Leicester Gazette

Our app is more than just a way to keep up - it's a gateway to award-winning journalism and the local community. The app connects with Bluesky, Mastodon and Threads, giving you access to a network of around 60 million people. It's a safer, more meaningful alternative to mainstream social media - owned by the community.

What you get:

Integrated news experience: The home screen mirrors the Leicester Gazette's website, featuring all the familiar news sections, top stories, and in-app article and podcast playback.

Local section: Access dedicated content focused on your area.

Following section: You can view posts from other Gazette readers, the team, and a wider network of social media users.

Explore section: Curated starter packs and topic-based feeds, managed by Newsmast, aggregate posts on themes such as the environment and politics.

Open social: The app connects with Bluesky, Mastodon and Threads, giving you access to a network of around 60 million users. You remain in control of your data.

Privacy and moderation: You can restrict where your posts appear, block or unfollow accounts, and manage their visibility. We will never sell your data.

Who we are: The Leicester Gazette is a local, independent newspaper, free to access for all online and in print. We are a member-funded, community-owned news outlet about Leicestershire. We're building on a movement of co-operative media pioneered by West Highland Free Press, the Bristol Cable, Norwich Radical, Manchester Meteor, the Ferret, and Exeter Observer. Our mission is to hold those in power accountable, push for change, and amplify the voices of marginalised communities while finding real solutions to the challenges we face. We publish investigations, news features and human interest stories that go beyond the headlines. Our journalism is fact-based and rigorous, and we prize good writing over clickbait and sensationalism. Local journalism has been devastated in recent years, with thousands of reporters laid off and newsrooms being stripped of their worth, leaving communities plagued by a jungle of ads and stories that have nothing to do with local issues. The Leicester Gazette is our revolution against a broken industry.

A pioneering collaboration: This app represents a groundbreaking partnership between the Leicester Gazette and the Newsmast Foundation. Together, we're demonstrating how community-centred journalism and open social networks can work hand-in-hand, creating a model that other independent media organisations can follow. This is what the future of democratic, community-owned media looks like.