The Spinoff’s CEO, founder and editor level with you in an open letter published this morning.
As Duncan Greive, our founder, says in a special edition of The Fold released this morning and running in all our podcast feeds today, when we’re writing or talking about the media in Aotearoa and beyond, it’s seldom about us and almost always about the broader media environment.
Today is different. Today is about as important a day for The Spinoff as we’ve had in years. Today we have to talk about ourselves because we join the ranks of media in Aotearoa who find themselves in a very tricky situation.
During the last really tricky situation for The Spinoff, in March 2020, when we lost all our advertisers as the Covid lockdown hit, we worked around the clock, creating coverage that circled the world. Our members answered a call for help in our hour of need, and in just two weeks, we tripled the number of members we had.
It’s that time again.
This morning we have published an open letter from The Spinoff’s CEO Amber Easby, founder Duncan Grieve and me, editor Madeleine Chapman, outlining the situation we find ourselves in.
Please, take the time to read it. If you are one of the hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders who regularly enjoy The Spinoff and want it to continue to be a part of the way Aotearoa understands itself, we are asking you to read it, share it, and, if you can, take action.
We have always tried to be open with our audience, especially our members, past and present. In that spirit, the letter toplines where we’re at right now as a platform – this paradoxical place where our audience is the strongest it has ever been, outside of events like Covid or elections – but that the stagnant ad market, and a hard drop in public funding for our work, has left us in a position where going public with a big, audacious goal to double the number of members we have is our last, best shot at retaining the ability to carry on doing what we do.
We have already made some very difficult decisions over the last month. You can read the full story in the open letter but suffice to say, this is us saying that it’s time for The Spinoff’s audience to be the most reliable indicator of our value – and source of financial support.
Thank you for reading this and the open letter. Please share and spread the word and, most importantly, if you can, join the Committee to Save The Spinoff.