What is NN Journal?
To become an NN Journal reader and receive our regular, original news, add your email in the box above. There is no obligation to pay - most of our news is free, but we do need subscribers to keep us in existence.
NN Journal is a newsletter for people who care about Northamptonshire.
We believe there has never been a greater need for independent local journalism - reporting that digs beneath the headlines and tells the stories that are going untold. Working closely with the local community, NN Journal aims to shine a light on these issues and hold those in power to account.
About NN Journal
NN Journal was founded in January 2021 and is written and edited by Sarah Ward. We publish news and features about matters of importance from across the whole of Northamptonshire from local politics to social affairs, culture, crime, and health. We also subscribe to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, so we often feature reports written by Nadia Lincoln.
Without adverts or funders, NN Journal is entirely independent and we can and regularly do publish news that others chose not to. We think all those in Northamptonshire who hold power should be held to account and our archive features numerous examples of our reporting doing just this.
Part of our mission is also to strengthen Northamptonshire’s media. Today in 2025, the county is without a daily newspaper and local reporters are heavily outgunned by press officers. (Read our special report here). This means that the news received by people living in Northamptonshire is often biased and does not give the full picture. We are here to tell the other side of the story that public bodies do not want you know about.
And don’t just take our word for it. The incomparable Private Eye has described us as ‘excellent’ and from time to time it features news that has appeared in NN Journal first.
We don’t make much use of social media, as we don’t want to chase those algorithms, so the best way to make sure you receive all our news is to add your name to our mailing list. There is no obligation to pay. Most of our news is free to all.
Get in touch via email at sarahward@nnjournal.co.uk or call 07887 500545.
How it works
If you like what you read on NN Journal, and if you want to support us, you can do the following things:
You can subscribe for just £6 per month or £60 per year (or just £1.25 a week). There’s also the option to become a founding member and donate any amount you want. NN Journal members receive everything we publish. The income goes towards paying our journalists (plus other basic admin costs and insurances).
If you can’t or don’t want to subscribe, that’s totally fine but please add your self to our email list. You will receive regular news from us.
Recommend us: Our success, longevity and the reach of our new stories is in part linked to how many subscribers we have. If you like what we do please share our stories and recommend NN Journal to your friends and family.
Sign up for our free version here or you can go the whole hog straight away and become a paying subscriber
Get in touch
If you have a story that you think needs to be looked into, please get in touch and email us at sarahward@nnjournal.co.uk
All of your tip offs or suggestions will be treated in the strictest of confidence and we will never reveal the identity of our sources.
NN Journal Editorial Policy and Standards
Our Mission
NN Journal is an independent, reader-funded public-interest news organisation dedicated to providing trusted journalism for every community across Northamptonshire. We exist to inform, scrutinise and explain decisions that affect people living in the county, while ensuring that communities which are underserved, overlooked or geographically isolated have access to high-quality local reporting.
We believe strong local journalism strengthens democracy, builds more informed communities and gives people a voice in decisions that shape their lives.
Our Editorial Values
Every article we publish is guided by our four core editorial values.
Independent
Our editorial decisions are made solely in the public interest. We are reader-funded and free from political, commercial or organisational influence.
Accurate
We are committed to careful, evidence-based journalism. We verify information, seek reliable sources, provide a fair opportunity to respond where appropriate and correct significant errors transparently.
Public Interest
We prioritise journalism that informs communities, holds decision-makers to account, explains complex issues and shines a light on matters that affect people’s daily lives.
Community Focused
Great local journalism begins by listening. We seek out stories from every part of Northamptonshire, including rural, underserved and overlooked communities, ensuring local people have the opportunity to shape our reporting.
These values underpin every stage of our journalism—from deciding which stories to pursue, through reporting and editing, to publication and engagement with readers.
Editorial Responsibility
NN Journal is editorially independent.
Editorial decisions are made solely in the public interest and are not influenced by advertisers, political parties, campaign groups, commercial organisations, subscribers or external funders.
Grant funding may support innovation, sustainability or organisational development, but it never influences editorial decision-making.
Sarah Ward, editor, has overall responsibility for all editorial content published by NN Journal.
The editor is responsible for deciding whether content is published, determining how it is presented and ensuring that all journalism meets NN Journal’s editorial standards.
Editorial enquiries may be sent to:
Sarah Ward
Editor, NN Journal
Email: sarahward@nnjournal.co.uk Phone: 07887 500545
Accuracy
We are committed to publishing journalism that is accurate, fair and evidence-based. We have a complaints procedure (detailed below) for people who do not think an article has reached those standards.
Before publication we aim to:
verify facts using reliable and appropriate sources;
corroborate significant claims wherever possible;
distinguish clearly between fact, analysis and opinion;
provide appropriate context to stories;
give individuals and organisations a fair opportunity to respond to significant allegations before publication whenever reasonably practicable. (See below for Right to Reply).
Public Interest Journalism
NN Journal exists to serve the public interest.
We prioritise journalism that:
holds organisations and decision-makers to account;
explains issues affecting local communities;
investigates matters of genuine public concern;
reports from communities that are often overlooked by mainstream media;
helps residents understand how public money is spent and how decisions affect their lives.
Some reporting we undertake may justify an intrusion into privacy or the use of confidential material. Such decisions require a clear public-interest justification and NN Journal will consider the public interest case carefully before publishing.
Reporting in the public interest includes exposing crime, fraud, abuse of power, serious misconduct or incompetence, and threats to public health or safety. It also involves protecting the public from being misled, promoting transparency and accountability, and contributing to informed debate on issues that affect our communities.
Interviews and copy approval
Whenever NN Journal speaks to someone in our professional capacity, we will identify ourselves.
We do not offer interviewees approval before publication, but may check back quotes for accuracy.
The ultimate decision about what is published is made by the editor, Sarah Ward.
Sources, attribution and anonymous sources
NN Journal’s work is always sourced by its journalists. We do not publish material written by others and attribute it to ourselves. Where we have referenced other media organisations work for our own reporting, this will be made clear and a link to that article will be supplied.
We do not invent sources or quotations. We are an ethical publication and do not pay for information under any circumstances.
People sometimes need to speak to the NN Journal without being publicly identified. We always protect our sources and will not disclose to another person who we have spoken to, if the person has asked for anonymity.
In our published articles we may grant anonymity if we deem the information is important and that the story could not be reported in any other way. We also, of course, have consideration for our source’s safety.
When we agree to give anonymity, before making that agreement we will explain in practical terms the legal limits of what NN Journal can provide.
Fairness and right of reply
As a responsible media organisation, anyone who is subject to criticism or allegations or wrongdoing, which could be potentially damaging, is subject to a right to reply. This will usually be given before publication and the subject of the criticism will be given reasonable opportunity to respond.
We will give the person information about the criticism that is being levelled at them and the time given to respond will depend on the complexity of the claims.
We are not required to publish right of reply responses in full or verbatim. We will not publish statements which we know to be untrue and will make the responder aware of that before publication.
If someone declines to give a right to reply, this will not prevent NN Journal from publishing the article.
A right of reply does not provide a right to approve any subject material, delay or prohibit publication.
Privacy and personal information
We respect people’s reasonable expectation of privacy. We do not publish private information, precise addresses or other identifying details without a legitimate editorial reason.
People in public life can reasonably expect scrutiny of their public duties and the exercise of their power. That does not remove their right to privacy in matters unrelated to those responsibilities.
We take extra care when reporting on people who may be vulnerable, including victims of crime, people experiencing trauma and those at risk of harm if identified.
Reporting practices
Our journalists will never intimidate, harass or persistently pursue anyone.
If someone reasonably asks us to stop contacting or approaching them, we will respect that request unless there is a clear and compelling public interest in making further contact. A decision not to comment will not, in itself, prevent us from continuing to investigate or publish a story where doing so is justified and in the public interest.
Harassment is not defined by a journalist contacting someone by email or phone. We have to do this in order to thoroughly check our information before publication and to give someone a right to reply.
Use of Artificial Intelligence
NN Journal may use artificial intelligence tools to support journalism research, transcription, workflow efficiency and administrative tasks. It will not be used in the writing of any articles, which are all considered and written by a human.
All published content is reviewed and approved by the Editor. Responsibility for every article published by NN Journal remains with the Editor.
Corrections and Clarifications
NN Journal’s reason for existence is to produce top quality journalism which adheres to the high standards expected by our readers. To do this we undertake fact checking, professional editing and use legal advice where needed. We subscribe to the Editor’s Code or Practice which you can read here. We will correct any factual errors whenever they are brought to our attention. These errors will be flagged up on the article, with the original error clearly outlined and the time of when the amendment was made to the article.
If an update is made to an article - for instance a useful comment is received after publication - we will add this in and make a note on the article, indicated by an asterisk.
How to complain
If you do think that an article is not up to this standard, please email sarahward@nnjournal.co.uk.
Please include your name and any organisation you represent; contact details and the headline of the article in question.
Sarah Ward will respond within 48 hours after reviewing your complaint, with the intended remedy.
