J-Lab Episode 35: Reimagining local news with Joshi Herrmann of The Mill

Our guest this time is Joshi Herrmann, who began the pandemic intending to write a book in the Czech Republic… but instead launched a venture in Manchester that shows there might after all be a viable future for good quality, local news reporting. In just 18 months, Joshi Herrmann has signed up 16,000 free subscribers (and more than 1,000 paid) to The Mill, his weekly email newsletter. And thanks to funding from Substack, he has launched two more titles: The Tribune in Sheffield and The Post in Liverpool. In this episode, you'll hear Joshi explain the business model behind The Mill, describe how its journalism differs from traditional local newspaper reporting, and unpick why he made the switch from working as a national and international journalist. J-Lab is a podcast brought to you by the Civic Journalism Lab at Newcastle University.