Online Journalism News

Website marks a decade of independent news

Posted: 15/09/04 By: Jemima Kiss

Email this story | Comments

Brighton-based alternative news site SchNEWS.org is celebrating its ten-year anniversary with the publication of SchNEWS at Ten, a history of direct action.

The book will be launched at a direct action conference at London's Camden Centre on 16 October, featuring Colombian trade unionist Edgar Paez and Mark Curtis, director of the World Development Movement.

SchNEWS began in 1994 as a free, printed newsletter for the anti-capitalist and direct action movements. The website was launched in 1996 and now records more than 20,000 page views each week, with international subscribers to the weekly email newsletter.

The site is free of adverts and relies entirely on donations and income from fundraising events.

"The way we think about it is that if the money dries up, we're not needed any more," said Jo Makepeace of the SchNEWS editorial team.

"We don't want any advertisers telling us what to do."

The newsletter and website is run by a team of 20 unpaid volunteers. A recent addition to the site is SchMOVIES, which features edited highlights from ten years' coverage of demonstrations and meetings.

"We know that publications like Private Eye pick up on our stories, but we're not really that bothered. In my experience, most journalists are lazy.

"The important thing is to try and get the information out there and make it readable, even though we deal with some quite weighty issues," Mr Makepeace said.

More news from dotJournalism:
Independent Iraqi news site pleads for funding
New standard for independent news
Independent news goes deeper

See also:
SchNEWS: http://www.schnews.org.uk

Got a story? Email our news team: Laura Oliver; Judith Townend or telephone +44 (0)1273 384290. You can also follow us on Twitter: @journalismnews / @LauraOliver / @JTownend.