Exeter Observer delivers independent, engaged, transparent, ethical and accountable public interest community journalism for all who live or work in or around Exeter.
Independent
Exeter Observer is editorially and financially independent:
- no media barons or shady investors
- no advertorial, rehashed press releases or clickbait churnalism
- no party political allegiances or party political broadcasts
- no invasions of privacy or profit-driven commercial agenda
- no relentlessly uncritical cheerleading.
Engaged
Exeter Observer is rooted in community interest:
- all that is important (and nothing that is not) for people who live or work in Exeter
- what’s being done in their name, by whom, with their public assets and money
- free journalism training courses to enable community contributors
- stories that amplify local voices, support democratic dialogue and inspire action for change.
Responsive
Exeter Observer delivers content with real relevance:
- challenging established narratives by presenting and evidencing progressive ideas
- offering wider context for stakeholders to explore common interest issues from multiple perspectives.
Transparent
Exeter Observer informs and empowers its readers:
- identifying policy- and decision-making bodies and explaining their roles
- clarifying spatial contexts and the democratic representation that goes with them
- providing a repository of research resources including key policy documents
- publishing guides to key people and organisations.
Ethical
Exeter Observer observes industry best-practice principles:
- stories are fair, balanced and non-exploitative
- case studies are responsibly sourced
- right to reply is respected
- information is verified
- sources are protected
- mistakes are publicly acknowledged and corrected.
Accountable
Exeter Observer is fully regulated:
- as a CIC we must pass a community interest test and submit an annual report <!–
- as a Community Benefit Society we must pass a community benefit test and submit an annual report (to the Financial Conduct Authority)
- as a Community Benefit Society we are owned and run by our members who are regularly consulted and vote on operational & editorial policies at Annual General Meetings –>
- as a registered data controller we are subject to the ICO’s complaints procedure
- as an IMPRESS member we adhere to a Standards Code and have a robust complaints procedure with access to an independent arbitration service
- as an ICNN member we maintain our editorial independence and high professional standards via adherence to the NUJ Code of Conduct.
- as a member of the BBC Local News Partnerships we meet strict eligibility criteria and maintain standards including adherence to the Editors’ Code of Practice.
Public interest
Exeter Observer aims to strengthen civil society and help people participate more effectively in local democracy by:
- increasing public understanding of complex systems and policy- and decision-making processes
- making pertinent information more widely accessible
- stimulating more inclusive and better-informed deliberation and debate.
Community journalism
Exeter Observer is enabled by people who share our mission:
- owned and managed, researched and written, designed and laid out, promoted and distributed by people like you who live or work in or around Exeter.
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.
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.
Feature / Democracy & governance
Exeter & East Devon council accounts delayed by Grant Thornton's "lack of staff resources"
Annual accounts for local government, including Exeter City Council, have been delayed by private sector firms failing to complete their work on time after cost-cutting government auditing reforms.
Analysis / Democracy & governance
Conservative vote share varies across Devon but still blocks an Independent MP in East Devon
Labour loses vote share in every constituency, but retains Exeter and Plymouth Sutton & Devonport to leave the county position unchanged from 2017.
News / Democracy & governance
Conservatives hold Topsham in Exeter city council by-election
A by-election held on general election day produced an unusually high turnout but a lower Conservative vote share than at the May local elections.
Feature / Democracy & governance
East Devon Independent Claire Wright set to unite Remain voters in close historic two-way contest
Claire Wright is poised to make history by beating the Tories in East Devon next week. If she does it will be without thanks to the LibDems and Greens, who insisted on standing candidates against her despite the preferences of local party members and the Unite to Remain campaign.
News / Education & skills
University of Exeter staff strike over pay, pensions and working conditions
The Exeter branch of the University & College Union (UCU) is taking part in a national eight day strike for fair pay and pensions, including equal pay for female and BAME staff, and against casualisation and increasing workloads.