18 Comments

God the sheer relief of the Dispatch after enduring years of train crash Birmingham Live!

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Especially now it's been absorbed into the Reach Empire, where the headlines are often crowded out by "fluff" cross posted from one of their other publications (or the inevitable summary of a Reddit "Am I The A-hole" thread) or hyperbolic weather predictions (yes, they own The Daily Express), while the comments sections tend to have some Very Strong Opinions on both the political leadership of BCC (who they believe are the root cause of all the council's problems) and the wider party (who they seem to regard as Evil Incarnate).

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You are the future of local journalism in the face of corporate churnalism which placed profits before the spirit of the story. Your values are those of the best journalism in the past. I wish you the very best and hope you grow from strength to strength - locally! Keep filing.

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Thanks very much Alan

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Relevant stories and playing a big part in sharing some love for our City. Your Station Road piece , giving us Brummies a voice against unscrupulous developers is much appreciated.

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Yeah I thought that was a great piece of reporting by Jack. We're hoping to do many more like that.

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Yes, just do it . Such great stories well researched and with the backing of The Mill Media group. I subscribe as a paying member also to The Mill in Manchester and subscribe to The Post in Liverpool . Outside of The Dispatch and The Mill I try and read pieces from the other publications as time allows.

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Damn, I should have told the story about your role in us setting up The Dispatch. Kate wrote about it here, but in short: you were one of the early Mill subscribers because you grew up in Manchester. As a West Midlander these days, you encouraged me to consider starting a Birmingham title when the time was right, and became our first honorary member when we launched The Dispatch. So big thanks to you Anne!

https://www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/p/sick-of-that-click-bait-stuff-the

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Thanks for the kind words Joshi. So glad it happened.

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You e done something fantastic with this. I live in Nottingham but like the quality of the stories you write and look forward to you successfully launching something like this in every city in the country. Without local journalism our council tax goes into a void where decisions are made without scrutiny and lead to bankruptcy, an experience both of our cities share. Best of luck.

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Thanks very much Stewart. Totally agree on scrutiny. My best mate is from Nottingham and he's lobbying hard for us to come to you one day...

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Sorry missed that!

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You’ve assumed I know your name! So you haven’t informed me who you are at all!

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Haha, it's at the top Brenda! Next to my picture.

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i have an issue with the dispatch. i was getting it daily as a paid up member then about a month ago they stopped coming. i am subscribed, i checked my spam..i have asked for help from sub stack and done what thye said but still i am not gettting the dispatch... this could be an issue for you going forward. Anyone any advice on what i could do??

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Hey Martin, sorry to hear this. Must be an email issue. Pls can you email maisy@millmediaco.uk and we will sort it out.

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(just a Substack user, nothing to do with The Dispatch other than a reader)

I was reading Dispatch stories in email, then realised I could download the Substack app and read everything there - and find other great long-reads writers too. So if trying the app is an option for you, I'd suggest giving it a go. I've found it a really great way to read and there's lots of great writing. :)

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Just wondering if there’s a problem as it’s Wednesday and haven’t had a dispatch this week yet?

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