£5 / month
For those who simply want to keep Meridian going. Ad-free reading, the daily newsletter, and the warm knowledge that you are part of what makes this possible. Billed monthly or £50 a year.
Subscribe
Meridian is funded by the people who read it. No proprietor, no advertisers, no agenda — just members who believe independent reporting is worth paying for.
Why your support matters
Most newsrooms answer to someone — a billionaire owner, a board of shareholders, or the advertisers whose money keeps the lights on. Each of those relationships is a quiet pressure on what gets published, and what gets buried. We decided to answer to no one but our readers.
That choice has a cost. Careful, on-the-ground journalism is slow and expensive: it takes correspondents in places others have left, lawyers who can stand behind an investigation, and editors who refuse to rush a story that is not yet right. Membership is what pays for that work. When you join, you are not buying access to a paywall — you are keeping the reporting independent, and keeping it free for the people who cannot afford to pay.
Our promise to members
No advertising. No tracking for profit. We will never sell, rent or trade your data — to anyone, ever. You can cancel in two clicks, and we will not make you ring a call centre to do it.
What members get
Everything we publish stays free to read. Membership is not a wall around the journalism; it is a thank-you for sustaining it, and it comes with a few things we think you will value.
- The Morning Meridian — one considered email at dawn, the whole story on the record, with none of the noise. Free to everyone, but members shape what it covers.
- The Reporter's Notebook — a members-only weekly letter in which our correspondents explain how a story was actually reported, what they left out, and why.
- Ad-free, tracker-free reading across every device, with nothing following you from page to page.
- Open editorial briefings — quarterly calls where members can question editors directly about our choices, our corrections and our coverage.
- A direct line to suggest stories, flag what we are missing, and tell us when we have got it wrong.
Choose what suits you
Three simple ways to join. Every tier funds the same independent journalism — the difference is only how much you are able to give. Pick whichever feels right; you can change or cancel it at any time.
£12 / month
Everything in Reader, plus the members-only Reporter's Notebook, a place at our quarterly editorial briefings, and a vote in our annual reader survey. Billed monthly or £120 a year.
£30 / month
For readers who can give more so that others pay nothing. Patrons directly fund a reporting bursary for stories in under-covered places, and are credited — should they wish — in our annual report. Billed monthly or £300 a year.
We would rather be funded by a hundred thousand readers than by a single owner. It is the only arrangement we have found that lets a newsroom say exactly what it has found, and nothing it has not. From Meridian's founding charter
If now isn't the moment
We mean it when we say the journalism stays free. If a paid membership is not something you can take on right now, the most useful thing you can do is read us, share the work that matters to you, and sign up for the free morning newsletter. That alone helps more than you might think.
If you would prefer to give once rather than monthly, or to support us through your organisation, write to us and we will sort it out personally.
Plain answers
Payments are handled securely and never stored by us. Cancelling takes seconds from your account page and takes effect at the end of the period you have already paid for — no clawbacks, no awkward phone calls. Questions about billing or your data? See our privacy policy or reach us through contact.
Read more about how we work in who we are and our editorial standards, see how we handle mistakes in corrections, or pass us something in confidence via secure tips.