We’re Back! The Dragon Restarts Publication Following Site Migration

Published on: 17 Aug, 2026
Updated on: 17 Aug, 2026

By Martin Giles

At last, The Guildford Dragon NEWS is publishing again. May I reiterate my apology for the break in service but we needed the site to be more stable so that readers and our editorial team could depend on its accessibility. We believe we have done that now and, once the proves to be the case, we will look at adding features that we hope readers will find useful.

It is not entirely clear what caused the previous problems. Early reports that it was extensive “bot attacks” may not have been entirely correct.

During the hiatus we have received numerous concerned messages from readers and supporters, some anxious about the situation, some frustrated with the lack of a news source that they have come to rely on.

Much has been said about the importance of local journalism and many agree it has an important, if not essential role in acting as a watchdog for local government, agencies and services.

Reporting on local government is believed to correlate with better voter engagement and higher voter turnout in local elections. It was a major reason why The Dragon was started.

Despite some criticism from certain quarters, we know we do this in an impartial way showing no preference for any political parties and have received many compliments over the years for our coverage, particularly at election times. This will continue to be important as the radical changes to the way our councils are organised continue.

But news is not, nor should it be, just about politics. Often articles about local incidents, for example road accidents or crimes, are better read. Readership also went up during the pandemic and we remain proud of the information service we provided during that difficult time.

Local business, sport reports, local culture, local history and nature are all important too and we do our best to include them with the resources at our disposal.

Unfortunately the internet, and particularly social media, has allowed there to be a huge increase in misinformation and “fake news”. Many people, especially our younger generations, rely solely on social media for their news even though it is unchecked or edited and might come from questionable and politically partial sources. We do not use clickbait to boost our numbers nor do we circulate, without qualification, unverified social media rumours.

Thanks to time freely given by our volunteer team, our news service is provided free. However sustainability is a real and pressing issue. We really need a significant amount of funding to make The Guildford Dragon NEWS sustainable. If you think you can help please let me know at: mgilesdragon@gmail.com.