Staying Afloat While Stirring the Pot: Briarpatch Magazine and the Challenge of Nonprofit Journalism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22230/cjnser.2015v6n2a210Keywords:
Third-sector media, Nonprofit media, Magazines, Grants, Fundraising, Social economy / Média du troisième secteur, Média à but non lucratif, Magazine, Octroi, Levée de fonds, Économie socialeAbstract
Briarpatch Magazine’s four-decade history presents an enlightening case study of the value of government grants to the nonprofit and co-operative media sector, as well as the pressures these programs bring, from conflict over editorial content to unexpected funding cuts. The study reveals that a major challenge for journalism operating within the social economy is to maintain editorial independence while sustaining daily operations. Briarpatch has benefited from healthy reader support and organizational flexibility. However, this resiliency is now threatened as allied civil society networks dissipate under neoliberalism. The lessons gleaned from Briarpatch are broadly relevant to social-economy researchers and advocates, as they speak to wider questions of funder-nonprofit relationships and the role that social networks play in organizational sustainability.
RÉSUMÉ
Les quatre décennies d’histoire du magazine Briarpatch représentent une étude de cas éclairante sur la valeur des octrois gouvernementaux pour le secteur des médias coopératifs et à but non lucratif, ainsi que sur les pressions entraînées par ces programmes, allant de conflits au sujet du contenu éditorial jusqu’aux coupures budgétaires imprévues. Cette étude montre qu’un défi majeur pour le journalisme de l’économie sociale consiste à conserver son indépendance éditoriale tout en assurant son bon fonctionnement au quotidien. Briarpatch bénéficie d’un appui solide de la part de ses lecteurs et d’une bonne flexibilité organisationnelle. Cependant, cette faculté d’adaptation est actuellement menacée par un néolibéralisme qui dissipe les alliances de la société civile. Les leçons à tirer de Briarpatch sont pertinentes pour les chercheurs et partisans de l’économie sociale car elles soulèvent des questions de rapports entre investisseurs et organismes à but non lucratif et de rôles joués par les réseaux sociaux pour maintenir la durabilité organisationnelle.
Downloads
References
Baron, D., & Jackson, P. (1991). Battleground: The socialist assault on Grant Devine's Canadian dream. Toronto: Bedford House.
Bouchard, M. J., Ferraton, C., & Michaud, V. (2006). Database on social economy organizations: The qualification criteria. Working Papers of the Canada Research Chair on the Social Economy, Research Series – no R-2006-03. . Montreal: Université du Québec à Montreal.
Boyle, D. (2012). Good news: A co-operative solution to the media crisis. Manchester: Co-operatives UK. Retrieved from http://www.uk.coop/resources/good-news-co-operative-solution-media-crisis
Brettle, P. (1979, April 11). Delayed social services grant precarious for two agencies. The Leader-Post, p. 13. Retrieved from http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=w9EjUEod0xMC&dat=19790411&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
Brettle, P. (1979, April 19). Loss of provincial funds puts future of Briarpatch in doubt. The Leader-Post, p. 18. Retrieved from http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=w9EjUEod0xMC&dat=19790419&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
Brettle, P. (1979, March 7). Province likely to take issue with decision to withdraw social services financing bill. The Leader-Post, p. 53. Retrieved from http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=w9EjUEod0xMC&dat=19790307&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
Brettle, P. (1979, March 7). Users of "non-mandated" services could be affected by provincial budget. The Leader-Post, p. 53. Retrieved from http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=w9EjUEod0xMC&dat=19790307&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
Briar Patch Society. (1977, May 29). Societies Act annual return. Saskatchewan Justice, Corporations Branch.
Briarpatch. (2014). Briarpatch magazine: Keep our website going! Retrieved from Indiegogo: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/briarpatch-magazine-keep-our-website-going
Briarpatch Magazine. (2014). Deeper roots campaign. Retrieved from Briarpatch Magazine: http://briarpatchmagazine.com/deeper-roots
Canadian Council for International Co-operation. (1995). Canada's voluntary sector in international development. Ottawa: CCIC. Retrieved from http://www.ccic.ca/_files/en/archives/voluntary_sector_canadas_vs_in_international_development_1995_12.pdf
Collier, K. (1993, July-August). How Briarpatch got its name. 22(6), 9.
Community Media Forum Europe (2012). Community media in Europe: First country ranking. Retrieved from http://cmfe.eu/?p=864
Elliott, P.W. (2015). Independent voices: Third sector media development and local governance in Saskatchewan. PhD dissert. University of Saskatchewan. Retrieved from http://ecommons.usask.ca/handle/10388/ETD-2015-03-2010
Fischer, M. (1993, July-August). Looking back. Briarpatch, 22(6), 10.
Gilmour, M. (1979, March 21). Briarpatch staff: "Compelled to set the record straight". The Commonwealth.
Gilmour, M. (1993, July-August). The good ol' days. Briarpatch, 22(6), 13-14.
Gumucio Dagron, A. (2004). The long and winding road of alternative media. In The SAGE handbook of media studies (pp. 41-66). SAGE.
Hackett, R. A., & Carroll, W. A. (2004). Critical social movements and media reform. Media Development, 51(1), 14. Retrieved from World Association for Christian Communication. Vol. 1.
Karikari, K. (2000). The development of community media in English-speaking West Africa. In K. Baofo (Ed.), Promoting community media in Africa (pp. 43-60). Paris: UNESCO.
Karst, G. (1977). Report on The Briar Patch history and functions. Practicum report, Social Work 448, University of Regina.
Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities. (2009). Informing communities: Sustaining democracy in the digital age. Washington, DC: The Aspen Institute. Retrieved from http://www.knightcomm.org/read-the-report-and-comment/
Manz, G. (1993, July-August). Life at Briarpath. Briarpatch, 22(6), 47-48.
Moulaert, F., & Ailenei, O. (2005). Social economy, third sector and solidarity relations: A conceptual synthesis from history to present. Urban Studies, 42(11), 2037-2053.
Murillo, M. (2010). Indigenous community radio and the struggle for social justice in Columbia. In K. Howley (Ed.), Understanding community media (pp. 240-249). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Myers, M. (2011). Voices from the villages: Community radio in the developing world. Washington, DC: Center for International Media Assistance. Retrieved from http://www.cima.ned.org/resource/voices-from-villages-community-radio-in-the-developing-world/
Paavo, A. (1993, July-August). The rock and the pig. Briarpatch, 22(6), 18-20.
Potruff, N. (1975, May). Report from the Briar Patch meeting. The Briar Patch(23), p. 1.
Powell, C. (1993, July-August). Raising hell. Briarpatch, 22(6), pp. 15-16.
Restakis, J. (2006). Defining the social economy: The B.C. context. Prepared for the B.C. Social Economy Roundtable. British Columbia Co-operative Association
Robertson, L. (1979, March 7). Tangle of motives background to prickly question of Briarpatch grant. The Commonwealth.
Robertson, L. (1993, July-August). The Briarpatch transition. Briarpatch, 22(6), pp. 11-12.
Smillie, B. (1993, July-August). Life at the top. Briarpatch, 22(6), 17.
Turcotte, M. (2012). Charitable giving by Canadians. Canadian social trends series, Statistics Canada, Ottawa.
Typsetting business helps brighten magazine's finances. (1981, June 8). The Leader-Post, p. A4. Retrieved from http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=w9EjUEod0xMC&dat=19810608&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
Waldman, S. & The Working Group on the Information Needs of Communities (WGINC). (2011). The information needs of communities: The changing media landscape in a broadband age. Washington, DC: U.S. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved from https://transition.fcc.gov/osp/inc-report/The_Information_Needs_of_Communities.pdf
Warnock, J. (1993, July-August). The future of coalitions. Briarpatch, 22(6), 39-41.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Submission of an original manuscript to the Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research / Revue canadienne de recherche sur les OSBL et l'économie sociale [thereafter CJNSER] will be taken to mean that it represents original work not previously published, and that it is not being considered elsewhere for publication.
The journal takes the stance that the publication of scholarly research is meant to disseminate knowledge and, in a not-for-profit regime, benefits neither publisher nor author financially. It sees itself as having an obligation to its authors and to society to make content available online now that the technology allows for such a possibility. In keeping with this principle, the journal will publish all of its issues online.
Authors who publish in CJNSER agree to release their articles under the Creative Commons 4.0 International Licence (CC BY). This licence allows anyone to copy and distribute the article provided that appropriate attribution is given. For details of the rights an author grants users of their work, please see the licence summary and the full licence.
[Content published between 2010 and 2019-10 was licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada (CC BY-NC-ND 2.5 CA) License. Content published between 2019-10 to 2023-12 was licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License. Content published after 2023-12 is licensed under the Creative Commons 4.0 International (CC BY) License.]
