How Mensagem started

Catarina Carvalho and Ferreira Fernandes, two journalists, started Mensagem in 2020 in partnership with the owner of a cafe in Lisbon called A Brasileira do Chiado. The idea was for the newsroom to become part of a cultural hub developing around the café. Having worked as a journalist for many years, Catarina wanted to create a media outlet for Lisbon that was rooted in the community, covering topics and representing people who were missing in the existing local media landscape. Catarina trained one person to become the editor, allowing her to focus more on partnerships and fundraising. Her business plan included not just the costs of content production with a team of seven journalists but also alternative revenue streams like a shop selling local products.

The website was set up on the publishing platform Newspack, a WordPress product and service designed especially for media sites, which provides not just the technical setup for the website but also maintenance and support. It took about six months from idea to launch.