DEAR THE BRIDGE READERS
It has been a while now since you last heard from us.
We profoundly apologize for the abrupt way in which we left you. As loyal readers, you have been with us on this long journey as we tried to establish something groundbreaking in the media landscape in the country.
Frustrated by what we thought were two extremes; conservative-government-says- so type of yellow journalism in the orthodox media on the one hand and then unprofessional reckless pseudo social media journalism practised by nascent online publications on the other.
We therefore established The Bridge as a professional entity that was attempting to wiggle through a muddy and often times polarized environment where everyone with social media following called themselves journalists.
We had grand ambitions to be an organization that enlightens and educates in equal measure. Importantly, we saw our niche as a platform that gives meaning to the news.
Right from the start, we shied away from competing in the breaking news space where the operational style is trying to catch the worm while it is still coming out. Ours was always about going beyond the headlines in order to help our readers connect the dots and see the forest instead of just mere trees.
Importantly, we wanted to cultivate a new culture of a reading society and to disabuse society from consuming raw data presented as news. That is what we felt must set us apart. We were committed to fearless journalism but that avoids weaponizing our pen to fight our perceived or real enemies.
We refused all temptation to be vindictive and to scandalize people unnecessarily. We asked ourselves always, are we fair? Founded by a group of committed human rights defenders and professional journalists, we brought you dog-sniffing journalism, biting social commentary and path-finding political analysis that opens eyes but also exposes you to a better understanding of your country, your history and the continent we all dearly love.
After almost two years of running your favourite publication, our journey finally ends. We have been involved in behind the scenes negotiations with a South African company to sell majority shares in the organization. After a lot of back and forth, we have finally decided that this is the right time to allow a new group to take over the running of the publication.
We are convinced that difficult as this decision was, it was in the best interest of the organization and the country. We have been assured that they will keep the many freelance journalists we worked with and that they will maintain the same independence, integrity and credibility that had made us the country´s number one Sunday publication.
We leave you in safe hands and ask that you continue to support the publication as you have done so in the last two years.
Kind regards
The The Bridge Publishers