Social Spider CIC was born through the creation of community media, where members of the general public create media for people like themselves.
Social Spider Community News currently publishes five not-for-profit local newspapers: Waltham Forest Echo, Tottenham Community Press, Enfield Dispatch, EC1 Echo and Barnet Post. We’re excited about making media work for people in a period where local newspapers business models are collapsing – and blogging about how we do it. We believe that good factual media can change the world and that communities can make good media that serves their needs.
Previously, Social Spider CIC created and ran a national magazine writer by people with mental health difficulties, for people with mental health difficulties for seven years. We’ve delivered young people’s participatory media projects.
Areas of expertise: bootstrapping community media projects, publishing, participatory media, journalism, editorial, advertising
We are working to develop business models for community media that will ensure that communities that need them can find high quality journalism and information in ways that reflects the realities of their lives. We’re exploring the way that publications can be bootstrapped from scratch in communities that need them in the cheapest, most sustainable way.