New Internationalist, a British employee-owned cooperative book and magazine publisher, made news last month when it launched a crowdfunding campaign called Buy Into a Better Story that allowed contributors to become partial owners of the company. The 35-day fundraising campaign, which had a goal of raising $610,000, wound up raising more than $800,000.
The campaign, which began on March 1 and ended on April 6, offered people the chance to invest a minimum of $60 in the press, and a maximum of $37,500. The effort drew support from the likes of actress Emma Thompson, novelist A.L. Kennedy, political columnist George Monbiot, and musician Jarvis Cocker, who all had previous relationships with the company.
Earlier this week, New Internationalist reported that 340,000 people all over the world contributed to the campaign, which raised $876,269; the sum put the press at 40% over its original target. Besides Thompson, Kennedy, Monbiot, and Cocker, other prominent names becoming partial co-owners in New Internationalist include journalist and filmmaker John Pilger, international correspondent Lindsay Hilsum, media pioneer Shahidul Alam, musician Billy Bragg and activist Benny Wenda.
New Internationalist co-editor Hazel Healy said the results show "demonstrate that thousands of people...are fiercely committed to independent media and publishing that helps us to understand the world--and change it.”
Sales and marketing manager Dan Raymond-Barker told PW that New Internationalist intends to “put ambitious plans into action” by embracing new technologies, investing in staff and authors and launching new imprints and partnerships. “We expect to announce the first of these exciting partnerships in the next few weeks,” he said.
Founded in 1973 as a magazine publisher, New Internationalist began publishing books in 1982 and is distributed in North America by Consortium.
