This article is open to the public free of charge – only thanks to the supporters of the place.
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Readers and readers of the hottest place
I’m writing to tell you, with great excitement, that a historic decision was made today: to begin the unification of the place, Translucent and the Seventh Eye – into one large independent press body.
It is very important for me to explain to you why and how, it turned out a bit long but please stay with me. It will be more interesting than long, I promise.
Some background: As you know, the place relies on public support and my personal investment, about half and half (out of a budget of about NIS 120,000 per month). This structure cannot continue with us for the next decade, and certainly not for those that will come after it.
We, who repeatedly go against the structure of the commercial press, which is owned by a few and professionally fights against the financial needs and other interests of the publishers, cannot depend on the funding of one person. Over the years, we have maintained a complete separation between questions of funding and questions of content, and have acted on behalf of Freedom of the press and loyalty to the public interest (which is, among other things, quality journalism open to all), but the prices were high: no income from advertising, no paywall, we didn’t know how to develop crowdfunding, and the place is always in losses. This dependence on me is problematic and complex. The possibility that the source of the funding Yigda one day, hovers over the existence of the place, and thus it is impossible to work for long. Journalism and social change are things that require time. We came to make a change.
I decided to take action: to be the first publisher to transfer control of the media it owns to the public, without asking for a return and while giving up my rights in it. In a world where capitalists buy control of the media for millions – the place needs to pass 100 percent to its readers, so that it can stand on its feet, exist Over time, bravely face more and more risks, and grow.
How do you do such a thing?
The way to return a private company to the public is to switch to operating as an association. A rare opportunity came our way: the “Seventh Eye” and “Shakof” press websites were united about two years ago under the wings of the “Shakof” association and since then they have been operating together as one body, which maintains two separate and different websites. The union was a great success in every sense – among other things, it expanded circulation and significantly increased funding from the public. Thousands of readers supported and support this move.
A few months ago, the idea came up to grow and unite with the place as well. The extreme and dangerous days for democracy in which we live, the weakness and selfishness of the established press, and the inseparable connection between these two, have made it clear to all of us that we must have a large and strong independent media body. We entered an intensive period of preparation and investigation work, checking economic feasibility, and especially meetings and discussions between the teams, which resulted in a good experience working together. We understood that each site has its own areas of care, topics and style, but together we hold a common journalistic concept.
Together we formulated a move according to which the hottest place will unite into one press body with the eye and transparent, and merge structurally and organizationally into a transparent association. This, without renouncing the editorial and journalistic independence of each of the three systems, that they, their teams and websites will not change. I emphasize: the hottest place in hell will continue to operate exactly as it is.
In the last two weeks, the supporters of the hottest place and the publishers of Transparent and the Seventh Eye, approximately 8,000 men and women, were asked to express their opinion on the move. The supporters of the place returned us emails, most of them heartwarming and expressing full confidence in us and in the decision to unite (see the collection of responses below), and from the side The second, the publishers of Translucent and Ein voted in the last few days, and 90 percent of them supported the union.
Why go to such a move?
Such a union guarantees the future of the place over time and without financial dependence on me. He transfers the administrative management to the unified body, which is headed by the CEO of the association Nir Ben-Zvi, whom I trust 100 percent, and makes me a full-fledged management company (read here more about how the Transparent Association operates).
And most importantly – such a union will be the basis for the establishment of a large and powerful body of independent journalism, a new and significant player on the field of journalism in Israel. Together we can do what each individual can only dream of: bring in more leading journalists and investigators, double and triple the circulation of our stories, introduce new formats for independent journalism, when the reins and supervision of us are in the hands of our real publishers – you and yours.
How will this happen?
So that we can merge the place into a transparent association, we will immediately start a joint fundraising campaign, with the goal in the first stage being to close the existing gap of 60 thousand shekels per month (with standing orders), with the aim of reaching amounts that will allow much more than that.
We need each and every one of them to support the union by standing order, from now on, in this link. The only way to support an independent press is by direct debit with a credit card. No other way will secure our future.
For the price of a cup of coffee or a monthly portion of falafel, you will have an independent, strong and fearless press here. You can no longer close your eyes and think that it will be okay, because it won’t be. If we don’t stand up and bring investigations and exposures and visit the centers of power and fight when they try to silence us – we will be left with a media that serves everyone with interests, just not you.
What next?
After the amount necessary for the merger is reached, we will begin the merger: separating from the company Ltd. and absorbing the local employees into the association, with the goal of doing this as early as January 2023. The meaning of the transition to activity under the association is, among other things, that everyone who supports the place, transparently and in kind, will from now on have the right to officially vote in all A significant move for the future of the independent press. The hottest place in hell is really going to be yours, and your responsibility.
I have to say something personal for a moment: I am passing on here the most important thing I have done in my life (okay, after my childhood), from my hands to yours. I can do it wholeheartedly and happily only thanks to your trust in our journalistic way. It’s a moment that’s hard for me to describe in words, and I really don’t lack them usually.
Thank you for being with us, reading the place over the years and helping us spread our investigations and revelations. This is the moment to take another step and be part of us.
Starting to change the future, from now on.
Einat Fishbein
(still) publisher of the hottest place in hell