Last year, the Salford Star feared it was going to have to close, after almost 13 years of supporting the local community via ten print magazines and almost five thousand online articles.
In a bid to survive, we managed to secure a free unit at Salford Shopping Centre last November where we held two auctions, a pop-up shop and an exhibition, as the community rallied round, raising £3,000 in ten days (see here and see here).
This, plus other donations received since, would have kept the Salford Star going until the end of this summer. Last week, we received notice that the ace philanthropic organisation Funding For Social Change Ltd had awarded the Star a grant of £7,141 to secure our future until 2020 at least.
Funding For Social Change Ltd funds 'exciting social change and cutting-edge projects', and its ethics are a perfect fit for the Salford Star... "We're proud of what we achieve together in making the world a better place" states the fund.
In May, the Salford Star will be 13 years old, and in April the Star will have been online for exactly ten years, producing almost 5,000 online articles.
Here's an extract from the Salford Star's statement to the Fund which gives a flavour of what our independent media activities are all about...
"Back in 2005, the communities of Salford were at the sharp end of the 'Pathfinder' project, led by the Government and engineered by Salford City Council, to 'clear' their affordable houses so that new unaffordable houses could be erected in their place. They asked us for a voice via a small community newsletter. We said, 'Sod that! Salford is a big city and it's going to get a huge magazine'; one that will somersault people's perception of a community magazine to new dimensions.
It came with the strapline 'With attitude and love xxx'. It was big - bigger than A4 - it was glossy, it had up to 100 pages, it was dayglo, it had a punk DIY vibe. And it gave people a proper voice, backed by hard core investigative journalism...
...Before that issue came out, everyone was throwing money at the project...the Lottery, even the Council's devolved budget... 'Oh you're giving the community a voice, how marvellous'...when the first issues were unleashed and they realised we were giving the community a real voice, it was a different story. And that has been the tale of the Salford Star...
One by one, big public body advertisers pulled out, potential funders ripped up applications, the Council stopped responding to interview and comment requests...we were labelled 'Trotskyists', 'Anarchists', 'UKIP supporters'...anything to discredit us. But we're just fiercely independent and try to say it how it is. We're proud of biting the hands that could potentially feed us; and proudly stupid in a very skint way...
And while the authorities are trying to discredit us, behind closed doors they respond to the articles...we've had people re-housed from shocking conditions; we've made the Council 'refresh' its planning policy that has led to developers avoiding £millions in planning fees; we've saved heritage sculptures; we've changed the Council's use of bailiffs on poor people...too, too many victories.
13 years on from that first print issue, the ethics haven't moved an inch...and the authorities are still doing everything in their power to discredit us. Yet, for the community itself, we're kind of Nanny McPhee – we're there when people need us. They find us. Oh how they find us!
We're dead conscious that we're documenting, in real time, working class protests and working class struggles that no-one else is covering (in Salford 'Media City' for fuck's sake, where we're the only media actually based here). And we have the community's trust, as well as loads of campaign groups which give us the heads up on forthcoming actions about which we inform the community.
We were there, right through the six months of the Barton Moss anti-fracking protests; we were there in the midst of the riots; when Lower Broughton flooded on Boxing Day; when the anti-nazi demos are kicking off; when new squats open; when public services are shut down; when green space land is being trashed...And when we were on our financial arse at the end of November, the impoverished community responded by raising £3,000 in ten days...
...On a shoestring of a shoestring, we've managed to keep going, not just holding public bodies to account and giving the community a voice, but also giving press coverage to artists, bands, writers, poets, live events and campaigns that no-one else wants to cover.
For us it's not about the clickbait, it's about what needs to be told. The Salford Star has won loads of awards and accolades. That's nice but not important. Why do we do it? Because as Mr Wilson once said...'Because we have to'...."
The Salford Star
With attitude and love xxx
Photo shows Salford Star mural at Salford Precinct - photo by Dr Gareth Lyons
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