Independent Australian weblication NewMatilda has just announced its impending doom. Editor Marni Cordell made the announcement, Curtains for New Matilda mid-morning on Friday May 27th. Within just hours, more than a hundred comments had been posted – indicating the depth and breadth of support and appreciation for NM.
Cordell highlighted finances as the main reason for setting a final deadline of June 25th. Even with a skeleton paid staff of four and a half, and writers on very modest payments, the additional costs of running the ‘zine have outflanked any ad revenue.
Speaking with Cordell, her main hope is for an investor in shining armour, with no wish to interfere in the journal’s independence or use it as a soapbox, to come to the rescue. According to Cordell, the current owner – characterized by Crikey.com as “Gold Coast businessman Duncan Turpie” – has been ideal in this regard, allowing the NewMatilda to thrive as progressive and independent, without becoming the virtual property of any political party or movement.
So too, she impresses upon the listener the extent to which the daily’s growth – truncated though it may yet be – has come about thanks largely to fresh and barely discovered talent rising to the challenge of producing completely fresh and in-depth news, commentary, and satire. Regular contributors Ben Eltham and Ben Pobjie are two writers of the many who have made names for themselves writing for the ‘zine. Cordell herself counts more than 1100 contributors over the publication’s six years.
Even a return to the original subscription-based reader-funded model won’t significantly prolong Matilda’s life. If rescue comes, and whether from a silent and benevolent beneficiary or institutional grants, it will need to be substantial and soon.
A particular source of sorrow is that the paper’s readership has been steadily growing, that the media model itself is in this sense succeeding – even if the business aspect is lagging, and that of all years to fade from view, this is an election year sure to peak in an election avalanche of half-truths, false claims, counter-claims, outright lies and hyperbole without equal in Australian history.
Ironically, says Cordell, it was when laying out plans for NewMatilda’s approach to the federal election – increasingly likely to be around October, that the imminent evaporation of operating capital become clear. Her intention now is to keep the high quality articles coming until the bitter end, and she hopes that the continued outpouring of reader support and protest might just encourage someone to offer the exact support needed to keep going.
