For Indie News Week, Bylines Network wants your say on what a diverse, representative media should look like

Citizen-led independent media organisation Bylines Network is gearing up to host an open online session tackling one of the most important questions facing news organisations in the UK and beyond. As part of its Indie News Week 2025 programme, its putting forward an event to ask: “Equality and diversity in media and journalism – where do we go from here?”

Indie News Week: Bylines event to champion diverse voices in the media

Bylines Network runs ten regional publications across the UK – from Yorkshire and the Midlands to Scotland, Wales and the West of England. The network is rooted in the communities it serves, and free from corporate control or political influence.

As an independent news organisation, it proudly champions unheard voices and stories that reflect the diversity of society, not just its traditional gatekeepers. In an industry long dominated by narrow demographics, Bylines Network offers a refreshing alternative. Notably, 80% of its senior editorial team are women. This is in direct contrast to a mainstream media landscape still overwhelmingly led by men.

Therefore, its event for the upcoming Indie News Week is inspired by the Bylines Network’s belief that independent news, co-created with communities and championing diverse voices, can help us understand the world better and find ways to improve it.

Time to make a more equitable and representative media

The event will take place from 7-8.30pm, Monday 16 June. It plans to bring together journalists, researchers, and citizens in a unique conversation. The event promises fresh insights and tools for action. It will draw on learning from a variety of resources. This includes the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity, Birmingham City University, the International Network of Street Papers, Media Cyrmru, and LGBTQ+ activists. The Bylines Network’s 2,000 citizen journalists will also input into the discussion.

This session is for anyone who wants to transform the media into a more equitable, representative, and
community-rooted space.

The agenda will be as following:

6 to 6.30pm: Keynote reflections
6.30 to 7pm: Panel discussion
7 to 7.30pm: Audience Q&A and open discussion

Some of the speakers it will feature include:

• Diane Kemp – Director of the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity and professor of broadcast journalism at Birmingham City University.
• Jennie Kermode – Journalist, LGBTQ+ issues specialist, and Bylines Network EDI coordinator.
• Mike Findlay-Agnew – CEO of the International Network of Street Papers, EDI trainer, and freelance writer.
• Shirish Kulkarni – Journalist, researcher, and community organiser; News Innovation Research Fellow,
  Media Cymru.

Why this event and why now? Bylines Network is clear.

Since January, writers in the USA who feel the American media is squeezing out their ethnic, gender, and class identities have inundated the Bylines Network with submissions. By contrast, the network is proud that it features diverse voices in the 390 articles its 10 titles publish each month. However, editors are concerned that inequities in America could be mirrored in the UK.

According to NCTJ and Reuters Institute figures, just 6% of UK journalists are from non-white backgrounds. Meanwhile, women hold only 21% of news leadership roles, and just 0.2% of newsroom journalists are openly LGBTQ+. Currently, white, privately educated men typically hold the most senior positions at broadcasters and newspapers. What’s more, the proliferation of misogyny, trans abuse, and racial hatred on some social media is also a concern.

Yet, the Public Interest News Foundation’s 2025 survey of Indie News Audiences shows there is a thirst for grassroots news and stories from diverse communities. How can independent news providers, journalists, content creators, and everyday citizens collaborate to make the media more inclusive in these challenging times?

Help shape the future of independent media with Bylines Network

The event is open to all, with inclusive ticketing options and opportunities for anyone to join in the debate. Bylines advises that bookings should be made now, before tickets run out. You can register for its event here.

Managing director of Bylines Network Ben Dickenson said:

Making a fairer, more representative and more inclusive media matters – not only to those who bring us the news every day but to the millions of people who consume it. The stories we tell ourselves need to reflect who we are as a society, the richness of our diversity and the reality of life at the grassroots.

The mainstream media landscape doesn’t do that, but there are alternatives. There are better ideas, tools for inclusion, models for ensuring everyone is seen, heard and in charge of creating the news. We’re delighted to bring some of those to people as part of Indie News Week 2025.

Featured image supplied