It has certainly been a bumpy road for a start-up online newspaper that was born at the start of a global pandemic and found itself quickly blacklisted by the NT Government over the last two and half years, yet somehow managed to break the biggest stories in the Northern Territory with its frank and fearless reporting that provided Territorians with the truth about what is going on in their communities.

But we now face a real threat to our existence and we need to ensure the NT Independent survives to continue to bring you our award-winning journalism that is making the establishment uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, the NT Independent cannot survive on the donations we receive alone and the little support from NT business advertising we have received to date. As of July 15, we will be introducing a $15 per month paid subscription.

https://ntindependent.com.au/subscribe/

Don’t worry, we will continue to provide all our journalism for free, however some of the bigger exclusive stories will be exclusive to our valued subscribers for a period of time to read first. For $15 per month our subscribers will be able to read all of our articles all of the time.

When we started the NT Independent, we knew there would be concern from the Government. However, what I did not expect was a complete breach of democratic principles with the continued illegal ban on the free press for more than two years from all Government politicians, police and most of the public service departments on our award-winning and industry-respected journalists. It is amazing a Government has taken this approach to try and kill a start-up business in their own economy.

It truly is a unique situation and has cast a chill on not only our democratic institutions, but how business can operate here.

The demographics we have in the NT means rivers of money flow into the Territory that we do not earn. This is redistributed by the NT Government to businesses, public servants, NGO’s, charities, not-for-profits, community groups and sporting clubs. The Government feeds so many in the Territory it’s hard to be openly critical and we all know not to bite the hand that feeds you. Hence the reluctance of business to advertise with this media outlet that refuses to let Government advertising revenue bias us.

We get those concerns and we’re thankful to all of our advertisers who stood up for what’s right despite the perceived risk to their livelihoods.

It would be hard to find any place in the democratic world that has more interference from a State or Territory Government than here.

https://ntindependent.com.au/subscribe/

However, for a functioning democracy to exist, a genuine free press known as the fourth estate must exist to hold those in power to account. Chief Minister Natasha Fyles, without proper explanation, has continued her predecessor Michael Gunner’s oppressive ban on the Independent which sent a clear message to our vast majority of businesses who rely on the NT Government’s money to not support the NT Independent.

For the media anywhere else, business is the biggest advertiser. Here in the NT, the biggest spender is the Government. I will leave it to you to draw your own conclusions with respect to the editorial bias that occurs. However, this is the very reason the NT Independent must remain free of Government revenue and advertising.

Investigative journalism is critical, and it is not cheap. I ask you to consider the hundreds of stories we have broken exclusively, and the thousands of stories published that provided you with the information you needed that the government and others wanted to remain hidden and then consider what the Northern Territory would be without what we have already done, and more importantly, what we will do in the future. To think we do this with only two journalists. Just imagine what we could do with two more and I ask you to be a part of seeing that happen.

If we work together, the cost of keeping you informed and the Government on its toes is manageable.

We will now have three different affordable options that will keep you in the know on the important and breaking stories that affect you and your community and all of them are way less than what other media outlets are asking.

Our investigative reporting is playing a crucial role in how this place functions. We’re asking you to show your support and help the NT Independent keep the bastards honest.

— Owen Pike

Owen Pike is a local businessman and owner of the NT Independent.