Open Democracy has announced a raft of redundancies as independent media outlets feel the strain of increasingly tough operating conditions.
Head of news Ramzy Alwakeel is among those who have been laid off by the publisher, which was founded at the start of the century.
Posting on X (formerly Twitter) he said it was “one dark day of many for British journalism” but that “I know everyone who is leaving this week will go on to shine just as brightly elsewhere… I hope we’ve made a positive difference.”
Reports in the Press Gazette suggest around a fifth of Open Democracy’s 52 team members will be cut in the redundancy process, including a news editor and a political correspondent,
Chief executive Satbir Singh and editor-in-chief Aman Sethi, both appointed in the past year, said in a statement that the publication had been hit by “wider industry trends that include rising inflation and an uncertain funding environment”. Those trends were exacerbated by the cessation of some previous funding.
Singh and Sethi said they “have not made this decision lightly” and that they had been “fortunate that we had an opportunity to work with these wonderful, talented journalists and we are proud of everything we have accomplished together”.
Some of the other members to have publically declared they are leaving include Sam Gelder, Ruby Lott-Lavigna and Anita Mureithi.
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