Onwards and upwards
Exactly one year ago today, I published on Substack for the very first time. The articles were all from the archives of The QT, the weekly online news magazine that I know many of you liked and miss. I do too.
Two days later, the first edition of Eyes & Ears was published on this very platform.
In 12 months, readership of Eyes & Ears has grown to close on 3,000 - a figure many local and regional newspapers would love to have in an era where circulations are heading in the opposite direction at an alarming rate. And, on here, I can guarantee there will be no obtrusive advertising, pop-ups or clickbait headlines.
Many of you have demonstrated your support for Eyes & Ears over the past few months by pledging to take out a monthly or annual paid subscription should I ever decide to turn on the payments.
I think now is an appropriate time to do that.
The cost is £6.99 a month or £69.99 a year. There is also a special rate of £180 a year - you don’t get anything extra for that, by the way, it’s simply for people who think Eyes & Ears is worth it! I’m pleased that many of you do.
I should explain that those figures are slightly higher than what was originally publicised. Two reasons for this:
Keeping a promise - If I left the subscriptions at the same rate then pledgers wouldn’t have had a warning before the money came out of their account - and I had promised that everyone would get the chance to change their mind and opt out (although I’d like to think that that wouldn’t happen!).
Price comparison - There are several other online publications operating throughout the UK, notably the six Mill Media titles, and the £6.99 figure still puts Eyes & Ears at the lower end of the scale.
I should further explain that you will all continue to get everything that is published by Eyes & Ears, irrespective of whether you become a paid subscriber or not. It’s a free choice, if you know what I mean.
I don’t want to put up a paywall, but it would be great if you signed up to pay the equivalent of a glass of wine a month for receiving my curated round-up of what’s been happening in the region every week - especially when I have to brave all those frustrating news websites on a daily basis. Talk about taking one for the team!
Eyes & Ears will develop and grow in 2026. I promise you that. People like what I’m doing. Investment is being secured. Having a growing number of paid subscribers will also grow the confidence of prospective investors and sponsors.
That will help me bring you more of the quality columns and articles that were a feature of The QT.
Here is the very first Eyes & Ears on Substack: There’s a lot that is still current. Council tax reform, left-behind regions, violence against women and girls, Covid corruption and a vote of no-confidence in the leader of the council in Newcastle.
And here’s a few of the articles from the archives of The QT that were published on this day a year ago:
Enjoy.
Eyes & Ears will be published tomorrow morning as usual.