Looking back on the week: worth reading the news
AS CHRIS deserves to put up his feet this weekend following an exceptionally busy week of covering one council meeting after the other and Ryan continues supporting Scotland on the other side of the big pond, it is on me to reflect on the last seven days.
It has been one of those weeks where a lot has been happening, but it is something not necessarily been reflected in the amount of news stories published on our website.
The week not only started with an announcement of a social media ban for under-16s (see here and here) but also with a visit to the Anderson High School to speak about the importance of local news.
Secondary three pupils there have been learning about news gathering and fact-checking, and are also working on their own news pieces on local tourism.
Speaking to pupils about the relevance of local news reporting in contrast to unchecked opinions voiced and shared on social media has been a longstanding commitment by Shetland News.
We are delighted to support the Anderson High School with its news project and look forward to reading (and publishing) pupils’ news stories.
Special mention this week however has to go to our journalist Chris Cope, who also holds the local democracy reporter role for Shetland. He has been listening, digesting and then reporting from four council meetings, one every day from Monday to Thursday, all amid time constraints too.
That’s no mean feat but an essential part of what we do. It’s often hard going – some would say boring – and the news stories that come out of these meetings most not always be the most exciting.
Yet, it’s what local news reporting is all about: informing people of what is going on in the islands’ democratic organisations, holding power to account were necessary, and trying to translate sometimes long-winded and jargon dripping council and NHS reports into plain English.
It’s called public interest news reporting; something that is essential for a functioning local democracy as councillors are our elected representatives but sadly has been lost in many parts of the country.
So it’s worth reading those reports Chris produces at the end – and sometimes in between – these council meetings.
Here are just some of those from the past week:
https://www.shetnews.co.uk/2026/06/15/long-term-options-explored-mothballed/
https://www.shetnews.co.uk/2026/06/16/mixed-views-pitch-plans-committee/
https://www.shetnews.co.uk/2026/06/16/ferry-disruption-communication-in-the-spotlight/
https://www.shetnews.co.uk/2026/06/17/ssen-may-need-construction-workforce/
https://www.shetnews.co.uk/2026/06/17/proposed-community-led-housing-scheme/
It is also perhaps worth again explaining the local democracy reporting service. The BBC-funded scheme issues contracts to news outlets across the UK with the aim of increasing coverage of public organisations, with councils a key element.
News stories written by 165 local democracy reporters in the UK are made available free of charge to more than 1,000 news outlets across the country.
Shetland News has been awarded the contract (a ‘0.5’ role due to the size of the area) for Shetland at each tendering round since 2017, with Chris the named local democracy reporter.
Over the years copy has been used by all local media in the isles as well as wider news outlets such as the Press and Journal, the Herald, the National, STV and the BBC.
Meanwhile, Shetland News has a dedicated council category on our website, where all those SIC stories of the last 15 years can be found:
https://www.shetnews.co.uk/category/news/sic/
This being the midsummer weekend, Shetland has been brimming with activities, festivals and celebrations. Freelance reporter Sarah Cooper have been out to capture the atmosphere for us:
Seafood celebration and yacht race bring buzz to Lerwick town centre
Time again to say thanks for all your support this week.
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