It’s not healthy for democracy for the nation’s journalistic resources to be limited to a few large organisations in it for the money. (We’re looking at you News Limited, Fairfax, and AAP.)
The thing is, it’s not easy to keep an independent media business going in Australia. We can’t rely on sheer numbers like the independent media in the United States can. Here, everyone involved needs to be fully invested for there to be any chance of success.
New Matilda is a shoestring operation with two full time staff, but we box well above our weight. We don’t do it alone. We have an extensive network of freelance journalists and writers, and, through the stories we commission, we have brought important stories into the spotlight, on coal seam gas mining, immigration detention and more.
We’ve been doing this since 2004. We’ve been close to the wall lots of times and even though we’ve earned our stripes in terms of recognition as a media outlet, the only way we can continue is through the support of our readers.
By all means, get hot under the collar about who controls the news. But don’t forget that you can do something about it by supporting New Matilda. You’ll be paying writers and editors for the work they do — and you’ll be making a contribution to genuine media diversity in this country.
We have 680 paid supporters so far. Sign up here and help NM stay online in 2012.