One disruptive startup Exeter can’t do without
Exeter is positioning itself as a global leader in sustainable living, but many obstacles to becoming a world-class environmental exemplar remain. If reality is to match rhetoric, significant local challenges must be met.
Attempts to deal with such problems are hampered by the way public policy is determined and delivered. Meanwhile other powerful yet unaccountable organisations and actors also significantly influence decision-making which affects us all.
Good quality local news coverage can help address these issues by providing accurate, relevant, timely information about who is deciding what on whose behalf and how the bill for these decisions will be paid.
However, the capacity of the press to perform these essential public interest tasks has been eroded and the editorial independence of existing local media is at risk.
Exeter Observer is part of an agile, innovative local news sector that has emerged in response to these systemic challenges to deliver independent community journalism with public interest at its heart.
An antidote to existing local media models
Exeter Observer is editorially and financially independent, which means we produce and distribute our content without political or commercial bias.
We aim to deliver investigative journalism and in-depth articles rooted in community interest with real relevance and impact while informing and empowering our readers.
We observe industry best-practice principles, are fully regulated, and are enabled by ordinary people who share our mission to strengthen civil society and help people participate more effectively in local democracy.
Help deliver the independent public interest community journalism Exeter needs
Exeter Observer is looking for occasional and regular contributors to help create and deliver our content.
We are also seeking compelling stories about issues affecting the public interest in Exeter and beyond.
Our capacity to scrutinise, investigate and report depends on having the resources to effectively interrogate information, arguments and the people who put them forward.
You can help sustain our research and writing about the issues that matter and ensure community interest journalism remains a public good which benefits everyone.
Exeter Observer is published by Greater Exeter CIC, a non-profit community interest company limited by guarantee, registration number 10711812.
Recent stories in Exeter Observer
Education union challenges university to address widespread casualisation of teaching staff
Exeter University & College Union (UCU) launched an anti-casualisation campaign on Friday as a prelude to negotiation with the University of Exeter over academic staff contracts.
Exeter protest misses its mark by mixing its messages
One of Exeter's biggest ever street demonstrations combined anti-Brexit and pro-democracy concerns to produce a confused protest against government policy.
Mock funeral march brings Exeter city centre to a sombre standstill
Extinction Rebellion campaigners brought the gravity of the ecological emergency home to Exeter on Saturday in a funereal procession commemorating wildlife loss caused by climate change.
Exeter could do better - was there no alternative to closing so many public toilets?
Exeter City Council did not need to close thirteen public toilets to balance the books. The money to keep them open was available in reserves, but no mention of this option was made during public decision-making by councillors or officers.
We already know what to do about the climate crisis. We must get on with doing it as fast as we can.
Exeter and Devon council leaders must begin rapid regional decarbonisation now. The quickest, cheapest way to cut emissions in Exeter is to deter combustion engines from entering the city. Clean air legislation offers a basis for action.