The Hull Story is a free title is available on news stands at key locations with high footfall across the city, including shopping centres, community hubs and libraries. Hundreds of copies have also been delivered directly to the homes of housebound residents.
It runs alongside The Hull Story website, which was launched by Co-Editors Simon Bristow and Rick Lyon in 2020.
Simon and Rick, both experienced local journalists, said they felt the time was right to launch the newspaper version of their title.
Simon, who previously worked for The Yorkshire Post and the Hull Daily Mail, said: “It’s a proud moment, personally and professionally, to have launched our own newspaper.
“Print still has a vital role to play in local news and the newspaper and website will complement and enhance each other as we strive to reach all communities in our great city.
“Like our website, the paper aims to inform, engage, entertain and nourish, and provides an exciting new platform for our content as we continue our work with some of the best writers and photographers in the region.
“As well as wanting to share our content more widely, we’ve launched the newspaper because there’s digital poverty in Hull and not everyone has access to a smart phone or computer. We’ve committed to making it a free title because we want to reach people across the city, whatever their circumstances.
“We’re also aware that in Hull, as in many other cities across the UK, the local media landscape is changing and many traditional outlets are contracting. That’s bad for local communities and bad for local democracy. We believe that local news matters.”
The Hull Story’s post on X, formerly Twitter, announcing the launch of the paper has had more than 55,000 impressions and the news has been welcomed by prominent figures across the city.
Hull City Council leader Mike Ross posted: “Absolutely applaud this move by the team. Agree with the comment in the article too that the shrinking landscape of local media is bad news for local democracy.”
Chief executive of the council Matt Jukes said: “Looking forward to reading the monthly newspaper.”
Hull East MP Karl Turner said: “Good luck and thanks for your excellent local and impartial journalism.”
Emma Hardy, MP for Hull West and Hessle, writing on Facebook, said: “Well this is good news for local democracy, business and events!”
The Hull Story says it runs an online Patrons scheme, whereby readers can sign-up to support the platform by paying a monthly subscription of £2.50. In return, they receive a regular e-newsletter and exclusive access to an Editor’s Journal.
Simon and Rick said that, since the launch of the newspaper, the number of Patrons has doubled and website traffic has also significantly increased.
Rick, a former news editor of the Hull Daily Mail, said: “The response so far to the launch of the newspaper has been fantastic, both in the communities we serve and across social media.
“We’ve asked the city to get behind us and that’s exactly what it’s doing, which I think shows the demand for a free, quality local title like this in Hull.
“It’s been a great start which we hope to build on over the coming months. We’ve got some exciting plans for the paper and this is just the beginning.”
Simon and Rick say they are supported by freelance contributors including local politics and history reporter Angus Young, business and features writer Phil Ascough, music journalist Russ Litten, international affairs columnist Paul Knott, arts columnist Vicky Foster and Hull City correspondent Sam Hawcroft, who also doubles up as production editor.
The launch of The Hull Story newspaper follows the successful autumn launch by Simon and Rick of a pilot newspaper in Grimsby, The Grimsby Story, which is being published quarterly.
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