The Bylines Network Gazette is back – and that's not all! Let's strengthen independent journalism together
Today we’re relaunching the Bylines Network Gazette and introducing changes that will help us publish more stories, support more citizen journalists and keep speaking truth to power – with your help.
Hello! We’re delighted to bring you exciting news from the Bylines Network. As of today, we are making a couple of changes, and we think you’ll love them.
Get your Bylines Network Gazette – hope against hate special
Firstly, and by popular demand, we’re bringing back the Bylines Network Gazette to showcase our powerful citizen journalism in a beautiful magazine format every month. As valued newsletter subscribers, supporters, followers, readers and volunteers, you’re getting access to the relaunch edition right here.
We have chosen a dozen of our best articles, selected from our 10 UK national and regional publications, on a vital topic – the rise of populism and the power of hope. You will find sharp analyses of populism’s roots, bold exposes of populists in power and stories of those taking a stand against hate.
More stories, straight to your inbox
But that’s not all! We’re making changes to our newsletters so that you can receive more articles, more often. In October, we ran a national survey and were overwhelmed by readers telling us how much they trusted our truthful grassroots journalism. They said they wanted top stories in weekly emails, for quick and easy reading, straight from the inbox.
So, from next week, you will receive one or two of our best stories via email every Friday. Sometimes we will also send a special article on a different day, as we have recently with articles about crisis at the BBC and written by survivors of abuse at Harrods. 10,000s of you have read and shared those articles, and we can’t wait to bring yoy more of the voices that other media often ignore.
Weekly emails will always be free, as will our 10 publication websites (access them here) and almost everything on our Substack. We want fact-based journalism, investigative reporting and citizen authors to speak truth to power and strengthen democracy. We support over 2,000 writers to publish 400 articles a month – and we’re committed to free-to-read citizen journalism.
Become a Friend of Bylines Network – make it official
But sadly, it costs us at least £150,000 a year to run our network. We don’t have billionaire backers, corporate owners, or political paymasters. We’re proudly independent, but we need help. That’s why future Bylines Network Gazettes will be issued on a subscription basis – to anyone who signs up to become a Friend of Bylines Network.
This is the final change we are making and it’s another thing our survey told us to introduce – a new and better way for you to support journalism by the people, for the people. One that comes with lots of benefits.
Bylines Network exists because of people like you. Readers, writers, editors, volunteers and supporters who believe in truth and democracy. By becoming a Friend of Bylines Network, you’re supporting journalism, investing in stronger communities, helping us deepen public understanding and strengthening democracy. In return for as little as £3.50 a month, you’ll get behind-the-scenes insights, chances to engage with our editorial teams, access to special events, merchandise, and more.
There are four tiers – Friend, Best Friend, Champion, Patron. All will receive the Bylines Network Gazette. The higher tier you sign up for, the more other benefits you’ll get. Most of all, you’re helping us publish more stories, support more citizen journalists and speak truth to power.
Sign up by clicking the button below, or upgrade your Substack subscription. We have matched our basic Substack subscription to the Friend of Bylines Network tier, and the “founding member” subscription to the Best Friend tier, so a paid subscription here is exactly the same as becoming our Friend via the online webform. Is it worth it? Don’t take our word for it:
“The Bylines Network is tremendously inspiring…it’s crucial that journalism speaks truth to power, but the great majority of it unfortunately speaks with the voice of power…it’s really inspiring to see networks like yours filling that huge gap and doing what journalism ought to do.”
George Monbiot
Don’t want to be friend? No problem, we’re not going anywhere
If you don’t want to become a Friend of Bylines Network, that’s fine – you will remain a newsletter subscriber, nothing else will change, you will still get brilliant articles delivered to you every week, you can visit the free content on our Substack anytime, and you can access all 10 of our publications on their websites without paying a penny.
We also love to hear from anyone who reads our work and likes what we do, so get in touch if you have any questions about these changes. Until then, that’s it, you’re all up to date and you can enjoy this months Gazette for free.