Lacontradejaén

The same advertisers who didn't pick up the phone for years today call Fran Cano. It is one of the main achievements that this journalist, one of the founders of the local outlet Lacontradejaén, recalls. "They value quality, and today they look at us as a good platform for their ads," Cano said. "We are different from the rest of the digital media; we compete with them with in-depth stories about our community, which give us identity."

Lacontradejaén has been serving the province of Jaén, with a population of more than 600,000 inhabitans, since 2017. It does so by applying what Cano calls "two speeds": the immediacy of daily news and slow journalism, with long reports and interviews on weekends.

The organisation gets revenue from advertising on the website, and from communication consulting services for companies. "Our work as a communication agency has become a fundamental pillar of our sustainability," Cano added.

Cano left his job at a newspaper to launch Lacontradejaén and founded a cooperative with three other partners. "The beginnings were very hard; our main investment was not receiving a salary and we worked for free during the first year," he recalled. Today the three team members have a "stable and fair" salary and an office in a co-working space in the city of Jaén.

Looking back, Cano recalls a few lessons he has learned: first, you need to know your partners well before starting. Second, it is not necessary to spend 12 hours in front of a computer looking at social networks; instead, one has to go out into the street, be with people, and spend time thinking about new approaches.

In the future, the team is considering redesigning the website and establishing a subscription model. "But we are not ready yet. We need more time to define our offer to subscribers," Cano acknowledged.

Last updated: January 2023

Last updated date: June 2025