OpenDemocracy

Last updated

openDemocracy
Opendemocracy.net logo.png
Type of site
Independent media organisation
Available inEnglish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish
HeadquartersLondon
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Area servedInternational
OwneropenDemocracy Foundation for the Advancement of Global Education
Created by
EditorAman Sethi
Key peopleSatbir Singh (Chief Executive)
Operating income £2.96m (2021) [1]
Employees62 (2021) [1]
URL opendemocracy.net
Advertising No
CommercialNo
RegistrationNo
Users 11 million (2021)
LaunchedMay 2001;22 years ago (2001-05)
Current statusActive
Content license
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
Written in Python
ISSN 1476-5888
OCLC  number 988806400

openDemocracy is an independent media platform and news website based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2001, openDemocracy states that through reporting and analysis of social and political issues, they seek to "challenge power and encourage democratic debate" around the world. [2] The founders of the website have been involved with established media and political activism. The platform has been funded by grants from organisations such as Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, the Ford Foundation, and Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, as well as by receiving direct donations from readers. [3] [1]

Contents

History

openDemocracy was founded in 2000 by Anthony Barnett, David Hayes, Susan Richards and Paul Hilder. [4] First publication began in May 2001. [5]

Founder Anthony Barnett, Charter 88 organiser and political campaigner, was the first editor (2001–2005) and Isabel Hilton was editor from 2005 to 2007. She was succeeded in 2010 by Rosemary Bechler, who in turn handed over the editorship to Adam Ramsay in 2019. In 2012 the editor-in-chief was Magnus Nome, [6] who was succeeded by Mary Fitzgerald. [7] [ needs update ]

Recent events

On 21 September 2022, the organisation announced that they were being sued in the UK by a company linked to the former President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. [8] [9]

Ownership and finances

openDemocracy is owned and published through a non-profit foundation. It has been funded by a number of philanthropic organisations, among them the Mott Foundation, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, Ford Foundation, David and Elaine Potter Foundation, Lush, Andrew Wainwright Trust and the Network for Social Change. [10]

Readership and audience

Originally attracting a meagre following, visits to openDemocracy's website grew exponentially following the September 11 attacks after it published an article by Todd Gitlin on the subject, who was in New York during the attacks. In his article, Gitlin presciently wrote that what was needed was "a focused military response—a precise one, not a revenge spasm ... but an action that distinguishes killers from civilians." openDemocracy began receiving daily international contributors and many Americans who were dissatisfied with their media's coverage on the issue logged onto the website for an alternative source. With a shift to a more broad based readership, the e-magazine "became a forum of debate for political activists, academics, journalists, businesspeople, politicians, and international civil servants from around the world" drawing interest from charitable sponsors. [4]

By 2002, the three main topics of debate covered on the website were: the impact of globalisation, the use and abuse of American power around the world and the character of Islam. As the magazine grew, so too did its coverage of topics from climate change and regulation of global markets to the future of multiculturalism and the impact of migration. [11] openDemocracy's mission statement asserts: "With human rights as our central guiding focus, we ask tough questions about freedom, justice and democracy. We give those fighting for their rights the agency to make their case and to inspire action." [2]

In terms of readership, the website had nearly 9 million unique visitors in 2021, with 40% of all returning readers coming from the UK. [1]

The Library of Congress stated, "openDemocracy is the leading independent website on global current affairs--offering stimulating, critical analysis, promoting dialogue and debate on issues of global importance and linking citizens from around the world." [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nursultan Nazarbayev</span> President of Kazakhstan from 1990 to 2019

Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev is a Kazakh politician and military officer who served as the first President of Kazakhstan, from the country’s independence in 1991 until his formal resignation in 2019, and as the Chairman of the Security Council of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2022.

The Runnymede Trust is a British race equality and civil rights think tank. It was founded by Jim Rose and Anthony Lester as an independent source for generating intelligence for a multi-ethnic Britain through research, network building, leading debate and policy engagement.

The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) is a philanthropic grant making trust that supports work undertaken in the UK and Ireland, and previously South Africa. It is one of three original trusts set up by Joseph Rowntree in 1904. The Trust supports work in five programme areas: peace and security, rights and justice, power and accountability, sustainable future and Northern Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of Kazakhstan</span> Legislature of Kazakhstan

The Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the bicameral legislature of Kazakhstan. The lower house is the Mäjilis, with 98 seats which are elected to five-year terms. The upper house is the Senate, which has 50 members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Kazakhstan</span> Political elections for public offices in Kazakhstan

Elections in Kazakhstan are held on a national level to elect a President and the Parliament, which is divided into two bodies, the Majilis and the Senate. Local elections for maslihats are held every five years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">President of Kazakhstan</span> Head of state of Kazakhstan

The president of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the head of state of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The president is the holder of the highest office within the Republic of Kazakhstan. The powers of this position are described in a special section of the Constitution of Kazakhstan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One World Trust</span> Global trust

The One World Trust is a charitable organization that promotes education and research into changes required in global governance to achieve the eradication of poverty, injustice, environmental degradation and war. It develops recommendations on practical ways to make powerful organisations more accountable to the people they affect now and in the future, and how the rule of law can be applied to all.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport</span> Second-busiest airport in Kazakhstan

Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport, alternatively referred by its previous name as Astana International Airport until 2017, is the international airport serving Astana, Kazakhstan, the capital and second most populous city in the country. It is the primary aviation hub for northern Kazakhstan. Regionally, it stands as the second-busiest international air passenger gateway into Central Asia after Almaty International Airport (ALA). The airport is also the second-busiest airport in terms of total passenger traffic, air traffic movements and total cargo handled in Kazakhstan, with ~7,500,000 passengers served annually in 2023, a 25% increase compared with 2022, a new passenger record for the airport. On average, the airport handles more than 200 departures a day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Power Inquiry</span>

The POWER Inquiry was established in 2004 to explore how political participation and involvement can be increased and deepened in Britain. Its work is based on the primary belief that a healthy democracy requires the active participation of its citizens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amanat (political party)</span> Kazakh political party

Amanat, previously known as Nur Otan until 2022, is a political party in Kazakhstan. Being the largest to date, it has been the ruling party of the country from 1999, with a membership claiming to be of over 762,000 people in 2007. The Amanat has been led by Erlan Qoşanov since 26 April 2022.

Pambazuka News is an open access, Pan-African e-mail and online electronic newsletter. It is published weekly in English, Portuguese and French by the not-for-profit organisation Fahamu. The word Pambazuka means "dawn" or "arise" in Kiswahili. Since its inception in 2000, the newsletter's mission has been to provide a platform for social justice in Africa, for example, by promoting human rights for refugees. As characterized by Firoze Manji, "the project differed from other publishing ventures in the sense that it was established not only to publish, but specifically to support an agenda for social change in Africa." Pambazuka News provides commentary and analysis on politics and current affairs. The estimated readership is 500,000.

Anthony Barnett is a modern English writer and campaigner. He was a co-founder of openDemocracy in 2001.

The Media Standards Trust is a British media think tank formed in 2006. It carries out research on issues in the media sector. It also advocates for press freedom as well as industry quality, transparency and accountability. It is a registered charity and is not aligned with any political party or media company.

The Convention on Modern Liberty (CML) is a British voluntary body and program of the Open Trust, set up in September 2008, that aims to highlight what it sees as the erosion of civil liberties in the UK. Its stated purpose is: "A call to all concerned with attacks on our fundamental rights and freedoms under pressure from counter-terrorism, financial breakdown and the database state".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Global Warming Policy Foundation</span> Climate change denial lobby group in the United Kingdom

The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom whose aims are to challenge what it calls "extremely damaging and harmful policies" envisaged by governments to mitigate anthropogenic global warming. The GWPF, and some of its prominent members individually, have been characterized as practising and promoting climate change denial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Hilder</span> British social entrepreneur

Paul Hilder is a British-born social entrepreneur, writer and organiser. As well as working for non-profit organisations, he is a co-founder of openDemocracy.net and has stood for various positions in the Labour Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">YES! To Fairer Votes</span> UK political campaign

YES! To Fairer Votes was a political campaign in the United Kingdom whose purpose was to persuade the public to vote in favour of the Alternative Vote (AV) in the referendum on Thursday, 5 May 2011. YES! To Fairer Votes was unsuccessful in changing the voting system, with 32.1% of votes cast in favour. It was opposed by the anti-reform campaign NOtoAV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Kazakh presidential election</span> Presidential election in Kazakhstan

Snap presidential elections were held in Kazakhstan on 26 April 2015 to elect the President of Kazakhstan. This was the fifth presidential election held and second without having any formal opposition candidates. With the highest-ever nationwide turnout of 95.2%, the result was a victory for long-term incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Nur Otan who received 97.8% of the vote, the largest since 1991, thus winning a fifth term in office while his closest challenger, Turgyn Syzdyqov, received only 1.6% of the votes.

The Wales Governance Centre (WGC) is a research centre and think-tank based Cardiff, Wales, which specialises in research into the law, politics, government and political economy of Wales, as well the wider territorial governance of the UK and Europe. It was established shortly after the 1997 Welsh devolution referendum, and was founded by Barry Jones in 1999. Its current director is Professor Richard Wyn Jones, and it is a part of Cardiff University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serikbolsyn Abdildin</span> Soviet-Kazakh politician and economist (1937–2019)

Serikbolsyn Abdildauly Abdildin was a Kazakh economist, politician, First Secretary of the Communist Party from 1996 to 2010, member of the Mazhilis from 1999 to 2004 and a candidate in the 1999 presidential election. He is often described as "patriarch" for the formation of parliamentarism and the first-drafted Kazakh Constitution in early years of independence. While proclaiming himself as a Communist, Abdildin was vivid supporter for democracy and has called for reforms for a multi-party system with a rule of law.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "openDemocracy Annual Report 2021–2022" (PDF). Annual Reports. openDemocracy. 28 July 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  2. 1 2 Abjorensen, Norman (2019). Historical Dictionary of Democracy. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 270. ISBN   978-1-53812-074-3.
  3. "openDemocracy's Supporters". openDemocracy. 1 October 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  4. 1 2 Couldry, Nick; Curran, James (2003). Contesting Media Power: Alternative Media in a Networked World. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 228–232. ISBN   978-0-74252-385-2.
  5. Tony Bennett (Autumn/Winter 2005-06). "Opening up democracy, interview with the founder of openDemocracy.net Anthony Barnett" (PDF). Society Matters (8): 15. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  6. Wynick, Alex (4 April 2013). "Open Democracy editor says future is 'bright' after £250,000 fundraising drive saves site from closure". Press Gazette .
  7. "Mary Fitzgerald". International Journalism Festival.
  8. Williams, Martin (21 September 2022). "openDemocracy is being sued for public interest reporting". openDemocracy. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  9. Neate, Rupert (21 September 2022). "Four media outlets facing libel claims over Nursultan Nazarbayev reports". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 23 September 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  10. "Our supporters". openDemocracy.
  11. Curran, James (2011). Media and Democracy. Taylor & Francis. pp. 86–90. ISBN   978-1-13437-223-2.
  12. "openDemocracy". Library of Congress .