El Salto (The Jump) is a project made up of 200 people and 7,000 members that seeks to promote journalism that is radically different: not financed by Ibex35 companies, democratic, decentralized, and collectively owned. When you become a member, you make it possible for El Salto to keep existing and reach more people with better content. Spurred by the newspaper Diagonal, El Salto was created at the end of 2016 with the objective of creating a new medium that functions under different rules, with more reach and impact, all under a shared vision of communication. Today El Salto is made up of 8 projects in different territories (Andalucía, Extremadura, Euskal Herria, Galiza, La Rioja, Madrid y País Valencià), more than 60 blogs and a permanent staff of 20 employees. In total, excluding one-time collaborators, more than 200 people participate actively in the project. El Salto has web publications updated daily and monthly, a radio project (El Salto Radio) and a video project (El Salto TV). Just as much on the web as on paper, El Salto combines news specific to each territory with state and international information. El Salto is motivated by an idea: beyond slogans and declarations of independence, the only way to make journalism different is to make it function differently The following are the hallmarks of our identity:
- 70% of El Salto’s financing comes from subscribers (members).
- Businesses that violate human, social, labor, or environmental rights cannot advertise in El Salto.
- Sponsored content and invasive advertisements are not permitted.
- There are no bosses or directors. The 20 people on permanent staff earn the same salary. All positions are elected and revocable.
- Big decisions are made in an assembly-style manner and El Salto’s property is collective.
- The most important decisions regarding the publication (change of header, property, model, core values) must be consulted with all subscribing members through a referendum.
- El Salto is a decentralized publication, with autonomous territorial publications that make their own decisions regarding the three core values of the project: ethical financing of the project, internal democracy, and journalistic quality.
