Diagonal was a Spanish biweekly alternative newspaper,[1] covering breaking news, culture, political analysis from a grassroots approach. It presents itself as a communication tool for the left-leaning social movements, and as a "critical and independent media, without directors or bosses, resting on the base of thousands of subscribers".[2] In 2017 it was renamed El Salto after its merge with 20 other media, such as Pikara Magazine or El Salmón Contracorriente.[3][4]

Diagonal
TypeAlternative biweekly newspaper
FormatTabloid
Owner(s)Independent (Grassroots)
PublisherNonprofit "Asociación Punto y Coma Comunicación y Prensa"
FoundedMarch 3, 2005
Political alignmentLeft-wing
LanguageSpanish
Ceased publicationDecember 2016
HeadquartersPlaza de Luca de Tena 13, Madrid, Spain
CountrySpain
Circulation15,000
Websitediagonalperiodico.net

History

edit

Diagonal can be traced back to 2003, when the grassroots collective editing the monthly newspaper "Molotov" decides to cease publication and start a broader newspaper. This initiative was joined by a wide spectrum of journalists and activists that formed the first promoter group. After two promotional issues, Diagonal started on March 3, 2005,[5] date since it has continued being published regularly.[6][7] Diagonal is considered one of the emerging newspapers in Spain which challenges the traditional newspapers represented by the Spanish Newspaper Publishers' Association, of which Diagonal is not part of.[8]

Diagonal has regularly used crowdfunding as a funding source. He has launched three campaigns, all successful, in 2011,[9] 2014[10] and 2015,[11] receiving 20K€, 70K€ and 12K€ respectively. The first one was considered a successful microfinancing experiment for emerging media in Spain.[12] The second one established a record of funds, collaborations and time of the campaign in the open crowdfunding site Goteo.[13] The third one, the first common publication across two major independent Spanish newspapers, i.e. Diagonal and La Marea.[14]

In 2012, it launched a reduced English version, "Diagonal English" [15] with the help of volunteer translators.[16]

In 2014, Diagonal, as part of the Associated Whistleblowing Press, together with other media, launched the first local whistleblowing platform in Spain, Filtrala (which means "leak it").[17]

In 2016, Diagonal launched a binding enquiry to its subscribers, asking them to decide if Diagonal should perform a merge with 20 other alternative Spanish media in order to build a co-operatively owned online daily newspaper. With the 97.5% of support,[18] Diagonal has opened a 6-month process named "Great Leap Forward" (mocking the 60s Chinese campaign).[19][20] Eventually, this process ended in 2017 with the establishment of the new newspaper El Salto.

Edition and funding

edit

It is edited by the nonprofit Asociación Punto y Coma Comunicación y Prensa, explicitly created for this purpose. Its contents are released under the license Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike.[21] It is funded through reader subscriptions, direct sale, ethical advertisement, donations and commercialization of articles with the newspaper image.

Local editions

edit

Diagonal has local editions in several Spanish regions, in particular Andalucía, Aragón, Asturias, Cantabria and Galicia.[22]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Diagonal - local politics & government newspaper in Madrid, Spain". Mondotimes.com. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  2. ^ Periódico Diagonal. "Quiénes somos". Diagonalperiodico.net. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  3. ^ "Cargos de Podemos apoyan un medio alternativo". El País (in Spanish). 2016-11-28. ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  4. ^ "Edición General - El Salto". www.elsaltodiario.com. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  5. ^ "Diez años de periodismo social". Eldiario.es. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  6. ^ "Diagonal periodico | Portal de Economía Solidaria". Economiasolidaria.org. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  7. ^ "Historia | Periódico Diagonal". Diagonalperiodico.net (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  8. ^ "How Government Masks the Plight of Spain's Lost Generation". Bibliotecapleyades.net. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  9. ^ "Financia la nueva web de Diagonal". Verkami.com. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  10. ^ "S.O.S. Diagonal: Ahora o nunca". En.goteo.org. 2013-12-31. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  11. ^ "'Cercanías': el proyecto conjunto de La Marea y Diagonal". En.goteo.org. 2015-05-04. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  12. ^ Palomo, Bella; Sánchez, María (2014-05-01). "Knowledge and Assessment of Crowdfunding in Communication. The View of Journalists and Future Journalists". Comunicar. 22 (43): 101–110. doi:10.3916/C43-2014-10. hdl:10272/8418. ISSN 1134-3478. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
  13. ^ "Goteo facts 2013: 2 years demonstrating the power of the crowd and openness". En.goteo.org. 2013-05-18. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  14. ^ "Periodismo para gente independiente". Lamarea.com. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  15. ^ "Diagonal newspaper from Madrid English version available now! - UK Indymedia". Indymedia.org.uk. 2012-05-30. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  16. ^ "The S in the PIGS | Diagonal Blogs". Diagonalperiodico.net (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  17. ^ Renzenbrink, Tessel. "The Associated Whistle-Blowing Press launches Spanish leak site". techthefuture.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  18. ^ "¡Saltamos! Resultados de la consulta sobre el Salto | Periódico Diagonal". Diagonalperiodico.net (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  19. ^ "Asistencia Técnica para el Gran Salto Delante de Diagonal • Andaira". Andaira.net. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  20. ^ "Más de 20 medios de comunicación se encuentran para dar El Salto | Periódico Diagonal". Diagonalperiodico.net (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  21. ^ "DIAGONAL adopta una licencia más abierta". Periódico Diagonal. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  22. ^ "Ediciones locales | Periódico Diagonal". Diagonalperiodico.net (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-01-23.
edit