A new chapter
It starts with a BIG change.
Good morning, afternoon or evening,
Three months ago, I wrote to you about our goal to continue our mission of shedding light on the dark and holding power to account for the Black community. And for the last three months, we have done just that.
Through independent, quality journalism, we wrote about patient fears over the closure of the sickle cell emergency unit at the Royal London Hospital which is now set to be reopened, an investigation we conducted led to the reopening of a Metropolitan police case, and our journalism also resulted in the social media ban on a women’s activist’s account being lifted within 24 hours of us making contact with the platform. Major wins for any publication let alone a small reader-funded site. As well as that, through our first-person pieces, we’ve highlighted the issue of Black women who go missing and how mainstream media overlooks their stories, as well as the fear that Black parents experience raising their children in the UK.
For the last three months, our journalism has made a real and tangible impact.
But as well as that, our focus has not only been on domestic matters. We have written on the war in Sudan by highlighting the world’s largest humanitarian crisis which sees women and children suffer through horrific sexual violence.
With each story we’ve told on this site, it has become even clearer what our mission is and what sits at its core. For us, that is the power and importance of community. By reporting on the Black community, we have been able to amplify important issues, shine a light on those doing amazing work and show that there is true unity in the community.
But one of our most important achievements is that we have been able to hold power to account which is crucial and has always been lacking for a group that faces the deepest injustices.
Through the years as a journalist, it’s become even more evident to me how the Black community has been conditioned to live without answers, without meaningful investigations, without seeing itself reflected in the media. Instead, Black people are overlooked and underreported on, forced to settle for inadequate coverage that has no depth but seeks to exploit for views and clicks. The Black community deserves far, far better.
Our aim was to reach enough subscribers to be able to survive and a number of you responded and pledged even more than the annual subscription. We missed the 300 subscriber goal but it headed in the right direction. So now, we are going to continue holding power to account and shedding light on the dark as we have done. We hope that more of you will become paid subscribers to support this important work and as I said, we’ve achieved significant wins for a small publication, so imagine how much more we can do.
But that starts with a BIG change and you may have noticed that The Source is now The Community Reporter.
The name change was long overdue, and it now reflects who we are and what we do. We hope it will help us reach a larger audience so look out for us on social media. We also now have an official domain name which is www.thecommunityreporter.co.uk so it is no longer melissasigodothesource.substack.com. You will continue to receive emails as normal but if you try to find us on the web, then type in www.thecommunityreporter.co.uk into you browser and it will take you there.
Our Instagram is @thecommunityreporter.
Our TikTok is @thecommunityreporter.
Join us on socials to help increase our reach.
So that’s it. We’re stepping into a new and clearer chapter, and we hope you will be along for the ride. There will be more developments as we continue to grow so stay tuned.
I want to say thank you to all of you who have supported this publication and the journalists who have contributed. Those of you who believe in real journalism in a world of AI generated content, social media misinformation, rampant racism and uncertainty. We refuse to give into it so we’re going to put up a fight because we believe in the power of community.
Yours sincerely
Melissa Sigodo
Founder & Editor-in-Chief of The Community Reporter.
Become a paid subscriber and help us keep up the fight.