2021 was another bumper year for Island Echo, not only clinching a national award but cementing our position as the Island’s number 1 news website with more visitors than ever before.
We are proud to say that we end what has been another tough year – in terms of the pandemic – as the ICNN Community Website of the Year. It is fantastic to be recognised on the national stage and it means a lot to us that we are delivering an unrivalled news service to you, our dedicated readers, especially during these turbulent times.
The demand for accurate, up-to-date and truly local news is greater than ever before and this continues to put a strain on resources, but Island Echo is still adapting and growing with further expansion planned in 2022, building on all the good work this year and over the past decade.
Since 1st January, a total of 27.8million pages views have been served, which is a staggering 62% increase on 2019’s pre-pandemic figures. Over 5,600 articles have been published on Island Echo this year alone – an increase of 400 year-on-year. That equates to around 108 news stories being delivered to you each and every week, for free. We once again commit to not introducing a paywall, meaning Island Echo will remain free-to-view in 2022.
This coming May will see us celebrate our 10th anniversary. Yes, Island Echo really has been around for almost 10 years now. During that time local news has changed dramatically, thanks to our 24/7 coverage accompanied by storytelling photographs and live video.
We took to the skies this year with an investment in drone technology, which has proven to be a great success. Other successes include our increased court reporting with 250 court stories published and the Isle of Wight Business Directory, which was launched in May. Light up the Wight has seen a bumper 37 entries this Christmas with well in excess of 2,500 votes cast.
In January we will be launching a new section to the Island Echo website which brings a traditional feature of printed news into the modern era – but more on this soon…
Have an enjoyable and safe New Year’s Eve and we will see you again in 2022!
