9 replies to this topic

[newtaste]

A new Australian news opinion website launches tomorrow morning. The Global Mail
http://theglobalmail.org/ It is being funded by Wotif founder Graeme Wood,

No doubt you know that we are philanthropically funded by Graeme Wood. Our business model is pure philanthropy — no advertisements and no paid subscription.

Our mission is to provide you with high-quality, non-partisan journalism — and we will bring it to you via the written word, photography, video and audio.

The journalists writing for the site are:

Aubrey Belford, ex New York Times
Mike Bowers, ex SMH
Sarah-Jane Collins, ex The Age
Sharona Coutts, ex ProPublica
Stephen Crittenden, ex ABC
Eric Ellis, ex SMH and The Age
Ellen Fanning, ex Nine and ABC
Jess Hill, ex ABC
Bernard Lagan, ex SMH and The Age
Michael Maher, ex ABC
Nick Olle, ex ABC
Mike Seccombe, ex SMH
Gordon Weiss, Sydney University scholar

Looks like it will be a good read.

[kevizz]

Sounds promising, but that video does not give a good first impression.

Edited by kevizz, 05 February 2012 - 09:21 PM.

[Squee!]

non partisan?
Graeme Wood gave the greens almost $2mil before the last election...

[ticky]

Definitely thought the title read "The Globe & Mail", the Canadian newspaper.

[tmorgan96]

5 minutes on the site and I've already bookmarked it. Really interesting content.

[Cyril Washbrook]

There is a piece in Crikey today (sign up for a free trial to read it in full) about the disastrous handling of The Global Mail: in short, it looks to be an absolute trainwreck. There has been a steady drumbeat of grumbling from (former) TGM staff in the last few weeks - see also this earlier article from Andrew Crook - and the picture painted in this story is pretty stark.

Led by five-time Walkley Award winner Monica Attard, the digital start-up promised a heady cocktail of feature stories, foreign correspondence and investigative reporting. There would be no ads, no paywall and no need to chase donations. Funding was supposedly secured for at least five years through a $15 million gift from Wotif founder Graeme Wood, who famously handed the Greens $1.6 million before the 2010 election. In an era of failing business models and mass redundancies, Australia’s first serious attempt at philanthropically funded journalism appeared to be an unequivocally good news story.

Yet, less than 12 months later, The Global Mail’s founding editor is gone; so are half the original full-time reporters following a rash of resignations and redundancies late last year. Most left angry and demoralised by what they describe as a culture of incompetence, nepotism and cruelty. The journalists’ union is liaising with sacked staffers about taking a case to Fair Work Australia.

[...]

Many are especially aggrieved by the treatment dished out to 29-year-old [Jess] Hill, whose Mid-East post was made redundant less than two weeks after having brain surgery to remove a tumour.

[bacco007]

This makes me wonder whether the Guardian have really picked the best person to fund their Australian venture.

[Cyril Washbrook]

This makes me wonder whether the Guardian have really picked the best person to fund their Australian venture.

Well, funding is different from actually managing the thing - and whatever role he's played at TGM, Wood won't be allowed to intervene in any editorial matters at The Guardian. As for Wood's own perspective, I'm sure he would be seeing The Guardian as a safer bet than The Global Mail.

[bacco007]

My understanding was that Wood wasnt supposed to have any editorial/staffing influence at the GM

[Cyril Washbrook]

My understanding was that Wood wasnt supposed to have any editorial/staffing influence at the GM

That's what I said. "... whatever role he's played at TGM, Wood won't be allowed to intervene in any editorial matters at The Guardian."