Crinkling News founders pull the plug despite over $200k via crowdfunding

Saffron Howden and Remi Bianchi, the founders of kids newsbrand Crinkling News, have pulled the plug on the venture despite raising over $200,000 via crowdfunding in 2017.

In a note to supporters yesterday, the publishers said:

We are very sorry to say we cannot keep publishing the newspaper with the resources we have.

There are big, exciting opportunities out there for Crinkling News and for you, the kids of Australia. But it will need a much bigger business, government or philanthropy to take all the amazing things we have done together and keep the momentum going.

When our personal savings weren’t enough to keep publishing, you put your hands in your pockets and helped us raise money as part of a crowdfunding campaign so we could find new ways to keep Crinkling News doing ground-breaking work.

And we did. That money allowed us to cover news for kids for a further eight months, launch Australia’s inaugural media literacy conference for young people, do the first research into how kids and teens get their news across the nation, and more.

The crowdfunding campaign raised $212,303. Of that we had to pay $19,477 to the crowdfunding platform and the payment processing system used.

Of the $192,826 remaining, $53,133.15 went to servicing new subscriptions to the newspaper and perks that people claimed as part of their crowdfunding contribution.

So $139,692.85 was left as new funds to invest in the continuation and growth of Crinkling News.

Knowing how much our readers value Crinkling News and all the work it has done to improve news and media literacy and give young people a meaningful voice, we hope a larger organisation with deeper pockets decides to build on all of our achievements.

The co-founders can be reached via email at editor@crinklingnews.com.au.

Photo: Crinkling News editor Saffron Howden