Mill Media

🏊‍♀️You've got your Mugdocks, you've got your Loch Lomonds, but what about swimming in the city? It seems like a recipe for hypothermia and cholera, and maybe it is. But it was once all the rage in Glasgow.

‘They’re gunna say conspiracy and that I sent the hit’ Dubai flights, damning texts and a two year fight for justice

“Let’s hope their investigation is shit then you can come home,” wrote Paris Askew to her boyfriend Ethan Hallows on 17 December 2023, four days after Kevin Pokuta had died.

“They picked the wrong team," says DS Lindsay Harding.

This is the story of how South Yorkshire Police cracked a conspiracy.

A keystone of future prosperity? Or a drain on London's efforts to build new homes?

We go inside the data centre boom rewiring the capital. Link below.

🏆 Huge congrats to @molliesimpson.bsky.social , named the Rising Star by Women in Journalism.

“A major @manchestermill.bsky.social investigation into the University of GM which resulted in a police investigation into alleged financial irregularities regarding suspected fraud and bribery.”

Is this the future of local news? The Manchester Mill model goes nationwide

The decline of local newspapers has created a big gap - with areas struggling to build new models of coverage.

But some have been bucking the trend - in particular @millmedia.bsky.social founded as @manchestermill.bsky.social in Manchester.

Find out more: futurenorth.substack.com/p/is-this-th...

First the vice chancellor was suspended, now the chair of the board of governors is gone too Another big development at the University of Greater Manchester

William Morris, chair of @uni-greatermcr.bsky.social’s board – the most influential person at the university - has resigned

It comes after we reported a curious arrangement in which his wife Baroness Morris runs a company that has charged the university millions manchestermill.co.uk/first-the-vi...

The lost books of Central Library: scandal or conspiracy theory? A quarter of a million volumes were disposed of in circumstances that remain deeply contested. Some former workers accuse the council of a cover up

Manchester’s Central Library was once considered the British Library of the North. Did a miscalculation in shelving lead to it having to chop a huge fraction of its non-fiction collection, and at speed? I spent a year obsessing about a long-lost rumour from the early 2010s tinyurl.com/ynsyvy2t

The betrayal of Samuel Holberry and Sheffield’s failed revolution “Murder demands justice. Englishmen! Blush for your country”

“Murder demands justice. Englishmen! Blush for your country.”

186 years ago, Samuel Holberry led the “Sheffield rising”, an armed insurrection aimed at bringing democracy to Britain.

The rising failed, but his story remains relevant today. How far would you be prepared to go for a just cause?

The lost books of Central Library: scandal or conspiracy theory? A quarter of a million volumes were disposed of in circumstances that remain deeply contested. Some former workers accuse the council of a cover up

The @manchestermill.bsky.social is such a gem of a local paper. This article on the Central Library demonstrates so well how the local can be a microcosm of wider trends.
“It seems possible that what was being fought over here was not only the books, but two competing visions of this city. “

Is this the future of local news? The Manchester Mill model goes nationwide

Overall a key lesson from this story is the power of new organisations to make positive change – Mill Media is to be commended for pushing the boundaries of new media and local democracy.

Thanks to @djstimms.bsky.social for the chat.

Read more here: futurenorth.substack.com/p/is-this-th...

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Is this the future of local news? The Manchester Mill model goes nationwide

Good piece by @jpspencer.bsky.social on the way the supply of local news is being changed, for the better, by the growing number of linked independent platforms in the @millmedia.bsky.social "stable".

cc @sheffieldtribune.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/futureno...

@sheffieldtribune.bsky.social first started reporting on Andrew Milne, the solicitor demanding thousands of pounds from leaseholders, back in November.

A month later, we uncovered how Milne was also terrorising leaseholders in Bolton.

Today, MP Phil Brickell raises the issue in Parliament.

Map of the expansion of Mill Media

The renaissance in local news is an exciting trend driven by online platforms. And one of the largest of these, @millmedia.bsky.social, was founded by @joshih.bsky.social in Manchester in 2020. It has now expanded to over 200,000 people subscribed across its 6 cities; over 13,000 of these pay.

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The Tribune’s best of 2025 Our writers pick their favourite stories from the last 12 months

The Best of 2025 at @sheffieldtribune.bsky.social.

“The Tribune’s story of the year is undoubtedly Andrew Milne. When it first came to our attention I don’t think any of us knew that it would take off the way it did.”

www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/the-tribunes...

Breaking news! 🚨🚨🚨🚨

The Post has hit 2,000 paying members 🎊

Thanks so much to all our subscribers - free and paid - for supporting us.

Exciting times 🫶

The bizarre ode to brutalist Birmingham that killed Cliff Richard’s film career The Peter Pan of Pop’s final big-screen role is a prize piece of Brummie pop culture. Just maybe not in the way he intended…

After their excellent piece on Penda's Fen a few weeks ago, @birminghamdispatch.bsky.social turns its attention to the Midlands' other great slice of celluloid history. Time for another showing, @talkingpicturestv.bsky.social?

Regulator ‘asleep at the wheel’ over University of Greater Manchester investigation, MP says Office for Students accused of ‘glacial’ response to allegations of fraud, bullying and mismanagement

Honourable mention of @manchestermill.bsky.social
Regulator ‘asleep at the wheel’ over University of Greater Manchester investigation, MP says www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Marketing and events assistant Role details Location: Greater Manchester (please do not apply if you’re not able to work in our Manchester office four days a week) Salary: £27,000 Basis: Full-time (including some weekend and out…

🚨BIG HIRING NEWS🚨

We're hiring for a marketing and events assistant! Applications close Sunday 4 January, and the successful candidate will be:

- Creative, organised and highly efficient
- Committed to working in a fast-paced startup
- A talented social media operator

More below:

(Nearly) every political party leaders’ favourite London pub The Londoner asked some very important people a very important question

I spent months secretly contacting the country's most powerful politicians to find out their favourite pubs in the capital.

Then I went on a @londonermag.bsky.social pub crawl to find out who has the best taste. It really wasn't who I was expecting.

www.the-londoner.co.uk/we-found-out...

The great Scouse pasty war Once a Liverpool institution, Sayers has been driven out of its own city centre by Greggs. What went wrong?

Once a Liverpool institution, Sayers has been driven out of its own city centre by Greggs. What went wrong?

The great Scouse pasty war 🥐

www.livpost.co.uk/the-great-sc...

And the winner is... The Post takes a trip to the British Journalism Awards

Congrats to all the various @millmedia.bsky.social publications and writers who continue to show that it is still possible to do quality local journalism. Subscribe to your local version! (such as @liverpoolpost.bsky.social)

www.livpost.co.uk/and-the-winn...

⌛ Less than 10 hours to go Join as a member for a price you choose - our campaign ends at midnight!

Less than 10 HOURS LEFT in what has become an incredibly successful @manchestermill.bsky.social membership campaign.

Join up now if - for some reason - you haven’t done so yet. Award winning journalism and you choose the price. Ends at midnight.

manchestermill.co.uk/less-than-10...

Our campaign ends tomorrow night! More than 1,000 new members have joined, and you can join them - and pay what you choose for your first two months.

manchestermill.co.uk/lp-1/

The Baroness and the banker: more questions the University of Greater Manchester doesn’t want to answer The university has paid millions to a company controlled by a senior staff member and the wife of its chair of governors

Another belter from @manchestermill.bsky.social @joshih.bsky.social and crew.

Time the Uni of Manchester was taken over by a more transparent operator ?

manchestermill.co.uk/the-baroness...

Give the gift of quality journalism Want to give something thoughtful, local and completely sustainable this Christmas? Buy a heavily discounted gift subscription below. Every week, your chosen recipient will receive insightful journali...

Need a thoughtful gift for a family member or friend this Christmas?

Why not treat them to a Post subscription using our festive offer? 🎄🎁 ⬇️

@liverpoolpost.bsky.social

livpost.co.uk/give-the-gif...

Congratulations to the Local Journalism award winners @molliesimpson.bsky.social @joshih.bsky.social @manchestermill.bsky.social for an investigation into the University of Greater Manchester #BJA2025

We’re closing in! 97 more members to get. Three days to go. Amazing effort by the Millers to make this campaign such a success.

manchestermill.co.uk

You can choose how much to pay for the first few months. If you value local journalism - wherever you live - sign up! @manchestermill.bsky.social and its fellow papers in Liverpool, Sheffield and London are essential for democracy.

🚨 Just five days left in our campaign! We’re 303 members away from our target 🎯

Please share the link manchestermill.co.uk or join up now for a price you choose to help us get there.