First of all my thanks to those who’ve already made a donation to our end of year fundraiser. As many of you know we are absolutely independent and fund operations purely through the generosity of the Pearls and Irritations community.

Asking for money is never a comfortable thing to do, but ask we must if we are to continue the work we do.

P&I readers often ask what we are doing reach more people. This year broadening and expanding reader numbers has been a big focus. We have spent much time consolidating around our strengths – really high-quality writing from respected authors – but have added new ways of presenting the ideas. Our Pearlcast podcast series, on The Dismissal, was our first stab at getting to people who prefer to listen rather than read. And the feedback has been terrific – around 3,000 listeners for a first-time podcast tells us that presenting ideas in this format is working well. It is also a great way to reach into schools and universities, with a good listen, rather than another tranche of reading.

Also in my first seven months as editor I have spent much of my time reaching out to and nurturing new authors, so we can better reflect the Australian community. We are seeking more women authors, more younger authors, and a multicultural mix that reflects modern Australia.

These are just two initiatives among many.

So is this all this working, are we getting out to more people? Well the numbers look very promising. Over the past six months reader numbers have gone up, consistently. Last month we hit our highest numbers ever, with 24,000 readers each day, over 700,000 readers for September. What’s important is the trend and that is going in the right direction. Taking the four months since June, average daily readers number 22,500, a significant increase on the average at the same time last year, of 17,500.

So with your support we are spreading the word. Serving up a solid diet of fact base and opinion, to inform your decisions, your basis for action. We remain progressive in outlook and seek truth through evidence and honest debate. We will continue to seek, in leaders, the moral courage required if we are to tackle existential threats.

Each day there is a greater need for independent, reliable sources of information and analysis, as corrosive global and local uncertainty become the norm.

Please donate what you can to work with us in this vital endeavour. Your donation via the Australian Cultural Fund is tax deductible.

Until next time