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The Bristol Cable
Typewebsite and quarterly print edition
Owner(s)cooperative society
Staff writersApprox 9[1]
Founded2014
HeadquartersSilver Street, Bristol
WebsiteOfficial website

The Bristol Cable is an independent media company in Bristol, UK, founded in 2014.[2] It provides local news through independent investigative journalism,[3] in a quarterly print publication and website, both free.[4][5] The Bristol Cable is a cooperative, owned by its members, who pay a monthly fee.[5] The publication has a print run of 30,000 copies,[4] distributed throughout the city.[6]

The Bristol Cable was founded by Alec Saelens, Adam Cantwell-Corn and Alon Aviram.[5][6] It is part of the Global Investigative Journalism Network.

History

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As of December 2017 the co-op cost £1 per month to join, had 1,900 members who contributed on average £2.70 per month; and had six full-time staff.[5] Membership provides a means of funding the newspaper and gives members a say in strategic decisions about the co-op.[7]

In 2019 The Bristol Cable won the Press Gazette British Journalism Award for Local Journalism, noting its five year investigation into modern day slavery by a local employer.[8][9] In 2021 the Press Gazette again noted the investigative journalism and successful development of The Bristol Cable, with membership at 2,600.[10]

Stories broken by The Bristol Cable

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The Bristol Cable has broken stories on workplace abuses in the catering sector (October 2014);[2] Bristol University's holdings in fossil fuels, which was used by people campaigning for its divestment and prompted a change by the University (June 2015);[2][6][11] ownership of property in the city by offshore companies based in tax havens (January 2016 and January 2018);[2] the Mayor and senior council officials hiding the potential for deep well fracking from councillors and the public, to prevent disruption to the sale of Bristol Port land (May 2016);[2][12] the use by local police of mass surveillance devices, known as IMSI-catchers or Stingray phone trackers, that eavesdrop on mobile phone and other devices,[13] which became a national news story (October 2016);[14][15][16][17][18][19] local companies' links to the arms trade (February 2017);[2] poor working conditions (March 2017);[20] racial bias in Immigration Enforcement officers' stop and checks of people on the street they suspect of immigration offences (October 2017, with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism);[21][22] and the small share of new property developments given over to affordable housing, in comparison with the official policy of Bristol City Council (March 2018).[6][11][23]

Other funding sources

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To set up, produce its first issue, and launch citizen journalism workshops, it raised £3,300 in a crowdfunding campaign, was given £1,500 by Co-operatives UK and £1,600 by Lush.[7] In 2017 it received a grant of £40,000 from the Reva and David Logan Foundation to expand its capacity in the local community.[5][6] In 2018 it received a grant of £100,000 a year for two years from the Omidyar Network.[24]

References

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  1. ^ "Team". The Bristol Cable. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "The Bristol Cable: A community-run newspaper holding power to account". Huck Magazine. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  3. ^ Harris, John (5 November 2015). "The Bristol conundrum: 'Gentrification is a danger – and if you're poor, you're really, really stretched'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 December 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  4. ^ a b "Journalism in the digital era: New thinking about communities and business". BBC. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Bristol Cable: the local investigative journalism co-op training citizens to hold power to account". The Independent. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d e Harris, John (24 January 2016). "Bristol Cable founders: 'We're holding people to account for their actions'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 December 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  7. ^ a b Slawson, Nicola (14 November 2014). "A new breed of co-operatives is looking to redefine local media". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  8. ^ Mayhew, Freddy (10 December 2019). "British Journalism Awards 2019: FT wins top prize for second year in triumphant end for departing editor". Press Gazette. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  9. ^ "The ice cream slavery case". The Bristol Cable. 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  10. ^ Majid, Aisha (5 August 2021). "Mapped: The UK's 400 independent local news titles + Lincolnite and Bristol Cable on secrets to success". Press Gazette. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Community clout: how the Ferret and the Bristol Cable are leading the rise of the UK's co-operative news media". The Drum. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  12. ^ Morris, Steven (4 May 2016). "Bristol mayoral hopefuls sling 'elite' jibes". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 December 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  13. ^ Pegg, David; Evans, Rob (10 October 2016). "Controversial snooping technology 'used by at least seven police forces'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 December 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  14. ^ "Why police forces need to be honest about mass mobile phone surveillance". ComputerWeekly.com. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  15. ^ Alexander J Martin 10 Oct 2016 at 14:11. "Confirmed: UK police forces own IMSI grabbers, but keeping schtum on use". www.theregister.co.uk. Retrieved 19 December 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Cox, Joseph (30 May 2017). "More UK Police Put Cash Down for IMSI Catchers". Vice. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  17. ^ Cox, Joseph (2 March 2017). "This Company Has Sold £1 Million Worth of Cellphone-Spying Devices to UK Police". Vice. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  18. ^ Tannam, Ellen (8 August 2018). "UK privacy groups fight police over mobile phone spying technology". Silicon Republic. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  19. ^ Moody, Glyn (11 October 2016). "Stingrays bought, quietly used by police forces across England". Ars Technica. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  20. ^ "Accused ice cream boss 'exploited staff'". 23 May 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  21. ^ Gayle, Damien; Boutaud, Charles; Cantwell-Corn, Adam (8 October 2017). "One in five stopped by immigration enforcement is a UK citizen, figures show". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 December 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  22. ^ Booth, Robert; Cantwell-Corn, Adam (1 May 2019). "Home Office stopped thousands of Britons for immigration checks". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 December 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  23. ^ Gilling, Juliana (7 March 2018). "'We said it wasn't acceptable': how Bristol is standing up to developers". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 December 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  24. ^ "The Bristol Cable secures funding to expand its approach to community-driven journalism". Journalism.co.uk. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
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