Free environmental magazines for schools

New Internationalist magazine celebrates 50 years with free subscriptions for schools.

New Internationalist amplifies the voices you won’t hear in the mainstream media, and gives readers the tools to build a better world.

New Internationalist has launched a new solidarity fund to support free magazine subscriptions for schools, campaign groups and activists in a bid to reach a new generation of readers. 

Fans of the magazine can support the solidarity fund as well as NI’s award-winning campaigning journalism by pledging a monthly donation.

Conrad Landin, a co-editor at New Internationalist, said: "We’re proud to be marking 50 years of independent, campaigning journalism. The struggle for global justice is as important as ever. 

Decolonisation

"New Internationalist amplifies the voices you won’t hear in the mainstream media, and gives readers the tools to build a better world. We’ve launched our solidarity fund because we know that the next generation of activists will need both reliable information and stories of hope as they strive to achieve that."

The Oxford-based publication was founded in 1973 in connection with the student campaign group Third World First - now People & Planet - and with support from Oxfam and Christian Aid. It sought to give readers a better understanding of international development and social justice issues across the world.

Fifty years on, it is still independently owned by a co-operative, and is one of few British-based publications to feature a broad range of contributors from the Global South. Now published bi-monthly, recent issues of the magazine have focused on topics including Palestine, the global ‘cost of greed’ crisis and decolonisation.

Voices

New Internationalist is now a multi-stakeholder co-operative with more than 4,000 reader co-owners, who are represented via a common council and can vote on potential magazine themes at the annual general meeting each year. The magazine was previously a worker-owned co-operative.

Vanessa Baird, a contributing editor who co-edited the magazine from 1986 to 2021, said: "As the world has changed, so has New Internationalist, expanding its concerns, exploring and contributing to revolutions in feminism, environmentalism, personal and identity politics and global and climate justice. 

"But our magazine has retained its core commitment to tackling social and economic inequality in a way that is both radical and accessible. 

"The solidarity fund is a perfect combination of solidarity, education, and getting radical ideas into the mainstream, in a way that recognises the pressures caused by today’s cost-of-living crisis."

This Author 

Ruby Harbour is a freelance journalist. This article is based on a press release from New Internationalist. Supporters can sign up to contribute to New Internationalist and its solidarity fund at newint.org/give – and schools and campaign groups which wish to benefit from a solidarity subscription should contact give@newint.org.

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