大象传媒

Journalist Ian Wylie journeys to some of the hidden corners of Britain to view small towns through the lens of the people who don鈥檛 ignore them - their local reporters.

Some of the towns are struggling, others are thriving. The one thing they have in common is they鈥檙e pretty much invisible in the eyes of the national media, even though they are home to tens of thousands of people. They don鈥檛 have football teams. They鈥檙e not pretty resorts that attract tourists. They can鈥檛 even claim to be a contested marginal seat that will determine the outcome of a general election. Our guides are the passionate people who remain committed to telling the stories of what鈥檚 happening in their small towns. Through their newspapers, websites and social media posts they refuse to turn the page on local news reporting - often at some personal cost.

In our first episode, Ian travels to Caerphilly in South Wales. It鈥檚 a small town with a familiar issue - it feels dwarfed by Cardiff, the big city nearby.

Produced and presented by Ian Wylie
Executive producer: Ian Bent
Sound designer: John Scott
A Sparklab production for 大象传媒 Radio 4