About Us - Six Towns Daily
About Six Towns Daily
Free, ad-free local news for Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme. No paywalls, no pop-ups, no sponsored content. Just honest local journalism.
What we do
Six Towns Daily is an independent local news platform covering Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme. We publish community news, sport, events, crime updates, transport information, and everything else that matters to people living in the Potteries and North Staffordshire.
We believe local news should be accessible to everyone, not locked behind paywalls or buried under advertising. That's why we're completely free to read and completely ad-free. No pop-ups, no cookie banners asking you to accept tracking, no sponsored articles disguised as journalism.
Who we are
Six Towns Daily is founded and operated by Martin Pitchford, a local resident with a straightforward goal: give the six towns a news source they can trust.
Right now, we're operating as an independent sole trader. This keeps overheads practically at zero and lets us react instantly to local breaking news without layers of bureaucracy or commercial pressures. However, with over 5,000 views in our first four days, we're already looking at formalising into a corporate structure to handle our rapid growth.
The core platform is managed by Martin, supported by a network of local self-employed contributors and community volunteers who supply content. This keeps our news hyper-local, authentic, and fast. If something happens on your street, we want to know about it before anyone else.
Why ad-free?
We are strictly ad-free and paywall-free. This isn't a temporary launch strategy, it's a permanent commitment.
Local people trust us because we aren't clogging their screens with pop-ups, auto-playing videos, or cookie banners begging to track them. There are no adverts chasing you around the internet after you leave, no flashing banners, and no articles secretly written to please an advertiser. What you read is what we think is worth reporting, nothing more.
This means we don't answer to corporations or media groups. We answer to you, the people of Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Sponsorship, not advertising
Keeping a news site free and ad-free still costs money, so here's how we square that circle: local sponsorship. A single local business can sponsor the whole site, or one section of it, and in return we display a simple, clearly labelled credit that says the section or site is supported by them. That's it. One tasteful line, no pop-ups, no tracking.
This is very different from traditional online advertising, and the difference matters:
- One sponsor, not hundreds. A traditional ad network fills your screen with whatever pays the most that second. We have one sponsor per slot, chosen locally, and everyone sees the same thing.
- No tracking. Ad networks follow you across the web to target you. Our sponsor credits are just a link. We don't profile you, and we don't sell data, because we don't collect it in the first place.
- No influence on the news. A sponsor pays to have their name shown next to trusted local journalism. They get no say in what we cover or how we cover it, including stories about them.
- It stays local. The money comes from real businesses in Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme, and it goes straight back into reporting on the area they serve.
So a sponsor's support is what lets us keep the news free for you, without a single advert or paywall in sight. If you run a local business and like that idea, our media pack explains how it works.
How we're funded
Our funding comes from two honest, local sources: reader contributions and local sponsorship. Neither one puts anything between you and the news.
Reader support is completely optional. There is no obligation, and you will never see reduced content or locked articles if you don't contribute. Sponsorship comes from local businesses who pay for a clearly labelled credit, never for influence over what we publish.
Every penny from both goes directly toward keeping the site running: hosting, domain costs, and paying local contributors for their time. There are no shareholders, no investors, and no advertising networks taking a cut. Just readers and local businesses who believe local news matters.
Total funding to date
We believe in full transparency. Here's exactly what we've received, from readers and sponsors alike.
Last updated: August 2026. Reader support combines Buy Me a Coffee and direct donations. We update these figures regularly to keep things honest.
Support Six Towns Daily
If you value what we do, you can buy us a coffee. It's a one-off payment of any amount you choose, there's no subscription, no recurring charge, and no sign-up required.
How it works: Click the button above and you'll be taken to our Buy Me a Coffee page. Choose any amount (from as little as a couple of pounds), pay securely by card or Apple Pay, and that's it. No account needed, no recurring charges unless you specifically opt in. Your name can appear on our supporters wall, or you can contribute anonymously.
Our principles
- Free forever. Every article, every update, available to everyone.
- Ad-free forever. No banners, no pop-ups, no tracking pixels. Sponsor support is limited to a single clearly labelled credit.
- Never paid coverage. We don't sell articles. A sponsor's money buys a credit, never a story or a say in one.
- Community first. We cover what matters to local people, not what generates clicks.
- Independent. No media group ownership, no corporate interests.
- Transparent. We tell you exactly how we operate and where the money goes.
Get in touch
Got a story? Want to contribute? Just want to say hello? We'd love to hear from you.
