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February 3, 2016

Positive News relaunches as magazine after £263k crowdfunding campaign

By Dominic Ponsford

Quarterly newspaper Positive News relaunches this week as an 84-page magazine following a £263,000 crowdfunding campaign.

Last year's fundraising campaign saw 1,526 readers, journalists and supporters from 33 countries contribute. They are now co-owners of the publication and will ultimately have a say in what it covers.

Positive News was launched 22 years ago but faced a funding crisis last year following the death of its founder Shauna Crockett-Burrows.

Postive News describes itself as the first publication "dedicated to quality journalism that focuses on progress and possibility".

It has 3,500 subscribers but hopes to grow that figure to 10,000 following its relaunch.

The first issue features on-the-ground report about women promoting human rights in the face of extremism in Pakistan and an exploration of how democracy could become more effective in the digital age. 

Positive News relaunch editor Danielle Batist said: “Our new magazine shows that good journalism can also be about the good things that are happening.

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"We don’t stop at highlighting a problem but use that as a starting point before asking what’s being done about it. We then investigate solutions critically, moving beyond the ‘hero tale’ or ‘happy story’ to uncover what’s going well in the world.”

Editor-in-chief Seán Dagan Wood said: “The relaunch marks an exciting and important step for our journalism and our community-supported model as we grow our impact. There is a growing demand for intelligent coverage of positive developments, and an opportunity for it in the shifting media landscape. We are humbled by the support of our readers and co-owners, who embraced our vision.

“We wanted to move to a format in print where the quality of the design matches that of the content. Though some news publications are struggling in print, we feel there’s huge value in a carefully curated, quarterly print magazine that offers a uniquely inspiring lens on the world. So, we’ve created something that we hope is a beautiful vessel for beautiful stories.”
 

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