The future of The Source

Help us reach our goal

Dear subscriber,

Your weekly recap is going to be combined with next week’s recap, so thank you for bearing with me.

I was simply going to inform you that The 20 is postponed till next week, but I also wanted to take this opportunity to share my thoughts on the future of this outlet.

Firstly, it has been a busy but exciting week for The Source. After we first broke the story about the closure of an emergency sickle cell unit, we saw ITV News then also report on this important issue. As well as that, I was invited on to London community radio station Supreme FM to discuss our story and explain the importance of covering issues that affect the Black community.

I’ve seen some growth on our social media platforms as we’ve have been able to reach new audiences on TikTok and Instagram. As well as that, I’ve received a few comments from people who say they appreciate the work we’re doing as an independent outlet with no backing except from our paid subscribers. This means the world to me and helps fuel my passion for journalism and the Black community. Slowly but steadily, we are growing.

The comment below touched me the most. They had just seen the sickle cell story on ITV News and came straight to my Instagram.

In a world that is becoming more unequal, stories from the Black community aren’t prioritised by many mainstream outlets unless they’re about crime or any other representation of Black people which reinforces racist stereotypes. We all witnessed the death of DEI last year and we cannot depend on the whims of news editors to decide whether our stories are newsworthy or whether they hold value. I strongly believe in doing the work ourselves in spite of society’s limiting beliefs of what Black people can achieve. With our paid subscribers, we have been given the hope that we can continue shedding light on the Black community and holding power to account.

But the truth is, we need at least 300 of you to switch to paid so that we can keep The Source going. Without this help, we cannot realistically continue. I hope you can help us reach this goal by the end of March when the Source will have its two-year anniversary with hopefully many more to come. We are making a positive impact already and with your help, we can keep going and do so much more.

Thank you to those of you who have recognised our value and have already pledged your support. Like I said, you give me hope that others will see the work that we do has value. 🙏🏾

You can have a listen to my interview with Supreme FM below and hear why it’s important for The Source to cover these stories.

I hope you have a great week ahead and thank you for your support. 🙏🏾

Melissa Sigodo - Founder of The Source