KunThy attracts subscribers with stories close to home

A new local news outlet in Thy is finding readers willing to pay for its coverage, even as readership falls across the news industry, DR reports. KunThy launched on 1 April and says business is going well.

The outlet’s stories include Hanne swimming 6.5 kilometres to raise money for a good cause, a newly found whale-lizard fossil and repeated vandalism at a local school. Editor Katrine Hedegaard says there is a gap for small stories that national media do not cover.

KunThy has two journalists and Hedegaard. Subscriptions, advertising and media support fund the outlet. Its readership has grown enough for the team to prepare to move from home offices into a new newsroom in central Thisted.

There are about 250 local and hyperlocal media outlets in Denmark, according to a new count by Aarhus University’s independent Constructive Institute. New outlets are emerging in places where established local newsrooms have closed. Ærønyt is being set up after Fyns Stiftstidende closed its local newsroom on Ærø, while Vores Vestegn has recently launched following the closure of four Sjællandske Medier newsrooms in Greater Copenhagen.

Constructive Institute director Ulrik Haagerup says new thinking and continued media support are needed to help small outlets survive. Their quality varies, he says, and many depend heavily on individual journalists.

KunThy is a sister outlet to KunMors, where Hedegaard is also editor. KunMors has operated since 2020. Hedegaard says readers value stories about local people and positive developments, particularly at a time when news often focuses on conflict and problems.