As head of content at Derbyshire Live, I’m often asked as a conversation starter: “What was the biggest story you covered today?” To tell you the truth, I often struggle to remember. We publish so much and at such a pace that it tends to go in one ear and out the other. It’s probably a survival instinct – I’m not sure my head would cope if I retained everything.
So the New Year is a perfect opportunity to look back at our biggest articles of 2024. And there really have been quite a few.
Top of the list was our campaign to save train manufacturer Alstom. It wasn’t a dead cert that we’d have the resources to win this huge battle. But with the dedication of our journalists, the teamwork of fellow Derby businesses and the backing of local politicians, we saved hundreds of jobs. We were even thanked in Parliament – a proud day for us.
Another moment of pride was Derby’s resistance to the anti-immigration protests which shook the country back in July and August. We were there, on the ground, to see huge crowds line Normanton Road, showing that our city is not only a tolerant and welcoming place but also – perhaps more importantly – that the people of Derby have a backbone. It wasn’t an easy thing to turn up, but turn up they did.
To some, Shrovetide in Ashbourne is a tradition never to be missed, and to others it remains a strange oddity that they’ve never quite understood. Once again, as we are every year, Derbyshire Live proved to be the place to go for minute-by-minute coverage as the Up’Ards battled against the Down’Ards in this medieval football tournament – “a local game for local people”. I’m proud that readers who had moved as far away as Australia and the US were tuning in to our text and video coverage to recapture the magic. And we’ll be back in 2025 too.
It’s important to lead the agenda in this business. And with the city centre, we really have. We’ve covered the huge number of empty shops, the state of St Peter’s Street and an apparent lack of police action against public drug-takers. But it’s not just the negative stuff. We’ve also provided detailed and extensive accounts of the many projects planned, including an exclusive walk around the centre with the city council’s leader – the kind of access we have earned after decades of building relationships.
This year, our journalists were the first to report the wide-ranging crisis hitting arts venues across the city, from the Museum of Making to the Quad and dance venue Deda. Part of our job is to pick up on all the seemingly small things and bring them together into something more impactful that tells the whole story.
But please don’t give up on the city centre. One green shoot of hope has been Electric Daisy, the public garden in Bold Lane that has quickly become one of the area’s most-visited spots. Despite being outdoor-only, with some sheltered bits, it still attracts punters during the colder months. And more exciting plans are in the pipeline. It’s great to see that people with big ideas still have faith in Derby.
The topic of asylum seekers is something our American friends would call a “hot-button issue”. It gets people talking. But our purpose is to get out there and find out exactly what’s happening – instead of, as some might be tempted to do, firing off a few provocative tweets and hoping for the best. That’s what we did in the run-up to Christmas, attending an asylum advice centre to discover that volunteers were shocked at the sheer numbers of those who had turned up. We’ve also covered the cases of those who have, tragically, ended up sleeping rough.
We believe that news should be free for everyone, and we are always listening and striving to improve. But in the meantime, we hope we’ve served you well. We look forward to continuing that relationship in 2025. If there’s something you’d like to see us cover more of, please send me an email at george.allen@reachplc.com.