I’ve always loved local newsletters. As a former journalist, I know the power of sharp, community-driven reporting, especially when it lands right in your inbox.

When I moved to London, I was surprised by how few great local newsletters existed. 

Despite being a global media hub, the city has become a local news desert. I often turned to a mix of Facebook groups, WhatsApp, Eventbrite, and good old-fashioned word-of-mouth to hear about community-level events. 

But in that vacuum, a new wave of independent creators is stepping in, and many of them are building on beehiiv. From curated event guides to borough-level commentary, these newsletters are doing what traditional media can’t: serving niche communities with creativity and personality.

If you’re a creator eyeing the local space, especially in cities like London, there’s never been more opportunity. Here’s what we can learn from newsletters like Cheapskate London, London is Blue, and Camdenish — and why I think this is just the beginning.

Over the past two decades, local news in the UK has been in steady decline. Between 2005 and 2024, nearly 300 local newspapers shut down. Reporter headcounts have dropped by two-thirds. Even in London — a city with a population of nearly 9 million — the number of local titles has dwindled to just a few. When The Evening Standard dropped its daily print edition in 2024, it marked the end of daily local news in print.

This isn’t just a London problem. Across the country, millions of people now live in so-called “news deserts,” areas with no dedicated local news coverage. In a city made up of dozens of distinct boroughs and communities, the absence of neighborhood-level reporting means people are less informed about the places they live, work, and vote.

At the same time, reader trust in mainstream media has fallen, and traditional outlets have struggled to sustain ad-based business models. For many journalists, the economics of local reporting simply stopped working.

But that’s also where newsletters come in.

With a low cost to launch, direct audience connection, and flexible revenue options, from local sponsorships to paid subscriptions, email has become the fastest-growing medium for local creators. 

In beehiiv’s 2025 State of Email Newsletters report, local newsletters were among the fastest-growing segments across the platform. It’s not hard to see why: readers crave relevance, and creators are better positioned than ever to deliver it.

Instead of trying to cover an entire city, today’s best local newsletters go deep on a neighborhood, a community, or a shared interest, curating events, offering commentary, or building community in a way traditional outlets no longer can.

There’s a new wave of local newsletter creators popping up across London, and a lot of them are building on beehiiv. 

Some are covering borough news. Others are curating free events. A few are zeroed in on niche communities like tech founders or football fans. The formats vary, but the throughline is the same: they know their audience, and they show up for them.

Here’s a closer look at a few standout newsletters leading the charge.

Free culture for everyone, one inbox at a time.

Cheapskate London tackles a very real (and very London) problem: it’s outrageously expensive to live here, but culture shouldn’t be out of reach.

Launched in 2019 by journalist Kate Samuelson and graphic designer Georgia Weisz, Cheapskate curates free events across the city from gigs and film screenings to plays, talks, and workshops.

Their mission is clear: make London’s cultural scene accessible to everyone.

Today, the newsletter now reaches more than 36,000 subscribers. It’s even been so successful that they’ve now expanded to Cheapskate Kids and Cheapskate LA. 

Here’s what I like about it: 

This newsletter shows what’s possible when you serve a real need in a big, fragmented city like London.

A values-driven newsletter reimagining local storytelling in Camden.

If Cheapskate London is a curated guide for getting out and about, Camdenist is a love letter to an entire borough.

Camdenist was launched to create a more democratic, community-first approach to storytelling, one that celebrates the people, places, and culture that make Camden unique. It’s not just a newsletter, but a multi-platform media project: web, social media, events, and even a quarterly print magazine that reaches over thousands of readers.

Here’s what I like about it: 

A fan-led newsletter for Chelsea supporters, by Chelsea supporters.

London is Blue is a hyper-niche sports newsletter focused entirely on Chelsea Football Club, which is an extension of the London is Blue podcast. 

Created by and for fans, it delivers match previews, opinion pieces, transfer rumors, and cultural commentary through a blue-tinted lens.

What sets it apart is its insider community feel. The writing is passionate, informal, and insider-y, like hearing from your most plugged-in sports fan in the group chat. Because it only focuses on one topic, it can go super deep and cover way more than traditional media. 

This is a great example of finding and building for your 1,000 true fans. 

Not every team has an avid fan base like Chelsea, but this could certainly be replicated for a lot of the big sports teams in London. 

What I like about it:

A newsletter and community hub for London’s startup scene.

London Founder House serves startup founders, indie hackers, and early-stage operators in the city. The newsletter curates high-signal events, meetups, and resources tailored for builders in London’s tech world. 

I love how the newsletter is doing more than sharing events. Its main goal is to build community and connect with readers, curating opportunities like pitch nights, coworking sessions, happy hours, and more.

This is exactly the kind of community I had been looking for in London but had not yet found. 

What I like: 

This approach would be a great idea for any industry, from real estate to accounting to web developers. If you help people find their people, you’ve got a solid start for a newsletter. 

London’s becoming a bit of a playground for local newsletter creators, and the smart ones are finding unique ways to grow. 

I spoke to Samuelson and Weisz, the co-founders of Cheapskate London, to learn more about what’s working. 

Cheapskate makes money through brand partnerships, beehiiv ads, and pay-per-click links, but many of their sponsors are actually promoting free events.

“It’s worth pointing out that a lot of places running free events still have a marketing budget. They want people through the doors,” Samuelson tells me. They’ve partnered with big names like the Southbank Center and the Science Museum.

Because Cheapskate focuses on curated listings (not broad event coverage), the team can pitch cost-effective, targeted sponsorships that outperform traditional listings platforms.

“It’s just the two of us, so we can keep costs really low. And that makes us more appealing than a big, bloated London listings site.”

If you want to connect with more local partners, Samuelson recommends this approach:

“If I were running a more localised newsletter, I’d definitely connect with independent cafés, pubs, and comedy clubs in that neighborhood. See if you can offer subscribers a treat, like a 20% discount, and promote that business in return.”

I also love Camdenist’s unique approach to working with local advertisers through their Boost program. 

The Cheapskate team switched over to beehiiv in 2023 to get access to more features and to have more flexible choices when it comes to design, co-founder Weisz tells me. After doing a lot of research into other tools, beehiiv made the most sense to help them scale the brand. 

Cheapskate has now fully embraced the beehiiv ad network and tools, both for earning money and growth.

This flywheel — monetize attention, reinvest in growth — is exactly how modern media brands scale, even without a sales team.

Another beehiiv feature Cheapskate leans into? Polls.

Try This:

Samuelson credits much of Cheapskate’s visibility and growth to being part of a wider, friendly newsletter ecosystem.

If your audience overlaps with another creator’s, a simple exchange or bundled sponsor deal can bring in revenue and subscribers alike.

Try This:

Many newsletters are expanding beyond the inbox into real-life communities, which builds stronger relationships and new revenue streams.

For example, London Founder House turns its newsletter into a gateway to a founder community, with coworking sessions, curated events, and partner perks. 

Meanwhile, Camdenist regularly features cultural events, pop-ups, and in-person collaborations that reflect its collaborative roots.

Email creates attention, but community creates belonging (and long-term value). And Londoners are keen to get out and make new friends!

If you want a glimpse of where this is headed, just look across the pond.

Small, loyal audiences can drive big outcomes, especially when creators own their distribution and speak directly to community needs.

The opportunity in London is clear to me: The audience is here. The appetite for local connection is growing. And with tools like beehiiv, the infrastructure is finally in place to support sustainable local media, one newsletter at a time.

I’m not pretending this is easy. Running a local newsletter — especially in a massive, chaotic city like London — comes with real challenges. It’s a grind to stay consistent, build trust, and find ways to monetize a cash-strapped audience. And unless you’ve got VC money (which you probably don’t), you’re doing it all yourself — from sourcing content to finding sponsors to showing up at events.

And yet… this is also where the opportunity lies.

The bar is low because so few people are doing it well. London has over 8 million people and dozens of distinct neighborhoods — and still, there are only a handful of newsletters serving those communities with any depth or consistency. 

I keep thinking: how many people in Hackney or Peckham or Richmond would love a weekly email rounding up what’s happening near them, or a thoughtful take on something that actually affects their neighborhood? How many local businesses would gladly sponsor something that felt relevant and community-rooted?

What about moms in North London? Or real estate professionals working in the city? 

The appetite is there. The tech is ready. What’s missing are more people willing to build. 

If you’re reading this and thinking, Maybe I could start something, I genuinely believe you can. Here’s how to get started (and how beehiiv can help):

The more niche, the better. Don’t try to “cover London.” Serve a pocket of it.

👉 Ask: Who are you helping, and what would they miss if your newsletter disappeared?

beehiiv makes it extremely simple to launch and, more importantly, grow.

You can launch in a weekend and improve as you go. Don’t overthink it.

Weekly is great. Biweekly works too. What matters is showing up and building an audience.

beehiiv’s scheduling, drafts, and analytics make it easier to plan ahead and track what’s working. 

Local media is rooted in relationships with the community. So talk to people. Go to events. Reply to emails. Post on Instagram. beehiiv gives you the tech, but you have to be the one to cultivate these.

If you’re up for building something thoughtful, useful, and human, now’s the time. And beehiiv’s the place.

I wrote this piece because I truly believe there’s a massive opportunity in local newsletters and too few people are talking about it. I’ve seen so many successful newsletters take off in the U.S. and want to help share these learnings in London and beyond. 

I’m putting that belief into practice myself. Earlier this year, I launched Pub & Property, a newsletter exploring the charm and culture of the British countryside: part travel guide, part property daydream, and part experiment in building something slow, intentional, and reader-supported.

If you’re thinking about starting your own — especially in a city like London — consider this your invitation to start building.

And if you need a tool to get started, you can use beehiiv for free. It offers a ton of helpful resources to get started, design your brand, and start signing up your first readers.