Hi everybody, and welcome to the Cayman Current.
The Current’s official launch date is 1 Sept., but in advance we are sharing some information about the organisation (while test-driving our website).
The Current is a new type of journalism organisation to the Cayman Islands. The Current is nonprofit, digital-first and focussed entirely on providing public service journalism on the issue of education.
What does that mean?
Nonprofit:
- The Current is incorporated as a Cayman Islands charitable company, and is registered as a Cayman Islands Non-Profit Organisation.
- As a nonprofit, the Current is supported by individual contributions, corporate sponsorships and grants. An up-to-date list of the Current’s donors and sponsors will be published on our site, beginning at our official launch.
- As a nonprofit, the Current does not rely on the same revenue streams as existing for-profit media — i.e. subscriptions or display advertising. The Current is not a competitor to existing media; we are a resource for the entire community, including those news outlets.
- Our mission is to improve education in Cayman by informing the community, increasing public engagement and providing greater accountability for decision-makers and the system itself.
Digital-first
- The Current’s content will appear on our website, www.CaymanCurrent.org. Our content is free to the public. The Current will not have its own print publication, radio station, TV broadcast, etc.
- In furtherance of our mission, all of the Current’s content is available for republication by other news outlets, in any medium, free of charge.
- Additionally, the Current will be actively seeking out partnerships with other media to pursue journalism projects on the issue of education.
Public Service Journalism
- Public service journalism is generally defined as reporting on issues that are of common concern to society.
- For the Current, this means our focus will be entirely on education — which we believe to be the most important issue facing Cayman.
- The nonprofit model frees us from undue concerns over metrics such as pageviews, ‘clicks’, ‘reach’, etc. The Current is a mission-focussed organisation. Our mission is to improve education through our journalism.
- While we will actively seek out and encourage people to submit their viewpoints on education, the Current will not feature its own opinions, nor will we have newspaper-style, anonymous institutional editorials.
About me
My name is Patrick Brendel. I am the founder and editor of the Cayman Current.
I have Caymanian status through marriage, and have been a journalist in Cayman since 2011, including several years as the executive editor in charge of the newsroom at the Cayman Compass.
I have 15 years of experience as a journalist, including in Texas and Washington, DC, where my focus was on government, politics and public policy. I have worked for a variety of publications, including startups, digital outlets and nonprofit media.
Contact
You can reach me at 1 (345) 326-5064 or pbrendel@caymancurrent.org.
We are seeking donations from individuals, groups and companies. We are also looking for people who would like to get involved by providing professional services, volunteering or spreading the word. We need all the help we can get!
We are incredibly grateful to our initial supporters, and most importantly to our first two Founding Sponsors: Aon Cayman and Broadhurst LLC. (Thank you, thank you, thank you!)
*Note: This post, and this site, will be updated frequently in advance of our launch.*