We at Himal are excited to announce the launch of our newly designed website, now with a membership, a first for the magazine since its inception in 1987.
For over 30 years, we have delivered stories that are Southasian in perspective, always striving to challenge nationalist orthodoxies. You have responded with enthusiasm; some of you have followed us as we transformed from a print edition to a bookazine to our current digital avatar. We are once again at a moment of critical change, launching a membership programme which we hope will make us financially sustainable.
Structured as a non-profit and with its focus on regional public-service journalism through in-depth and long-form articles, Himal Southasian has, until now, relied almost entirely on donor funding. While we are grateful for the substantial support Himal has received, and continues to receive, from donors, we also want to reduce our donor dependency and become independently financially sustainable over time. Non-profit need not necessarily mean non-revenue.
Journalism gives the impression of being cheap or even free in the current digital age, but actually comes at a considerable cost. The question is not whether media is free, but rather who is paying for it? While many of us think we are paying for at least some of the media we consume – for example, by buying newspapers or paying for cable TV – the reality is that what we pay for media is a fraction of the cost of production. Most of the cost is subsidised by advertising from corporates or governments who are then in a position to influence the media, and, as is evident in our region, are increasingly choosing to exercise this leverage in a heavy-handed manner.