The Bristol Cable
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Type | Website and quarterly print edition |
|---|---|
| Owner(s) | Co-operative society |
| Staff writers | Approx 9[1] |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Headquarters | Silver Street, Bristol, England |
| Website | Official website |
The Bristol Cable is an independent media co-operative in Bristol, UK, founded in 2014.[2] It provides local news through independent investigative journalism,[3] in a quarterly print publication and website, both free.[4][5] As a co-operative, The Bristol Cable is owned by its members, who pay a monthly fee.[5] The publication has a print run of 30,000 copies,[4] distributed throughout the city.[6]
The Bristol Cable was founded by Alec Saelens, Adam Cantwell-Corn and Alon Aviram.[5][6] It is part of the Global Investigative Journalism Network.
As of December 2017 the co-op cost £1 per month to join, had 1,900 members who contributed on average £2.70 per month; and had six full-time staff.[5] Membership provides a means of funding the newspaper and gives members a say in strategic decisions about the co-op.[7]
In 2019 The Bristol Cable won the Press Gazette British Journalism Award for Local Journalism, noting its five year investigation into modern day slavery by a local employer.[8][9] In 2021 the Press Gazette again noted the investigative journalism and successful development of The Bristol Cable, with membership at 2,600.[10]
Stories broken by The Bristol Cable
The Bristol Cable has broken stories on workplace abuses in the catering sector (October 2014);[2] Bristol University's holdings in fossil fuels, which was used by people campaigning for its divestment and prompted a change by the University (June 2015);[2][6][11] ownership of property in the city by offshore companies based in tax havens (January 2016 and January 2018);[2] the Mayor and senior council officials hiding the potential for deep well fracking from councillors and the public, to prevent disruption to the sale of Bristol Port land (May 2016);[2][12] the use by local police of mass surveillance devices, known as IMSI-catchers or Stingray phone trackers, that eavesdrop on mobile phone and other devices,[13] which became a national news story (October 2016);[14][15][16][17][18][19] local companies' links to the arms trade (February 2017);[2] poor working conditions (March 2017);[20] racial bias in Immigration Enforcement officers' stop and checks of people on the street they suspect of immigration offences (October 2017, with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism);[21][22] and the small share of new property developments given over to affordable housing, in comparison with the official policy of Bristol City Council (March 2018).[6][11][23]
