Business / Local news at your fingertips

WHEN Peter Bevington and Hans J Marter, with technical help from Graeme Storey, started publishing under the Shetland News banner back in 2003, no-one could have foreseen where this journey would take us.

In doing so we revived an earlier attempt to create a Shetland based online news service in 1995 which had been mothballed.

While 20 years is a long time in anyone’s book, it is a quantum leap when it comes to online publishing: there was no social media at the time – not even Bebo – no smart phones, and websites and e-mail communication were all still in its infancy.

But there was a growing demand for local news presented in a different format as online communications was to become the thing of the future.

Now two decades later, after having gone through countless transitions, some painful and others a joy, we are still here, doing what we set out to do all those years ago: reporting the news and current affairs of these islands in a comprehensive, fair and unbiased way.

We do this with a team of four dedicated employees (of which two are reporters), all working remotely from their home offices, and all having been with us for many years. There is also a growing pool of freelance writers and voluntary contributors.

“We have been working from the home office from day one. And while this had its advantages in terms of flexibility and hence long working days, it wasn’t always straightforward,” recalls managing editor Hans J Marter.

“Remember, these were the days of fax machines and dial-up connections. There was no broadband and ISDN was the gold standard.

“But it worked, sometimes frustratingly slow, but we knew our direction of travel was the only one feasible, and while connectivity in Shetland outside of Lerwick is still not what is really required these days, one knows how to make it work for you.”

Today, Shetland News is an indispensable part of the local media landscape and indeed island life.

The website has a regular readership of between 40,000 and 50,000 unique users every week – that’s twice the local population – and attracts over one million page views per month.

The website remains freely accessible to everyone and there are no plans to create a paywall. A voluntary supporters scheme is available here.

“I don’t know how many sleepless nights I have had over the last 20 years, wondering how to hold it all together, but also make it pay, as we all have families and we had to earn a living,” Marter adds.

“I like to pay tribute to everybody who has worked at Shetland News over the years, you know who you are, but most of all my thanks go to Chris, Clement and Susan who have all been working at Shetland News for many years and whose dedication to the job is second to none.”

Shetland News is regulated by IMPRESS and is an active member of ICNN, the umbrella body for small and independent news publishers.