''Daily Maverick'' is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, South African, English language, online news publication and weekly print

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

, with offices in the country's two most populous cities:

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

(the site of its

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

) and

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. It was co-founded in 2009 by Branislav 'Branko' Brkic, who was also the publication's

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

, and Styli Charalambous, its

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

. ''Daily Maverick'''s motto is ''Defend Truth'', and it is funded by a combination of reader donations, grants, events, and

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

. The publication states that

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

, in its opinion, needs to do two things. Firstly; it needs to help protect

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

, which it says it does by means of a large investment in accountability. And, secondly; it needs to help people navigate life, make better decisions, have better conversations, and ultimately aid people in the pursuit of a better life, which the publication says it achieves by explaining the impact of major events, providing perspective from an experienced

newsroom A newsroom is the central place where journalists—reporters, editing, editors, and Television producer, producers, associate producers, news anchors, news designers, photojournalists, videojournalists, associate editor, residence editor, visu ...

, and publishing a variety of opinions, sourced from a network of contributors (in other words, avoiding

bias Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is inaccurate, closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individ ...

and remaining objective and balanced with what they publish). In terms of readership, the publication stated in 2024 that it had approximately 14.5 million unique website visits per month. ''Daily Maverick'' has received many media-related

awards An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

, and is known for, among other things, its investigation of the Gupta Leaks, which won the 2019 Global Shining Light Award. The aforementioned investigation was credited with exposing the Indian-born Gupta family, and former President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...

, for their role in the multi-year-long, systemic political

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

and state capture that occurred in South Africa, during Zuma's time in office. In 2018, Brkic received the Nat Nakasa Award for his role in the investigation. In 2021, Daily Maverick CEO Styli Charalambous also received the award.

History

''Daily Maverick'' was launched in 2009 by Brkic and Charalambous following the closure of Brkic's former print magazines, Maverick and Empire. They started a "daily ipad newspaper" in 2011 to complement the existing website; it closed in 2013. The weekly print newspaper, DM168, was launched in 2020. In 2018, ''Daily Maverick'' launched Maverick Insider, a voluntary membership plan that doesn't have a

paywall A paywall is a method of restricting access to content (media), content, with a purchase or a subscription business model, paid subscription, especially news. Beginning in the mid-2010s, newspapers started implementing paywalls on their website ...

or standard donation request. Contributions from readers will keep ''Daily Maverick'' free for those who can't afford to pay. ''Daily Maverick'' hosts articles by '' Declassified UK'', a group of independent journalists who investigate British foreign policy, the UK military and intelligence agencies, and Britain's most powerful corporations. ''Daily Maverick'''s membership model has been widely recognised as a successful example of the emerging membership trend that invites audiences of news publications to pay to become part of a readership community. In addition to its membership programme, the privately-owned publication also hosts paid live events. It has received philanthropic funding from the Open Society Foundation, Donald Gordon Foundation, Elaine & David Potter Foundation and ABSA. It is a participant of the Media Investment Development Fund's South African Media Innovation Programme. It also produces

podcasts A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files that users can download to a personal device or stream to listen to at a time of their ...

and

documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...

, the latter of which includes '' Influence'', a documentary directed by Poplak and Diana Neille, which premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

in 2020. ''Section 16'', which details the online attacks on ''Daily Maverick'''s women journalists, debuted at the Encounters Film Festival.

Funding

''Daily Maverick'' is wholly owned by a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

, which is funded by a number of

shareholders A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...

, many of which are non-profits and trusts, which aligns with the publication's goal of continuing to provide balanced, unbiased news. No shareholder has more than 50% ownership of the publication. The largest shareholder is South African non-profit Inkululeko South Africa Media. Other shareholders, with less than 15% of ''Daily Maverick'' share ownership include; KMC Trust, Wolmarans Trust, Polyanna Trust, Bakkium Share Trust, Angel Trust, Noble Savage (Pty) ltd, Tondox (Pty) ltd, Styli Charalambous, Branko Brkic, and Tony Rattey.

Founders

Branko Brkic

Branislav ‘Branko' Brkic is a Serbian-born South African journalist,

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

, and ''Daily Maverick'''s Co-Founder and editor-in-chief - he and Styli Charalambous co-launched the publication in 2009. In 2018, Brkic was awarded the country's prestigious Nat Nakasa Award for initiating the collaborative corruption investigation into the Indian-born Gupta family and former South African President

, known as the GuptaLeaks. The investigation won the 2019 Global Shining Light Award alongside

Rappler Rappler (portmanteau of the words "rap" and "ripples") is a Mass media in the Philippines, Filipino online news website based in Pasig, Metro Manila, the Philippines. It was founded by 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and convicted cyberlibelist ...

, the Filipino publication founded by Nobel Prize laureate

Maria Ressa Maria Angelita Ressa (; born Maria Angelita Delfin Aycardo on October 2, 1963) is a Filipino and American journalist. She is the co-founder and CEO of Rappler. She previously spent nearly two decades working as a lead investigative reporter in ...

. Brkic was a book publisher in Yugoslavia before immigrating to South Africa in 1991. In 1998 he launched Timbila, the former South African National Parks magazine and co-founded the IT business magazine ''Brainstorm'' in 2001 with Jovan Regasek. Brkic launched the print business magazine ''Maverick'' in 2005, launching its sister publication ''Empire'' magazine in 2007. Both magazines closed in September 2008. Brkic and his partner, co-founder and CEO Styli Charalambous, launched ''Daily Maverick'' in 2009.

Styli Charalambous

Styli Charalambous is ''Daily Maverick'''s Co-Founder and CEO. A regular instructor on revenue models in journalism for the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, Charalambous also was a member of the steering committee for the Forum on Information & Democracy's working group on sustainability in journalism. In 2021, he was awarded the

Nat Nakasa Nathaniel Ndazana Nakasa (12 May 193714 July 1965), better known as Nat Nakasa, was a South African journalist and short story writer. Early life Nat Nakasa was born in outside Durban, South Africa, on 12 May 1937; his mother Alvina was a teac ...

Courage and Integrity Award for his contribution to South African journalism. Charalambous designed and launched the group's "Maverick Insider" membership programme, recognised globally as an example of a successful membership model. He speaks globally about media sustainability membership models, including the International Journalism Festival, the International Symposium on Online Journalism,

World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization made up of 76 national newspaper associations, 12 news agencies, 10 regional press organisations, and many individual newspaper e ...

. He has published on the topic for

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

's Knight Lab and Harvard University's Nieman Foundation for Journalism's publications ''Nieman Reports'' and ''Nieman Lab''. Charalambous co-produced ''The Highwaymen'', a podcast by ''Daily Maverick'''s

Richard Poplak Richard Poplak is a Johannesburg-based South African author, journalist and film maker who focuses on corporate criminality, race and equity issues. He is the author of the 2011 graphic journalistic novel '' Kenk: A Graphic Portrait'' about not ...

and Diana Neille. With a degree in finance and accounting from Nelson Mandela University, he completed his articles in South Africa with

Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...

in 2002, and qualified as a chartered accountant.

Awards

*2010 – Bookmarks – Individual and Team Publisher Awards – Best Editorial Team – ''Daily Maverick'' *2011 – Bookmarks – Product Awards – Email Marketing – Email Publication – Silver – ''First Thing'' Newsletter – ''Daily Maverick'' *2012 – SAB Sports Media Awards – New Media – Social Media Correspondent of the Year – Styli Charalambous – ''Daily Maverick'' *2012 – Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism – Runner-up – Greg Marinovich – ''Daily Maverick'' *2013 – Vodacom National Journalist of the Year Online winner – Greg Marinovich – ''Daily Maverick'' *2016 – CNN

Multichoice MultiChoice is a South Africa, South African company that operates DStv, a major satellite television service in Sub-Saharan Africa. The company also operates GOtv Africa, GOtv, a minor satellite TV service operating in 9 countries, and Showmax, ...

African Business Journalism Award – Economics & Business Award – Diana Neille, Richard Poplak, Shaun Swingler & Sumeya Gasa, Daily Maverick, South Africa ‘Casualties of Cola: Outsourcing, Exploitation & the New Realities of Work' *2016 – Vodacom Journalism Award – Online Winner – Diana Neille, Sumeya Gasa, Shaun Swingler, Richard Poplak. Daily Maverick, Casualties of Cola *2016 – Taco Kuiper Investigative Journalism Awards – First Runner-up *2017 – Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism – #GuptaLeaks – 19 journalists from AmaBhungane, Daily Maverick and News24 *2018 – Nat Nakasa Award for Media Integrity – South African National Editors' Forum – Branko Brkic *2018 – Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Award – #GuptaLeaks – Scorpio, ''amaBhungane'' and ''News24'' *2019 – SAFTA – Golden Horn award for Best Documentary Short – Nanlaban: The Philippines War on Drugs – ''Chronicle'' *2019 – Vodacom Journalist of the Year – Multi-platform – Sune Payne and Leila Dougan – ''Daily Maverick'' *2019 – Vodacom Journalist of the Year – Financial/Economics – Marianne Merten *2019 – Global Shining Light Award – #GuptaLeaks – ''Daily Maverick'' *2021 –

Nat Nakasa Award for Media Integrity The Nat Nakasa Award for Media Integrity is an award presented to a South African media practitioner in newspapers, magazines, broadcasting and online print media and whose reporting celebrates freedom of speech and media integrity. The award i ...

– Styli Charalambous *2021 – Thomas Pringle Award – Best Portfolio – Tevya Shapiro – ''Daily Maverick'' *2021 – International Sports Press Association (AIPS) – Certificate of Achievement Award – Craig Ray – ''Daily Maverick'' *2021 – SA Book of the Year Awards – Best Non-fiction – Six Years With Al Qaeda – Stephen McGown – ''Daily Maverick'' *2021 – Digital Media Africa Awards – Best Paid Content Strategy – Maverick Insider – ''Daily Maverick''

References

External links

* {{Greater Johannesburg, media 2009 establishments in South Africa Daily newspapers published in South Africa Online newspapers published in South Africa South African news websites Newspapers established in 2009 Mass media in Cape Town