The leadership team has worked hard to limit job losses, but this process will result in several retrenchments and the restructuring of some functions.
This decision comes after careful consideration and exhausting other options at a time when the media industry continues to struggle under growing economic pressure.
Daily Maverick has always strived to operate in a lean startup manner, while also trying to fill the void left by a disrupted industry.
Growing a news publisher to this scale and influence was a miracle in this market context, where it is eight times harder to operate than developed countries. Sadly, it is no longer possible to do so under the current circumstances.
Daily Maverick founding CEO Styli Charalambous said:
“We understand that this is a difficult period for everyone at Daily Maverick, especially our colleagues who will be directly affected. We are committed to providing as much support as possible, including assistance for new work opportunities, and to get through this as quickly and with as much care as possible.”
On the broader challenges and what is needed to sustain journalism:
“Without legislative changes to incentivise and encourage support from philanthropic entities, corporates and the public, the sustainability of journalism will continue to be out of reach.
“An industry that creates so much value for the world shouldn’t be struggling this much. The market context is broken and we urgently need policy reform to fix it. Nothing else can.”
Earlier this year, Daily Maverick shut down for a day to highlight the crisis that the global journalism industry faces.
These problems persist and are costing society dearly. One only needs to look at the state of our cities, stagnating economy, health and education sectors to see the impact of corruption on our daily lives.
Your questions answered:
Does this mean Daily Maverick is closing down?
No. These measures are being put in place to ensure we can continue our public service journalism. Daily Maverick has navigated disruption many times and we are confident that we will continue to do so successfully to best serve South Africa.
How many people will be affected?
Restructuring to any degree will affect the entire organisation, both through retrenchment and the absorption of responsibilities and duties. Some freelancers and contractors will be affected, but in terms of retrenchment, we have minimised this to about 5% of our permanent employees.
Has Daily Maverick lost funding?
Daily Maverick has a diversified revenue stream comprising philanthropy, advertising and a voluntary reader revenue membership programme. (Despite claims from some lunatics, we do not get any CIA funding). Some philanthropic entities have reduced their support of journalism, and of South Africa in general. Advertising revenue for news publishers continues to decline as a result of the disruption of the advertising space by “Big Tech” and an economy still reeling from 15 years of State Capture.
Why doesn’t Daily Maverick just put up a paywall?
Daily Maverick exists to serve the South African public. By limiting access to our journalism to only those who can afford to pay, we also limit the impact our journalism has.
With ever-increasing levels of dangerous mis- and disinformation, it is our duty and responsibility to ensure that the truth is both defended and accessible to all, even if that translates into a greater financial burden on ourselves. DM