The Stray Ferret is to introduce a small subscription fee shortly after we launch our new website and app in May.
The new website and app will include many features that readers have asked for — more investigations, notifications, more lifestyle content and the ability to comment on stories on the website rather than just on social media.
Subscribers will also benefit from exclusive discounts from local businesses which aim to cover subscription costs and will not be offered anywhere else.
Since 2020, we have taken pride in covering the stories that matter most to residents across Harrogate, Ripon, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge, Masham and Pateley Bridge.
We passionately believe that a quality, local news service for the area provides an important, trusted platform for debate and information for local people.
The media landscape is financially tough and while we’ve previously adopted an advertising only model, it has not been enough to meet our costs.
We have watched as other local news organisations have cut the number of journalists, lowered the quality of the stories they publish and covered pages with pop-up ads which make it unreadable. We didn’t want to do this.
By paying a small fee you will be investing in an improved news service. By keeping adverts, we can keep the subscription price to readers as low as possible.
We did not take this decision lightly, but we feel this is the only way to keep serving the area to the standard it deserves, by providing a platform to raise awareness about issues that affect local people.
We’ve also moved into Harrogate town centre, so we can help anyone who has problems with signing up to the subscription service, the app or newsletter.
So from May we will be asking readers to subscribe to the Stray Ferret for £4.99 a month. Or you can pay annually at £49.99 which would save you about £10 a year.
In the coming weeks, we will be explaining how the subscription service will work and how to sign up, as well as tackling any frequently asked questions.
We hope you subscribe — by doing so you will be investing in quality, local journalism.
Ripon councillor criticises Dawn French following Stray FM’s demiseIndependent Ripon Councillor Andrew Williams has called on the actress Dawn French to distance herself from Bauer Media following the demise of Stray FM.
Bauer rebranded Stray FM as Greatest Hits Radio today in a move that has upset many local people.
Ms French has been the voice of Greatest Hits Radio since signing a deal with Bauer in December 2018.
Cllr Williams, who serves on Ripon City Council, wrote to her agent Kate Davie of United Agents saying he thought Ms French “would not wish to be associated with the closures of Stray FM and Minster FM”.
He added:
“Perhaps your client might wish to distance herself from such a travesty. She risks her own reputation being tarnished and damaged.”
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Cllr Williams claimed the switch from Stray FM to Greatest Hits Radio was a “complete decimation of the local radio stations that have played an integral part within our local communities for decades”.
He said he had emailed Ms French’s agent both as a private resident and as a member of Ripon City Council, which falls within Stray FM broadcast area.
At the time of publication, neither Cllr Williams nor the Stray Ferret had received a response from Ms French or her agent.
In a press release in December 2018, when Ms French was announced as the ‘voice of the station’ Greatest Hits Radio, said:
“Nothing short of a comedy legend, Dawn embodies the station’s brand values and is well known to the UK public for decades of award-winning comedy and acting roles including playing the irrepressible Geraldine Granger in The Vicar of Dibley.”