DAILY MAVERICK SHUTDOWN EDITORIAL
Words of warning and sobering reality that must hit home at this eleventh hour
Welcome back to Daily Maverick after our 24-hour shutdown.
Many of you noticed our shutdown on Monday and to more than 1,000 of you who signed up to become Maverick Insiders, THANK YOU! We extend the same heartfelt thanks to the businesses that contacted us with support.
You join a legion of nearly 30,000 Maverick Insiders who have supported us all these years, and who continue to have our back through thick and thin. We can’t do this without you and we appreciate your support.
To some, it may have seemed over the top to shut Daily Maverick down for a day to convey the depth of the crisis that journalism is facing worldwide.
By all measures, we are doing better than the great majority of the news media worldwide — our audience is growing, as is the quality, depth and spectrum of our work. But make no mistake. Behind the scenes, this is a daily grind for existence — and survival.
Thought Daily Maverick’s shutdown was a PR stunt? This is the real state of the news media
These days, choosing to follow a true media mandate comes with a burden of pain. The financial struggles, the threats, the attacks and the derision are all part of the job. Let me assure you, it is still worth it.
However, it is a journey that is increasingly impossible to take on one’s own, no matter how successful and/or powerful one may be.
Daily Maverick’s shutdown was not just about saving investigative journalism. It was not only about preserving accurate reporting, analysis, insight and opinions. It was about the importance of maintaining truth and trust in these increasingly anchor-less days. It was about platforms of confidence which thrive on protecting communities and societies. Of the preservation of high standards, of nights not slept, and days spent observing and reporting critically and responsibly about a civilisation that seems to be sinking fast.
Defending truth
More than 10 million of you read our work every month. Every day, you trust us to look beyond the horizon for you. We see a big storm approaching us all.
Defending truth is at the centre of every functioning society. If we can’t distinguish truth from lies and reality from invention, we cannot maintain our value system. Without a value system, we cannot discern right from wrong; our entire edifice will crumble, and not so slowly.
Are we to allow the hijacking of this fundamental point of our very existence, by the lowest, dumbest and most shameless among us? Are we to agree there are indeed “alternative” facts and truths? Are we to surrender what we, as humanity, took thousands of years to achieve, only for it to be obliterated because social media platforms enabled the seeming repossession of what we hold sacred?
At this pace, we will end up surrendering it all. No newsletters, fact-checks and reasoned words could repel the darkness that would descend upon us, should the remaining messengers of truth cease to exist.
If you need to see this darkness in action, just log on to your social media platform of choice and observe the dance of the trolls on what they considered a good day without Daily Maverick. You will find a selection of people, and their multiple aliases, who we exposed through our work, salivating at the possibility of a media-less future.
ACTION: BECOME A MAVERICK INSIDER.
We at Daily Maverick are doing our utmost best for this scenario never to happen. It is often a job shared among a few — media houses and civil society organisations, heroic whistle-blowers, and individuals of great personal courage and convictions.
The odds are stacked against us. The extraordinary pace of change over the past few decades has erased the space for many local and national media brands that for so long provided a lifeblood for so many communities worldwide.
Some of those changes were due to bad business choices made by media executives worldwide — who were blind to the one-in-1,000-years nature of the change brought upon by the internet.
Some of the decisions were made through our collective blindness to the danger of social media — which we allowed to take our audiences and revenues to a Neverland where they are not responsible for anything that is said on their platforms, and yet get to grab all the money on the table.
(As an aside, bringing social media platforms even vaguely to the level of responsibility of the news media would in effect make them unprofitable — being responsible for what we publish is the most expensive aspect of what we do.)
Perhaps the most worrying change turned out to be that some of the world’s nastiest individuals and regimes now have access to the most sophisticated weapons of info-war ever made, at near-zero cost.
My personal invitation is to the people who really should know better to finally wake up … and know better.
News articles do not appear out of thin air. They — people who are often accomplished in their businesses — really should understand that.
Too many people believe that genuine news media brands are “pushing agendas”.
Check the social media feeds and you will find that Daily Maverick is paid by both the ANC and the DA, that it is both supporting the billionaire class and pushing a “leftist agenda”, that it is both a Hamas and an Israeli propagandist, that it is both pro-Soros and a CIA weapon … the contradictions are endless.
These plainly can’t all be right, but here we are.
It’s unbelievable that I still have to say this, but no serious publication will ever publish articles satisfying every interest group or supporting everyone’s views 100%.
What matters is keeping the light of truth and reality on.
We, as South Africa and as humanity, are close to switching that light off. What is, to me, the unthinkable part is that we are doing this ourselves.
When that moment happens, please do not say you were not warned.
As journalists warned when Thabo Mbeki was pushing against antiretrovirals, when the police massacred mine workers at Marikana, when Jacob Zuma put South Africa into the Guptas’ hands, when Malema & Co stole money from the poorest of the poor, when Iqbal Survé took billions in dodgy “loans” from the PIC, when Zweli Mkhize got embroiled in the Digital Vibes scandal as health minister during the pandemic, and so, so many other times.
Our job is to report, investigate, analyse, opine and warn.
But once all the dust has settled, these are just words. Without action and reaction, they are merely black lines on our screens.
It is people who bring meaning to them. It is YOU who makes these words alive. DM
ACTION: BECOME A MAVERICK INSIDER.
Become an Insider
We used to get the Star and the Sunday Times delivered to our doorstep and we (well my Dad did) paid a subscription. News was never free, only subsidised by adverts.
I can only wish you godspeed and hope that courage and integrity, and a good dose of fortune, remain and become your best friends for a long time.
These are indeed dreadfully troubling times. Despite it not being a surprise.
I am afraid it’s worse to come before it gets better. There is always some hope. But it is currently smothered in darkness.
Viva Daily Maverick. Fantastic to read about the 30,000 of us that subscribe and the 1,000 more this week. Keep up your excellent work and may it long continue.
If only you could get R5/month from half those who read daily. Please keep going. We need you. You stand head and shoulders above all the rest.
This is exactly why I subscribe. A free press can never be over-estimated. Remember that the Economist was banned under Apartheid. May we never return to those days. Thank you DM.
Thanks Branko for articulating what so many of us feel, but sometimes feel a bit powerless to address. We all need to strive in every aspect of our lives to protect the whole idea of truth in the face of the barrage of untruth that is sweeping across the world through all media, especially social media. Dangerous times indeed, and perhaps we need to find more public and sustainable means to stand together. Even this platform has its trolls, there is no escaping them entirely, but we must stand on the side of reason, not unreason or blind prejudice, and support compassion and integrity in reporting the often dreadful events taking place daily. So, we are with you, Branco, and need to think what more we can do.
Thank God you’re back. We need your unadulterated news… Even if every reader puts up R5 per asxa start, I am sure ot will go a long way to promote the survival of DM. ALUTE CONTINUA…
Glad to have signed up and thanks for the kick in the pants because locally you are the only free press here now with balanced reporting from all sides
Thank you for all that you do.
Your “day of darkness yesterday” prompted me to increase my subscription (as little as it is)
Me too. Wish I could do more, and perhaps when we have a government that actually give a shit about the country and its people, we’ll all be able to thrive and have a bit more to give to DM and similar.
Bravo! Branco & C0 keep keeping that light on…
It is scary. I know “educated” people who get their news from f………… Read nothing else. Unconceivable but true.
We missed you. Our breakfast was foul
Keep up the excellent work Branko and DM team. I believe those who do regularly read your publication’s upstanding and informative journalism, felt the impact of a 24 hour news blackout on Monday.
Thank you OUTA and DM for all you do. I will continue to support both of these excellent organisations.
I agree totally but ended my subscription because of the comments policy: I have always loved reading the old letters page for a different take on an article. However, what passes for civil comment on DM appals me: if someone disagrees they are stupid, or drunk or high; insidious racism, atrocious anti-Semitism, Zionist zealotry and idiotic ads disguised as comment. How does this square with quality journalism? I will pay to become an Insider, but not inside a locker room of embittered bigots. Please attend to your comments policy.
Once a week, pick one terribly extreme or negative comment and challenge the commentator in a polite manner.
Moderate voices are often silenced by personal choice. Our responsibility is to remain part of the conversation, even when others are not playing nicely.
I agree with Virgina Crawford entirely, and have done as she did and for the same reasons.
its the first thing I do when my PC is turned on….Go check on DM…..I thank you for this !!!! and your contribution to Lux Vincit…..!!!
Why do you only post positive criticism and no negative comments?
I’m sorry, but this shutdown was ridiculous. As a subscriber I pay for a service. Suddenly you decide to not provide the service for a day as a publicity stunt? Nonsense.
Be reasonable. It wasn’t a publicity “stunt” (as you put it). It’s 1. A message asking people for more contributions. And 2. It hopefully raised an awareness for you to spread the word that friends or family who read it for free should consider contributing. Just saying.
Yes, you pay and so do I, but many don’t and you and I sponsor them! I think it is disrespectful to take a free ride on those of us who value DM by paying for their work on our behalf.
I don’t care about freeriders. That’s between DM and them. Don’t involve me by cutting off something I paid money for.
As to the idea that I’ll start encouraging other people to sign up for an org that casually and without notice cuts off access to paying subscribers, forget about it.
Thank you for your involvement in the free press.
You seem to have taken the notion of “paying” rather seriously . Which other organisation allows ‘contributions’ according to readers ‘means’ as DM does … and continues to provide a service ? A little more reflection or contemplation might be in order methinks.
Hear ,Hear..You provide a crucial service to our society and provide a imperative balance to the mostly skewered news provided by Surve’s rags.
Keep up the awesome work & keep the trolls, thieves & incompetents honest! 👍
Totally understand. South Africans want everything for free. Daily Maverick can’t carry on doing freebees. You should start making readers pay for the articles. Just keep those solid and not like some of the “airy-fairy” rubbish that News24 posts. Or perhaps readers could pre-purchase and an amount is deducted from their pool of money for each article they read. That will also separate the wheat from the chaff and give Daily Maverick a chance to be more selective about the kind of audience it appeals to. I don’t know how workable that is. But maybe worth a consideration.
You had to mention Iqbal Surve’, didn’t you?
I’m just wondering out loud, that’s all.
Of course he mentioned iqbal surve. That moron represents everything Branko is warning against!
When will you start reporting positive news again?
When there is good news to report. If you want to live in La La Land, tune into Smile FM rather than reading the Daily Maverick.
If things are that desperate I will start paying again. However – and sorry to threaten – if pseudo-intellectuals like Lagardien and others are allowed to spew their anti-white nonsense on your pages as often as they have been, I’ll stop paying again, and probably stop reading. There’s ‘free speech’ and ‘free speech’ and his verbose garbage definitely shouldn’t be allowed as it’s ‘hate speech’.
Tend to agree with this. Hence my comment earlier about separating the wheat from the chaff.
Steve, you really are missing the point, are you not? If you don’t like what Lagardien writes then you are free to not read it. The fact that he seems to rile you proves the point of free speech – you are free to be offended, you are free to ignore him, you are free to dislike him. What you are not free to do is cancel him. He represents a point of view and obviously is not alone in that point or he would not be published. You are free to know what those that you disagree with are thinking.
As long as we the readers are allowed to comment and call out some of the journalists biased viewpoints, I fully agree with you. At some point though it is also ok to expect a reputable paper to filter out the worst biases or at least balance these with counter articles. Take Melanie Verwoerds article this morning that wants to blame the DA if the ANC forms a coalition with the EFF party. I have no issues with critique about the DA, they are definitely far from perfect, but one sided opinions that are presented as facts, ignoring any and all arguments that are inconvenient, exaggerating points that are simply minor or ignorning worse transgressions by others is just not good journalism. Would you have the same opinion if Kallie Kriel or Malema would have an article published here that would be one sided? DM selects to publish certain articles, and with this influence what biases they support and which they condemn. At what point is only allowing certain viewpoints or ignoring pertinent counter arguments no longer free speech?
I fully agree with that. Sometimes I wonder if some DM writers just write whatever comes to mind, like countless naive social media users do. Is there no editorial conference that has a shared responsibility to ensure the balance and quality of reporting? Opinion pieces marked as such are ok if they are free of general disparagement.
I definitely would have the same opinion if Kriel and Malema were published here. We all know that they are not journalists and therefore will be publishing opinions. All journalists have biased viewpoints, they are human after all. Good journalists, and good publications, separate opinion pieces from facts, and should admit biases when relevant. And I think that is where the DM – and they are definitely not alone – have failed miserably over the last few years. All too often we see an opinion piece which is disguised as factual journalism which then muddies the waters and creates a new ‘truth’. It is the role of the editorial team to prevent this, but this is often lacking. The DM certainly has its editorial biases, but then so has very publication, but hopefully the good work outweighs the biases.
Just when I thought you had made a clear and concise point about ‘free speech’ in your earlier submission … you now add in the BUTs and WHATABOUTs to muddy the water again .. and also let the pseudo intellectuals onto their favourite pass-time !
Except if it’s headlined as an ‘Opinionista’ it is quite clearly the writer’s opinion, and thus bound to be biased in some form. I’ve seen John Steenhuisen, Mmusi Maimane, and even government spokespeople published under this heading, and not once have I considered it to be factual journalism, as the writer is a) clearly not a journalist and b) obviously sharing an opinion…
Except Verwoerd’s article was not presented as facts – it was clearly headlined under the ‘Opinionista’ banner, meaning it was, you know, just her opinion…
So, you enjoy being called a ‘racist’? And if you were to do the same as him, you’d be in jail in this benighted country where we have ‘neo-Apartheid’ thrown at us all the time? Sorry, but it’s about time that the limits of ‘free speech’ are properly defined, and that kind of nonsense ain’t it.
Well said Hennie
Couldn’t disagree more! I don’t want echo chamber publications that simply reflect my own views: I know what I think and I don’t need it reinforced by a herd mentality. I want to understand other views and opinions – even ones I may find offensive – because you cannot engage with people you don’t understand.
Back in the 80s, I was sitting at my desk at Defence HQ when my colonel walked in as I was filling in my application to Wits University. He raged about the ‘bloody communists’ and asked if I was one. I replied that I didn’t know, since his government had banned communist literature. I don’t ever want to live in a society where my rights to read and engage are curtailed. I want to understand the viewpoints of others, their fears, their aspirations, their dreams and grievances, where they come from, what makes them tick – understanding your enemies (or those you mildly disagree with) is a very powerful weapon: too many people in South Africa, and globally, simply don’t, and don’t want to. It’s a pity, I think the world would be a much better place for it.
I don’t want to live in a society where because of the colour of my skin I can be called a ‘racist’ by anyone, especially a pseudo-intellectual who should know better but obviously doesn’t. He gives the DM a bad name, hence my comments.
When people insult you, it is more often than not that you have hit a nerve and they don’t have facts to prove you wrong, take it as a compliment in disguise but if you are in a good mood hit back.
@SteveDavidson
Maybe start your own publication or your own country even, appoint @Smythe fellow as editor and PM
It is only himself that gets a bad name, not DM. Daily Maverick is only the medium through which he makes his opinions known. Same with the issue of Fox News versus CNN. Usually the misinformation attributed to Fox News was not Fox, but the persons who they interview. So we have the responsibility to also register who it comes from; in other words who it is that writes the opinions. And if it is a professional journalist, we still have to remember that they are also human; they can make mistakes. They can also get carried away; like when Arthur Fraser came forward with the fake charges against Ramaphosa, it is true that DM journalists presented facts that we now know were not really relevant and sometimes a bit inaccurate. But it is because they started to expose this information that so much more information came to the fore (such as the evidence that the Mustafa guy from Sudan gave). So I have concluded that the press also have a responsibility to “ruffle the feathers”; in other words to start to dig and to see what comes out, and to expose whatever they find. In this way, eventually, the truth comes out. In the old apartheid times we did not have that, and as a result the Vlakplaas murderers and the CCB were able to terrorize and kill with impunity for years.
Correct. There are a number of writers for whose finger-wagging, preachy woke rubbish I refuse to pay. De Vos, Poplak, Verwoerd and a few others spring to mind. Then there is the ludicrously preachy “Burning Planet” [sic] loony lefty propaganda. I also see very little balance in this publication on topics like the DA, Trump and especially Israel.
If the Daily Maverick is not profitable enough, it needs to look in the mirror and ask if the likes of De Vos and Poplak aren’t alienating its target audience. Stop preaching and maybe try providing some balanced , non-woke product.
Oh, my goodness. De Vos and Poplak are the very kind of people we need in this country. The former explains what the Constitution says, and whether what is being discussed is in or out, and the latter is the person that conducts and leads this publication.
If you don’t want to read what they have written, skip to something else.
Lagardien studied at the LSE and has a Phd from the University of Wales. So he’s no pseudo intellectual. That doesn’t mean that you have to agree with him or like what he writes, but that particular piece of mud is not going to stick no matter how hard it’s slung.
And his reputation as being a player of the race card is overdone. You can quickly get a list of all his pieces on the DM. What really riled some people is the piece he wrote about Marcus Jooste, but it’s by no means typical of his contributions to the DM. (Don’t take my word for it. Check)
I actually disagreed with him on that piece. Not because I think Jooste might have had an easier ride back then – I think he would have – but because of the reason Lagardien hints at. The reality is that regulations were far more lax 30 and 40 years ago. Ask me! I got my savings diminished by some smooth talking snake oil salesman who would have had to contend with much stricter regulations now. I might be a bit wealthier. I’m white, the snake oil salesman was white, the company he represented was white owned and managed. Nothing racist about it all. Just minimal legislation of the sort that libertarians think is good and a cowboy who didn’t care as long as he got his commission.
Dear editor. The ability to post comments should be restricted to subscribers. That way we don’t get a DM comments page which is full of posts primarily intended to bash the DM.
Freedom of speech means anyone is allowed to give their opinion as long as its not hate speech. However Freedom of Speech does not mean someone is entitled to have their ideas promoted in the media. Here the editorial process for a newspaper like the DM is key – and the editor should be promoting ideas that tend towards moderation and not fanatical ideas from the fringe – either left or right. Social media drives people towards the fringe and is doing massive damage to society. The DM should be trying to bring us back together and improve social cohesion.
Please just keep in mind that democracy’s lifeblood is freedom of speech, and freedom of speech means that your “Lagardien and others” also have a right to their viewpoints. Nobody forces you to read what they say, but others may well want to. And if you don’t like what they say, as a Maverick Insider you can always expose them with your comments. So don’t blame Daily Maverick when they publish what other persons say; they are actually playing the role they have to to preserve the free flow of information (even if it is only information on what others say) that sustains our democracy. It is to a large extent because of this freedom of speech to all sides that SA is now in the position where the nationalist ANC has a probability of being removed as the majority party in national (and apparently most provincial too) governments. But that means that you and I must tolerate even when others are spewing out things that we find unacceptable.
I really missed my daily dose of DM yesterday! I’m already an Insider (albeit that my contribution is very modest, I’m a pensioner) and a DM168 subscriber (love that crossword!), have been for years and intend to remain one for as long as I’m on the planet. Strength to your arm, DM!
I had DM Crossword withdrawal. They must never do that again haha
By the way, I love Daily Maverick.
Just in case you are confused.
Well said. All the best for the years ahead.
Bottom line is, your investigative journalism is the best out there and our country would be worse off without it. But you need to face the reality that a lot of your readers that come here for that part don’t particularly appreciate being called all kinds of bad things by some of your opinion writers. Times have moved on and we have bigger things to worry about than whether someone was bullied when they went to Varsity decades ago. Either you’re a hard-hitting investigative site, or you’re the Guardian. Pick one and the market will decide your fate.
Well said Nico, agree entirely that DM’s investigative journalism is the best but in many other ways it falls far short as a trusted media outlet. In his article, Branko Brkic asks “Are we to agree there are indeed ‘alternative’ facts and truths?’, implying that facts and truths alternative to those that DM hold dear are the preserve of the “dumbest and most shameless among us”. Surely an astoundingly arrogant assumption that DM is the sole custodian and judge of what is fact and what is true? This arrogance is abundantly clear in DM’s reporting on climate, energy and Covid where articles or opinions questioning the accepted narrative are never published, irrespective of the authors’ credentials.
Just wondering if you been awarded an emeritus professor status yet ? Should be amongst your credentials surely ? Talk about “arrogance” !
The way you bundle “truth and facts” together, as if they are synonymous, is misleading. Facts are verifiable, they can be proven to be true or false by objective evidence. Truth relies, to some extent, on belief. Your truth may have a factual basis, but the spin you put on it through your belief places it outside of being independently verifiable.
It’s lazy thinking to bundle common phrases together and imply that they are the same thing, to say nothing of being completely misleading.
I did not read the same meaning into Branco’s words that you do, but then perhaps I carry fewer critical biases? Unfortunately, critical thinking seems to be absent in a lot of what passes for informed and reasoned opinion – particularly in the comments of some of the more severely prejudiced readers. Sigh. It is difficult to tolerate your blinkered thinking, but in fairness to freedom of expression, you get your spot to chirp – however untunefully.
A, articulate, forceful and impassioned text. I keep being impressed with how DM delivers journalism that would put others to shame in most countries in the world. Hvala Branko!
This publicity stunt created the reality check that is expected of the news. I felt deprived yesterday, but after reading this article I now have a much better appreciation of the cost of journalism. Nothing is for free in this world, except a smile.
The whole media industry is in crisis. The DM is merely one member with an unconventional business model. No single member of the media will be able to combat the loss of trust which social media and the new (broken) hostile style of politics has caused. The responsible members of the industry need to get together and establish a standards organization which can issue certificates of trust. This organization needs to be supervised by respected judges or equivalent parties not connected to any political party or sectoral group. Preferably there would be a hierarchy of such organizations rising from town level to international level. This is just one idea and if the industry gets together they should be able to generate many more and better ideas but the main issue is that it needs to be an industry effort. By now the pain throughout the industry must be intense enough to allow the members to put competitive issues aside and cooperate on something so existential
Powerfully and beautifully scripted Brank0.
Let us never waiver in our belief that the pen is mightier than the sword – and this is an urgent call to arms!
The fact that you are still around speakes volumes as to the need. Which is growing. Yes, there is turmoil and there are free to air lies and nonsense being bandied about as if it were the truth. But as time passes the credibility of free to air falls increasingly into the realms of the untrusted. Carry on doing what you do.
What a childish futile thing to do. Sulk for a day then hope you will be welcomed back
Completely OTT.
Keep up the superb work, DM! Without you and similar brave, uncaptured news sites, we’d still have the Guptas in SA and a completely captured and collapsed country.
I don’t use the social media for news ever, indeed, never been on most of them.
Perhaps publish some stats and numbers on subscriptions. E.g. average monthly subscription. I pay an amount which I think is reasonable for an online publication, but is it really? And I subscribe to 3 publications in total. X/month to the other three and 2X/month to DM. Based on the value I receive from the publications. I know you are grateful for those that even pay small amounts, and I respect that some pay only what they can afford, but you have never really given any indication of what is a reasonable amount to pay. I long ago lost any benchmark based on paper publications.
I increased my subscription. It is sad that when you strike for a day it hardly makes any dent in your income from readers.
Dear Branko, Yet another inspiring call to arms. I don’t want to exaggerate but I am very skint at the moment, so supporting the Daily Maverick (as I do) does feel like a significant sacrifice. Yet yours is indeed a cause worth supporting, even at great personal pain. However, I will only increase my support when Daily Maverick sets an example and publishes a monthly statement of Income and Expenditure – not annual accounts which can be massaged to tell any story the directors might want to share. You talk about the need for transparency in Government, well, set an example. You have nothing to hide and, by showing how any institution receiving donated funds can be honest about how those funds are used, it will show your 10 million readers what transparency could look like and then we will start to demand similar transparency from all public institutions – from our local council, all the way through Transnet, ESKOM and SAA to central government. When you do that I will tighten my belt another two notches and increase my support. Strength to your Arm, Bruce Danckwerts, CHOMA, Zambia
Thank you for your hard work and due diligence. In the current times of manipulated media and corruption as a default. We need the Daily Maverick even more as a steadfast bastion of truth.
You made a powerful statement. We would definitely miss you if you weren’t there. Suggest people read “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, a novel written in 1953 which so vividly predicts the dystopian world you describe as coming at us.
Would it be feasible to allow ringfenced subscriptions? I’m sure there are many potential subscribers who would like to support specific journalists or segments of your platform, but are put off by the grifters, posing as journalists or informed commentators, who spout biased nonsense.
Happy to be an insider
I never thought that a totally black page could be imaginative, creative and lively! LIVELY??
One only has to read about the hypocrisy of the pro-Palestinian protests to see where we are going.
The truth has been subverted in so many ways and the majority of rational people feel helpless in the face of ignorance and the Woke onslaught against common sense.
There appears to be a complete amnesia concerning the horrific acts of 7th October from politicians and the like.
Hats off to all of you for the excellent and brave journalism that keeps me informed and up to date.
Branko Brkic this is an excellent piece of writing. I truly hope these words doesn’t remain mere “black lines on our screens”. Salute to all the defenders of truth.
I was unable to sign up as Investec was not an option for a debit order.
Bravo Branko and everyone at DM, you are doing some of the most important work in South Africa right now. If I could divert every cent I have to pay to our feckless “government” I would do it in a heartbeat. Rock on DM, we’re right with you!!
I would be devastated to not get the Daily Maverick as it keeps me informed but, as a pensioner, I can’t afford to be an Insider – when I can I will because you are a trusted source of what is really going on!
This is one weird family, we agree, disagree, agree to disagree it’s wonderfully insane and we learn everyday.
Thanks Branco
I’ve switched my subscription from Moneyweb due to their tedious “moderating” of comments and to support your ongoing freedom of speech and investigations.
I’ve switched my subscription from Moneyweb to the DM because of their tedious “moderating” of fact-based comments.
Thank you Daily Maverick journalists and all staff. Truly, you are doing incredible work in severely troubling times for the health and future of democracy.
I am honoured to be a Supporter.
Here is something for supporters of free press and investigative journalism should consider, especially now in election time:
Depending how big your company is, subscribe to say 10 copies of the printed weekly DM and have them freely available in your business reception, canteen, etc. If over a month you get only ten visitors or staff to think a bit about what they are fed on the usual echo chambers, it will be money very well spent. And reading is always a good thing in any event.
We need a significant digital tax in place to partly to curb the unfettered abuse that these tech giants are unleashing on the world. It simply cannot be that millions of our fellow countrymen are on these platforms but no tax is paid in South Africa. The same applies to umpteen other countries. And where is the hold up, primarily because of that great country, the shining beacon of democracy, the leader of the free world, the U S of A
The US not only wants a monopoly on weapons of war (only has 60% of world trade now) , the economy, and now ‘truth’ … and the right to ‘define’ everything, including language and its meaning/s ! In the news right now ‘terrorism/terrorist’ , genocide etc … while pursuing Assange ! Have you listened to the ‘white house’ media briefings ? Shameless !
Dear DM, this is the key statement: ‘What matters is keeping the light of truth and reality on’.
So many of us value your commentary as above so don’t go anywhere please!!!
Let it not only be when a free and independent press is lost, that we realize what we have lost!
I support this fully. I would like it if there was more rigorous moderation of comments but paying for smart and committed people like your organisation to do what you do is essential.
Ag no, man, and I thought you were for real. So, what did I do and do but subscribe to the Guardian. Please I am going to cancel that subscription and if they don’t return my subs I’m gonna come after you with a pitchfork…. once I’ve sharpened it that is, for we haven’t had hay for a while. Ho Ho Ho!!!!
Well you omitted Phalaphala, Marcus Jooste and Bosasa boss who misterously disappeared in the living world.
Mainstream media will in the next 5 die, because mainstream media is captured and is desperately trying to tell us which of the Politians are captured and those who are not. I started reading newspapers from the 80’s Sunday times, Sowetan, City press, Citizen and Mail & Guardian(? previous name), New Nation. There was no free press then. After 1994 and the dawn of Free press mainstream media changed tune, and assumed a posture. It now became a weapon that the oppressors used to spread a propaganda to hold on keeping the status quo in economic sphere. Around 2010 I used to go outside South African when I wanted to a breeze of fresh and untainted news Bloomberg news (then Business week), but today it appears that it is also captured. I hated CNN and BBC then, though BBC is less captured. I am an ordinary man but sophisticated enough to smell a lie even when repeated thousand times in different ways, yes I am allergic to it. Mainstream media will go on history as a tool used to mentally oppress those who are regarded as intellectuals and those who aspires to, but the majority who are ignorant and unsuspecting. Please tell the truth as there is no need in repeating the truth over and over.
Please could you make it possible to become an insider with a one off payment per year or every 6 months? That way, overseas people like me would not have to shelve out the cost of sending money overseas each month on top of the subscription. I really would appreciate this as I want to support you. I have sent a one off donation in the past but this does not allow me to be an insider. Thanks for any comments.
I just about had a heart attack at the news the Daily Maverick was closing – until I read further. Whew. We need you Daily Maverick to tell us what is going on, what the latest political scandal is, how many of our graceless “leaders” are involved or from which new corruption deals they are busily siphoning off mind blowing sums of money into their personal bank accounts. May your investigative talents thrive, your newspaper grow and kudos to OUTA as well. The fight is on.
DM a beacon of truth and integrity in SA journalism. Keep the fire of accountability burning bright in our young and vulnerable democracy against the dark forces wanting to destroy it for their own ends.
Daily Maverick is an essential service. It must continue.
It is not perfect. Nothing is.
We need DM. Otherwise, we are the blind.
I salute DM, for their quality, and their honesty. I will continue to pay my subscription.
I don’t think anyone is not on your side.
News organisations should look at other methods of leveling the playing field. From what I have seen won’t change what is an an inevitable outcome. Other businesses would find a real solution ( Protesting won’t help}
Thanks for all you do as a quality investigative news organization, that we can trust.
I sometimes wonder whether your additional, non-core, enterprises are necessary, and profitable?
Is the clothing range adding anything to your business? Book publishing? Crossword etc.
These are nice to haves if you’re the NYT, but if it means salaries go to non journalistic endeavours then perhaps they can be re examined.
I posted on this forum two days ago. My comment is STILL awaiting moderation. This is exactly why I resiged (along with my R200 monthly contibution) as a Maverick Insider. DMs moderators don’t moderate – they censor, and I don’t like this from a publication which purports to champion free speech.
it would be great if subscribers could save articles to read later….so maybe a ability to flag an article…
DM – most of the information I get about the world around me comes from you, CNN, SABC News & eNCA. But about South Africa, most of it comes from you. And I appreciate you for that. Besides, it is true that if it was not for the Guptaleaks (I think it was amaBhungane that caused that) we may not have had a democracy any more by now. I think many South Africans don’t really appreciate the political risks that we as normal South Africans are running in our modern times – and the role that organisations like amaBhungane and Daily Maverick play in exposing the dark forces that create those risks. And they don’t understand how that risks may impact on their lives on the longer term. So please DM, go on and keep enlightening us.
This is what burns me. You keep saying that you’re for truth. Last year you put up a poll and it was voted that netanyhu was villain of the year. You decided to include a hammas leader. You inserted that in the end. I can understand that you may think they deserve the title, but if you did, you should have voted in your own poll. You could even have invited all your buddies to do the same. It wouldn’t have ammounted to inserting your ideals on the whole thing. That’s not truth, that’s putting your hand on the scale, making it seem that daily maverick subscribers believe what you believe. I paused my subscription at that point. I also reduced my reading of daily maverick. If you’re going to stand for truth, stand for truth. Don’t play around like you did there. I don’t know how much you have been doing it in the past, so I can’t trust what you’re telling me. And for that, you shouldn’t exist.
Hyperbole aside, Daily Maverick quite literally saved South Africa by exposing the Zupta plot to transform our economy into a Russia-style oligarchy.
Credit where credit is due. I live abroad now but gladly subscribe.