Today (Monday 28th September 2026), OnTheWight celebrates its 21st birthday!
For more than two decades we’ve been publishing Trusted, independent news about the Isle of Wight – keeping distractions out and keeping readers informed.
We want to say a heartfelt “Thank you” to everyone across the Island and beyond who have ever supported the site – it’s you that we’ve done this for.
Arrived with a boom!
As you might remember, it was 21 years ago today, that Simon and I decided to start what was then called VentnorBlog with a post about the Bomb Disposal Unit detonating a mine in Ventnor Haven.
It was the start of journey that we never imagined would have ended up here, 21 years later.
Humble beginnings
What began as a local blog championing the arts, sharing news of exhibitions, gigs and opportunities, quickly attracted a loyal readership, many of whom encouraged us to share reports from other parts of the Island – and then further encouraged us to move into more comprehensive Island-wide news coverage.
Over the years we have won awards and recognition for our Trusted journalism, whilst continuing to serve a solid readership, with a myriad of readers from all over the world visiting the publication every day.
Bumps in the road
We’re proud to have given a voice to thousands of writers and contributors whose articles we’ve published (more than 55,000 articles) – plus all those who have commented, with a staggering nearly 1/4 million readers’ comments left.
Unfortunately in the last couple of of months, despite long-term measures being in place to secure the site, OnTheWight has come under attack from a network of bots – we suspect this is only going to increase with the much-publicised AI capabilities.
With pressures from other directions pulling on our attention, we have not had the time or financial resources to resolve the issue, so have had to close the site to comments in the meantime.
Long-time supporters and readers
It’s been fantastic over the years to have the financial and moral support of Islanders, who tell us they appreciate our approach to journalism.
As long-time readers will know, we made the decision to not plaster the website with ads and pop-ups, but it doesn’t mean our costs are any less than other news publications.
We really appreciate those who support us and if you are able to we’d love you to join them to help us continue doing what we’ve been doing for the last 21 years.
Thank you for your continued support – it means a lot to us.
