{"id":958632,"date":"2026-05-14T05:43:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T05:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/958632\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T05:43:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T05:43:14","slug":"edinburgh-minute-founder-on-winning-prestigious-global-news-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/958632\/","title":{"rendered":"Edinburgh Minute founder on winning prestigious global news award"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Mr MacLeod joined the good and the great in Berlin last week, at the 94th annual International News Media Association’s<\/a> Global Media Awards.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI wanted to go to meet other people doing similar things. There aren’t many people doing similar things, I discovered.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Those \u201csimilar things\u201d, Mr MacLeod goes on to tell me, is a passionate commitment to curating local news.\n<\/p>\n

\n (Image: Edinburgh Minute)\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cTo win,\u201d he remarks, \u201cis the biggest thing to happen in my career.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n After two decades in journalism and tech, including stints at STV<\/a> , Channel 4, Meta and Instagram, that is high praise indeed.\n<\/p>\n

\n So how did this soft-spoken Scot parlay a simple idea into a multi-platform daily newsletter with more than 30,000 subscribers?\n<\/p>\n

\n It began in the winter of 2022.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI was lucky enough to have a couple weeks off at Christmas<\/a> and I thought about what I would rather be doing,\u201d he quips. \u201c20 years on from my first job in local news, I missed that connection and how journalists help people to solve problems.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI realised that this city doesn\u2019t need more original journalism, the readers need help to find it,\u201d he tells me. \u201cFriends of mine who were working in local news said they were worried about referrals. It’s hard to get your work seen as a journalist.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n So, in March 2023, The Edinburgh Minute was born.\n<\/p>\n

\n Every morning, he gets up at 5 am and opens 100 tabs of information on his computer.\n<\/p>\n

\n Sounds like a lot? He uses data from 300 websites for The Minute\u2019s sister newsletter in London, The London Minute .<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n Mr MacLeod sees himself as a custodian of journalism rather than a producer.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI do about four or five original pieces a year,\u201d he notes. \u201cBut when something comes my way, I put my old reporter hat on.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cMany of the things I write about relate to the scrutiny of the public pound. It annoys me when people don\u2019t pay tax. I value the pound even more now that I work for myself.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n

\n \ud83c\udfc6 It\u2019s official: The Edinburgh<\/a> Minute is the best local newsletter in the world! A Berlin postcard from me at @INMAorg<\/a> in Berlin here: https:\/\/t.co\/DjzrdurgBs<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

\n \u2014 The Edinburgh Minute (@EdinburghMinute) May 10, 2026<\/a>\n <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n I should mention now that several months after starting The Minute , Mr MacLeod gave up his corporate job at Meta to curate the newsletter full-time.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n He says it was a gamble, but one which has paid off. He draws his salary from reader subscriptions \u2014 thousands pay \u00a35 a month to support the newsletter, which is also available free of charge.\u00a0\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n He explains the thinking behind his decision not to host advertisements on his site.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cAdverts were one of the recent people who told me they didn\u2019t read the local news. As a journalist that was very upsetting.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhen I started the newsletter, I was still working at Meta<\/a> , so there was no reason to monetise the newsletter.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI never planned to, but one of my friends suggested I give people the option to pay and keep it free, so I gave it a go.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cSure enough it has been three years and almost 1000 editions. I was able to quit my job \u2026 and decide I want to have faith in this and in my audience.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n With a wide variety of stories available online each morning, from traditional brands like The Herald<\/a> and The Scotsman to local websites and forums, how does Mr MacLeod pick the pieces he wants to curate?\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cMy criteria is safety first. If a story is about something which might make people unsafe, then I put it at the top of the list.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI am informed by my traditional nose for news \u2026. but I am mindful that we are all bombarded by awful things [on] social media.\n<\/p>\n

\n \"LauraThe Herald and Edinburgh Minute partnered during our Future of Edinburgh series last year. (Image: GordonTerris\/Herald&Times)\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI try to mix in good news or better news as well so that it is a true reflection of what is going on.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n I ask Mr MacLeod about the community notice board angle of The Minute , something he is keen to speak about.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis is my favourite part,\u201d he beams. \u201cIt came about because readers were contacting me with notices on different emails and platforms and DMs.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt was a nice problem to have, so I started collecting information via a Google Form, but even that got clunky.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI needed to figure out a way to make it better for people to send things in.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n So working with a developer, Mr MacLeod used a tool called Town Spot to create \u201cEdinburgh’s new people-powered community noticeboard\u201d.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n It is a simple calculus, he explains.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhen you send something in, it gets categorised as an event or news or notice. The information goes onto a calendar and a map as well.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n As our conversation draws to a close, I ask Mr MacLeod to reflect on his time editing The Minute , and what its future might hold.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe feedback I get is better than getting paid,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is the best job I have ever had.\n<\/p>\n

\n He goes on \u2014 \u201cWhat do we mean by community? At its heart it is getting people together over a shared interest or passion. The noticeboards reflect what people want their city to look like.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n What is next for The Minute , now officially the best local newsletter in the world?\n<\/p>\n

\n Read more:<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe only plans I have got are about tomorrow\u2019s edition and helping other people to replicate this format where other people live,\u201d he says.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI have helped to develop 100 new titles across the world \u2026 for free, not as a consultancy or another.\u00a0\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt is validating to see the global news award. Some [journalists] were frosty about The Minute at first, but it is there to help them.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt is a lot of work,\u201d he notes. \u201cMore than I expect, but if people are happy to keep paying, I am happy to keep doing it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n