New beginnings at +972 Magazine

Dear readers,

It is with great excitement that I write to inform you that the board of “972 — Advancement of Citizen Journalism,” +972 Magazine’s publisher, recently appointed me executive director of our organization.

I’ve been a blogger at +972 Magazine for over five years now, and in that time I’ve seen the site grow to become one of the most important and influential sources of news and analysis on Israel-Palestine. Serving as a primary source of information for journalists, diplomats and political activists the world over, +972 Magazine’s impact goes far beyond the more-than 1.2 million readers who visit us annually. The same is true of Local Call, the Hebrew news site our NGO publishes in partnership with Just Vision.

My experience, both as a journalist in the mainstream media and as a political activist against the occupation, has taught me just how great the need is for independent, on-the-ground journalism in our region. We need to uncover the silenced stories. We need to offer a platform for marginalized, diverse voices in our society. And we need to do so while fearlessly declaring our commitment to peace, equality, and freedom of information. +972 Magazine puts that agenda into action on a daily basis, and for that I am extremely proud to be a part of this important organization.

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Our collective success is shared by many: the bloggers who volunteer their writing skills, the committed team of editors, the programmers, translators, designers and legal advisors, our partners in the Activestills photography collective, and of course, you — our readers, for whom we do this work.

As I enter this new position, I look forward to the challenges ahead: protecting everything we’ve done so far, but also strengthening and growing our work moving forward. In order to explore new topics and bring new voices, and mainly to protect the independence of both sites, one of my first priorities as executive director is to fortify the grassroots foundation of reader donations that keep us going. More than a quarter of our annual budget comes from donations from you, our readers. I would love to see that figure grow.

Our readers’ support is a point of pride in today’s media market, where readers have become used to the notion that “content” comes free. It never does. There is always a cost. That is why I believe we can and should aim for even more support from our reader community. So I’d like to invite you to become part of the success of +972 Magazine: make a one-time donation or become a monthly supporter – so we can keep on making truly independent journalism that cannot be subjugated by outside interests. (If you are in the United States, you can make a tax deductible donation via the NIF.)

Thank you for your support,

top_haggaiHaggai Matar
Executive Director
972 — Advancement of Citizen Journalism