Stories from the district of Bradford and West Yorkshire

The West Yorkshire Journal or The Journal for short is an independent local news organisation. We're on a mission to deliver high-quality, long-form, slow journalism that holds power to account and inspires lasting change while also reporting on stories that intrigue, entertain, provoke and inform.

We primarily cover the district of Bradford. That's our main patch. But we will also cover the wider West Yorkshire region. Sometimes we may even cover national and international stories but only if we think we have something interesting to say, it’s particularly newsworthy or there's a local angle to it.

Our aim is to be a largely reader-funded newspaper. While we believe that this model can and will work, we’ll also look to achieve financial sustainability by diversifying our revenue streams. Options include featuring good advertising on our site, hosting events, selling merchandising and providing digital marketing services.

We’re open to investment, too, so long as it enables us to maintain our independence. We want investors to back the production of quality local journalism. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Journal was established in 2026. It was previously known as The Ilkley Journal, which was founded in 2024.

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