# The Bristol Cable (England)

**Summary**

The Bristol Cable is a pioneering community media from Bristol (UK), organised as a cooperative which is owned by nearly 3,000 members. Since 2014 the Cable has been producing in-depth local journalism online and in a quarterly print edition.

The Bristol Cable’s mission has always been to democratise the media industry, facing a situation in the UK in which five large conglomerates have divided up the entire media landscape among themselves, right down to the local level. 

The organisation as a cooperative, in which members not only make a financial contribution but also actively shape the company as shareholders, is regarded as an example of community journalism taken to its logical conclusion and has attracted worldwide attention in the media industry. 

With the development of its own open source membership platform, The Bristol Cable has also set the tone for the media’s independence from large online platforms.  

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{% tab title="Overview" %}

| **Name**                                            | <p>The Bristol Cable</p><p><br></p>                                                                                                                                               |
| --------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Website**                                         | <https://thebristolcable.org/>                                                                                                                                                    |
| **Location / Location of coverage**                 | Bristol, United Kingdom                                                                                                                                                           |
| **Size of potential audience/ town region covered** | 472,000 population                                                                                                                                                                |
| **Year they started publishing**                    | 2014                                                                                                                                                                              |
| **Language**                                        | English                                                                                                                                                                           |
| **Mission statement**                               | <p>Our four main principles are: creating Ethical Journalism and remaining Community Focused and, through that work, Holding Power to Account and Creating Change.</p><p><br></p> |

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Management and team" %}

| **Founders**                | Alec Saelens, Adam Cantwell-Corn, Alon Aviram                                                                                                                         |
| --------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Current management team** | <p>Board of directors which is staffed with 10 Cable members who were elected at the Annual General Meeting; Secretary of the Board: Elizabeth Mizon; </p><p><br></p> |
| **Team**                    | <p>Full-time employees: 7</p><p>Part-time employees: 3</p>                                                                                                            |
| {% endtab %}                |                                                                                                                                                                       |

{% tab title="Governance Structures " %}

| **Legal form of company** | Cooperative / Registered Community Benefit Society, owned and supported by member-owners in Bristol |
| ------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Tax status**            | non-profit                                                                                          |

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{% tab title="Product & Revenue Streams" %}

| **Main products**                              | Website and quarterly print edition                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| ---------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Additional products**                        | Podcast                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| **Audience and community reach**               | <p>Members: 2,500 - 3,000</p><p><br></p><p>Newsletter subscribers: ???</p><p><br></p><p>Social Media reach:</p><p><br></p><ul><li>Facebook: 13,000 followers</li><li>Instagram: 4,000 followers</li><li>Twitter: 15,000 followers</li></ul> |
| **Most important community engagement format** | Callouts                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| **Revenue streams**                            | <ul><li>membership contributions (35%)</li><li>grants (60%) </li><li>non-corporate advertising (5%)</li></ul><p><br></p>                                                                                                                    |

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{% hint style="info" %}
On the next pages you can read our in-depth portrait about The Bristol Cable. If you want to jump into a specific topic directly, here's the overview for you:
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<table data-view="cards"><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th></th><th data-hidden data-card-cover data-type="files"></th><th data-hidden data-card-target data-type="content-ref"></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>How The Bristol Cable started</strong></td><td>Read the founding story of The Bristol Cable</td><td></td><td><a href="/files/k441YYBVp0BVvIa6BO5f">/files/k441YYBVp0BVvIa6BO5f</a></td><td><a href="/pages/4dhBqlqLPkWYEADlr87o">/pages/4dhBqlqLPkWYEADlr87o</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Products</strong></td><td>Read about The Bristol Cable's most important (journalistic) products</td><td></td><td><a href="/files/oNDGjYIJtCy2COCE3tg9">/files/oNDGjYIJtCy2COCE3tg9</a></td><td><a href="/pages/cqTB1AI9o6vut5bSVoAR">/pages/cqTB1AI9o6vut5bSVoAR</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Revenue Streams &#x26; Finance</strong></td><td>Read about how The Bristol Cable earns money</td><td></td><td><a href="/files/cBu1GmYKKwG6Mr2xCDPH">/files/cBu1GmYKKwG6Mr2xCDPH</a></td><td><a href="/pages/4grlffZRUfbzb4j3hLsm">/pages/4grlffZRUfbzb4j3hLsm</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Community Journalism</strong></td><td>Read about how The Bristol Cable engages its Community</td><td></td><td><a href="/files/sJTyMu2zQmTC5nEJQ0Nx">/files/sJTyMu2zQmTC5nEJQ0Nx</a></td><td><a href="/pages/5K4oiOYRITUSbRxAT0Eq">/pages/5K4oiOYRITUSbRxAT0Eq</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Biggest Challenges</strong></td><td>Read about challenges and barriers The Bristol Cable is facing</td><td></td><td><a href="/files/a2nOkI4cLh1a3OVJ2PM8">/files/a2nOkI4cLh1a3OVJ2PM8</a></td><td><a href="/pages/5FU2JlTfDLJB0OviLlgp">/pages/5FU2JlTfDLJB0OviLlgp</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Success Factors</strong></td><td>Read about The Bristol Cable's biggest factors for success</td><td></td><td><a href="/files/RDTD6mO8gsM65kfCPSKQ">/files/RDTD6mO8gsM65kfCPSKQ</a></td><td><a href="/pages/l5biZ7aVMIUueyUgWnvB">/pages/l5biZ7aVMIUueyUgWnvB</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

***

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