Putney · Roehampton · SW15
Putney.news Patrons
A small group of readers who back the whole idea: local accountability journalism in this corner of London, done properly and paid for locally.
Become a PatronFrom the editor
Putney.news exists because a place with 100,000 people needs to know what is happening, and needs the people in charge to explain their decisions.
Doing that properly is slow. It means sitting through meetings that finish at eleven at night, reading planning documents line by line, and asking the same question after the first refusal, and the second. The council spent years calling its flagship access scheme Britain's Best. It fought for over a year to keep the usage figures hidden. We took it to the Information Commissioner. The scheme had reached 0.7 per cent of residents.
Membership pays for that work. Patrons do something slightly different: they back the paper itself – and tell me as editor when we are getting it right and when we are not.
Kieren McCarthyEditor, Putney.news
What it is
Not a bigger subscription
A Patron is not buying more content. Everything a Patron gets, an ordinary member gets too. It also allows our accountability work to stay free to read for everyone.
What it says is that you are behind the wider enterprise. It is closer to how people back a theatre or a village hall than to how they buy a newspaper.
Why it exists
Independence has to be paid for
Putney.news is entirely independent so we can report on Wandsworth the way it needs and deserves without fear or favour.
Advertising and membership will carry most of the cost. Patrons make the difference between a paper that survives and one that can take on the slow, expensive stories nobody else is doing.
What it involves
Five things
- ✓£150 a yearRenewed annually. Cancel whenever you like.
- ✓Your name in our annual reportIn the way sponsors' names go on a wall. Or stay anonymous, if you would rather.
- ✓A printed copy of that report, posted to youWhat we published, what it cost, where the money went, what we got wrong.
- ✓The editor asking your opinion from time to timeAn email, a coffee. What we are covering, what we are missing, what we are getting wrong.
- ✓Undying gratitudeNon-transferable.
Being straight about it
What being a Patron does not buy
Just so there's no misunderstanding.
- No influence over what we cover, or how. Patrons are asked their opinion, and as engaged residents their views carry real weight, but that is not a say in editorial decisions.
- No advance sight of stories. Patrons read them when everyone else does.
- No special treatment. If a Patron, or a Patron's employer, comes up in our reporting, it is written exactly the same as if they were not.
- No promotion. Being a Patron is not advertising, but if you are interested in advertising with us, please contact advertising@putney.news.
Our Patrons
With thanks to
- Robert Arguile
- Michael Bogdan
- Jonathan Callaway
- Jeremy Davies
- Paul Hargreaves
- Elizabeth Holt
- Graham Morrow
- Patricia Power
- Rachael Quin
- Alasdair Stuart
Not ready for £150?
A one-off contribution
Some people would rather give something once than commit to a year. That is completely fine, and it is genuinely useful.
A one-off contribution does not come with the report or the name in it. It just goes straight into the reporting.
Make a one-off contributionOr simply
Become a member
£70 a year, or £7 a month. Membership is what pays for the day-to-day reporting, and it is the thing that makes the biggest difference at the largest scale.
Join as a memberNo obligation
Want to know more first?
If someone forwarded you this, or you would just rather have a conversation before deciding, send us a line. It goes straight to the editor.
Terms
The small print
Short, because it should be.
- What £150 buys. A year of Patron membership: everything an ordinary member gets, your name in our annual report if you want it, a printed copy of that report, and an open line to the editor. It does not buy any influence over what we cover.
- It renews each year. Your card is charged again on the anniversary of joining, at the same price. We will email you before that happens.
- You can cancel whenever you like. Email editor@putney.news and we will stop it. Your membership runs to the end of the year you have already paid for. We do not refund part-years.
- Fourteen days to change your mind. If you join and think better of it within fourteen days, email us and we will refund you in full, with no reason needed. This is your right in law and nothing here affects it.
- Names. The annual report goes to print in December. Patrons who have joined by then are named in it, unless you tell us you would rather not be. You can ask to be left out, or taken off, at any time before it goes to print.
- The report. We intend to publish it once a year. If it slips, we will tell you, and you will get the next one. We need a postal address to send it; if we do not have yours, we will ask.
Putney.news is published by Modern Standard Media Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15767979, 79 Lacy Road, London SW15 1NR. Questions: editor@putney.news.