Today you will notice some changes on the New Matilda website.
The most important one is the introduction of a payment system that allows you to become an ongoing NM supporter by signing up to monthly debits via PayPal.
New Matilda exists because of the support and generosity of our readers — and to stay online in the year ahead, we are going to need your continued support.
When NM turned to readers in 2010 to ask for help keeping the site online, we were gratified by how many of you put your money where your mouse was and contributed to the running costs of the site. If you didn’t give during our fundraising drive — or even if you did, and you are feeling generous — we encourage you to become a paid supporter now. Supporter packages start from as low as $4.60 a month. To find out more click here.
The perspectives provided by independent media are in short supply and we believe they’re more important than ever. By supporting the editors and journalists who make New Matilda happen, you’ll be making an important contribution to public debate.
Paid supporters will be given privileged access to competitions and giveaways of some fantastic prizes. An icon next to your username will identify you as a paid supporter when you comment on the site.
If you are not already a paid supporter, you’ll note that when you log in to the site you will now be directed straight to a page asking you to become one. If you don’t want to sign up, you can keep browsing for free.
Other changes to the site include the introduction of a paywall. That means that in the future some articles will only be accessible to paid-up readers. At this stage we want our stories to be widely read so we’ll only be using it for the occasional exclusive, but down the track we anticipate it will be an important part of a business model to keep NM online. Right now, all our content is still accessible to all readers.
Regular readers will also notice some small changes to site navigation. On the menubar on top of the page, the tab that was formerly called "Recent Articles" is now called "Articles by Topic". This is where to click if you want to review, for example, the latest articles on the site about International Affairs, or Australian Politics.
To browse the latest articles on the site by date of publication, click on the new "Recent Articles" tab. (This replaces the "Archive" tab.) Information for prospective writers is now called "Write For Us".
Thanks to the support of our readers, we’ve had a great year so far here at NM. More and more people are reading the work of our NM regulars and we’ve had the opportunity to work with a set of emerging journalists as well. As promised, we’re running more investigative journalism and breaking news too.
You’ll be hearing more from us over the next few months. In the meantime, enjoy the site, and head on over to the supporter page now to keep an important independent media source online.