Social Spider Launches Barking and Dagenham Star After Unpublished LDRS Stories

Key Points

• Social Spider Community News, a community publisher, has launched a new local news website, the Barking and Dagenham Star, after discovering that many stories written by its Local Democracy Reporter (LDR), Nick Clark, about Barking and Dagenham were not being published by existing partner outlets.
• Social Spider Community News holds the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) contract to cover Newham, Tower Hamlets, and Barking and Dagenham councils, and hired Nick Clark specifically to report on this patch.
• The new Barking and Dagenham Star website has been created to ensure that Nick Clark’s LDRS stories are available to voters in Barking and Dagenham ahead of the May council elections.
• The Barking and Dagenham Star is Social Spider’s sixth local news website in London, joining the Waltham Forest Echo, Haringey Community Press, Enfield Dispatch, Barnet Post and Newham Voices.
• Initially, the Barking and Dagenham Star will prioritise publishing LDRS stories produced by Nick Clark, supplemented by a small number of straightforward local news pieces, with ambitions to expand as resources allow.
• Editor-in-chief of Social Spider, James Cracknell, stated that the organisation was frustrated to find that many of Nick Clark’s “excellent stories” from Barking and Dagenham were “being wasted” because they were not appearing in existing publications.
• According to James Cracknell, the BBC awarded Social Spider the LDRS contract in part due to its established Newham publication and its close relationship with Social Streets CIC, publisher of the Tower Hamlets Slice.
• Cracknell explained that, without their own title in Barking and Dagenham, Social Spider could not guarantee publication of LDR coverage from the borough, leading to “confusion and frustration” among sources who had spoken to the reporter.
• Despite acknowledging that Social Spider does not currently have the resources to expand its editorial staff, Cracknell said the organisation considered launching a “very low-cost news website” for Barking and Dagenham to be worthwhile in order to give residents consistent access to local democracy reporting.
• Cracknell expressed hope that Barking and Dagenham residents will now be able to access all of Nick Clark’s local democracy stories in one place and that they will value this dedicated coverage in the run-up to the borough elections.
• Social Spider director David Floyd described the launch as an “exciting” first step in bringing “high quality independent journalism” to another London borough.
• Floyd added that while the Barking and Dagenham Star is “starting small”, Social Spider aims to develop the site into a significant and trusted source of local news for residents over time.

Barking and Dagenham (East London Times) February 5, 2026 – A new hyperlocal news website, the Barking and Dagenham Star, has been launched by Social Spider Community News after the publisher discovered that numerous stories filed by its Local Democracy Reporter, Nick Clark, about Barking and Dagenham Council were not being published under the Local Democracy Reporting Service scheme.

Why has Social Spider launched the Barking and Dagenham Star?

Social Spider Community News secured the contract to cover Newham, Tower Hamlets and Barking and Dagenham councils under the BBC-backed Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) last year, prompting the organisation to appoint reporter Nick Clark to cover the three-borough patch. The intention was that Clark’s reporting would be carried by partner outlets across the area, giving residents access to in-depth coverage of council decisions and democratic processes.

However, Social Spider found that a significant number of Clark’s stories relating specifically to Barking and Dagenham were not making it into publication. According to the publisher, this led to a situation where time-consuming public interest journalism was not reaching local readers, effectively sidelining coverage of one of the boroughs included in the contract.

What prompted concerns about unpublished LDRS stories?

As editor-in-chief of Social Spider, James Cracknell said the organisation became increasingly concerned that the work being carried out in Barking and Dagenham was not visible to the public. Cracknell explained that, after winning the newest LDRS contract, the team was “frustrated to find that many of the excellent stories Nick spends his time on in Barking and Dagenham were being wasted”, referring to the lack of publication across existing outlets.

Cracknell highlighted that the BBC had awarded Social Spider the contract partly because of its existing track record running Newham Voices and its close relationship with Social Streets CIC, which publishes the Tower Hamlets Slice. This network of titles was expected to help carry LDR output, yet the absence of a dedicated Barking and Dagenham publication meant there was no straightforward home for Clark’s stories from that borough.

How did the absence of a Barking and Dagenham title affect coverage?

According to Cracknell, the lack of a Social Spider-owned title covering Barking and Dagenham created a gap in the distribution of LDRS content. Without its own publication in the borough, Social Spider was unable to guarantee that Clark’s council and democracy stories would be run, even when they addressed matters of local significance.

Cracknell noted that this uncertainty had a knock-on effect on people who engaged with the reporting process. He said that, at times, the situation “caused confusion and frustration with the people [Nick] speaks to as part of his day-to-day reporting”, because sources who had contributed to stories did not always see those pieces appear in print or online as they might reasonably expect.

What is the Barking and Dagenham Star and what will it publish?

In response, Social Spider has launched the Barking and Dagenham Star as a new digital outlet tailored to the East London borough. The website has been established primarily as a platform to host Nick Clark’s LDRS stories so that residents and voters can access comprehensive coverage of Barking and Dagenham Council, especially in the run-up to May’s local elections.

Initially, the Barking and Dagenham Star will focus on serving as a central home for LDRS pieces, while also carrying a “small number” of straightforward local news reports. The publisher has described this as a starting point, with an ambition to broaden the editorial offer as audience demand and resources develop.

How does the new site fit into Social Spider’s wider network?

With the launch of the Barking and Dagenham Star, Social Spider now operates six local news websites across London. The new title joins the Waltham Forest Echo, Haringey Community Press, Enfield Dispatch, Barnet Post and Newham Voices in the organisation’s portfolio of community-focused publications.

This network of outlets has positioned Social Spider as a prominent provider of independent, community-oriented journalism in several London boroughs. By adding Barking and Dagenham to that network, the publisher aims to ensure that residents there receive the same depth of coverage around local democracy and civic life as their neighbours in Newham, Waltham Forest, Haringey, Enfield and Barnet.

What has James Cracknell said about the decision?

Speaking about the decision to launch a new site, editor-in-chief James Cracknell acknowledged that the move came at a time when resources are tight. He stated that

“although we do not have the resources to invest in expanding our editorial team at the current time, we felt that launching a very low-cost news website for Barking and Dagenham was worth the time and effort”.

Cracknell described the LDR stories being produced by Nick Clark in Barking and Dagenham as “excellent” and made clear that the publisher did not wish to see such reporting go to waste. He also expressed optimism that residents would value having a dedicated place to access this coverage, saying that Social Spider hopes “residents of the borough will enjoy being able to access all of Nick’s local democracy reporting from now on.”

How does the BBC LDRS contract relate to the launch?

Under the Local Democracy Reporting Service, funded by the BBC, reporters are employed to cover local authorities and public bodies, with their content shared with partner news outlets. Social Spider’s latest contract covers Newham, Tower Hamlets and Barking and Dagenham, reflecting its presence and partnerships in East London.

Cracknell has indicated that the BBC awarded the contract to Social Spider partly due to the success of Newham Voices and the organisation’s close working relationship with Social Streets CIC, which publishes Tower Hamlets Slice. This existing infrastructure made it easier to ensure LDR coverage reached audiences in Newham and Tower Hamlets. By launching the Barking and Dagenham Star, Social Spider is seeking to create a similar outlet to reliably carry LDRS stories from the third borough in the contract.

What has David Floyd said about the future of the Barking and Dagenham Star?

David Floyd, director of Social Spider CIC, has framed the launch of the Barking and Dagenham Star as the beginning of a longer-term project to embed independent local journalism in the borough. Floyd said: “It’s really exciting to be at the first stage of bringing high quality independent journalism to another London borough,” underlining that the initiative is seen as an expansion of Social Spider’s broader mission.

He also stressed that the site is “starting small” but expressed confidence about its growth prospects, stating that the organisation is “looking forward to building the Star to be an important source of local news in Barking and Dagenham.” That ambition suggests that, beyond LDRS coverage, the title may in time broaden its reporting to cover a wider range of community issues, events and voices from across the borough.

What does this mean for voters and local democracy in Barking and Dagenham?

The timing of the Barking and Dagenham Star’s launch is significant given the forthcoming May council elections. By putting Nick Clark’s LDRS stories into a dedicated, easily accessible space, Social Spider aims to give residents better information about council decisions, political developments and local democratic processes as they head to the polls.

For voters, the new site offers the prospect of more consistent, clearly signposted coverage of Barking and Dagenham Council, rather than relying on stories being picked up sporadically by other outlets. The fact that the site has been created specifically to resolve the problem of unpublished LDRS content underscores Social Spider’s intention that local democracy reporting should be visible and accountable to the people it concerns.

How might the site develop as resources allow?

Social Spider has been clear that the Barking and Dagenham Star is being launched on a low-cost basis, with no immediate expansion of the editorial team. In practice, this means that, at least in its early stages, the site will largely function as a channel for Nick Clark’s LDRS reporting, supplemented by a modest amount of additional local news content.

Over time, however, Floyd’s and Cracknell’s comments suggest that the publisher hopes to grow the breadth of coverage as resources and audience support increase. If the Barking and Dagenham Star follows the trajectory of Social Spider’s other titles, it could evolve to feature more community voices, in-depth features and broader reporting on social, cultural and economic issues in the borough, while maintaining local democracy reporting at its core.