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A tour of overlooked towns that rarely make national news but make plenty of their own.

Journalist Ian Wylie travels to five small towns that rarely make the national news to meet the local reporters still passionate about telling the stories of their communities.

Journalist Ian Wylie journeys to some of the hidden corners of Britain to view small towns through the lens of the people who don't ignore them - their local reporters. 

Some of the towns are struggling, others are thriving. The one thing they have in common is they're pretty much invisible in the eyes of the national media, even though they are home to tens of thousands of people. They don't have football teams. They're not pretty resorts that attract tourists. They can't even claim to be a contested marginal seat that will determine the outcome of a general election. Our guides are the passionate people who remain committed to telling the stories of what's happening in their small towns. Through their newspapers, websites and social media posts they refuse to turn the page on local news reporting - often at some personal cost.

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Inside Pages: Stone

Stone

BBC Radio 4 - Inside Pages, Stone

Journalist Ian Wylie travels to five small towns that rarely make the national news, to meet the local reporters still passionate about telling the stories of their communities.

Journalist Ian Wylie journeys to some of the hidden corners of Britain to view small towns through the lens of the people who don’t ignore them - their local reporters. 

Some of the towns are struggling, others are thriving. The one thing they have in common is they’re pretty much invisible in the eyes of the national media, even though they are home to tens of thousands of people. They don’t have football teams. They’re not pretty resorts that attract tourists. They can’t even claim to be a contested marginal seat that will determine the outcome of a general election. Our guides are the passionate people who remain committed to telling the stories of what’s happening in their small towns. Through their newspapers, websites and social media posts they refuse to turn the page on local news reporting - often at some personal cost. 

Ian visits Stone in Staffordshire to meet Jon Cook, editor of a local news website.

Produced and presented by Ian Wylie
Executive producer: Ian Bent
Sound designer: John Scott
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4

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