Draft:Bylines Network

The Bylines Network is ten online platforms for citizen journalism in the UK begun in April 2020 by Mike Galsworthy and Louise Houghton, who are also two of its four directors. It is a sister organisation to Byline Times, a British newspaper and website founded in March 2019 by its executive editors Peter Jukes and Stephen Colegrave. Jukes and Colgrave are the other two Bylines Network directors. The network is non-profit, largely volunteer-run, and adopts a model combining independent local, regional, and national news and other stories by citizen writers with high journalistic standards. It is regulated by the Independent Monitor for the Press (Impress).

Operations

The Bylines Network consists of eight regional Bylines in England and two national platforms, most publishing at least once daily. It runs an app for Android and iOS that enables users to access both Bylines Network and Byline Times articles and podcasts, as well as Byline TV, a subscriber-funded video channel.

The network engages with the Public Interest News Foundation (PINF), the UK Parliament, and others to promote the role of independent public interest journalism and its sustainability in a healthy democracy. It periodically runs webinars with speakers of note on matters of importance to civil society and democracy, and publishes themed digital gazettes on such issues as independent news and freeports.

History

The Bylines Network was born out of the local structures of the People's Vote campaign, a UK-wide network of grassroots groups.

Yorkshire Bylines was launched in April 2020, with co-founder and director Louise Houghton as Editor-in-Chief. North East Bylines and West England Bylines followed in July 2020, Sussex Bylines in August 2020, Kent and Surrey Bylines (Surrey was added in 2023) in January 2021, East Anglia Bylines in July 2021, North West Bylines in February 2022, Bylines Scotland in August 2022, and Bylines Cymru in March 2023. East Midland Bylines, launched in September 2020, became Central Bylines in September 2022. West Country Bylines became the non-Bylines publication West Country Voices. The Bylines Network registered as a not-for-profit company, Bylines Networks Ltd, in July 2021.

Purpose

The stated aim of the Bylines Network is "to publish well-written, fact-based articles and opinion pieces on subjects that are of interest to people in our area and beyond. In doing so, we seek to demonstrate democracy in action by giving a voice to local people and holding our elected representatives to account. This is made possible by our independence – both from government control and from the influence of corporate interests."

Dylan Moore at the Institute of Welsh Affairs wrote, upon the launch of Bylines Cymru, that: "Citizen journalism is different from mainstream journalism because it is based on the principle that ordinary people, not professional journalists, can be the main creators and distributors of news. 'Ordinary people' should of course be at the heart of any solution to the crisis facing Wales's media and democracy, because by 'ordinary people' we mean ourselves; wherever we are from, whatever our background."