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No one really knows how to save quality journalism — good old-fashioned, investigative reporting you can trust.
The now notorious digital revolution changed everything. It stripped the news media of its decades-old business model — the often exclusive right to earn money from advertising.
Virtually overnight, the internet became a printing press making it possible for anyone to publish whatever they wanted and, in the process, to attract advertisers.
Now, the news media is scrambling for resources — literally. Media houses are trying everything under the sun for survival. Some have introduced membership models, others have firewalls, almost everyone is hosting events for which they charge fees.
Bhekisisa owes its existence to one such strategy: donor-funded journalism, which comes with its own pros and cons.
But in the end not-for-profits like us, and for-profit companies, have the same goal: raising money to survive.
Each year, thousands of reporters, donors and academics from around the world come together at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy to try and find answers to what works, and what doesn’t.
This year, we were there too.
We learned that the media won’t survive without the support of the public — whether that is financial help or defending us against those who want to shut us down. Our conviction at Bhekisisa, that quality journalism is a public good without which democracy won’t be upheld, was strengthened.
And we realised — once again — that there’s far more good than bad in journalism that is funded through philanthropy.
Donor-funds allow us to produce stories on which we’re able to spend far more time than what we would have been able to do in an under-resourced newsroom, it enables us to track the impact of our stories and to travel to places where those who would otherwise never have had a voice, live and can be interviewed.
Here’s what else we learned:
This year, we have been pleasantly surprised at the donations we’ve received from newsletter subscribers like you. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
If you are considering donating, we would like to assure you that every contribution we receive goes directly into funding the health stories we produce.
We are grateful for your loyal readership.
Go well,
Mia Malan (editor-in-chief) and Roxy de Villiers (engagement officer)
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