The Bristol Cable is an independent media company in
Bristol, UK, founded in 2014.[2] It provides
local news through independent
investigative journalism,[3] in a quarterly print publication and website, both free.[4][5]The Bristol Cable is a
cooperative, owned by its members, who pay a monthly fee.[5] The publication has a print run of 30,000 copies,[4] distributed throughout the city.[6]
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.[5] Membership provides a means of funding the newspaper and gives members a say in strategic decisions about the co-op.[7]
In 2019 The Bristol Cable won the Press Gazette British Journalism Award for Local Journalism, noting its five year investigation into
modern day slavery by a local employer.[8][9] In 2021 the Press Gazette again noted the investigative journalism and successful development of The Bristol Cable, with membership at 2,600.[10]
Stories broken by The Bristol Cable
The Bristol Cable has broken stories on workplace abuses in the catering sector (October 2014);[2]Bristol University's holdings in fossil fuels, which was used by people campaigning for its divestment and prompted a change by the University (June 2015);[2][6][11] ownership of property in the city by
offshore companies based in
tax havens (January 2016 and January 2018);[2] the
Mayor and senior council officials hiding the potential for deep well
fracking from councillors and the public, to prevent disruption to the sale of
Bristol Port land (May 2016);[2][12] the use by local police of mass surveillance devices, known as
IMSI-catchers or
Stingray phone trackers, that eavesdrop on mobile phone and other devices,[13] which became a national news story (October 2016);[14][15][16][17][18][19] local companies' links to the arms trade (February 2017);[2] poor working conditions (March 2017);[20] racial bias in
Immigration Enforcement officers' stop and checks of people on the street they suspect of immigration offences (October 2017, with the
Bureau of Investigative Journalism);[21][22] and the small share of new property developments given over to
affordable housing, in comparison with the official policy of
Bristol City Council (March 2018).[6][11][23]
Other funding sources
To set up, produce its first issue, and launch
citizen journalism workshops, it raised £3,300 in a
crowdfunding campaign, was given £1,500 by
Co-operatives UK and £1,600 by
Lush.[7] In 2017 it received a grant of £40,000 from the Reva and David Logan Foundation to expand its capacity in the local community.[5][6] In 2018 it received a grant of £100,000 a year for two years from the
Omidyar Network.[24]
References
^"Team". The Bristol Cable. Retrieved 7 August 2021.