Wiltshire 999s is an independent news site providing breaking news and court coverage in the South West of England.
Here founder Daniel Jae Webb, who launched Wiltshire 999s in 2016, discusses the launch of a paid-for ad-free version of the site as it seeks to diversify revenues and expand its coverage.
Despite the publication’s name, he also shares his advice not to focus on crime as too much negativity puts advertisers off.
What is Wiltshire 999s, and how is it filling a gap in the market?
We know we’re different – our focus is on the emergency services and criminal courts in Wiltshire and nearby counties. We mix traditional news reporting with digital age journalism to create content our readers love to consume. For years there’s been a need for real, old-school reporting here in Wiltshire… less desk-based ‘churnalism’.
We’re always looking for something unseen to bring to everyone’s attention, exclusive content others can’t get elsewhere. Like most news outlets, we do publish press releases – but they’re at the bottom of the priority list. We’d much rather run one strong court story or report live from the scene of an incident than publish ten press releases.
What is your editorial focus and why?
Our tagline ‘Reporting reality’ sums our work up – we want to report what really happened. We’re unbiased, try to stick to facts and make speculation clear. We also have an anti-clickbait policy, ensuring readers know what they’re clicking to read about.
What is your readership?
We average approximately 300,000 readers (unique visitors) a month, generating an average of 1.2 million page views a month.
How are you making local news pay?
By breaking news first, people to flock to our website and social channels for the latest updates. Despite heavy competition in Wiltshire, we’re often hours ahead. Our readers value our speed but also our quality; we pride ourselves on having professional photographs and video footage to accompany leading boots-on-the-ground journalism.
What are your revenue streams?
While I recognise that it may not be sustainable long-term, Wiltshire 999s is currently receiving a good portion (50%) of its revenue from social media – including Facebook and TikTok.
We also take revenue from programmatic advertising (50%), which only two years ago was our sole revenue stream.
Creators have recorded a decrease in revenue from monetisation schemes offered by big tech, and as such, I am actively exploring the best way to build an owned audience – something we currently lack.
What is the size and make up of your team?
We’re small, with one full-time journalist (me) and two part-time reporters. We can do more with less, because our team are passionate about providing people public interest news. Where there’s passion, there’s productivity.
How much do you make in turnover?
I held a role at the news agency SWNS up until the end of 2024, and as such Wiltshire 999s was run as a side-hustle with minimal revenue. However, in 2025 (its first year of trading as part of State Six News Limited), we’re on track to hit a turnover of around £90,000.
What are your revenue targets?
Our 2025 revenue target is £70,000. Our 2026 revenue target is currently set at £100,000 – however, this is likely to rise by the end of Q4.
What have been some of your biggest/best stories?
There are just too many to choose from. Over the years, Wiltshire 999s has broken some of the UK’s biggest stories – including several follow-ups relating to the Novichok poisonings in Salisbury.
We were also the first news outlet to photograph King Charles outside of London following the Queen’s passing, as he dropped Camilla at her home in Lacock. He was in full regalia, and our photographs made most national papers.
We’re even more proud of some of the exclusive court reporting our team have undertaken, exposing some of the most deplorable criminals.
In 2022, we covered the case of Stacey Davis – a mother who left her one-year-old boy, Ethan, at home to die during a heatwave. This heartbreaking story was followed up with an exclusive interview with Ethan’s father, after liaising closely with the family throughout proceedings.
Just last month, one of our reporters attempted to cover the sentencing of Kieren Holford, who kicked his puppy to death. The court unlawfully imposed a reporting restriction – which was successfully challenged by Wiltshire 999s.
How much do you depend on anonymous tips and contributions?
Information is important to us. Our readers trust us to bring them the truth. We won’t brush them off; we’ll fully investigate every tip-off and provide them with updates along the way. Contributions, like pictures, are really important – as we can’t be everywhere. Every contribution helps us cover even more news.
Do you have any partnerships with other local publishers?
We don’t currently have any partnerships with local publishers. This is ultimately by choice – as we prefer to keep our content exclusive to our website. However, this could change in the future as we diversify revenue streams.
Are you experimenting with new revenue models?
Yes, we’re soon to launch an ad-free version of our website. It’ll essentially allow readers to become members and while logged in, ads are not shown. We know our readers are becoming increasingly annoyed by ads so we’re doing something to change that – but it’ll come at a small cost to them.
So the ad-free site will be £3.49 per month or £2.75 a month when paid annually. As it remains under development (but is available to see on the website), I don’t know what other perks will be included for members, but there’s likely to be some relating to prize draws (vouchers etc). We’ll promote it via social media and within every article.
We don’t anticipate a huge take-up, but our most loyal readers are likely to part with a few quid a month to support our work and have a more positive experience on our website.
What is Wiltshire 999s’ approach to use of AI?
We only use AI to help rephrase press releases, to provide a summary of an entire article or write an engaging social media post. We’ve programmed ChatGPT to ensure it does not deviate far from the original content and creates with our editorial policies in mind. No content is published without being proofed. We don’t intend to use AI for any other editorial purpose at this stage.
What tips can you share on how to make journalism pay in the digital age?
Creating unique, exclusive and engaging content brings the eyeballs. If you provide a service others do not, you’ll automatically fill a gap. Making it pay is tougher – but with a decent product, ads pay.
One thing I’d advise others looking to launch news websites is: don’t focus on crime. The constant negativity results in lower revenues from ads and monetisation. Keep it diverse, give the good news some light too.
What are the biggest challenges facing Wiltshire 999s at the moment?
Our biggest challenge is expansion. We need another full-time journalist to take things to the next level – but that comes with significant commitments. It’s a leap we’re hoping to take in the coming year.
We also want to develop our owned audience, by growing our mailing list – we have 2,500 members but it’s not currently active – and creating a digital system which drives our audience back to the website day after day. We’ve relied on social media channels for way too long.
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