Why you should trust us

Andover Radio Local News for Andover

loveandover.com is designated as a European Press Publication (see: EU Directive 2019/790). We are accredited as a news source with the Google News Publisher Center and Andover Radio is a subscriber to news agencies Sky News (via Independent Radio News) and Radio News Hub.

Andover Radio Limited is licensed by HM Government’s Office of Communications (Ofcom) number CR101268BA/1.

We not only adhere to the law of the land but also the regulations that permit or restrict us from saying, publishing, broadcasting or doing anything illegal, indecent, dishonest or untruthful.

Andover Radio adheres to the Ofcom Broadcasting Code found here.

Andover Radio adheres to the Broadcasting Act 1990 (amended) found here.

As a licensed broadcaster, Andover Radio delivers content across multiple digital platforms such as Google Home, Amazon Echo and Apple Music. Andover Radio has various iterations of its output across these aggregated services. We do not control their ability to deliver our locally originated programming.

We aim to provide a service of ‘useable’ information for Andover. We do not claim to be the best, the first, or the most investigative. Our aim is to ‘tell you the news’, not investigate ‘what the news is’.

Because we are governed by law, our content teams ensure that – unlike ‘online blogs’ – we do ensure that our content is trusted. And we do rather a lot…

We publish and broadcast over 1,600 pieces of unique local content every month.

Broadcast news organisations are accountable. We publish our company details, address and contact phone numbers plus various other ways of getting in contact. This is a legal requirement of any news organisation. Any portal that does not do this cannot be an ‘authorised’ (or trusted) news source.

All our content, whether it’s “what’s on and event” information, local news, sport, reportage, features or social comment is made by people who dare to challenge. This means you may read or hear things that you simply do not agree with.

Our job is to make Andover a better place. This means we do not always accept the status quo. In fact, it means we make a point of challenging it. It also means we may also challenge our own beliefs. We ask you to open your mind to information that goes beyond what you have been told to accept.

We ask that you do not believe everything you see online. We live in a world of fake news and a place where a lack of substantiated information is freely distributed; a world where ‘a little information can be very dangerous’.

We are made for – and by – people in Andover.

We are a surprisingly large organisation – around 40 people operate under our banners of Love Andover and Andover Radio.

Not only externally, but also internally, we accept that not everyone will agree with some of our comments, posts or stories. But, we do our utmost to ensure that we reflect the ‘feel and mood’ of the majority of people in Andover. Or, we supply information that may be something new to most people. At the very least, everything we deliver is respectful where due and fact-checked. A right of redress is always available.

Where we deliver this ‘new news‘ we only push content that helps shape the world for the people of Andover. We are especially conscious of our young people – those people whose ‘informative’ content is delivered mostly through unregulated social media.

WE EMPHASISE: neither we – nor our children – should believe everything we read online.

We are licensed, regulated and governed.

To reiterate, we are licensed, regulated and governed by UK law. Newspapers are governed by a ‘publish and be damned’ approach. Personal observations, comments or posts on the internet or on social media by unlicensed ‘bloggers’ are simply not regulated.

We exist to provide ‘social change’ for Andover.

This means being bold, competitive and challenging. We innovate, collaborate and celebrate. We will do things that benefit the people and organisations that operate in this area but we very much accept that we cannot ‘please all the people all the time’.

We do report on and provide a broad range of ‘useable’ and useful content – that means you will see us host events, fund charitable causes, argue with councils and write in a passionate manner.

We are not the BBC, nor are we Sky News – and we are also not RT: Our reputation as an organisation that supplies content is the most valuable asset to our listeners, readers and viewers. As such, we do our very best to ensure that our content is always of the highest quality.

All our on-air broadcasters adhere to the Ofcom Broadcasting Code (see above) and we train and expect our online writers to have a not dissimilar understanding and respect for that code, whether it is a legal requirement or an expectation.

We Are Only Human.

We expect our content providers to be accurate and balanced at all times, but they are only human, and sometimes people make mistakes. That makes us real. We are a real organisation, with real people doing a real job in a real world.

However, we do have a process for dealing with errors quickly and appropriately. If you are unhappy with our performance, there are plenty of ways of making this known.

We accept that some people simply post their ‘views’ about our services online. We do not consider this a complaint, just a way of people expressing an opinion which conflicts with a view.

Unfounded, snide, illogical, aggressive or dishonest and legally questionable comments will simply be removed. Harassment, abuse and threats will not be tolerated and these are taken seriously and will be reported to the Police.

Andover has a great many ‘keyboard warriors’. We have experienced most them – in fact, because we investigate social profiles, we can probably name each and every one of them. These are people who consider their keyboard both a weapon and a shield.

Whereas we very much accept challenging comment, we will not tolerate abuse towards us as an organisation nor will we accept abuse and threat against individuals involved in our operation. We monitor all our various ports of contact and take detailed notes and screenshots where appropriate.

We do not engage in tit-for-tat comments, but we do make a note of names, contact details and nature of the comments. If it relates to a legal issue we employ the services of a legal adviser whose advice we take on being made aware of inappropriate social media comment. We are fully insured, should the need to take legal action present itself.

Our legal adviser investigates what, if any, action is required to rectify any error by us, or how to proceed with abuse by an author, on whichever platform it is published.

Also, just to show we have a sense of humour, we may occasionally deliberately add errors to written content to prove that people are paying attention and identify individuals who have nothing better to do with their time than snipe.

Ownership and funding.

The legal ‘Pubic File’ for Andover Radio Limited is found here. Andover Radio owns and controls this website www.loveandover.com. Andover Radio is a non-profit organisation, limited by guarantee and is a commercial tenant of our landlord, Love Andover Limited.

Love Andover Limited is a separate legal entity – a non-profit organisation which is also limited by guarantee, constituted to to provide community development services in and around Andover.

Andover Radio and Love Andover have similar commercial and community purposes, but take separate risks, have separate bank accounts but are commercially unrelated.

No share capital exists within either company, therefore none of the directors or members of either company are shareholders, nor do they have any claim over company assets.