Orkney News Ltd held its first AGM on Monday 9th of July.

Annual Report: 2018-07-09

The Orkney News first went online on 1^st February 2017. Born from an idea of Helen Armet’s to produce a media source for Orkney which would give a voice to those not heard, it has gone from strength to strength.

From that initial launch it was helped by  several local organisations who advised  on how to proceed and become a registered company: Business Gateway, accountants Foubister and Bain and Voluntary Action Orkney.

Orkney News Ltd was registered at Companies House on 8^th of June 2017 . It has 5 Directors: Helen Armet, Kenny Armet, Fiona Grahame, Martin Laird and Nick Morrison.

As a member of Voluntary Action Orkney it remains true to its founding principles that as a media source it will remain free to view. All the Directors and contributors are volunteers.

Being online means The Orkney News can respond rapidly to changing situations –  live streaming straight to Facebook and YouTube. It can reach far more people than any printed material.

Helen Armet and Fiona Grahame received media training from Bill Shepherd of The Guardian newspaper facilitated by Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Several other training events have also been attended hosted by HIE and Business Gateway.

Funding applications to Creative Scotland and Awards for All were unsuccessful and The Directors were informed that The Orkney News is ineligible to apply to LEADER.  Income sources are split evenly between donations and advertising. Costs are kept as low as possible.

The website is the main news source, however, The Orkney News is shared across social media platforms. Each of these has a different audience. Currently the website has 459 followers, Facebook 2,526, Twitter 1,161. This is small compared to other local media but given  that this is the first full year of trading it is a good start.  The stats show that The Orkney News is read all round the world.  It has a small YouTube presence with 48 subscribers to the channel. Individual videos, however, do well with Helen’s Home Cooking now a feature on Truly Scottish TV.

The Orkney News tries to produce a balance of factual news, politics, poetry, reviews and creative writing. It reports micro news and international events  of interest to the readership.

Looking ahead – funding was secured from the Centenary Fund to produce an animated film about the Women’s Suffrage Movement in Orkney. The film will be shown in the Phoenix Cinema Pickaquoy Centre. A DVD and education pack will be sent out to all schools in Orkney and to other groups who may be interested.

The Directors are positive about the future for Orkney News Ltd as its readership continues to grow across all platforms.