The past six months have been very encouraging for Pearls and Irritations.

In part, progress may be due to more reading time in the pandemic. I am sure it is also due to greater interest in independent media as the decline in mainstream media continues.

In the six months April to October this year:

• Monthly views of the site increased by 25% from 212,474 to 266,446
• Monthly visitors to the site increased 61% from 56,006 to 90,196
• Subscribers to the Pearls and Irritations daily and weekly emails increased 62% from 7,025 to 11,435

Media interest and other feedback has been very encouraging.

In these difficult times, fundraising has been steady. But for Pearls and Irritations to keep growing we will need additional funding.

We are determined that Pearls and Irritations will remain fiercely independent. We will have no paywall and we will not accept advertising.

Thank you to all writers,readers and financial contributors for support.

A lot has been achieved. A lot more remains to be done.