Independent local publisher The Lincolnite and its spin-off app My Local have closed just a year after being shortlisted in Press Gazette’s Future of Media Awards.
The Lincolnite was a finalist in the news media app category after pivoting away from its website towards a purpose-built platform called My Local.
The app allowed it to publish its own news in a social media-style feed that also contained releases shared directly by organisations like the police and fire service.
However The Lincolnite announced on Tuesday it would stop publishing, including via My Local.
Founder Daniel Ionescu and director Katrina Burrill said: “After 14 years at the forefront of local journalism in Lincolnshire, we are announcing with a heavy heart that The Lincolnite has stopped publishing with immediate effect.
“Despite the best attempts to secure the future of the business, the publisher, Stonebow Media, has not been able to secure viable alternatives. Nine jobs have been sadly lost in the process.”
They added: “The Lincolnite and My Local will remain available to view for a period of time for archiving purposes, however the business has ceased trading.”
In an email to clients seen by Lincolnshire Live, Ionescu wrote: “As a valued client, we deeply regret to inform you that we are unable to fulfil any remaining obligations related to your advertising, events or other services.
“Given the company’s current financial situation, we are seeking professional advice on the next steps under the Insolvency Act 1986.
“Unfortunately, the company has no funds available to provide refunds or settle outstanding commitments. We understand the impact this may have on your business and sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Ionescu set up The Lincolnite in 2010 with a peer from his journalism course at the University of Lincoln, initially as a “little summer project” but then it continued when it became more popular than they expected.
A Carnegie Trust report on successful local news outlets published in 2015 claimed it was Lincoln’s “most popular source of online local news”.
It successfully won a local democracy reporter contract in 2017 and managed to avoid furloughing or letting go any staff during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The brand did not run any programmatic advertising, instead concentrating on direct sales. The My Local feed included sponsored posts and it also had a jobs board. Ionescu told Press Gazette last year around one-third of The Lincolnite’s content, the best original reporting, was behind a paywall.
In April 2023, the latest data Press Gazette has available, My Local feed had 750,000 unique users as the transition towards the app began – although the old website still had 150,000 users as well.
Ionescu said they had set a goal to convert “maybe 5% over a year of our audience” into paying subscribers.
The creation of the app came, he said, as they “looked at creating alternative sources of revenue and not becoming too overly reliant on traffic from social media” amid a decline in referrals to publishers from Facebook in particular.
My Local benefited from a round of angel investment last year and the goal was for it to become its own business separate from The Lincolnite.
Ionescu told us: “We’ve done this to create a sustainable future for us and for others alongside us, and build this model to move forward.”
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