A publication with no paywall, no ads and no donor-chasing: A reality in Australia
Imagine a publication that produced public-interest journalism with no paywall, no advertisements and no chasing of donors. Sounds crazy, right? The Global Mail in Australia will be doing just that.
Imagine a publication that produced public-interest journalism with no paywall, no advertisements and no chasing of donors. Sounds crazy, right?
The Global Mail in Australia will be doing just that.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, a pledge of $15-20 million from philanthropist and Internet entrepreneur Graeme Wood will get The Global Mail off the ground, with former ABC journalist Monica Attard heading the web-based news organization when it launches in February.
Wood didn’t need much convincing when Attard approached him with the idea; he was already worried about the decline in the quality of journalism he was seeing. The money he has pledged is committed to fund the publication for five years. After that? "We've got a solid five years' funding, during which time I reckon a bunch of hugely intelligent people will come up with a way to make money, with an operation as small as this, with no legacy to carry on our back," Attard told the Herald.
The Global Mail will staff 17 editorial employees, including many who have a background in broadcast journalism as well as five foreign correspondents.
Check out the whole story here.
