''The Bristol Cable'' is an independent media company in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, UK, founded in 2014.
It provides
local news through independent
investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years res ...
, in a quarterly print publication and website, both free.
''The Bristol Cable'' is a
cooperative
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...
, owned by its members, who pay a monthly fee.
The publication has a print run of 30,000 copies,
distributed throughout the city.
''The Bristol Cable'' was founded by Alec Saelens, Adam Cantwell-Corn and Alon Aviram.
It is part of the
Global Investigative Journalism Network
The Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) is "an international association of nonprofit organizations that support, promote and produce investigative journalism." The association is headquartered in the United States, and its membership i ...
.
History
As of December 2017 the co-op cost £1 per month to join, had 1,900 members who contributed on average £2.70 per month; and had six full-time staff.
Membership provides a means of funding the newspaper and gives members a say in strategic decisions about the co-op.
In 2019 ''The Bristol Cable'' won the ''
Press Gazette
''Press Gazette'', formerly known as ''UK Press Gazette'' (UKPG), is a British media trade magazine dedicated to journalism and the press. First published in 1965, it had a circulation of about 2,500, before becoming online-only in 2013. Publis ...
'' British Journalism Award for Local Journalism, noting its five year investigation into
modern day slavery by a local employer.
In 2021 the ''Press Gazette'' again noted the investigative journalism and successful development of ''The Bristol Cable'', with membership at 2,600.
Stories broken by ''The Bristol Cable''
''The Bristol Cable'' has broken stories on workplace abuses in the catering sector (October 2014);
's holdings in fossil fuels, which was used by people campaigning for its divestment and prompted a change by the University (June 2015);
ownership of property in the city by
offshore companies
The term "offshore company" or “offshore corporation” is used in at least two distinct and different ways. An offshore company may be a reference to:
* a company, group or sometimes a division thereof, which engages in offshoring business pr ...
based in
tax haven
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
s (January 2016 and January 2018);
the
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
and senior council officials hiding the potential for deep well
fracking
Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frac ...
from councillors and the public, to prevent disruption to the sale of
Bristol Port land (May 2016);
the use by local police of mass surveillance devices, known as
IMSI-catcher
An international mobile subscriber identity-catcher, or IMSI-catcher, is a telephone eavesdropping device used for intercepting mobile phone traffic and tracking location data of mobile phone users. Essentially a "fake" mobile tower acting betwe ...
s or
Stingray phone tracker
The StingRay is an IMSI-catcher, a cellular phone surveillance device, manufactured by Harris Corporation. Initially developed for the military and intelligence community, the StingRay and similar Harris devices are in widespread use by local ...
s, that eavesdrop on mobile phone and other devices, which became a national news story (October 2016); local companies' links to the arms trade (February 2017);
poor working conditions (March 2017); racial bias in
Immigration Enforcement
Immigration Enforcement (IE) is a law enforcement command within the Home Office, responsible for enforcing immigration law across United Kingdom. The force was part of the now defunct UK Border Agency from its establishment in 2008 until Hom ...
officers' stop and checks of people on the street they suspect of immigration offences (October 2017, with the
Bureau of Investigative Journalism
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (typically abbreviated to TBIJ or "the Bureau") is a nonprofit news organisation based in London. It was founded in 2010 to pursue "public interest" investigations. [affordable housing
Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on af ...]
, in comparison with the official policy of
Bristol City Council
Bristol City Council is the local authority of Bristol, England. The council is a unitary authority, and is unusual in the United Kingdom in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Bristol. Bristol has 34 ward ...
(March 2018).
Other funding sources
To set up, produce its first issue, and launch
citizen journalism
Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative media, participatory journalism, democratic journalism, guerrilla journalism or street journalism, is based upon public citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, a ...
workshops, it raised £3,300 in a
crowdfunding campaign, was given £1,500 by
Co-operatives UK and £1,600 by
Lush.
In 2017 it received a grant of £40,000 from the Reva and David Logan Foundation to expand its capacity in the local community.
In 2018 it received a grant of £100,000 a year for two years from the
Omidyar Network
Omidyar Network is a self-styled " philanthropic investment firm," composed of a foundation and an impact investment firm. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, Omidyar Network has committed over $1.5billion to ...
.
References
External links
*
''The Bristol Cable'' print edition online archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cable, The Bristol
News magazines published in the United Kingdom
British news websites
Quarterly magazines published in the United Kingdom
Newspapers published in Bristol
Publishing cooperatives
2014 establishments in England