The Port Talbot MagNet and the West Londoner win print runs from MMJ and Make My Newspaper

At MMJ we’re confident that print has a future.

But, sadly, more and more towns and villages are being denied a print newspaper, as local papers run by the big publishers put up the shutters. Certainly there are many excellent hyperlocals stepping into their shoes, but they can rarely stretch to a physical product; relying on websites, blogs, and social media to distribute their news.

So when I heard that Make My Newspaper, a short-run publishing house that lets you create your own tabloid online, had launched in the UK, I thought it was worth checking out.

Chatting to Paul McLachlan from the company it struck me that Make My Newspaper could perhaps provide a solution to the knotty problem of how a hyperlocal might make it into print.

And Paul generously offered a free print run of 150 copies of a 16-page tabloid newspaper to two readers of MMJ.

So we launched this competition to find worthy winners, as part of a look at the future of print, and a practical guide to creating a newspaper on the Make My Newspaper platform.
The response was overwhelming.

It proved beyond doubt that many hyperlocals would love to get into print, if only they could find an affordable way to do so.

I’ve been sifting through pitches from all corners of the country, and I’m sorry to have to disappoint so many hard-working local journos who are showing their commitment to keeping their communities informed.

But we do have two winners.

They are:

The Port Talbot MagNet

And

The West Londoner

NEXT: Why they won