Andy Williams

In the wake of the withdrawal of commercial journalism from local communities at the beginning of the 21st century, Hyperlocal Journalism critically explores the development of citizen-led community news operations. The book draws together a wide range of original research by way of case studies, interviews, and industry and policy analysis, to give a complete view of what is happening to communities as their local newspapers close or go into decline to be replaced by emerging forms of digital news provision. This study takes the United Kingdom as its focus but its findings speak to common issues found in local media systems in other Western democracies. The authors investigate who is producing hyperlocal news and why, as well as production practices, models of community and participatory journalism, and the economics of hyperlocal operations. Looking holistically at hyperlocal news, Hyperlocal Journalism paints a vivid picture of citizens creating their own news services via social media and on free blogging platforms to hold power to account, redress negative reputational geographies, and to tell everyday stories of community life. The book also raises key questions about the sustainability of such endeavours in the face of optimism from commentators and policy-makers.

In the wake of the withdrawal of commercial journalism from local communities at the beginning of the 21st century, Hyperlocal Journalism critically explores the development of citizen-led community news operations. The book draws together a wide range of original research by way of case studies, interviews, and industry and policy analysis, to give a complete view of what is happening to communities as their local newspapers close or go into decline to be replaced by emerging forms of digital news provision. This study takes the United Kingdom as its focus but its findings speak to common issues found in local media systems in other Western democracies. The authors investigate who is producing hyperlocal news and why, as well as production practices, models of community and participatory journalism, and the economics of hyperlocal operations. Looking holistically at hyperlocal news, Hyperlocal Journalism paints a vivid picture of citizens creating their own news services via social media and on free blogging platforms to hold power to account, redress negative reputational geographies, and to tell everyday stories of community life. The book also raises key questions about the sustainability of such endeavours in the face of optimism from commentators and policy-makers.

Most books about autism are written by professionals, mums, or people who've got it all together and figured out. Gaz and Andy are not those people. The founders of the Autism Dadcast, one of the UK's fastest-growing SEND platforms, they're just two dads who were completely floored by the early years, made every mistake going, carried a ton of guilt, and slowly learned how to survive it. Along the way, they discovered something important: Dads are struggling quietly. Really quietly. They're scared, confused, ashamed to say how they feel, trying to stay strong at home, pretending to be fine at work, and dealing with more pressure than anyone realises. If you - or your husband, partner, friend or family member - are that dad, this book is for you. It's the conversation dads have at 1.00am but never out loud. It's the mess, the fear, the humour, the love, the small wins, and the "holy shit, what now?" moments. It covers: diagnosis, grief, meltdowns, the challenges of the early years, the emotional and mental health challenges you'll face as a dad (and as a couple, if you're together), how to balance with, and meet the challenges of, work, how to support your partner, how to navigate the world of education, EHCPs and school battles, and how to protect and preserve your own mental health. This isn't a clinical guide; it's not a 'ten steps to fix your life' book. It's a handbook for all those dads who never realised they'd need one - and the families who love them.

Sitting at the extreme end of criminal justice and offending behaviour, public protection policy has been politicised and used to reshape wider debates. Exploring the development of public protection policy and legislation since the early 1990s, Politics and Public Protection considers the necessity for extreme measures and the actual extent of serious crime to unveil the populist nature of the way political debates have been framed over time. Analysing the UK setting where the public protection debate has been ‘weaponised’ to create public fear and ‘with us or against us’ positions, authors Mike Nash and Andy Williams chronicle how this form of politics has now extended into a range of policy areas, including Brexit. Emphasising the political context of the evolution of public protection policy over time, the chapters investigate different types of dangerous criminal behaviour, public protection agencies and responses to panic and failure, providing a critical analysis of the use of risk to reshape and reframe public protection policy and practice. Responding to the need for an updated discussion on public protection and criminal justice legislation that links the past to the present, Politics and Public Protection closely examines the interplay between politics and extreme criminal justice measures.