits like ours with the intention of filling that gap. We need to be able to do more of it but we also have to be accountable to tell the truth. The PINF Survey is a national project designed to find out how you feel about what we’re trying to achieve.
Would you like to join the Team?
There’s only 4 or 5 of us.. We really could use some help to widen our beady eyes! Perhaps you’d like to find out more about what we do and how we do it. The editor – (me) could use a bit of help managing the wheels and cogs behind the scenes – this is a wordpress site – it’s not too difficult, perhaps you would like to help collating the what’s on pages or doing a bit of digital typesetting – we all work from home so time is extremely flexible and we’re happy to do a bit training and handholding. This really is a community project. Get in touch on the email – info@totnespulse.co.uk
In the meantime we’d like to wish you a heartfelt Happy Christmas and New Year from the Totnes Pulse.
As a retired provincial journalist and editor, I congratulate all the Pulse team on its very existence! The loss of local news coverage across the country is tragic, not just for the industry itself, but for all our towns, villages and communities. Local newspapers had a vital role to play, not just through sharing information on events and happenings. They could, on occasions, hold councils and councillors to account and report on the effectiveness of justice through reporting magistrate and Crown Court proceedings. This coverage, as well as all the richness of local stories about local people, has largely been lost, so I am pleased to see the Pulse doing its bit in reporting local news, and hope it grows from strength to strength. Happy Christmas to all the team, and here’s to 2025.
Thank you for your support Jane – It’s very much appreciated.
You’re quite right about local councils, town, district and county. We need to do more to monitor and reflect what is happening in local authorities. We will continue to work on making improvements in our coverage.