Novara Media

Work with us and help create a new media for a different politics.

Be a part of one of the fastest-growing media organisations working towards radical change.

What we’re about.

Novara Media was founded in 2010 with a commitment to emancipatory politics and a belief that social change is impossible without a different media. We believe being analytical and objective shouldn’t mean staying neutral or pretending not to have a stake. Instead, we want to meet the political challenges of our time with curiosity, integrity and critical judgment. Socialism, freedom and justice aren’t dirty words at Novara Media, but we don’t subscribe to a fixed editorial line either; instead, we value the political pluralism of our team and our audience.

Building an ambitious media organisation requires a range of skills and contributions, and everyone in our team brings something unique to the project. We don’t require everyone to be a skilled orator, but we do expect a level of genuine investment in Novara Media’s mission, culture, and a willingness to pull together to achieve collective goals.

How does it work?

We’re a much ‘flatter’ organisation that most media outlets, but we’re not totally horizontal either. We don’t have an Editor-in-Chief but nor is everything run by committee. We have different teams for articles, video, audio and digital, each with its own Head, though there are various points at which members of those teams get to work together.

The operational side of the organisation is run out of business strategy meetings, which are about growing the organisation sustainably, developing plans of action, setting policy and problem-solving.

Throughout the year we also have an annual general meeting and a handful of political strategy meetings. All staff are invited to these and expected to come because we want everyone who works at Novara Media to have a stake in the ‘big picture’.

The vast majority of our income is thanks to the generosity of our supporters – individuals who donate to us on a recurring or one-off basis. We’re a not-for-profit company, and all of our income goes into building and maintaining Novara Media. We don’t have any paywalled content and we don’t have any big block funding – the average donation is about £9 a month.

Importantly, Novara Media has always had a DIY ethos. We’re growing our infrastructure all the time, but no one built the organisation for us and when we need to get from point A to point B there’s only us to do it. We have a division of labour because the organisation encompasses a complex set of workflows and skillsets, but above all we’re one team working towards the same mission. To reflect that, we have a 1:1 (flat) pay ratio and we expect all staff to approach our work together in a spirit of mutuality, cooperation and respect.

Pay and benefits.

We have a 1:1 (flat) pay ratio, which means everyone on our payroll – team members and leaders, on-screen and off – is paid the same hourly rate and wage increases happen simultaneously across the entire organisation.

We are also a four-day week employer, meaning our full-time (FT) staff are contracted for 32 hours per week. Being a round-the-clock organisation, some staff work their hours over five shorter days, but the principle we aim to uphold is that good rest is important for good work.

Our current wage is £19.00 per hour, which works out at £31,616 per annum for employees on a four-day week full-time contract. We know this is below industry standards for some types of role we advertise, but we’re committed to raising our wages equitably as we grow. Our current ambition is to reach a median wage for all employees with a four-day FT week.

We are able to offer a degree of flexible working for most employees (generally subject to a regular schedule) and most employees have a combination of remote and office working (we have offices in London and Leeds).

Sickness: We have a generous occupational sick pay policy covering injury, physical, menstrual and mental health.
Pensions: Employees are auto-enrolled for pensions.
Holidays: Annual leave is accrued on a statutory basis (5.6 weeks pro rata).

We have a disability leave policy, maternity/paternity policy, and offer employees a free eye test every two years. We also have a provision for unpaid sabbatical leave available after two years of employment.

Representation.

We encourage our staff to join to the Novara Media chapel of the National Union of Journalists.