Newsnet Scotland was launched on March 2010 to address a perceived imbalance in the reporting of Scottish News and current affairs. We believe that a nation without a balanced media is the poorer for it. Staffed by volunteers Newsnet is the fastest growing news outlet in Scotland, each month we enjoy double digit readership growth.
I was chatting with Mick Fealty of Northern-Irish-Huff-Post-esque Slugger O'Toole today about the crisis of newspapers - and how they might learn from the way that passionate user communities stream a flow of free editorial into their networks. Newsnet Scotland is a paradigm example of the phenomenon. It was set up by some Scottish independence supporting activists and coders, and is explicitly aimed at redressing what they percieve to be (and arguably is) a media imbalance in the reporting of independence politics in the MSM (Mainstream Scottish Media), ie a bias towards "Unionist" (pro-UK) perspectives. Amid some kitschy cultural moments, Newsnet Scotland does a great service in giving its activist constituency a mix of curated pieces from independence-learning mainstream writers, and "commissioned" pieces from a range of activist voices (Thoughtland has already been sought out). Revenue? Trying to surmount the usual online ad hump. But vibrant and authentic to the mood of the Scottish Spring.