Have you missed us? We’ve missed you!
The last article to run on this site signed off on six years of independent publishing. Kevin Rudd had just been rolled, an election had just been announced, and the term interregnum wasn’t in wide circulation.
Since then, we’ve endured more political turmoil than even the most excitable pundits might have predicted — but precious little in the way of media paradigm shifts. Indeed, there was almost as much criticism of the media as of the politicians during the campaign and we were sorry not to have been part of the action.
And so it is that with excitement and trepidation, we’re ready to announce some good news: New Matilda is on the way back.
When we stopped publishing in June, we promised that we would try to go it alone if we could rally the right kind of support.
Since then, we’ve been researching business models to work out whether we can make an independent online media company like New Matilda viable in Australia. We’ve cut costs, found ourselves a tiny office above a pub, and are now running on a skeleton staff. Having crunched the numbers, we’ve realised it would only take a third of our registered users to sign up to become financial supporters of the site for New Matilda to live again. With that knowledge, we are prepared to give it a go.
We haven’t found a major financial backer but we are currently in a financial position to stay afloat and publish new content until the end of the year. Beyond that, we’re going to need your help.
Over the next two months we’ll be asking you, dear readers, to become New Matilda supporters so that we can bring you the kind of smart, information-driven analysis you’ve been missing out on. We’ve got a few new ideas up our sleeves too that we hope to implement in the new year. Our plan is to run more investigative journalism, driven by research and data analysis. We’ll still be responding to the news, but we’ll also be setting our own news agenda.
Right now, however, we’re thinking in terms of three-month rather than three-year plans. As we find our feet, you’ll initially notice fewer new articles on the site but if all goes to plan, we’ll return to capacity in 2011.
It’s a gamble but from our point of view, Australians are being short-changed in terms of online media. We think there’s a need for well researched and edited analysis and independent-minded journalism to supplement the tides of opinion sloshing around online. This is certainly the message we’ve been hearing from readers.
We’ll announce the details of our fundraising program on the site in the coming weeks. Keep an eye out for updates about our progress and notification of our relaunch. If you’re not signed up to the New Matilda email list, do so here. It’s free and not only will it keep you in touch with what’s happening on the site, you’ll receive our regular email digests. If you’re already on the list, tell your friends!
In the meantime, start talking to us about where you think the gaps lie in the Australian media. What’s missing? And what’s needed?
Stay tuned for more!
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New Matilda is a small, independent media outlet. We survive through reader contributions, and never losing a lawsuit. If you got something from this article, giving something back helps us to continue speaking truth to power. Every little bit counts.
